Mara is Finished!!

Wow what a quick and LONG knit. I’m not sure why I take on garter stitch projects. I think I love the look of them and the simplicity of the knitting, but about 4 inches in I want to poke my eyes out. So, in order to save what’s left of my fragile sanity I started working the border a bit sooner than expected and I think she came out a good size for a shawlette!

Here she is blocking

Since I wanted to preserve the garter stitch pattern, but also wanted a bit more length and to open it up, I just lightly spritzed the yarn until it was damp. Typically I wet block everything. I love to soak and block all of my knit pieces, but Mara got a bit of special treatment.

And here she is in her finished glory!

My favorite little sheep is an (un) willing model for Mara.

Specs:

The Pattern: Mara by Madelinetosh- Free Pattern. Ravelry Link

The pattern was well written and easy to follow. I love the idea and concept of this pattern, but didn’t enjoy knitting it. The only thing that saved this shawl from ripping was the incredible yarn…it’s gorgeous and perfect for this pattern. I would knit this pattern again, but I would modify it as a stockinette stitch pattern so I can see more progress as I move along.

Mods: The only Mod I made to this pattern was to work only half of the fringe. I wanted to keep my shawl to a 3 ball limit and the garter stitch ate yardage.

The Yarn: You may hear this a lot, but I LOVED knitting with this yarn. The Oceanwind knits worsted was incredible to work with. The colours were amazing and I love how it doesn’t pool. For the most part I don’t mind pooling, but I don’t think it had a place in this pattern. Each skein moved seamlessly from one to the next without a noticeable difference.  I have previously knit a sweater with this yarn and found the consistancy in colour to be true there as well. This yarn is soft soft soft!

The Fabric: I knit this on a US 8 size 5 mm needle and loved how the fabric knit up, just enough drape and beautiful stitch definition

The only thing left to do is show you one last picture!

My second finished shawl of 2010!

next up for knitting through the shop is a little hat/bootie combo with some beautiful (PINK!) Dyed in the wool handmade!

Every baby needs a hand knit hat to come home in even if it is the middle of summer….right?

The talented Miss Glenna C has done it again with these gorgous Azalea mitts

The pattern includes instructions for both stunning fingerless gloves or convertable mitts with cropped fingers!

Either option will result in an incredible glove with twist and turns and cables and bobbles…what more could a knitter ask for! Maybe another gorgeous photo??

The Azalea mitt pattern uses 1 skein of Sweet Sheep Tight Twist in a semi solid. You can either purchase your yarn and pattern seperately or together in a kit!!

Patterns purchased alone (without yarn) will be sent via email with shipping refunded.

The only thing left to decide is which colour to knit your Azalea mitts with!!

Thank you all so much for sharing your wonderful and memorable birthday memories with me…I enjoyed reading them all! Chris and I had fantastic times on our birthdays and have much cake in the freezer from all of the parties our loved ones threw us! So far being 31 isn’t so bad!

The random number generator picked Amy V as our contest winner and she was awarded a $31 gift certificate to the shop…hope you enjoy it Amy!

Last week the mail lady was good to me and dropped off some beautiful Pigeonroof knits spinning tops in

Merino Silk

and luxurious Superwash Merino/Cashmere/Nylon

I can’t wait to try this new blend! I may have stolen a braid of Ghost Orchid (second one in) to “test” this new fiber…details to come!

On top of this beautiful update a big box of Funky Carolina Fibers arrived on my doorstep this morning…look for those later in the week!

I finished the blankie!! I really was concerned that I could finish growing a child before I would finish this blankie but luckily I was wrong.

The blankie was finished last week however, the sun has not made an appearance since so please excuse the dark photos, i could wait no longer to show you.

Here she is off the needles.

and directly into a SOAK bath…SOAK is essential around here for all dyeing, blocking and washing of wool. On a side note I will also admit that I used it last week to get grease out of Chris’ favorite ball cap…worked like a charm!

I always just lay my knitting on the top of the bath and let it sink in. I try not to handle it too much and just let the soak do the work.

Ta Da!! Here she is…just waiting to wrap up our sweet little baby girl. The sheep in the crib was a gift from my Aunt for the baby…I love it!

Specs:

The Pattern: Basketweave Blanket Rav link. I couldn’t find a non rav link but it is a classic elite pattern.

Mods: I cast on more stitches than the pattern called for (66) because I decided that if I was going to knit a blanket out of fingering weight yarn that I wanted it to last her for longer than the newborn phase!

The Yarn: This yarn is particularily special to me. I dyed the yarn when I first found out I was pregnant with a lot of love and excitement for the journey I was about to embark on. The base is the Sweet Sheep Tight Twist in a colourway that I created just for our little one called Candied Apricot. I do not have any of that colourway up in the shop yet, but if you would like some just drop me an email and I will happily dye it up! This blankie took 2 full skeins and about 1/4th of a third. The Sweet Sheep Tight Twist yarn is a bit heavier than an average fingering weight, but not as heavy as a sportweight. 375 yards goes pretty far.

The Fabric: I knit this on a US 4 size 3.5mm needle and loved how the fabric knit up. I might be completely biased (yes I am.) The yarn is custom milled for me and I love a good tight twist yarn because of the great stitch definition. This is one of several projects I have knit with the tight twist (including a shawl) and have always loved the soft drape at larger needle sizes.

In summary, I adore this blankie. I put many hours of love and hugs into this piece and hope that my little sweet pea will feel all of it when I wrap her in it!