FO: Diamond Scarflette 2

Diamond Scarflette 2

Originally uploaded by Zylo Lugosi

It’s finally done, washed, blocked, and accessorized. The fuzz that I was hoping would go away has died back a bit. Even though I washed as gently as possible, all that fuzz is either laying flat or it felted just a tid bit. Due to this, the pattern is a more subdued. That also means that the alpaca portion is less scratchy.

Also, my other scarflettes will either have that wrap around at an angle or the entired scarf will be thinner. When you put it on, it bunches a little while the button section is flat. It’s not too distorted and I still like it, but I think I’ll chalk it up to learning and experimenting. Plus, I got to use more fancy buttons! How do you like my classy ladies? All in all, I’m happy with the end product. If you want to see more pictures of the finished product, they’re in my “finished knits” set on Flickr.

Knitting Away

I’ve been happily slaving over a new project. It’s my first time using beads, but I really need to learn to use them within the body of the work. Here, I’m just using them on the cast-on and bind-off edges. Should be done within the next few days.

Apres Moi, le Deluge

Well, thanks to the impending hurricane, many a plan has been put on hold. See, I enjoy this kind of thing. I love rain and the lazy days inside with a cup of cocoa and a quiet handcraft. However, I’ve spent a buttload of money buying all the supplies to make my own soap and this weekend was set aside to do so. I’m worried about the moisture messing up my results, so I’ll just have to wait a while longer. In the meantime, I washed the Diamond Scarflette and it’s blocking now. I think it was just doomed to be fuzzy. Hopefully it will turn out more like a lovely halo than an itchy fuzz.

Camping Photo Set

Camping

Originally uploaded by Zylo Lugosi

I just added my camping pictures from vacation. These were taken in and around Curt Gowdy State Park in Wyoming. I also got a few shots of the windmills on the way there. If you’re interested, click on the picture and browse around!

Diamond Scarf V 2.0 Unblocked

Diamond Scarf V 2.0 Unblocked

Originally uploaded by Zylo Lugosi

Well, school has started again. I’ve meant to update before this, but you know how it is. For me, the last week or so before school is spent being hardcore lazy. However, I’m on a schedule again and can usually accomplish most of my to do lists, which means more upcoming projects. Now to the newest.

I considered just knitting the i-cord seperately and stitching it on after because I had some wonky pulling on the first piece. I tried to avoid it here and was mostly successful. I’ll have to try it sometime though because I think it would be much more even done in two pieces. This yarn was shown off well with the pattern, but I’m worried about it fuzzing too much since it’s already starting to go in that direction. The alpaca content is vicious with that and I’m hoping that a good washing and maybe a sweater shaver thingy will help. I also added two rows of knit on the outside to give me something to attach the i-cord to which was a mistake. It rolled much more than I would have like. I hope the natural fibers will block well. Either that or I should have used the entire knit row when I was adding the edging instead of just the outer loop. We’ll have to see. I’ve got most of the second skein left to play with later.

Diamond Scarflette V 1.0

I bought two skeins of gorgeous Sulka yarn at a place in Florida months ago. I’ve swatched it like crazy, but couldn’t find anything worthy of it. It’s a 60% Merino wool 20% alpaca 20% silk mix that is delightful to work with and so soft. However, it’s a single twist roving type deal and it’ll start to fuzz if you rip it out too many times. Since I’ve got just under 110 yards between the two skeins, I need to be careful and conserve.

My deal with stitch patterns is this, if it’s too simple it won’t show off what the yarn can really do and if it’s too complicated it won’t show off the softness. Scouring the internet for stitch patterns to learn, I can across one called King Charles Brocade. I think this will be flattering to all aspects of my darling yarn. The idea was to have a center panel in the brocade with a seed stitch area for the button hole and to finish it off with an attached i-cord border. I had to teach myself to do this because I was afraid of the center panel curling too much. I thought it would give it a finished look while also giving you something prettier to look at than the backside if it curled.

So, to save my yarn any more stress, I used a single skein of Yarn Bee Icelandic Jewels I had laying around. I think the stitch pattern turned out pretty well considering that the variagation hides some of it and the i-cord does make it look more finished. However, it’s way too wide for my taste. I actually like the almost cowl-like squishiness it has when put on because it looks cozier, but for the final version, I’ll only do one pattern repeat for a fitted, streamlined look. This one’s not too shabby though. Plus, I got to break out the buttons. You know how happy that makes me.

Camping Pictures

We got up to Curt Gowdy State Park in Wyoming one night and I managed to make my camera work long enough to take a handful of pictures. Here are a few from the campsite.

Our Little Tent

Our grotto of trees to the side

Across the reservoir

And another

And the view from our tent

Home Sweet Home

I’m finally here after an awesome vacation. It feels good to be back, but it’s a little heavy considering school’s about to start back up and I’ve got lots to do. There were a lot of projects that were left unfinished when I left and those are going to start getting done. I’ve also got lots of gorgeous yarn to introduce you to. Plus, maybe a peek at that lace.