FO Friday: Lots And Lots of Shawls!

What is it about blogging that makes me feel bad for not posting? I wish I knew. Anyway, I've been super busy and productive and I can't wait to show you what I've done! This post is going to be kept relatively short because company is coming over and I need to clean, but I thought you guys deserved an update.

First off is my Sharktooth. You might remember it from this post, but you might also remember that I started out with a different color. The Ella Rae wasn't quite working for what I needed, so I changed to one of my Christmas presents. The Cherry Tree Hill yarn in color Slate. I love how this turned out.

 

 







I learned a valuable lesson with this project. Counting and paying attention are very important. This shawl should technically have about 200 yards less yarn that it does, but I accidentally added 6 more pattern repeats, thus making this thing huge. But, I love it and I'm so happy it's done.


Next up is something I've already finished and showed off, but I finally got around to blocking the darn thing!
Here's my 3rd Herbivore! This was a fun and quick knit, and it's one of my favorites.

Finally is something I made for my DH with the yarn he got me for Christmas! Here's my Forest Gyllis! It's an amazing lace scarf made out of a worsted weight 100% wool yarn. The pictures don't show off the subtle yellow and green heather the yarn has, but I'll try to get better pictures later.

That's it for now, I'll do my best to post what I'm working on this Wednesday!

FO Friday: Swap Time!

Wow, sorry I didn't post anything on Wednesday! I actually had finished the project I'm going to show off today on Tuesday, therefor no WIP on Wed, and I hadn't progressed on any of my other projects at that point! I'm kind of a slacker in that sense, but I did get an entire project done in 4 days. That's pretty impressive if I do say so myself.

Now, some of you may know that I am taking place in an Arts and Sciences swap within the SCA. The particular swap is called Noblese Largesse, and it's pretty cool. When you sign up, you are required to fill out a questionnaire, and from there I'll quote from the Noblese Largesse's facebook page.

So, how is this supposed to work?

No doubt, you've noticed that you've had to fill out a questionnaire. We use an Excel spreadsheet and the RAND function to take your name and match it with someone else. We will then send you the information that your recipient filled out on their questionnaire. It is for you to decide at this point what to make them. After you make the object(s), send it out. Please make sure you send a note with your item, revealing yourself to your recipient.

Also, there's a limit to how much you can spend on materials. $20

Pretty simple, eh?  Well, yes and no. I had quite a few difficulties trying to choose what to make for my swap partner. Being a new SCAdian, and new to the world of A&S as a whole, I didn't have a wide variety of skill sets to pull from. I have knitting, I can make some glass beads, I can do some pathetic embroidery. That's about it, so I went to what I know best; knitting. Now, what to make?

From the questionaire I received, my partner has a French persona, her colors are red and gold, and to throw a wrench into my plans, she tries to only wear period (and persona) appropriate garb. I know nothing about late period French knitted garments as of right now, which is sad since my persona is late period French. Realizing I was kinda screwed, I asked if my partner liked shawls. Nope.

Time for plan B! Problem. There was no plan B. So, I spent the greater part of 2 months trying to find something I could actually make, and would be something my partner would enjoy and use. My solution? Mittens! I found this free pattern on Ravelry for these mittens, and I'm in love with them. Check it out!

I think they're pretty spiff. They're made out of a sport weight 100% wool yarn called Wool Of The Andes purchased at Knitpicks. This yarn was much softer than I expected and wears amazingly well. Not to mention, at under $3 a ball, I was able to purchase all the yarn I needed, for a little over half of my budget which still left money for the knitting needles and notions I needed! I would highly recommend this yarn. 

So, what do you guys think? I'm pretty proud of myself. I think I'll end up making more mittens in the future. Now that I know I can do this, why wouldn't I want to make such a fast, and easily transportable project?

FO Friday: Shawl Edition

Okay, so I've been super busy with my shawl knitting lately........you could say I've been a little obsessed enthusiastic about it! I can count 5 shawls (one of which got eaten, so no pics. T_T ) that I've finished since my last update. I've pretty much been hyper focused on making these darn things! I have found a designer that I love! His name is Stephen West and I think what I love about his designs is that men can wear them! It's so hard to find patterns and projects that myself, or Richard can get use out of.

Of course there are always mittens, scarfs and hats.......but those are soooooo booooring!! I need intricate stitches to keep me engaged and focused on the project at hand! That's just what Stephens designs do for me! Here are 4 of my FOs to keep your appetites wet for next week! Keep in mind some of these aren't pictures of the blocked item, so they'll be smaller and less polished. Once I have pictures of the blocked items, I'll post those on a future FO Friday.

This is my Herbavore. It has panels of twisted stitch ribbing to create a beautiful  affect.

Closeup of the ribbing section

A closeup of the different types of stitches on my Blue Whale shawl.
Stockinette, Reverse Stockinette and Seed Stitch

A better view of how it's all looks

My Pagona. Not a really good shot of all it's intricate panels, but still pretty

A panel of Stockinette next to a panel of Reverse Stockinette

Boneyard. My first shawl. I adore it

Closeup of the details and you can see a little bit of the
heathering in the yarn.