Doctor Who Scarf Saga: Gray Scale Variant

You'll remember from  last time that I was about to start on a photorealistic Season 18 scarf, using this pattern. As you can see, this particular scarf is done in DK weight chenille yarn in 3 colors: purple, orange & burgundy. I ordered ample skeins of Lion Brand Chenille in Terra Cotta, Amethyst & Claret. The killer thing about this scarf is that the pattern calls for you to use a super thin chenille yarn & quite small needles. I had ordered thicker yarn, hoping to cheat the gauge & get the right width with less stitches on a slightly bigger needle. When the yarn arrived, I could see there was quite a bit of variation in colors, and even though it was knitting up super-quickly, after the first night, I could see that it wasn't what my client had in mind. 

Lovely, but not photorealistic.

.

I sent my client the picture above, and he confirmed what I'd been thinking. So I did a little deeper research and re-ordered the yarn. Coincidentally, one of my co-workers at Ho-Livier's had asked me to do a shorter version of the Legendary Gray Scale Scarf, and as I have quite a bit of that yarn left over, I put the Chenille down and got started on it. Since this scarf is shorter & not as wide, it took me about 4 days for this lil gem to come off the needles.

Before warm water blocking & 20 mins on  low heat inna dryer

...and after, with glam tassels attached

Modeled by the client

It measures about 6" wide by 7 ft. (including 6" tassels.) long.

That chenille yarn still hasn't come in yet, but I did get another order for one of these in the interim...isn't it lovely when things work out like this? 

Eyelet Lace Insanity!

I've been so busy learning new, exciting knitting techniques that I haven't been updating as often as I should, but here goes!

As you may have seen on my FB Page I have been working on a new line of shawls, based on  an eyelet lace pattern that  found here.

But today's spotlight is on my latest, which incorporates another new technique I learned, thanks to Eunny Jang & co on Knitting Daily: Short rows!

I was really intimidated by working short rows at first, but once I got the hang of it, I could not stop! This project is slightly serendipitous, because the flounced collar that I used was originally intended to be a full scarf, (like the one that you can download for free after registering here)  but I ran out of yarn & just bound it off, unsure of what to do with it. Then after doing some research on how to pick up & knit stitches, I decided to give it a try, using 36" Size 13 (US) needles, and a bulky white white Lion Brand "Homespun" Yarn:

As I began to run out of white yarn, I decided to switch to a contrast color

This is how it turned out

As you can see, I used a novelty yarn for the last few rows for a fun, whimsical border!

Here is another shawl type capelet that I made, utilising the same techniques:

The eyelets are not as obvious on this black mannequin, but up close they are gorgeous!

Coaster Magic!

I recently discovered the wonderful show, Knitting Daily, hosted by Eunny Jang. The tips and techniques she shares are a godsend, and have really helped me step up my stitch game.

I made the following coasters based on the pattern found here; I altered the pattern slightly as I was working double-stranded and felt the initial increases should be a little more gradual. Until I made these coasters, I was very intimidated about using increases & decreases in my knitting, worrying that I would ruin my work, but these turned out great, don't you think?

The coasters are available in sets of four for only $12. Feel free to request your own colors!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/156022804/diamond-shaped-knitted-coasters?