It’s happened to all of us. (It happens far too often to me.) We finish a project, and we don’t love it the way we had hoped. It may not be a disaster, but it’s not what we wanted and so it gets shoved to the back of a closet to be forgotten. With knitting, that’s really a shame because it can take so long to knit a sweater or shawl or whatever.

One of my most recent meh projects was my Summer Solstice sweater. I liked the pattern and I liked the yarn (Fibre Company’s Arcadia in the color Summer Sweet). I didn’t like the result. I had made it just a little too short (the result of not having purchased enough yarn because when I bought it I wasn’t sure what I wanted to make out of it). A reminder of what it looked like on Lucy:

See? Nothing “wrong” with it at all. But it hit me at unflattering spot and I just felt dowdy in it. Susan kept telling me to fix it. I resisted because to lengthen it required finding yarn in a different dye lot that looked plausible, removing the collar (because it is added last), knitting the additional length, and then reknitting the now even longer collar. Le sigh.

I finally decided to go ahead. I found three skeins of yarn that looked close. To be on the safe side, I chose to reuse the collar yarn for the additional length; I knew that the dye lot difference would be less noticeable if I only knit the collar out of the new yarn. So, I removed the collar, winding it into a hank/skein. I wetted it, and hung it up to dry. (That step was to remove the kinks in the yarn.) Using just that salvaged yarn, I was able to add five inches in length to the sweater. Here is my “new” Summer Solstice. (Forgive the poor quality of the photos; it is SO humid in Washington today that my camera lens kept fogging up when I went outside and it was very difficult to get any pictures.) You can see how much longer it is by looking at the hem in relation to the sleeves, even though I added an inch or so to them, too, as long as I was at it.

I think the difference in dye lots is virtually undetectable. Yay!

My other reclamation project was not a knitting one. A couple of years ago, I purchased a T-shirt meant to be worn as a tunic. I really love the color and the pattern on it, but it was too long. Too short — too long — why can’t anything ever be perfect? I had ordered this online so hadn’t been sure of the length when I bought it. It looked stupid. My sewing machine doesn’t have a serger, and I didn’t feel like spending more $$ on this thing.

Well, the other day I thought I’ll just cut it off and do a decorative hem by hand. It might work. And it did! I used an embroidery stitch in a thread color that I thought would work with the pattern.

We all know the most famous split personality: Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde…that is what I call my latest FO.  Do you want to go to the dark side or into the light??  YOU decide!

This is my Gradient Cowl — it is like getting two cowls in one!  I used 4 skeins of Shibui Silk Cloud, colors Clay, Honey, Grounds and Mineral:

From Left to Right above: Honey-Clay-Honey-Grounds-Mineral

It is as soft as the underbelly of a baby bunny and really nice on the shoulders when the air conditioning is set too cold!  I also want to make a blue –> green version.  It is really nice…except for grafting seed stitch with 3 strands of mohair.  Did not turn out well.

Update on World War Z — fantastic!  L O V E D it.  So scary, so realistic, great zombies, lots of action, great story line.  It did not seem very much like the book, but that’s okay I guess.  My adolescent male self rated it an A+!!!

I don’t want to step on Susan’s post (contrasting her two shawls, below) or hide it by doing anything too fancy here.  But it’s after midnight on the east coast, so even though she’s in Minnesota:

Happy Birthday, Susan!!!

Yes, it’s me!  I am back after travelling into the abyss that is know as the “High School Graduation Open House.”  Is this common in all of the U.S. or is this a Minnesota/Midwest phenomenon??  Egads.  But my open house is done and doner so I am feeling pretty footloose at the moment!

Okay, A Tale of Two Shawls.  As you may remember, I recently finished an Aranami Shawl in Brooklyn Tweed’s LOFT yarn.  My daughter loved it but preferred something lighter, so I decided to make her one — but in Cascade 220 Fingering (a misnomer if ever there was one: Cascade 220 is so named because it is the yardage of their worsted weight yarn 220 yds/100 grams; so what does that have to do with fingering weight yarn??!!??).

Anyway, I finally finished my second Aranami.  So boring.  And the second one to boot.  Quadruple boring (boring increases at a geometric rate).  I took both shawls to my knitting group and did a “blind taste test” – actually, I asked them to vote for their favorite: “If you had to choose one of these two shawls to keep as your very own, which one would it be?”

100% chose the $25 Cascade 220 Fingering version over the $72.50 LOFT version for both the look and the feel.

Here they are side by side (LOFT on the left, Cascade Fingering on the right):

The LOFT version has a browner tint.  The Cascade colors have sharper contrast: the bottom tiers are whiter, the top tier much darker.  There are also gauge differences, and I had to add a tier to the LOFT version for size.  Though I did not add a tier to the Cascade version, I did add a small amount of knitting to the top two tiers…described in detail on my Ravelry project page.

The Cascade yarn, thin as it is, has amazing strength.  I loved working with it and would highly recommend this yarn.

My current project is a copy of Sally’s Gradient Cowl – mine is in golds and browns.  Yowza, it is pretty yarn!!

PS – She loved it!! (and preferred the Cascade, given the choice – much drapier and lighter weight).

When Susan and I were at Yarnover, we both fell in love with a make-it-yourself necklace kit with wire, beads, and wire ribbon. The project is Falling Leaves, designed by Bev Pilarzyk. For me, wire knitting never turns out quite like it does for the “pros.” I’m not unhappy with my necklace, but it’s not as beautiful as the one I saw at Yarnover. Just sayin’.

On the other hand, I was able to make this in a quick afternoon, and it was fun to do something so different from what I usually knit. I’m not sure where I will wear it, though, which is my own issue and not the designer’s. It seems a little dressy for most of my activities. (Then again, getting dressed at all seems a little dressy for most of my activities.)

Here, though, is my little necklace. I knit four leaves as called for in the pattern, but I am showing it here with just two. (You can play around with how you want to wear it.) I apologize in advance for the poor quality of the photos.

I have at times referred to the dichotomy that I have going on in my brain: my middle-aged female self cohabiting with my adolescent male self.  These two personas co-exist in relative peace until “The Walking Dead” is showing opposite “Downton Abbey.”  In those battles, the adolescent male will always win! 😉

Imagine my excitement with the upcoming release of World War Z — a zombie apocalypse movie (score one for the adolescent male) starring Brad Pitt (oh yeah, baby!!).  Woo Hoo!!!

As a zombie-loving freak I will be at the first showing of this movie!!

In true zombie-loving, zombie-fighting style, I would like to share a new knitting pattern with you.  This design is supposed to replicate Beth’s hat in AMCs The Walking Dead, shown here in a poor screen-grab photo:

I couldn’t quite capture it exactly, but I came up with a cute alternative, modeled by my youngest:

The hat is called Beth’s Zombie Apocalypse Slouchy Hat and is available FREE on Ravelry!!  To quote the pattern page:

Be ready for the Zombie Apocalypse! This hat will allow you to make the best use of your stash. Because, let’s face it. After the ZA hits, where will you find a good yarn shop? And we know it is a practical accessory for fighting zombies – Beth on AMCs “The Walking Dead” has a hat just like it! Yes, this design is fashioned after Beth’s zombie-fighting hat.

Worked flat in garter stitch (with a twist!) and shaped with easy-to-do short rows, this hat can be adjusted to different yarns and sizes.

Pattern includes written out instructions (no charts), and diagrams.

It is free, so share it. We have to look after each other!

PS – I guess you can also wear it before the ZA…

The hat is very comfortable because it stretches to fit even my large head.  It can be adjusted to different sizes easily by adding a few sts, or adding a wedge.  I did this when I made a second hat for my older daughter using Madelinetosh DK.  Sorry, no pics!

So make one, share the pattern, go for it!  Like I said, we have to look out for each other!!

Hey, all!  I got back from Cape Coral, Florida (near Fort Myers) earlier this week after a really great weekend with ‘the girls’ (old girls, to be sure!!).  The house was fabulous:

Pools down there are surrounded by what they call a “pool cage,” the world’s best invention!  You can open up the house to the back yard and it is completely screened in!  The weather was perfect the entire trip: 80’s-90’s and sunny.

Our first stop was the Tropicaya (below) for lunch: authentic Cuban sandwiches.  What can I say?  It was the best sandwich I have ever eaten!!  The secret is Cuban bread.  My husband is a huge fan of The Cuban, so I immediately planned my strategy for getting a sandwich back to him.  It worked and we still have one of these delightful sandwiches in the freezer!

We did go on an airboat in the Everglades, even though it was well past the season for it.  Saw no gators there and very few birds, but we loved it just the same!  We did see a gator in a fresh water canal after leaving the Everglades tour, so it was well worth it!  My picture is too crappy to even see him.

Of course, we had to go to the beach:

Fort Myers Beach, photo taken from the pier

On our last evening, we dined near one of the canals on Pine Island and watched the sunset:

The day we left, we shopped a bit and swam in the gorgeous, saltwater swimming pool.  I did not take any knitting and I think that was a really smart thing to do.  It would have been distracting and it gave my hands a rest.

It was a great respite and a fun way to connect with old friends.  I have known these women for 40 years, and feel much closer to them now!  I see more travel in my future!

Susan recently said that I had finished three projects in one day.  It’s true.  But one was very small (I’ll share it another time), and the other is my own Pueblo Scarf.  You’ve seen it as I was working on it, and you’ve seen Susan’s.  So I won’t bore you with mine.  At least not right now.  Instead, I’ll share a quick and easy project that I love so much I’m sure I’ll make again (in different colors).

It’s a free pattern from Shibui Knits using their lovely Silk Cloud yarn, a beautiful lace weight of 60% mohair and 40% silk (330 yards in each 25 gram skein). It comes in absolutely luscious colors. Luscious.

The pattern is Gradient, so named because you gradually shift colors. The color transition is achieved by knitting three strands together and replacing one strand at a time with a new color.

The colors I used were Nude, Watermelon, Raspberry, and Bordeaux.

I knit it in just a few days and I’ve already worn it a lot. The bright colors make me happy, and it’s perfect to throw on when it’s a little chilly or when someone’s air conditioning is colder than I’d like. I definitely plan to knit another one in more wintry or fall colors.

I made mine about 45 inches long. I used almost all of the Watermelon and Raspberry; those middle colors are used in more transitions. I had a fair amount of Nude and Bordeaux left over.

P.S. I wanted to add that Susan and I are keeping those who have just suffered such tremendous losses in Oklahoma in our thoughts. I was born in Oklahoma, which is where our mother was from. The scope of the damage there is hard to understand.

I will be out of town for a few days — going to Florida with some of my peeps.  I will just be hanging out around a pool and maybe going on an airboat through the Everglades looking for gators!!!

I doubt I will be doing much knitting.  My hands and wrists have flared up a little bit and this may be the perfect excuse for a mini-break.  On the other hand, I can’t imagine not knitting on the plane OR when lounging poolside!

I do have a smallish project in mind.  One of my [cough::many::cough] purchases when Sally was here was the yarn for the Aranami Shawl by Olga Buraya-Kefelian.  If you buy just a little more, you can make two.  So that is what we did.  Olga shows hers knit in Brooklyn Tweed’s LOFT and The Yarnery in St. Paul is a new distributor of his yarns.  While in DC, this is the project I worked on and then finished shortly after getting home:

Aranami in LOFT

It’s cute, right?  But the yarn is a pain.  It is so fragile that it breaks doing the most mundane tasks: rolling it in a ball, pulling the yarn from said ball, picking up sts (which you do constantly in this project), sewing in ends (which you do constantly in this project)…well, you get the idea.  It did not happen every time, but I would not use this yarn again.  Which brings me to the next item.

On Mother’s Day, DD the eldest (my very knitworthy little pumpkin) saw the shawl and loved it and its Japanese vibe.  BUT, she did not like the look or feel of the yarn.  I went back the The Yarnery and bought Cascade 220 Fingering yarn in a similar array of colors.  The price differential is astounding: $5 vs $14.50!!  You need 5 colors and even though you only use small amounts of the first few tiers, you still have to buy a skein!!   $25 compared to $72.50.  The colors aren’t identical but I am fine with that 🙂 .

I have started it, but as I said, I am feeling discomfort when I knit (or do just about anything, to be honest!).  I leave tomorrow morning before dawn and will not know until then if the project comes with me or stays home… 🙁

PS – Deb asked which Cascade 220 Fingering yarns I am using:

8401 – natural
8010 – silver
8400 – charcoal
4002 – jet
8555 – black

The lightest color is whiter and the darkest is blacker than the version in LOFT.

PS2: Just adding this about LOFT — the above commentary is MY OPINION, and it is just an opinion.  Many knitters absolutely love LOFT and think it is amazing.  They put up with the fragility because of the colors, etc.  The Black Coal was the worst culprit for me so maybe I got a bad skein (?).  Anyway, even though I judged it harshly, you may want to see for yourself!!

…yet Surly has so much more!!  We were asked about the yarn we bought at our various knitting venues and I thought I would share a little of it today.  Every time I think I’ve got it all in the picture, I find another bag!  So this isn’t all of it, but most of it. 🙂

Pictures cannot really capture the depth and beauty of the colors and sheen.  I was very much sucked into the vortex by color.

1 – Sun Valley Fibers Merino-Cashmere-Silk 75/15/10 (400 yds) — from left to right my colors are Kent, Plum Crazy, and Strut Your Stuff.  Wow.  Just stunning.  I am thinking of using this trio for the “Color Affection” du jour:  Happy Street.

2 – Tess Designer Yarns Cascade Silk (100% silk) — no color name but a beautiful denimy blue.  I see this with beads in my own Sweet Dreams (like Sally’s).

3 – Fiesta’s La Boheme in color 153 Sugar Cane — I L-O-V-E this yarn for cowls.  They add a pop of color and style to my otherwise drab wardrobe!!

4 – Persimmon Tree Farm 100% Fine Mohair 550 yds — this very small producer caught my eye with a yarn that glowed copper.  Stunning color.  Will probably make Imagine When because it takes slightly more yardage than you get in a typical fingering skein (500 yds).

5 – Knit Circus Greatest of Ease Sock in color Fire Bird (460 yds) — another small dyer and stunning color.  Generous yardage, too!  She also has pairs of matching half skeins for making socks!

6 – The Grinning Gargoyle Seda Sock Merino/Silk 50/50 430 yds — another indie dyer.  I bought her yarn last year for my Color Affection and had to go back for more!  The two colors have no designated projects as yet.  The real show stopper was her 100% mink laceweight.  It was flying off the shelves!!

My knitting basket runneth over!  And there is more that will be revealed along the way.  I am in love with everything I bought.  I guess it is better than gambling away my mortgage or other unproductive activities!  😉

PS: Twinsetellen asks, “I keep telling myself it is a less expensive addiction than drugs or gambling.  It is, isn’t it?”  Hmmm.  Not sure.  😉