theraineysisters knitting and so much more

We’ve all had knitting misadventures and I am no exception.  With my recent flop, I attempted to make lemonade out of this lemon!

Last week was Minnesota Shop Hop.  My peeps and I not only visited all 12 shops on the list, but two others as well!  Money was spent, let me tell you!  The theme was Under the Sea, and each shop featured a hand-dyed yarn used in 1-2 patterns.  One of my favorites was the shawl at StevenBe’s –the Undersea Adventures Châle in color Neptune sang my siren song!  Before you could say, “What’s a Châle?” I had jumped on that thing!!  Châle is French for shawl.  Here you see Neptune himself standing next to le Châle in question:

I started the shawl immediately — loved the colors so much and the yarn is a dream.  But my shawl was a horrific flop:

The shape was completely unacceptable!  I don’t really know what happened.  The original sample seemed fine!!  I could have started it over and “fixed” it, but if that didn’t work, I’d have to fix it again.  The thought exhausted me.  So I opted for a cowl.  I thought it a safe choice.

My cowl was also a flop: too wide, too long, too everything!  But it did seem to ALMOST have the shape of a capelet.  So I cut off the purple top section, reknit it to be smaller around, and voilà.  The Undersea Adventures Capelet was born!

I love the sheer sections!  I changed some of the stitches and added a crocheted scallop hem.

I haven’t worn it yet, as it is straight off the blocking board, but I think it will be a really pretty summer accent piece.  I still love le Châle, but it just wasn’t in les jeux de cartes.

PS to Chloe: Thank you for your interesting comment.  And depressing. 🙁  Steven IS wearing a Sophie Scarf!

PS2 to Millie: Here’s what I did, with the fingering weight yarn alone:

Round 1: slip 1 WYIB, kf&b

Round 2: slip 1 WYIF, p2tog tbl

PS3 to Lisa RR: I don’t believe this was the typical “hump” problem that I have encountered and fixed on many shawls in the past.  I think the increase ratio is insufficient.  Crescent shawls usually have 6 incs every 2 rows, (4 RS, 2 WS) at the beg/end of the rows.  This pattern only has 4 (2 RS, 2 WS).  But I didn’t really feel like testing my theory and not having it work!  And the original had a small hump, per usual, not the Mount Everest shape I was getting! Maybe I’ll try again later?

I love my Slouchy Five-Stripe Hat — so much so that I decided to knit up a spring version!  I got the yarn at a BeWoolen “Lock In.”  These popular events literally fill up in minutes!  They run for 4-5 hours and include a meal, prize drawings, and show & tell.  Last time I received two skeins of String Yarns Amalfi in Mulberry and Sea Pink.  My first thought?  A Slouchy Five -Stripe in two colors instead of five.

Here is the original hat:

It is BUTTER soft, which you cannot tell from the picture.  Here is the spring-time version:

Again, butter soft.  I had enough yarn left over to make a pair of mitts.  I Frankensteined my Drizzle Mitts cuff to a Baby Fan mitt:

Ready in time for the transition to spring!!

PS — Thanks for favoriting Pagan Sky!  You put me WAY over!!!

Sometimes a project calls to you!  This little (and I do mean LITTLE) bag spoke.  It is the Baggu Pouch designed by Beatrice Mase.  There are two sizes — 6×6 inches and 8×6 inches.  This is the small one, which I knit as a shop sample for BeWoolen.  I also plan on knitting a larger bag for myself.

Yes, it looks like the bag is wearing a pair of panties — but a cute pair of panties!!  I am waiting for the metal purse frame, shown in the prototype here, for my larger bag:

I do get obsessed sometimes!!

PS — This is a shameless, self-serving request!!  If you haven’t already done so, could you go into Ravelry and “heart” my Pagan Sky Cardigan?  I need one more “like” to have the most liked project!