Knitting Projects

This was the other set of yarn that I bought at my LYS last week. They had this pretty cowl sample setting out in the store and I was immediately smitten with it. I went in search of the yarn for it only to find that it was actually a combination of two types of yarn, Debbie Bliss cashmerino superchunky and Nashua Handknits Ivy. The resulting fabric is plush, soft and a little bit sparkly. (Obviously I knit this in the wrong season...I was overheating in this picture. The cowl is really plush and warm. It will be great in Michigan winters!)

Details:

Yarn: 3 balls Debbie Bliss cashmerino superchunky (teal blue) and 2 balls Nashua Handknits Ivy (blue teal)
Pattern: The Patty Lane Cowl: Cast on 31 stitches with size 15 needles using the provisional cast-on. Knit 27 inches of
seed stitch. Twist to form moebius and then graft end and beginning of
cowl with the Kitchener stitch.
Rav link: craftr's Patty Lane Cowl

My next project on the needles is a striped vest for Jon (like this one at throughtheloops). I'm using the extra two balls of Cascade 220 in Satine left over from my Central Park Hoodie and two more balls of Cascade 220 in a brown heather. I just discovered the value of The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns and am using the recipe in the book to make a custom fit vest for Jon.

I'm trying to teach myself how to knit continental style to hopefully improve my knitting speed. I did all of the stripes in the vest continental style, but it's so much more comfortable for me to knit English style. Should I stick it out learning continental style with this mindless stockinette or should I stick with what I know and like?

Preppy Quilt

I can finally stop making quilts for a while now that the last of my unfinished quilts is complete! Yay! I definitely need a break from my sewing machine for a while now. It seems like I've been free motioning for the last week straight and sewing on bindings like there's no tomorrow.

I switched up my normal stippling routine for this quilt and freehanded rows of loops instead, à la glittergoods.

I went with lime green for the binding and hot pink for the background and I really like how all of the colors contrast with the navy blue. I think this is my favorite quilt so far this year. It's just so bright and cheery and fun!

Dolores Park Cowl

Well, my lenten shopping freeze ended ended almost two weeks ago and have I got the packages and yarn coming in to prove it. This project was the result of the visit to one of my favorite local yarn shops, ...have you any wool?. I stopped in the store because I had 10 minutes to spare before a doctor's appointment (gosh, I've got no self control, do I?) and came out with yarn for two projects.

_{(a multi-tasker at heart...talking with Catherine, while taking a picture. Hi Cathy!)}

I knit this cowl on Saturday and I loved working with Malabrigo for the first time. Because I bought the worsted version, I just double the yarn for the pattern and I left out two rows. I ended up having about 6 inches of yarn leftover, so it was a good thing I did.

Here are the details:
Pattern: Dolores Park Cowl
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted
Color: 92 Little Lovely
Needles: Size 13
Rav link: craftr's dolores park cowl

Flock of Triangles Quilt

In keeping with the spirit of Spring to the Finish, I am cranking through all of the WIPs hanging out at my house. Last night I finished sewing the binding on my latest quilt, Flock of Triangles, from the Denyse Schmidt Quilts book.

I love how this quilt turned out...the colors are so fresh and springy and cheerful, not to mention the adorable designs on the fabric (Jay McCarroll Garden Friends).

The quilt is about 70"x70" and it is trying to squeeze itself into the mass of quilts around my house...I will find a home for it somewhere in here!

Mod Sampler Quilt

I finished up my Mod Sampler Quilt last night. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you step away from the computer and actually get to work (thanks, Carissa!).

The finished size is about 52" x 60", although I haven't measured since I completed it. This was my first time doing a pattern on the backing of a quilt and I love how it turned out.

I'm also joining Jacquie's Spring to Finish challenge this month. At the time I signed up for the challenge, I had 6 WIPs to finish this month. Since then, I've finished up the Mod Sampler Quilt and Lynn's block for Common Threads. Now I've got two knitting projects and two more quilts to finish up before the end of April. I love crossing things off my never-ending crafting to do list. Wish me luck!

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Amy's hosting a Blogger's Quilt Festival this week and I wanted to join in, so here's my "favorite" quilt I've made so far.

Plain Spoken Quilt

This is the quilt that started the quilting bug for me, even though I made it two years after I made my first quilt. When I was first starting to quilt, I was obsessively checking out the Modern Quilt Along over at Dioramarama, and I was totally smitten with the weewonderfuls version of the quilt.

Fast forward to last fall...I finally got up the nerve to attempt matching all of those corners and to mimic the quilting pattern from the book and here it is! I love all the bright colors in this quilt. It has been so cheery to see during this long cold winter.

P.S. I couldn't pick just one quilt to be my favorite, though. Here are links to my other favorites so far:

Stitchette Quilt  :  Big Zig Quilt  :  Handkerchief Corners Quilt  : 
Charm Square Quilt

Isar Scarf

I fell in love with this Colinette Jitterbug at a yarn store this past winter and had to have it. I had originally planned on making a Clapotis with the yarn. The yarn pools really splotchy in the Clapotis I saw made with this colorway, so I changed plans and made this scarf instead.

It's a crochet project and I can only officially crochet granny squares, so it was a bit tricky starting this scarf. Once I got the hang of things and figured out the pattern, it was really simple to make. This scarf is actually similar to the granny square because it only uses double crochet and chain stitches.

I think that I might only crochet scarves from now on. This was a quick project and really ate up the yarn at an alarming rate...a great stash buster!

Pattern: Isar Scarf by Julia Visconsin
Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug, Toscana - 2 skeins
Hook: 4.0 mm (G)
Rav link