Beachcomber

I like to read jaykayknits blog and I recently stumbled on an article where she mentionned the Sidewalk to Seashore collection by Chelsea Berkompas. I instantly fell in love with the Beachcomber shawl : her colours were just gorgeous!

I wanted to cast on right away, so I picked the Katia Linen we had in store in the three colours available. This is an unusual choice of colours for me, almost too classic. I'm more attracted to vibrant colours, but this turned out real nice. 

The process was thoroughly enjoyable. And stripes make for one very addictive knit. You always want to get to that other colour.

The construction of this asymmetrical shawl was really interesting and I have to keep it in mind as future reference. It's so versatile.

I actually messed up the last lace repeat somehow but decided there was no way I would "tink" or pull of my needle at this point. Let's pretend it's an esthetic choice. ;)

And how about this picot bind off?! It takes forever but is so worth it. Every time!

Summer cardigans

I felt couragous enough to wear my cardigans in the heat wave and coax my boyfriend into taking pictures of me in the backyard!

The first one is my Liesl. A pattern by Ysolda Teague that can be adjusted and customized in many ways.

I can't believe I waited so long to finish it. It was missing a sleeve and a half, a short car ride away from being done! I left it in the basement for many months and then got scared of moths. So I put it in the sun to scare out any bugs. Phew!

It's such a practical little piece. And it's super quick to knit with the large gauge and feathers and fans motif. I'd like to own one that is more of a shrug and made out of wool. This yarn is nice compromise... being 50/50 organic cotton and wool. It's perfect to layer over a cute summer dress when the nights get more fresh.

The second is a Miette cardigan by Andi Satterlund. I made mine with the same yarn, same needles, and pretty much followed the pattern, but somehow ended up with more stitches when separating for sleeves. 

Then I made my way to the second size for the body and the fit is awesome, so yay for happy mistakes! Sometimes you just have to trust your instincts and go with the little flaws, especially while camping and knitting with a frontal flashlight! ;)

I'm thrilled with my button choice. Little red dots on light green is so cute!

I highly recommend these two patterns. They are both easy to follow/customize and produce some truly awesome pieces.

Westy fever : the sequel!

You know I mentionned last week that my Exploration Station was almost done, but for the chevrons?

Well, I figured the smart thing to do was to bring only this project in my bag to work on Friday, so that I would push through and not cheat!

It was a success and I was able to block it during the weekend. I am now the proud owner of this giant shawl (almost blanket big!) : 

Exploration Station by Stephen West

The process was great. A little long at times, but the stitch patterns evolved steadily. I'm happy to say that I used only stash yarn for this one. I'm on a roll baby!

This is the highlight of this FO. I love each and every one of these colours! Let's look at them up close...

 We have some Riverside Studio MCN in this deep semisolid yellow...

 

A rich grapey purple from Cephalopod Yarns...

 A soft Sand Dune beige with a beautiful halo of alpaca...

And last, but not least, Poivre colour by Julie Asselin.

Can't wait to wear this shawl when the weather cools down!

Westy fever!

Zoée and I are quite fond of Stephen West's patterns. He is bold and ingenious in his designs. They keep you interested throughout the whole process with colours, textures, construction and techniques.

Two weeks ago, I decided to follow her tracks and we started this mini-kal when I joined her for an Exploration Station. It's almost done now and I just have to push through the last section of Chevrons Shenanigans! - my boyfriend's all time favourite word in english! ;)

We then started talking about using our leftovers for a Parachutey. So we brought our stash yarn to the store and went through the colours to pick an ensemble. Mine was pretty rainbowy, whereas Zoée's was more subdued.

Zoée shared our stashes

As you can see on my project page, I mostly used Julie Asselin yarn, all leftovers from various projects! I'm so glad I was able to do some stashbusting.

Parachutey by Stephen West

But, the front panel weights only 65 g, so I still have a lot left! The only yarn I purchased, was the Baby Alpaca Lace in a creamy colour, and used about 40 g. This tank is super light and airy!

I think this is one of my favourite knit to date! I might need one in a solid colour...

Turning old WIPs into FOs!

I sometimes wonder if I have an ADHD knitting disorder. My attention span can be pretty short with some projects. Or maybe I just get bored easily... 

This  is where I usually just throw the piece in a basket, bag or whatever device used to store WIPs and cast on something else. Classic polygamous knitter's move!

The downside is, of course, that if you repeat this little pattern on a regular basis, you end up with loads of UFOs in your living room.

The upside is, every once in a while, you can search for those UFOs and get the satisfaction of quickly finishing a project that is well under way.

In the past few weeks, I was able to retrieve three scarves / shawls and get to the blocking point. Voilà :

Delovely shawlette by Clara Beauty

The yarns I used are both Julie Asselin. The green one is Fino in the Henry colourway. A soft and squishy merino, cashmere, silk blend.

 

The multicoloured purple one is Piccolo in the Nebula colourway. A sock yarn that works very well for shawls too. Project page here. 

Spectra by Stephen West

This is the perfect pattern to showcase a nice gradient colour or like in this case, a long coloured striped yarn. The one I used is Lang Mille Coloris paired with a neutral Heritage sock yarn. I have a lot of the Mille Coloris left, so I might weight it to see if I can produce another one. Project page here.

The short rows are very easy to memorize, which makes this a good project to carry around. A few rows = 1 wedge.

 

Fringes!

Sweet November Knit Shawl by Caryl Pierre

I was inspired by SpiderWomanKnits (she has some beautiful projects there!) when I decided to cast on this shawl. I can't remember if it was last year or two years ago! Poor little brain.

I'm super happy with the result and would now like one in linen as well.

Purplish at Pompon

One of the things that really slows the process of blogging, for me, is the photoshoot. I may not be the worst with a camera, but I'm no expert and I'll settle for a few good pics if the light is okay. 

But. When it comes to taking photos of me wearing the newest FO, I have to ask - pretty please - the boyfriend to oblige. And I know he does not enjoy. He is such a talented artist, who can pull off about anything, but photography is just not his strong suit. Or maybe it's just that he doesn't care for it. Which makes him even more wonderful when he agrees to participate... I know he's always proud of me for pushing through the many projects.

Today I gave him a break from the job and asked Zoée* to be the photographer.

I had not one, but two new cardigans off the needles!  

First one is the second Rililie Design that I knitted, the BlueSand Cardigan.

BlueSand Cardigan by La Maison Rililie

  

I mentioned this cardigan in a previous post, when I blogged about the Dessine-moi un mouton. I was saying how it was a lot of stockinette stitch. Well, I felt a little bad afterward, since I got to the short rows and texture. And speaking of texture...

Look at those! And the stripes in the lining of the pockets, and the little contrast colour making an appearance right before the ribing of the neckband. So pretty. Again, I'm amazed by the attention to details that make such a difference.

Second project to be photograph was my Vitamin D.

Vitamin D by Heidi Kirrmaier

Also a great piece. The radial eyelet increases work really well and make a good fit. I'm also happy with my yarn choice. The Serena gives a very nice drape, plus the combination of baby alpaca and pima cotton is just warm enough for breezy summer nights. I need more of this yarn.

Lumpy Space (finally!)

I started knitting this shawl last summer (almost a year ago) with stash yarn. But it was way too busy for me and the Noro piece in the center made it really ugly (to my taste anyway). So I frogged the whole thing and used bits and pieces for a real crazy Enchanted Mesa that I have yet to photograph and that contains a rainbow array of colours, all from stash yarn!

But back to this Lumpy Space... I started an another one during fall, but then again, got stuck to a place where adding a new colour made the shawl look like candy. So I put it aside. 

Then I found myself clearing the yarn and project space of my living room and decided to put the various UFOs in bags and boxes (recycling these). This actually encouraged me to finish a few of them! For instance, I picked up my BlueSand Cardigan and just kept on knitting. Same for my Vitamin D. Now if only I could take some time to photograph it all! Meh, I'll get around to it now that I'm officially on holiday.

I took my half done Lumpy to the store and picked the colour to make it perfect. Thanks mom for your good eye for colours! ;)

This is what happened : 

Lumpy Space by Stephen West

I didn't block it yet, hence the wrinkled look. But it's already big enough, so no need to stretch it for now! Here's a full view :

And a funny picture with my dog sneaking in the back!

One of my favourite element on the shawl, is the gradient set I used. It's Julie Asselin' s Leizu Fingering in the Manoir colourway. I love it with the Sand Dune colour of the picot bind off.

More on the other projects real soon and happy Saint-Jean-Baptiste to all Quebecers out there!