FO Friday 96: Shawla-Palooza

Whimsical Tarot

So while I have been quiet, I have also been industrious, and completed 3 shawls. I have been experimenting with half-circle shawls, and either I have got way quicker at knitting, or the patterns are very easy, or half-circles are quicker than triangular shawls, or there has been a rift in the space-time continuum. Or perhaps a combination of all of the above. 

Anyway, here are the results:

The Celestial Shawl, using Crazy Zauberball in the colorway 'Cloud 7'.

And the 'Slice of Autumn/Spring' Shawl, which I re-named 'A Slice of Summer' as this olive colorway of Crazy Zauberball reminds me of leaves in high summer:

And last, but certainly not least, my 'Summer Flies' made from the YarnAddict Supreme Sock Yarn (50%merino, 50% silk) in the colorway 'Dream Blue' gifted to me by my friend Steph, modelled by it's recipient, my niece on her 21st birthday:

You may remember having seen this yarn before; now it's unrecognizable as the same one. Thank goodness. 

I am really pleased with all of them, and am very likely to make them again: quick, easy, pretty knits. Hop on over to Tami's Amis to see more loveliness ....

WIP Wednesday 99: Pebbles Galore

Tarot of a Moon Garden

So if you read my friend Steph's blog, you'll see some pictures of the beach at Aldeburgh. Yesterday after school it was hot and sometimes sunny, so we went to the beach at Felixstowe, where we picnicked, Mini Diva swam in the sea, Destructo Boy played with the waves, and - bonus - DH turned up to the amazement of all except me, who knew he would be back in time.

Anyway, as you can see, Aldeburgh is not the Champeen of Pebble Beaches, Old Felixstowe is; I promise it is not some random pile of stones, the sea really is just over yonder:

And just to show you, here is the white sail of a boat on the sea:

Of course, the plus side of pebbles vs. sand is that you can knit without worry of granular contamination; so I did. And I am 64 rows into the Celestial Half-Circle Shawl, using the 'Cloud 7' colorway of Crazy Zauberball; it's purty, isn't it ? 

I just need to find that they do this yarn in a peachy/russet/cream colorway, and I would be on cloud 7. Yes, OK, so I know it should be cloud 9, but that wouldn't have worked ... There are lots more pretty things to see over at Tami's Amis ....

Next, Please !

Hanson-Roberts Tarot

So today I had a To Do list with 10 items on it, and I have already completed 8 of them - without having to cheat: I didn't even put 'eat lunch' on there. And number 9 is to blog, which I'm doing right this minute.

One of the items on my list was to wash and block the 'Summer Flies Shawl', which I finished yesterday; I still love the yarn, and the pattern is a nice quick knit, but it would not have been as successful or enjoyable without thetanull's modifications to make it larger. 

As it goes, I added the extra section of butteflies and eyelets, but only 10 rows of the Knotted Openwork section, and 8 rows of the ruffle before I did the Picot Edge bind-off. And that left me with this:

Which is some tiny amount that most definitely would not have stretched to one more row. This is what's known as 'cutting it fine'. But anyway, it is washed and blocking as we speak, so there might be FO pictures come Friday.

Of course, although I finished knitting that yesterday evening, I couldn't cast on my next project right away, as first I had to squirm and suffer through England's penalty shootout defeat to Italy, and then console a very upset Destructo Boy. 

But as all my chores for today are done, I have printed out the beginning instructions for Wendy Johnson's Mystery Summer Solstice Shawl KAL - although I am not certain of which yarn I'll use yet - and also found a nice semi-circle shawl pattern called 'Celestial Shawl' that I think the 'Cloud 7' Crazy Zauberball will be just right for. So I'll be casting on at least one of these tonight when I watch the new episode of 'Grimm'.