Spring is in the air!

When I saw this pattern in Knockout Knits, I was immediately diving through my stash to find the perfect yarn.  I choose a laceweight yarn and adjusted the gauge to fit the pattern, and it turned out beautiful. 

I wanted a lace shrug for this Spring, something to keep me cozy but feel free in that warmth, this patter fit that perfectly.

I knitted this pretty darn fast, but the FO pics, took forever, and then just posting them took forever.  I have worn this a few times already, and keep it folded nicely in view because it looks so pretty.

I'm rather choosy these days for my projects, I like to aim for complex or outside the lines patterns, and this was a nice one, not difficult, but not your typical construction.  Laura is so helpful too, with any questions  on her patterns, that was awesome. 

Here are the final FO pics...

Pattern: Quadro Convertible Shrug
Yarn: Araucania Trauco

Started: 1/11/15
Finished: 1/31/15

Notes: Used laceweight yarn; errata fixed by Laura Nelkin; all notes can be viewed on my Raverly project page here.

I've got a few more things in the works, progress is being made, I'll post as I have time, which can be hard, but I'm excited for each day that gets closer.

I wish we had more rain, the drought is saddening, but I guess until then, we can all enjoy the warmth of Spring.  Happy Spring!!

For the love of knitting

As the title of this post indicates, I'm still passionate about knitting just as much as when I first learned to knit several years ago.   Even with my busy schedule, I've now finally learned to manage my knitting time, and get completed FO's.  One recent FO in particular I'd like to share, is a test knit I completed for Kirsten Kapur, designer of Through The Loops patterns.  I'm am a huge fan and follower of Kirsten's because she always designs very beautiful patterns and out of all the designers I've knit from, her patterns are always clear, concise, and very well structured.

Here is Montrachet, knit with yarn from my stash, which I'm happy to say is shrinking, as I've been really good about using my stash lately!  I have a number projects in the works this year, so please do stop by and check in to see what those are as I'll be posting them to my blog.  I know the blogging universe isn't as visible present day with all the Facebook and Instagram feeds, but I'll be using my personal site as the primary release of things to come.  Happy New Year everyone!  Thank you to those that visit my blog, and please do drop a comment if you can, I'd love to hear from you!

Pattern: Montrachet
Yarn: Hazel Knits Artisan Sock Yarn in Nickel, Wool Candy Meringue Merino Sock in Lucy.

Started: 11/21/14
Finished: 12/11/14

Dimensions: Approx. 12-13 inches deep x 65' wide

Notes: None

FOs Revisited

Over the past week I've been cleaning up a few items and revisited my former released pattern "Aztec" hat.

It was so funny because I actually lost the original file I had for this pattern and wound up going to Ravelry and downloading the pattern.  I printed it out and reviewed it, realizing that I wasn't at all satisfied.  I wasn't satisified with the pattern publishing or the crown decreases.

So I followed my pattern instructions step-by-step, pulled out my red pencil, and cast on.  I re-knitted my FO and also changed the crown decreases so the pattern flows nicely into the crown shaping.

I updated the pattern via the Ravelry store and also added it as a new pattern to Crafsty too.  This pattern is free and it is a rather fast knit, even more so if you can knit cables w/out a cable needle.  I thank myself each time I do a cable project that I learned that trick many years ago. 

Aside from the crown decreases I also changed the pattern publishing to make it more formal, space saving, and columned.  I also added a new logo.

Goin through some of my FOs I found the lovely February Baby Sweater that I had knit so long ago for Lil' Nenille, and sadly never finished it, then came Isabella, and I took too long to give this to her, so I ended up with a lovely knit sweater but nobody for it to fit.  Then came Emma, and yes!  It fitted her just right with room to grow.

She was so sweet to model for me. 

Now onto finishing up edits on another pattern, and then to swatch for a new one, very excited about this one.  Can't wait to start sharing some of these new patterns.

Enjoy your Monday!

Stitches West 2012 Recap

What a crazy weekend!  Helped out Suzi, who owns the Knitting Ranch, at Stitches West this past weekend.  Also there was Marisol, who was also helping out Suzi, we took some pictures, I'll have to steal them from her and share later.  It was crazy busy, and I got to see all of Suzi's wonderful yarns, from Evento a visibly luscious Virgin wool/Cotton blend, you won't believe how soft this yarn is!  And there's Heichi, a 100% silk blend, feels really cool and soft to touch, and Alta Moda Cashmere, need I say more?

And first time ever, I left Stitches with NO YARN or FIBER in hand.  I'm still thinking twice about that, but I found a different way to enable myself this time round.

Yes, got my first Offhand Designs Bag, he's a beauty.

This is the Scottie Adelaide, and it's luscious.  It is big, not crazy big, but its mine!

Another gorgeous one I left with is from Atenti, just all around a sexy bag!

This the Doctor Madrid, just plain gorgeous.  I also tried to find an Overnighter in Cowgirl Black but they were sold out, although I made a wee bit of a friend there and I'll be getting my hands on one very soon.  For the interim, I satisfied my love for the Cowgirl Black with this one.

This is Cosmo in Cowgirl Black, look at the soft furryness, and that awesome Cowgirl Black.  Can't wait 'til I get my Overnighter.

That's it for the bags, also got me a few key books.

From top clockwork, Knitted Jackets by Cheryl Oberle, signed by Cheryl herself.  She is so nice, enjoyed chatting with her about bees.  One pattern in particular in this book is Cusco, need to find me the perfect yarn for this one.  Next is Coastal Knits, so many patterns in this one, a fave of mines is the Gnarled Oak cardi.  Next up are 2 Ysolda pattern books that I picked up at Ysolda's booth where she was graciously signing her books and had the cutest photo booth.  Here's the picture I took with Ysolda.  She had on her gorgeous red dress.

I had a great time this year, definitely more eventful than last years, and I'm not upset about walking away with no yarn, I have more than enough yarn to keep me knitting for a long time, but actually my taste in yarn has been rapidly changing, and I've been focusing more on some important personal patterns that I've been editing, so I'm not too too worried about not picking up some yarn there.

I'll leave you with a long awaited FO, this was originally the Stop, Drop, & Weave scarf (weave for weaving in some novelty fiber), but I choose to not weave the fiber, it wasn't really to my liking.  This scarf had been done for years, just needed ends woven and blocking.  Finally got around to it. 

This week has been crazy busy at work and at home.  Enjoy!

~Rocky

The Mystery is solved!

Finished my SusannaIC January Mystery shawl! 

While the colors weren't my FIRST choice, I'm actually loving it!   Even more thankful I had a top to wear with it to properly show off the colors.

Pattern: SusannaIC January Mystery Shawl by SusannaIC
 Yarn: Herron by Yarn Pirate
Started: 1/11/1
Finished: 2/13/12
Mods: None