Spring KAL Update

The last few weeks have been jam-packed for us. My brother in law got married, I finished my first class towards my master's degree in Accounting, my in-laws came to visit, we celebrated Jake's birthday, and we had a big family brunch for Mother's Day. So it goes without saying that there hasn't been a whole lot of knitting going on. But I'm still hard at work on the Spring KAL, and the end is sight.

I was able to start on the lattice portion of the top after what seemed like a never ending stockinette section. I actually wanted the stockinette section to be longer, but I ran out of yarn, so hopefully blocking will add some length. Now I just hope I don't run out of yarn for the lattice section - working with discontinued colors sure is tedious!

The weather has finally turned Spring-like for good this week, so I've been enjoying some outdoor knitting time the last couple of days. I usually soak up the afternoon sun on our terrace, which is just exploding with new growth right now. It's the perfect place to relax.

This time of year is always exciting to me. Since I work for the school district, Summer break is just a few long short weeks away, and I'm extremely excited. This year's been long and stressful, and I am really looking forward to having some down time. Jake and I are already discussing a summer backpacking trip, and I can't wait to get out into the mountains and hike around. It's been too long!

 

Anticipation

I'm getting so excited to cast on for the Spring KAL on Wednesday. I've done a gauge swatch, organized my yarn, and planned out the mods I want to make. I'm using two strands of lace weight yarn held together, so my gauge was a little off, but I've done the math to accommodate. I really like the fabric my swatch created, so I decided to stick with the smaller needles.

Using inspiration from the amazing spring colors surrounding me, I'm going bold with this top, and I think it's going to be fabulous.

The yarn is Knit Picks Shadow, which is more yarn that I've had for a good 4 years - so long, in fact, that the colors are no longer available (so let's hope I don't run out!). I especially love the subtle tones in these yarns - something the camera isn't good at picking up. The purple has tones of blue and pink, while the coral has beautiful hints of yellow, and I think the two yarns really accent each other nicely. 

I've been trying to surround myself with fresh flowers since we have so many in the yard right now, but since we have two curious kitties, and it seems that most flowers are poisonous to them, I've had to keep them outside on the terrace. This definitely isn't a bad thing - I'm looking forward to enjoying them while I sit out there and knit, basking in the sweet Spring sunshine!

Annis

I finished and blocked my Annis shawl today, and am excited to cast on something new, which is a great sign that things are coming around for me on the knitting front.

I bought this yarn about 4 years ago when I was first getting into knitting lace, and before I figured out that super variegated yarn isn't really my thing. I was a little concerned while knitting this that pooling was going to be a problem, but as I was pinning it down for blocking, I was very happy to see that the pooling wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be.

This was a fun little pattern - and I still can't believe how much it grew! I was worried about it being too small the entire time I was working on it, but it's the perfect size for wrapping up in. I made this for my brother in law's wedding at the beginning of May - it just happened to match my bridesmaid dress perfectly!

You can see the pooling better in these photos, but when it's on it's not as bad. 

I made a few mods to give mine a little more size. After all the short rows were finished, I knitted about 20 rows so that my shawl would have more depth, and then 2 rows before I bound off, I did a row of YO, k2tog to try and prevent any curling. I really like the way the eyelets look at the top of the shawl.

{ravelry}

It's amazing how refreshed I feel after finishing a project. I'm ready and excited to cast on for something new - or maybe even finish up a few lingering works in progress before the spring KAL starts! How's your spring knitting going?

Spring KAL

In an effort to try and get some knitting inspiration back, I've decided to join in on the Spring Tops, Tanks, & Tees knit along with Shannon and her gang. There are so many great patterns to choose from, but I've decided on Purl Bee's Cap Sleeve Lattice Top.

I've got the yarn all picked out, and I'm excited to get started. I actually cast on for this little top last summer, but my gauge was way off, so I ripped it all out. I'm planning to do an actual gauge swatch this time (gasp!), and think it's going to be a wonderful addition to my spring and summer wardrobe!

I haven't knit a stitch this week - instead I've been soaking in all the gorgeous weather we've been having, and letting the color surrounding me inspire me. The yarn I've picked for my top will include some of the gorgeous Spring colors that seemed to have exploded over the past few days.

Hop over to Shannon's blog to sign up to knit your own Spring top!

Tidepool

After I posted about my lack of inspiration, I remembered I had a FO to share! I finished this just a few weeks ago, and it's been worn already quite a few times. It's so luxurious - one strand silk and one strand mohair held together to create a lovely shawl with a beautiful sheen and underbelly-fur-of-a-kitty soft feel (you kitty owners out there know what I'm talking about). I've mostly been wearing it as a scarf, but I love how versatile it is.

 

I really appreciated your comments on how to find my knitting inspiration again. Following Michelle's advice, I wrote down the pattern for this sweet scarf/shawl/wrap, and have added it to Ravelry as a free download. You can also download it here, using the link at the bottom of this post. I really love the way this stitch pattern looks, and think it would look great in all different yarn weights (the pattern has instructions to help if you want to do this). This pattern is a really simple, beginner pattern - a 4 row repeat that's easy to memorize. I've got a few other patterns rolling around in my head (remember Hemmed? I planned on doing an entire e-book based off that theme, and still do - but it'll be released in the fall. Anyone want to test knit the hat?), but for now I think I'm going to push through, finish my shawls, and then take Cassy's advice and let the yarn inspire me.

 

download now

April Fool

Guys, it's April. How did that happen? I really love the months of April and May - so full of new life, and beautiful color. Since we're starting our entire garden from seed this year, I've already been able to see a little of that new life on a daily basis. It's been just amazing to see the little seedlings poke their heads through the dirt. 

Although in knitting terms, I seem to be turning into an April fool. I can't seem to concentrate on a project for more than a couple of days before I'm bored with it and want to start something new. I don't know what it is. I just seem to be feeling uninspired and I can't figure out why. I've got two shawls on the needles and it's almost painful every time I go to knit either of them. I'm almost through with the lace portion of Annis, and I'm hoping once I have it finished and blocked, I'll have a little bit of my inspiration back. Sometimes all it takes is finishing a project, so maybe I just need to forge on, just like my little seedlings.

How do you get your knitting inspiration back? I need help!

Spring Break?

I'm currently on Spring break, or "second Winter break" as I like to call it. Why would I call it that? 

We left last Friday to head up to my in-law's house in Virginia. Sunday, it started snowing, and we woke up to this lovely scene Monday. We came back to Asheville Tuesday, but the weather has hardly been spring like. It snowed on and off all day Tuesday, and almost all of Wednesday morning. So what I do I do when it's cold outside and I'm wishing for Spring? I start knitting another lace shawl!

I'm currently also about 60% through with a version of Cold Mountain, but needed a little break from it. My brother in law is getting married in May, so I thought I'd whip up something to wear at the reception with my bridesmaid dress. This yarn I had in my stash just happened to match perfectly, so I decided to go with Annis, which will hopefully be a quick little shawl to knit. It's knit from the bottom up, so it gets smaller the further into it you get. There are also only 18 rows of lace, and then the rest of the shawl is worked in stockinette stitch and short rows. I'm hoping to have this one done in no time!

I've also started some seeds inside to get a jump start on our garden. We're going to have lots more garden space this year, and we're both extremely excited to grow lots of yummy veggies!

We've got lots of lettuce mix, swiss chard, red russian kale, green kale and red cabbage started, and plan to put spinach in the ground in the next few weeks (if it ever warms up, that is).

I'll leave you with some more photos of our Winter/Spring snow wonderland. It certainly was gorgeous! Is it warm where you are, or is Old Man Winter over staying his welcome for you too?

(I particularly love this last one - my father in law and I had just gotten into quite the snowball fight!)