End of Green

End of the Green month -- on to Blue.

Anne Socks

As one last project for the month of Green, I have a start on a pair of socks. The yarn for these socks is a Schaeffer yarn called Anne -- 60% merino superwash wool, 25% mohair, 15% nylon in a green colorway (maybe like the "greens" on this page? #21?). One skien is 560 yards -- plenty for a pair of socks. I'm using the Yarn Harlot's sock "recipe" in her book Knitting Rules.

In the spirit of trying something new, I thought I would do these socks with two circular needles. To get an acceptable look to the fabric, I had to go to a size 1 for the needles. They are addi turbos -- one is only a 16" needle -- I really find these too short -- they hurt my hand, and make my knitting slow down. I loose my pivot point on the needles.

Anyway, what you see is what you get -- that's all I've done so far.

Mary's Shawl

Wonder of wonders, another project finished. Two in one month? Unbelievable. This one, however, practically knit itself. A friend of mine lost her mother the week before last. The day I heard the news, I was thinking about her and decided to knit this project -- a prayer shawl -- for her.

Specifications:

Yarn: Praire Silk. I've never used this yarn before, but our LYS had it on hand. It's similar to Lamb's Pride, which I have used before, except this yarn has an added 10% silk, which gives it a very slight sheen. I loved this yarn as I knit with it. It was easy to wind from skein to ball. My husband, who is my swift, especially liked it, as it made his job super easy. It did have some odd, undyed white slubs, which I started to pick out, but then just left in.

I used five colors (since my LYS didn't have enough of any one color to do a solid shawl):

• Franc Framboise
• Baht Blue
• Ruble Red
• Guilder Green
• Real Royal

Who thinks up these color names? I used two skeins of each, except for Baht Blue (1 skein).

Stitch Pattern: Trinity stitch from the Prayer Shawl site with a slip stitch edge. This is a very simple pattern, but I enjoyed its simplicity as I knit it. I cast on (57 stitches) and bound off with size 15 needles to have a looser edge than the size 11 would provide. It is narrower and longer than I anticipated. I didn't count rows -- I just knit until each skein was gone, which was so VERY simple.

Needles: I used US size 11. I thought these might be a little big, but I liked the lacy look they produced. I finally settle on my Lantern Moon needles -- they were a pleasure with this yarn.

Finishing: The label specifies no blocking with yarn, so I did no blocking. Prior to adding fringe, I gave it a quick cold water (ick -- cold water) bath with shampoo and conditioner and some equally cold rinses. The yarn wrapper specifies adding vinegar to the final rinse, but I was washing it to remove the odd smell our LYS adds to yarn. Adding vinegar seemed counter productive. Since there was no color bleeding, I skipped the vinegar.

Fringe: Berroco suede yarn was used as fringe in the color Calamity Jane. Again, I can't help but ask, but who thinks up these colors names? Why would Calamity Jane be considered purple? What does the name Calamity Jane tell you about the color itself?

Resources: The Prayer Shawl site has many shawl patterns from which to choose, color symbolism explanations, and prayers.

May God's grace be upon this shawl...warming, comforting, enfolding and embracing. May this mantle be a safe haven... a sacred place of security and well-being...sustaining and embracing in good times as well as difficult ones. May the one who receives this shawl be cradled in hope, kept in joy, graced with peace, and wrapped in love.(from the Prayer Shawl site)

Intertwined Cable Scarf

I finished the Intertwined Cable scarf from the Pattern a Day calendar, March 14-15. It was a gift for my husband. The first scarf I made for him didn't work out so well -- rolling edges -- I hate them. Anyway, this one was an unhidden surprise. I knit it right in front of him -- he even helped me wind the yarn for it, but he didn't know it was for him until I handed it to him, with one of my little Sandpiper Tags.

Specifications:

Yarn: Cascade 220 in a forest green shade. I used more than one skein, but not all of two
Needle size: US 7
Modifications to pattern: None, except that I did find an error in the symbol key. I emailed the publisher about this, and they quickly sent me confirmaiton of my suspisions and a file with the correct key. These corrections can now be found on their error page for the calendar.

I enjoyed this pattern. It was great fun watching the cables emerge! This is a seaman's scarf, which means that it has a neck "section" that is narrower than the rest of the scarf. The neck was done in a ribbing pattern.

Green Month Kickoff

It's green month for Project Spectrum. How about a couple of green photos? The first is a little odd, but it was so GREEN, I had to take its picture. While we were at Epcot in March, we ate in a Japanese restaurant. This is the avocado that they use in the sushi. So beautifully sliced; so GREEN. I don't even like avocado.

Have you noticed how green it gets as summer arrives. During a walk in our city park this past week, I couldn't help but notice how surrounded by green I was.

Happy Green Month!