Showing posts with label cashmere. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cashmere. Show all posts

Friday, March 4, 2016

Cashmere Love

What's on my needles (week 103)

Miya Shawl by Mari Chiba

 

One of the gifts I received over the holidays was this pattern and yarn. <3
The yarn is 100% Cashmere in a lace weight.  The finished shawl feels incredibly light, airy and soft.
I named my shawl "Cashmere Love", because part of the lace looks like a string of hearts.

The pattern takes a little more concentration than the last pattern I worked up (the Ethereal Shawl), but is fairly easy to work up with a little focus.
Here are some yarns I would suggest if you wanted to knit this shawl in a lace weight:  The Reywa Bloom which is a Yak Down and Silk blend or the Isager which is 100% Alpaca.  Both yarns come in skeins which give you enough yardage to complete your shawl.
I want to add that I think the shawl would also look gorgeous in a slightly heavier yarn.  A friend of mine is planning on knitting the shawl in a Madeline Tosh Light.  I even go as far as saying that it would be pretty neat in a Sport or worsted weight yarn. 


The pattern is available on line for $5.50.
Here is a link to the pattern:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/miya-shawl
And here are my notes I posted on ravelry:  http://ravel.me/Strickliese/ms2

"The yarn is a joy to work with and the pattern is fairly easy. I am looking forward to the finished shawl; it will feel scrumptious to wear around my neck.
2.23. Less than a week of knitting and I am half done! Yeah!!
2.27. Finished! The lace sections took a little more concentration, but that’s worth it with this pretty lace edge. BTW Did anyone else notice that looking at the lace upside down some of it definitely looks heart shaped <3 <3
One thing which helped me to keep track of my rows and sections was to count the middle stitches where the increases and decreases happen.
Section 1 1st pattern increase (7), 2nd (13), 3rd (19), 4th (25) total 28+25+3=56
Section 2: 1st (28), 2nd (31), 3rd (34), 4th (37), 5th (40), 6th (43), 7th (46), 8th (49), 9th (52) total 83
Section 3 four pattern repeats with no increases
Section 4 :1st (49), 2nd (46), 3rd (43), 4th (40), 5th (37), 6th (34), 7th (31), 8th (28), 9th (25) total 56
Section 5: 1st(19), 2nd (13), 3rd (7), 4th (1) take out second marker on row 9 total 32

I also marked rows 3, 7 and 11 in the chart to work YO, k2tog (rows circled blue) and rows 1,5 and 9 to work YO, k2tog, k2tog (rows circled pink) in the appropriate sections.
It helped to remember which rows to do the increases and decreases in.

 About the yarn: I was happy to see that I had enough yarn to finish the shawl and I even had some left over."

Thursday, October 29, 2015

What's on my needles (week 87)

Before anything else I want to stop and remember Margrit from Morehouse Farms who gave so much to our fiber community.  

She passed away this week and will be missed by many.  Here is a link to their newsletter: http://mail-dog.com/page.html?p=0000015Fu8vj7oAT4s0QaEieIptqiHfyF8&email=Debbieduck1223@gmail.com

 

CABLES * CABLES * CABLES * CABLES * CABLES

I seem to be completely hung up on cables; you could say I am on a cable binge ;)  !


Block Island Hat 


Looking back, I can see that it all started with the beautiful Block Island Hat which I made last August.
Remember, we sell the kits at The Knitting Garage in Rhinebeck and I am giving a class on this especially for those of you who have not worked from a chart before.  You can take the class on Wednesday November 18th or Saturday November 21st  (10am to 12 noon on both days).

 
click here for more information and project notes:  Gansey Hat

Idlewild


After I finished the hat I went on to knitting cables in the Idlewild Tunic.
I wore the tunic on one of the days during the S&W weekend.  It is very  comfortable :)!

Click here for my Idlewild

And as soon as the Idlewild was finished I cast on another TWO projects which have cables:

 Tullamore Cardigan 


The Tullamore cardigan  and the Elementary Watson Socks for Tony.
I also could not resist buying an Aran Cabled Cardigan from Ireland at The Clothes Tree in Rhinebeck.
I am wearing the bought cardigan while working on the Tullamore
                                                                    
Click here for more information on the Tullamore: http://ravel.me/Strickliese/tc


With the back all done, I cast on the sleeves which I will be working two at the same time.











 

 

 

Elementary Watson Socks


And although I had said "never again" after knitting cabled socks for Tony two years ago, I am now working on a pair for him with cables.  

you can't really see all the pretty cables on these :http://ravel.me/Strickliese/tma
 This time I am using a solid color so the pattern can actually be seen and appreciated.  
The yarn which I found in the clearance bin at Stickles (quite a treasure trove!) has 10% cashmere (!!!) in it.  It is the Anzula Squishy (80% Merino, 10% Cashmere and 10% Nylon).  
I feel that such a nice yarn deserves to be knitted up in a special pattern. Since my husband and I both enjoy "Sherlock Holmes", I decided on the "Elementary Watson" socks.  This is a free pattern on ravelry.
Click here for more project information: http://ravel.me/Strickliese/ews
I doubled the yarn with reinforcing yarn for the toes

first chart repeat done :)