In which the queen reigns

As promised, photos of the (second) Jewelled Cowl! Knit in Rowan Fine Lace (1 ball) with metallic gold 6/0 beads for just a touch of royalty. The Fine Lace didn't bloom quite as much as the Sweet Georgia I used last time, but once the alpaca halo develops, it should fill in beautifully.

In which I am brief, but informative

First off, Regal Cowl is done and gorgeous and photos are coming soon. Second, it feels great to get some cables under my fingers again. Pattern is Jaffrey from Brooklyn Tweed; yarn is Harrisville Designs New England Shetland. Almost done, been a nice little diversion. And lastly, got the beads for the next commission cowl. Not as vibrant a yellow as I had initially planned, but the frosted glass should be perfect against the silken sheen in the yarn. Also, for those who know who they are, I'll be taking a list for future commissions once I get some headway into this cowl (and this cowl will not be an option this time around - three knits of the same pattern are more than enough for me).

In which the heat is on!

Well, with only a smattering of beads and a wee bump of yarn left, I would say that I have rounded the final corner and am closing in on the home stretch of the Regal Cowl. As soon as this is off the needles, I need to finish off a store sample of Jaffrey in Harrisville Designs New England Shetland (hoping that it is a good one-for-one substitute for Loft, since we can't get any of that). It's pretty easygoing with lots of 1x1 cabling, so that should also be done by next week. And finally, I've got yarn all set for the next cowl (another commission). I think that this lovely sheen-y merino/silk blend is just screaming out for some matte/frosted canary yellow beads, no? Until later (when hopefully there will be some FO photos to share), tah.

In which things are chugging along

Progress on the Habu Experiment is coming along nicely. I don't want to show too much of it right now, but it just has such a wonderful texture to it, totally unique. In other news, the Jewelled Cowl 2.0 is well underway, and getting quite close to the halfway mark! Colour is fairly accurate in the first photo - really tough to get a good colour with my camera of this one.

In which swatching is discussed

While it may not seem like much of an achievement to most, I successfully swatched with the Habu from my last post. Thing is, I rarely swatch. I tend to just guess needle size, cast on, and go. It works out fine most of the time, but when working on a new idea, I do like to pretend to do it right once in a while. Now, I'm taking a few days to actually mull over the swatch before leaping into a project. Question is, cowl or stole? It's a fairly light, surprisingly structural fabric, and much softer than it's pre-soak state. I think it would be stunning in a stole, but in the interests of actually finishing it, I think a cowl would be a good choice. What do you all think? Which pattern would you be more interested in seeing?

In which things get started

When it rains it pours. Two new projects starting right now: one, a redux of a recent FO, and the other something completely new. A regal re-envisioning. And hopefully the beginnings of a brand new pattern.

In which I am awash in a sea

So it's been ages since I started this wee project. Got off to a great start, then I got kind of blued-out, and finished up some smaller projects to change things up, but I'm working on it again. I'm getting quite close to the underarms on the body (the sleeves are already there), and I must say that I love the brocade stitch pattern. I am not, however, looking forward to uniting the sleeves and body, because there will be a whole LOT of stitches, and I will need to find some creative way of tackling decreases on wrong side rows (original pattern was designed in the round, and raglan-esque decreases are scheduled for every 3rd round). I do quite like how the sleeves pooled (I'm not alternating balls, so there is all sorts of variation from skein to skein, and pooling - it's a "letting go" kind of project).