In which someone has good taste

Has it been two weeks already? Well, the time does fly! In exchange for your infinite patience, good readers, I present to you the third (and final) Jewelled Cowl. This one was knit with a skein of Zitron Filisilk and about 700 6/0 frosted glass seed beads. I love the colours (very trendy, I know) and the yarn knit up into an absolute cloud. I will be mailing this off to Washington state as soon as time allows. Enjoy some photos, and scroll through to the end for a tease of what will be coming next! Et voila, some Sweet Georgia for a nice big lace project which I will tell you more about soon.

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).

In which I am mildly frustrapointed

Good news and bad news, folks. Good news, Juno Regina shawl was washed, blocked, and turned out just lovely last week. Bad news, the photos I've taken so far just don't do it justice - they're fine, but they're just fine, if you know what I mean. I'll keep trying to get proper photos, but for now, this is the best of the bunch (don't judge me!)

In which there is a little ray of sunshine

I had the joy of casting off and washing (there was only cause for a very very mild blocking) the Jewelled Cowl the other day.
To recap, I used Sweet Georgia Merino Silk Lace in Ginger, a fistful of 6/0 beads from work, and 5.00mm needles. I made it a bit shorter, because I ran out of beads. The end result is airy, and the combination of the weight from the beads and the fabric give it an absolutely remarkable springiness. I love the colours, the blue just leaps out against the ginger. I'm so excited to gift this! I also blocked the Juno Regina shawl yesterday, and I plan to document it tomorrow. Have a lovely evening, everyone!