Blues

Anyone feeling blue? I'm not, but take a look in my WIP basket and you might think I am.

Those are two almost-finished and two just-started projects. Beginning from the upper left:

1. Villane by Suvi Simola, aka 50 villapeikkoa. A beautiful seamless bottom-up raglan cardigan that's been lingering in my queue forever. DH gave me the yarn as a present a few years ago, before I knew that Malabrigo Worsted pills like… like… like… I can't think of anything else that pills as badly as Malabrigo Worsted. But I don't mind. I love the color (Paris Night: dark blues and purples--nom nom), I love that I got the yarn from DH, and I'm looking for a comfy, cozy wintery weekend cardigan that can do with some pilling… (and I also bought a little pills removing thingy). This is going to be "upstairs knitting," i.e., I'll knit a row here and there between making dinner and playing with Conrad and cleaning up toys, and therefore I don't expect to finish the cardigan anytime soon (I'm hoping for mid-September, y'know, before the Peanut's grand entrance).


2. In the upper right corner we have Kristen Kapur's (=Through the Loops) Mystery Shawl KAL project, also knitted in Malabrigo, this time a lace weight in Purple Mystery (how appropriate! I didn't realize this until now). As much as I want to love the shawl, I don't think I do, or will once I finished it. I have finished it twice already, including binding off super loosely and blocking. Still the edge is wayyyy too tight, and I'm beginning to think it isn't me but the design. There are so many ssk's and k2tog's in the final rows that the border just seems, well, tight. This saddens me, as I thought to make the shawl for a special friend who loves purple and is petite (the shawl is on the small side, nothing for my swimmer's/rower's/big girl back).

3. On the lower right is Lucy Neatby's Snowflake DK Baby Bonnet. OMG adorable! And: OMG difficult! The "DK" doesn't stand for the yarn weight but for "double knitting," not as in "yarn held double" or "stranded" but, you know, double knitting: I'm working with two colors, creating a dark blue fabric on one side, a light gray fabric on the other, switching yarns to make a snowflake pattern (gray on blue on the one side, blue on gray on the other side). While I "got it" doing a practice swatch in worsted weight yarn, I'm now using fingering weight yarn and #3 needles, which complicates things. But slowly, oh so slowly, and with the help of Lucy's Double Knitting Delight DVD, I'm getting better and faster (=a row a day). It's a really cool technique, and the bonnet will be very warm and cozy (did I mention I'm using a merino-cashmere blend?) for the Peanut--as long as I finish it one time and he actually gets to wear it. :)

4. Ah! The monster! On the lower left you see the cables-and-bobbles stole that I picked four-and-a-half years ago as my first knitting project. Since this is not, I repeat: not, a suitable beginner's project, I abandoned "Project Knitting" within weeks (luckily was converted in 2009). The stole had been such a traumatizing knitting experience that, even as I got much better at knitting, I could do only a repeat or two every few months or so. Alas, now I'm almost finished. A few more rows, weaving in numerous ends, washing and blocking. I cannot wait to get that thing off my needles and move on… (to another unfinished project I also started in 2007, similarly unsuited for a beginner's project).

Happy weekend!