various and sundry

Wow, I didn't realize it'd been so long since I'd written anything! I didn't have anything to blog about for what seemed like ages, and now I find myself up to my ears in FOs!

Here's one of the things I made - Adriprints's Orange Blossom Camisole, which in my size uses exactly one skein of Fyberspates 4-ply, and when I say exactly I mean I had to cannibalize the swatch. I loved the yarn, loved the pattern - I followed the instructions to the letter (erm, except for the provisional cast-on and knitting the waist ribbing downward, because I was (rightly) worried about having enough yarn) because it was a test-knit, but for myself I think I'd've made wider straps.

Another test-knit, also for Adriprints, was this Amaranth Shawl, written as a two-color shawl but she did ask for one tester to do it in one color with beads and I jumped. The yarn is Wollmeise Twin, and I actually had beads of the right size in exactly this color, but they disappeared right into the yarn, so I decided to use the blue-lined clear beads, hoping they'd look like water droplets. I think they do.


Aaaand while I was finishing up Amaranth, a friend had a baby girl! And I have this project I've been sitting on while my friends kept having boys, so I threw that together over my trip to Bavaria last weekend. This is Violet Green Socrates, which I understand is discontinued, and the pattern is actually a Yarnissima sock pattern called Kiila. I applied the cable to a 5-hour baby sweater. I blocked it yesterday and dried it overnight.

While I was in Bavaria, I made it over to the Wollmeise store in Pfaffenhofen, which was a nice way to spend a nice day. She has a new DK weight, which makes me happy happy joy joy! because I really do prefer heavier yarn so I can finish a project in, oh, less than a year, but my favorite dyers seem to favor finer weights. So I bought a skein of DK in the Nautilus colorway and swatched it today. It's superbouncyfun to work with, but I'm not sure what to make with it - okay, actually I am pretty sure I want to knit Anney, but that needs two skeins and I only have one and I'm not sure I want it in Nautilus anyway so I have to go back for more yarn. Oh, the hardship...

So, ergo and therefore! All these done projects, plus this not-yet project, have freed me up to work on Namarië, which I have finally picked up again. Stranded knitting has always been a challenge for me, and my first attempt (in 2008) was altogether too tight and rumpled-looking because I couldn't keep my floats loose enough. I think I've gotten better at that. The color progression in the first draft looked FAB, at least the ribbing and the first few rows, but when I dug the project out I found a HOLE in it! No idea why, but that (and the fact that I re-did the numbers and re-jigged the pattern) meant I needed to start over.

That's where I am right now. It's raining today, but I'll post Namarië pictures when the light's better - so, you know, April or so.