Inspiration
Clear the Decks: A Springtime Knitalong Is Coming
It’s Spring!
We have a brand-new Field Guide, filled with light and color: Field Guide No. 3: Wild Yarns.
All that light and color makes us feel like casting on something fresh and new. Something quick to knit, since spring is the season of instant gratification and fleeting flowerings. The perfect project for such a season is Kirsten Kapur’s Colorwash Scarf. Two skeins of Lichen and Lace merino wool, an easy-breezy mesh fabric, and an exuberant shape that is not to be found in a geometry book, but that Kirsten calls a swoosh.
I’m all in! Let’s go!
But first, I took a hard look at my life. I have no business casting on for a new knitalong before finishing up my last knitalong. I almost banged out a Hadley sweater in February, but when the helical stripes bug bit me in the first month of A Year of Techniques, I flounced. I left Hadley languishing, at the moment where I was supposed to be working a few short rows to raise the back of the neck. So close to glory, but still: a dangly thing, stuffed in a bag.
Yesterday afternoon, in the Easter Sunday glow, I sat down to finish my Hadley. It took all of an hour. Had I done that hour’s work in February, I could have worn my Hadley while there was still a month of cold weather left.
My modification of the neck to a crew neck, requiring only an inch of ribbing instead of 4 inches, helped speed things along.
(Yes, I’m leaving the mismatched colorwork on the sleeves. It doesn’t bother me at all, now. It’s a design feature. I made it my own!)
Now I can enjoy the fun of casting on my Colorwash Shawl with a clear conscience. Hadley is blocking comfortably, and will soon be nestled in a drawer with a bag of lavender anti-moth mix, to wait for October. But I need something to knit, and wear, now, to celebrate spring.
Just finished my Hadley last week! Phew!
I’d like to see a photo of the shaw; laid flat so i could actually judge the shape. It IS interesting thought.
This gives me giant motivation to tidy up the almost-dones: Hadley (will be such a pleasant surprise come fall to have this ready to wear); Carpino (two inches of sleeve and an neckband); and my Brambling Shawl (currently at Base Camp 3 and using supplemental oxygen—almost at the summit!).
I have my Lichen and Lace yarn staring at me, smiling and waving. I’m going with Pewter because the colorful second color is right up my alley, what with spring and all.
Hadley is lovely. You should plan a little trip somewhere that you can wear it now– it is 33 in Banff this morning. I would also like to see a better picture of the shawl and some information about dimensions, It is a bit of a pig in a poke right now.
Tempting! But I will resist. I keep myself to 3 projects going at once, and I’m sticking to it!
If memory serves me, the physical therapist who wrote the book Knitting for Health and Wellness, recommends five projects. Just saying…..
Love. Thanks! 😀
Meanwhile, Olive wants to know what that Big Floral Damask Slipcover thing is doing in her dog bed…
Kay, if you cannot wait till fall for a chance to wear your lovely sweater, why not plan a buisness trip to San Francisco? There is always some kind of cold weather going on in that city. The yarn shops I visited when last there were great, and some new ones have opened since. Not to mention, a small”road trip” to avfkw might be just the thing for some indigo dying and AC stitching. When Ann finishes her Hadley, then you guys are good to go! (You will not look like twins, since you personalized the sleeves and neck of your sweater.)
BTW, what is that lavender moth repellent thing you mentioned? It sounds like it would have a better aroma than moth balls.
Oooh, the Colorwash shawl is gorgeous! How would you rate the pattern difficulty? I’m looking for a nice spring/summery wrap for the office, but I would call myself an intermediate beginner. Thanks!
I think you could easily make this–and we’re all here to help along the way if you have questions.
My Hadley is languishing while I finish some baby and gift knitting. I’m about 3 rows away of being done with the yoke colorwork….
I just picked up yarn for the shawl this past weekend and was waiting on the guide book to arrrive. It’s like you read my mind by setting up this KAL!
Glad you have finished the Hadley, it’s gorgeous and will be lovely when the weather turns again .
It’s no wonder we all have unfinished projects with so many tempting new things to get on your needles, must resist , have several projects which just need stitching together which must get done before starting anything else! Here’s hoping
I love that you embraced the imperfection. I was rooting for that. And guess what, IMHO, it is more beautiful for it. It forever has a story to tell. XOXO
Quick query as I browse the stash and contemplate the KAL: is the skein yardage of 400 flexible at all? I know that sometimes patterns spec the yardage of the recommended yarn … but I have some candidates coming in that are a little smaller. Thanks!
Oops, I may have started a little early! I’ll have to knit two, I suppose!