Fawkes v2.0

The second version of the hat pattern that I created is done! I am very happy with the way that the shaping turned out as well as the new colorway and choice of yarn. The only thing that I might try differently next time is to go down a size on the needles to tighten up the gauge a bit.

Here's a photo:

Ravelry Yay!

My invitation for Ravelry arrived a couple of days ago, and let me tell you, it's as cool as the hype has made it out to be. It's really neat to be able to show off your projects and to find inspiration for other stuff to make. The user groups and forums are pretty cool as well. My username on there is also wanderingpup in case you would like to check out my project notebook.

Thanksgiving went fine. We got to see the immediate family in Tennessee as well as a bunch of extended family on my Dad's side in Kentucky on the way back. I am already very much looking forward to the Christmas plans for Carolina.

The photo that I promised of the finished Shedir is here:



Also, I just had to share this pic of the most appropriate post-Thanksgiving church sign that I've ever seen!

Really Antsy

Well, the Shedir is done. I only did three repeats of the Saxon braid and it's plenty big enough as is. I can only imagine the kind of ginormous heads that the original pattern would fit! Photos will be up soon.

The next projects are to go back to working on the chullo (a nice portable project for the Thanksgiving weekend), more work on the blue throw in Lion Brand Homespun, and to play around with Fawkes v2.0 (in Noro Silk Garden 84!)

Referring to the title of this post, I see that now there are a mere 950 people ahead of me in line for Ravelry invites!

Fawkes and Shedir

Well, the first version of the flame chevron hat pattern that I mentioned before is done. I decided to name the pattern Fawkes, continuing along the fiery theme. Here's how it looks:



I generally like how it turned out, but there are a couple of things that I'm planning to change. I want to find a darker red/purple yarn to make it in, for one thing. I'm willing to take suggestions on that! I'd also like to make it slightly larger and maybe adjust the cap shaping. I've already figured out how I'll change the repeats for a larger version. Here's how the hat looks being worn:



I plan to write up the pattern, but I think that I will wait until my Ravelry invite arrives to actually post it. (Only 4003 3713 2908 people ahead of me in line!) In the meantime, I have cast on for Shedir, done in Nashua Handknits Cilantro color 014. This is for a friend who is battling breast cancer right now. As lovely as the pattern is, I wish there were no need for it...

Wavy Gravy!

Here's the finished product for the Wavy Gravy hat that I mentioned in my previous post. Who knew Teddy was such a fashion plate?



Better shot to see how the colors are gorgeous and slowly change from one round to the next.

Knitting Update

Well, the chullo is coming along fine. I'm done with the boring liner part and about to start the pattern rounds. Here's a pic. You can see how the liner will look when it's folded up inside the hat.

In the interim, I actually had a quick project come and go. A friend saw me working on the chullo and said that she wanted a hat. I said "what color?" and she said "blueish". So I was thinking water and waves, then went hunting for a pattern. I came across the Wavy Gravy hat, which fit the bill pretty much exactly. I went down to the LYS to see what she had in Noro (which I had never knit with before -- it's an absolutely gorgeous yarn to work with!). I wound up choosing colorway #166, which is basically the colors of a peacock's tail -- lime green thru purple, cobalt blue and teal and back. It was a really quick knit; about 2.5 days, off and on.

The thing about having projects is that, for me at least, they breed more projects. Now I have an idea for another hat done in Noro (purple/red/orange) in the flame chevron pattern from Barbara Walker's 2nd Treasury. I also want to make up a couple of quick afghans done in Lion Brand Homespun on Speed Stix. I've never worked with those before and it might be fun.

Here's the flame chevron swatch that I worked up.