Big Triangle and Little Triangle

For the past few days I have been working on two triangular shawls. The first one I started is knitted in a color called Kenai. It is fingering weight and knitpicks.com brand Gloss . I absolutely love the color... Which is probably why it looks almost completely like the blue I choose for the cardigan. I bought them both on different occasions without even being aware of the fact that they are so close in tone.

The pattern for this shawl is called Haruni and you can find it on knitpicks as well as ravelery. I really like how it came out. I can't wait to see the finished shawl. Unfortunately that is going to be delayed just a little longer since I am almost out of yarn (as you can see by the tiny yarn ball in the picture) and I had to order another skein for the last 6 rows... oh well. Hopefully the yarn is shipped soon and I can finish this project.

I also started knitting this beautiful pattern. I am knitting it in Gloss, lace weight. The color very fittingly is called Dandelion. Since the pattern is calling for a fingering weight yarn I am right now adjusting the amount of stitches. I think I will knit 9x15 instead of the suggested 5x15, which is almost double and should be sufficient to obtain a good size. This one I am actually making for myself. I always wear scarfs or shawls for teaching and in general so I actually own quite a collection by now. And I am always looking for a new addition. This one will be perfect. Again I can't wait to see the finished product. And I may just cast on another ginko shawl in the canopy Tonal Shadow I have in my yarn stash waiting to be used.

Have you ever wondered how to knit a Giant Clam?

At the beginning of January I was asked by Andrew if I can make a giant clam and a box jelly-fish... By the end of the night I had a long long list of underwater creatures that he would like for his 8th Birthday. I got to work right away but lost interest after one or two weeks and went on to other projects. Since the birthday was this Tuesday I had to get moving on finishing the various underwater creatures requested... And I did.

I already blogged about some of the creatures featured in this birthday present like the Nautilus Shells and Blue Sea Star Others just got done last night. Among those is the beautiful red and yellow sunflower starfish, which is a Hansi Singh pattern and featured in her book Amigurumi Knits. I absolutely love the vibrant color combination, the way how the knitting direction of the arms contrasts with the stitch direction of the body, and everything else about this fun and fast (if you don't hibernate it for weeks) project. I was really surprised at the decorative effect the whip stitch gave the bottom of the arms as well.

Another project that hibernated for weeks and got finished Thursday night is the jelly-fish. It is a modification of Hansi Singh's Pattern. The purple tentacles and navy-blue strings are 100% Hansi Singh while the body is a heavily modified version. The whole point was to make the body as "boxy" as possible. I am still not sure if it is square enough but this is what I got. I could make another one that is more box-like but at this point I really don't feel like making another one. Maybe at some point in the future...

Have you ever wondered how to knit a Giant Clam? Well, me neither. And according to my extensive internet pattern search not many people do in general. So I was on my own. To make matters more difficult I had strict requirements for this knit: You have to be able to open and close it. It needed to be as big as possible. There needed to be a pearl in the middle. I started out casting on with two strings of yarn and then separated the loops into two rows (which gave me a nice strong and indestructible joint for the upper and lower shell). Then I knitted a very basic shape in a rib pattern and ended in an i-cord cast off. (I can write up my pattern if you are interested). I picked up some stitches on the inside outer edge of each shell piece and knitted the inside in a great gray. It changes from light to dark gray which gave the inside a really interesting spiral-like pattern. Then I knitted a little ball in white and attached it to the middle of one side. It is not perfect, of course, and I may experiment with shaping the outside shell with short rows... I think I know how this would theoretically work... But I am sure the 8-year old in question will be just fine with this very basic version of a giant clam.

Now all that needs to be done is the wrapping... and we will hopefully have a very happy 8-year-old.

Ice and Knitts...

Snow... ehm Ice Day!!! Which means I don't have to teach today and it also means the lessons I prepared can be used on Friday and I don't need to prepare... Very exciting. And even better it gives me time to knit a few things that have been on someone's birthday wish list. I kind of have to make it up as I go and hopefully I will be more successful than the last few times I tried. We shall see.

On another note, I finally got around to blocking my rainforest scarf. Which is very exciting. I think it came out pretty well. Although I am not sure I will wear it. I have a million green scarfs among others a great big tube scarf from Urban Outfitters. So I don't know I may just give this one away... Not sure.

I also finished my very first cardigan. I really really like it. The pattern was super easy and it was flexible enough to be changed to fit me. I am still really really in love with the color of the yarn. It fits great and looks amazing. I actually wore it for teaching yesterday and it kept me nice and warm on the long drive to Montclair.

Recently, I also got some new yarn that I am very excited about. They are all KnitPicks brand. The beautiful Gloss Bordeaux is going to be a nice little sweater designed by Veera Välimäki called Plain and Simple. Of course the two hanks I got are not going to be enough... So I will just have to order a little more. I still don't know what I am going to do with the rest of the beautiful yarn. But I am sure I will come up with something. So stay tuned. New stuff coming soon.