Heads up for a Giveaway

I know a lot of you out there love Tanis' lovely yarns, so I wanted to let everyone know that she's having a giveaway for one of her Baby Shane Blanket kits. If you read this before April 1st, head over there and enter. I'm thinking of what a lovely Wool Eater (Ravelry) this would make, but I'd love to see what you'd do with it, if you win, too.

Sky at Sea Scarf

I wish these photos showed the design better, but frankly, the variegation of the yarn and the lighting strongly affect how well it shows up, even to the naked eye. The scarf ended up light as a feather and, while the fabric is still a bit on the sleazy side, it's got just a lovely hand to it, and drapes beautifully, as you can see in the second photo.


If I did it again, I would probably do a closer sett, perhaps around 24 epi, rather than 20. I think that would help with the visibility of the design. Also, using yarns with less variegation would obviously help, too.

Nevertheless, lovely.

Another 8-shaft Weaving Project

Upon completing my Ombre Cardigan, I had tons of laceweight yarn left, especially the lighter shade of grey. I decided it might be fun to try weaving something with what was left. Because I had less of the darker shade left over, that was my limiting factor, for the size of the project. I chose a complicated looking 8-shaft weaving draft that I'd spotted on Weavolution (which originated on Handwoven.net) and did some math. I deliberated a bit about the appropriate sett (density) of this yarn in this pattern, and decided to weave it at 20 epi. At that sett I had enough of the darker shade to do one pattern repeat across the width of a scarf and eight repeats in length.


I wound a warp and put it on the loom and yesterday I started the weaving. The sett seems a little loose at the moment (in weaving parlance, we call that "sleazy" fabric, which is pretty awesome terminology, I think) but I am hoping that once I have it off the loom, no longer under tension, and wash it, it will be a nice fabric. Time will tell.

The variegation in the two shades also takes away from the weave structure, but again, I think it will be better once the lighter shade is under less tension and can fluff up a bit. Certainly if you click on the photo to see a close-up, that will help you to see the design more clearly. If you are curious, the papers on the right hand side of the photo show the lift plan for this pattern. It takes a bit of concentration, but isn't nearly as hard as it looks. I have two repeats done, so far, so six to go. Even with frequent sock-knitting breaks, this one shouldn't take too long.

Ombre Cardigan

Part of the reason that I posted so little throughout January was because I was participating in the Tanis Fiber Arts January knitalong. I ended up being pretty monogamous with it, since I chose such an ambitious project. Toward the end of the month, I was starting to worry I might not finish it before the deadline, but fortunately I had the 31st off from work, so I had time to knit the last of it, weave in ends, and block it, just in time.


Tanis' Ombre cardigan is lovely and featherlight. Being made from two strands of laceweight yarn means the fabric is barely there. Being made from Tanis' Pink Label laceweight means it is also soft and warm and beautiful. The hardest part might have been choosing which of her two colourways to use.

I ended up going with two shades of grey: Shadow and Stormy. Turns out that the Stormy is actually teal as much as it is grey, which of course works for me, since varying shades of teal are mainstays of my wardrobe. The two yarns work well together and have a lot of contrast, which was of course my intention.


The first thing I did when I started knitting the cardi was to widen the seed stitch button band - in the original pattern it is only six stitches wide, which I thought would be a bit too narrow for my cardi. I decided to widen it a bit, in proportion with the increased bust measurement, and ended up doing ten stitches instead of six. The knitting was simple and meditative until I joined at the underarm and realized that the armholes were about 6 inches too big. I ripped it back and rethought the math and ended up with a better size. Once I'd made one modification, well... I decided to do a bit of shaping in the body and made four darts beneath the bust to give it some definition. Then I did some increases beneath the waist for my hips. Finally, I did a few more increases before the ribbing at the hem, since I like ribbing that isn't all stretched out.

The sleeves were easy after that, and then with a quick blocking and some perfect buttons, I have a lovely light cardi. Now I'm just waiting for the weather to warm up a bit so I can start wearing it more.