So. Many. KALs. . .

Well, the title says it all, and is also my explaination of why I haven't posted as much recently!


1) The Montego Shawl KAL is still going on.

2) I'm in a Seasonal Sock KAL; and the Spring Deadline is June 20th.  I've almost got one of two Charade Socks done, but I'm hoping I can finish the other sock in about a week. :)

3) Tanis Fiber Arts set up a  June Shawl KAL with a deadline also of June 31.  I decided to make a 198 Yards of Heaven using leftovers of TFA Green Label in "Chestnut", which is working out nicely, and is actually pretty far along.

4) The Yarn Attic is doing another Summer Bag KAL,  (also a June 31 entry), and I've got a couple of entries, but only one has a picture, and that's my Crocheted Project Bag.   It's an easy pattern, and so I'm making project backs using leftovers from my stash.  It's also a good way to teach myself to crochet again.

And finally, the ESK Team Mascot KAL is also still going strong.  No new pictures of the Octopus Mittens, sadly, but they're actually getting close to finished.  So I still do have a chance to finish up most of this stuff over the next few weeks.

Montego Shawl KAL

Hello!

So it seems like it's the Summer of KALs.  In addition to a summer scarf KAL (more on that forthcoming), the Yarn Attic is also running a KAL for the Montego Shawl.  

The deadline for entries is closed now (I've really got to get better about timely updates, huh?) but I'm working away at my shawl for the KAL deadline of June 31.

So far, it's coming along well, even if it's going to be enormous by the time I'm done. It's my first attempt at a beaded shawl, so I'll see how well this works out when I get to the beaded edging chart.

Octopuses? Octopi?

EatSleepKnit is hosting another KAL.  This time, it's all about knitting your team mascot.

That may sound like it doesn't make sense, at first, but I shall explain.

So, all those who order from EatSleepKnit are given a team, and each team gets various challenges.  I'm skipping out of the scavenger hunt, since I don't have a t-shirt, but I am doing the trivia and the team mascot challenges.   Doing the various challenges gets you more yardage in their yarnathon, which equals more free stuff and more store credit.

Ok, it all sounds great, right?   But I've been placed as a member of team Octopurls, and . . . well, I'm not a huge octopus person. I don't hate them, I'm not afraid of them, but I've never really been 'into' them.   So what on earth was I going to knit?

The answer came in the form of a convenient christmas gift:  The Octopus Mittens.   They're a child-size mitten that knitted up using cables and texture to look like a little octopus.  Not my thing. . . but my little cousin should love it. 

I'm stealing a bit from an extra skein of Sweet Georgia Superwash Worsted I got ages ago (I got 8 skeins for a cardigan, I only need 7, and even that is lots), since it has to be yarn bought from EatSleepKnit (fair enough).    So far, they're knitting up really quickly. 

Pictures might be delayed, since my tablet has turned into a brick.  Apparently it's a known design flaw with this particular model of tablet.  But it's still under warranty, so they're just sending me a new one!  And while my digital camera works just fine, the SD card reader on my 4 year old laptop is borked, so I have no way to get the images -off- my camera except for begging my roommate to pull them off the SD card and send them to me, which, while she's cool with that, still isn't as immediate as I would like.  That's ok though.  Less picture taking means more time to knit!

New Knitting Bag WIP, and Finished Accessories

I mentioned earlier that I was working on making myself a knitting bag, and that I (sadly) hadn't posted anything here about it!

So, here it is!

This is what will eventually be a French Market Bag, using Briggs and Little Heritage.

It's coming together quite nicely.  Right now is the easy (and boring) part of straight stocking-stitch in the round, so it's a great project if I want to put my focus onto something else.  I'm debating if I actually want to felt it or not -- it's dense enough I might just leave it as is.

Also, I finished my entries for The Yarn Attic's Accessory Spring KAL:

My Bamboozled Headband:

and my Lace Band Bracelet:

It was supposed to be a bracelet, but it works out better as an anklet, and I'm perfectly ok with that!

Toronto Knitter's Frolic

Well, the Toronto Knitter's Frolic was good to me this year.

I got a few different yarns, as well as a drop spindle that I'm currently trying out (there will be more on that later, I promise!)

First, I got two skeins of Juniper Moon Findley in "Snow."

Unless I completely change my mind, it's going to be a DROPS Morning Sky Cardigan.

I also got a skein of Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label, in her new standard colour "Aurora" (If you remember, I got several skeins of Aurora in her Etsy update, and I'm really glad this is becoming a standard colour!)

This going to be a pair of Birch Leaf Socks, from the book "A Gathering of Lace". I originally planned for these to be made with my leftover skein from my Gox Socks, but then I used my other skein to make the Foare socks, and I think the lace will show off the variegation really well.


Last but not least on the yarn side, I also got a skein of Angel Lace from TurtlePurl Yarns, in the colourway "Deep Ocean".  It's gorgeous stuff! At 1312 yards per skein, it goes a long way!

This is going to become a Roseleaves Tunic, also from "A Gathering of Lace."  I've been meaning to make this for a while.  Originally I was thinking I'd do it in a superwash merino lace, but this just was too awesome to resist, and it's not like I'm really going to machine wash a lace tunic, anyway.

I do have one lesson learned, though -- next time I go to the Frolic, I'm going to try and bring a lot more cash. The credit/debit terminals can get cranky with so many wireless signals, and not all vendors take credit/debit.  But the Frolic is still absolutely awesome, and I'm definitely intending to go again next year. :)

Very Late Cast On and Early Cast Off

Hello, and happy Easter all!  I hope everyone got something awesome from the 'Easter Bunny', be it yarn, or chocolate (I got both, so I'm quite content!)

Anyway,  I finally bothered to cast on for my Lace Band Bracelet.  It`s an entry into yet another of The Yarn Attic`s KALs.  But with a deadline of April 30th, I may have left this a little tighter then I would like.

That being said, I`m amazed at how far a skein of Malabrigo Sock goes!  I got my Evening Star Cowl, my Stella By Starlight Headband, and now the Lace Band Bracelet, out of it, with still more yarn left in the ball.   It`s actually really impressive.

What's even more impressive is how my Ethereal Shawl turned out.  With a cast off of 500 + stitches, it was rather daunting.

This is it before blocking:

And this is it after blocking (and later in the day). 

It didn't even really fit spread out on the couch after I'd blocked it.   I'm glad it's a symsetrical pattern, since I had to fold it in half to get it to fit on my blocking mats!  Note to self, I need more of the mats!

But I got it done with over two weeks to spare before the deadline.  I'm quite proud of myself for that!

Notions Pouch is Done!

So despite my posts about it being an oddly written pattern, my Sundance Notions Pouch is done.

It came together quite well, once I found a written out version of the pattern on Gemmington's project page on Ravelry.   If you're reading this, thank you -very- much!

It's now holding my sewing/knitting notions, including scissors, cable needle, tapestry needle, and tape measure.

I will say, however, that I don't think the Sweater yarn was the best choice for this.  It's not very stiff, and I think this pattern would benefit from a stiffer yarn.   But since part of this was just using up leftovers from other projects, it's still alright by me.

With this done well before the KAL deadline, it frees me up to work on some of my longer languishing works in progress.  With a bit of luck, I'll finish up my other projects as well.