Bo 2018: Mojito

Wow, it feels really good to get all caught up on this by the end of the year.  I'll start by saying that I wasn't entirely sure that I was going to participate in the Boo 2018 challenge after completing the 2017 challenge, I mean how many shawls does one person need to knit really?  But in the end I figured that I would still probably knit a fair few throughout the year and I would definitely be joining in any mystery knitalongs so why not go for it and be in for a chance of winning a prize.  Because I won a prize last year I'm not hopeful at all of winning another this year but, hey, why not try!  I've also finished 9 other projects this year, including a large a baby blanket so it's not like I've done nothing but knit lacy shawls and I'm happy to have taken part once again.

So, Mojito.

I took a bit of a gamble with this one, the yarn I chose is quite colourful and I wasn't entirely certain that the lace was going to complete with the yarn but I decided to go for it anyway and see what I ended up with.  The yarn is Solstice Yarns Zorya Silk Lace in Unrequited Love and is very beautiful indeed.

I did feel that there was rather a lot going on here however and stuck with clear rainbow beads for a subtle sparkle rather than trying to pick a colour that would work.  This was definitely a good choice.

Knitting this pattern was largely a simple affair.  I like the all over lace on this one and the main body is relatively simple but there is a section with lace on both the knit and purl rows which does require a bit of extra attention but makes the lace extra detailed and lovely so it is definitely worth it.  I'd happily knit this pattern again, probably in a solid colour to really show off the lace.  While I do feel like I got away with using this yarn for this shawl I probably am hiding a little bit if the detail under all the colour. 

As you can see in the photographs the lace shows loud and proud over a dark background but against a lighter colour it does disappear.  This isn't a problem, just something for me to be mindful of when I'm putting an outfit together.

So before I go I will say a big Happy New Year to everyone.  I hope 2018 has treated you well but if it hasn't I hope 2019 is much kinder.  2018 has been a year of change for us.  Felicity started school full time which allowed me to stop working evenings and change to daytimes, this has been fantastic for us as a family and for me personally because I was just DONE with heading off to work as everyone else was finishing.  I have had a little less time to myself as a result and perhaps less time for uninterrupted knitting and sewing but on balance we are all all better off now.  Hopefully the coming year will bring lots of new adventures for all of us.

Boo 2018: Diamond Fizz

Just one shawl to share with you today, one more tomorrow and then we are all caught up with my Boo Knits 2018 challenge - woop woop!  Once that is out of the way then I can take a look at the year ahead and, believe me. I am deep in planning mode right now.

So for today I'm going to show off my Diamond Fizz which is one of the patterns from the Boos for Beginners collection.  Obviously I am not a beginner but this is a really nice little collection with each pattern being a little more involved than the last and giving the more seasoned lace knitter the choice to kick back and knit something a little simpler.  I've now knit two patterns from this collection, this one and a Mojito which I'll share tomorrow plus I have yarn and beads all ready for a Spritzer and I would love to knit a Southside in the very near future.  Safe to say I like this collection!

The yarn is Dye For Yarn Tussah Silk Lace in Rain in a Graveyard, a lovely muted green that I like a lot.  This yarn is a bit of a splurge but I've used it a few times now and it is a real treat, lovely to knit and really nice to wear.

The beads I chose to go with this yarn were size 6 Toho seed beads in Frosted Teal.  I thought at first that they might be a bit dark but they're fine.  They stand out a little without overwhelming the yarn so I'm happy with my choice.

The pattern itself was simple to knit, you have the option to go for all over lace or a stockinette body which is what I went for.  I like the simple recurring lace followed by the much more intricate border, it's a beautiful effect.  I think this pattern was a great choice for my special yarn and I'm really pleased with how this turned out.  I also have a little yarn left which I hope to combine with some other leftovers in the future because it really is shame not to use up the whole skein of these beautiful yarns.

So pretty!

Boo 2018: Cloverfield and Dragonfly Wings

When Autumn rolled around I realised that I had been falling a little behind on my Boo Knits Challenge items and I did begin to worry that I might not complete all 11 items.  I decided to take a look at my to do list to see if I could swap out some quicker to knit items.  At that point I was mainly looking at lace weight beaded shawls and in all honesty that wasn't going to happen.  Then I remembered Cloverfield, a Boo cowl pattern!  I'd been on the fence about it because I wasn't entirely sure about the bobbly bits but I decided it would make a lovely gift even if I didn't love it.

I actually really liked the pink version on the pattern page so I chose a very similar shade to knit mone from.  I used DROPS Nord held double as I've used it before as a substitute for aran weight and was pleased with the results.  Knitting this pattern was a fairly simple affair but I will admit that I did not enjoy knitting the bobbles one single bit.  They only account for 6 rows of the pattern and the rest is a breeze so it wasn't a total deal breaker, but boy those rows felt like they took an eternity.

Luckily I really like the finished item, it's cosy and a bit different to anything else I have.  I'm not sure if I'd knit it again but I'm glad I made this one.

The quickest shawl I made last year was Dragonfly Wings, so I decided to bang out another one of those this year.  It's a very simple pattern that results in a long shallow shawl and is a great option for a last minute Christmas gift. 

I used some Fyberspates sparkle sock that was sent to me by a lovely Ravelry friend and was waiting for a special project to come along.  The silver sparkles in this yarn add a lovely christmassy vibe to the deep green and blues.  I have some left so I may have to make something sparkly for me too.

I enjoy knitting this pattern, it's half simple stockinette with occasional purl bump rows and half very simple beaded lace and it results in a shawl which is a very different shape to those I normally knit.  It's also a nice pattern to showcase a somewhat variegated yarn.  The one I made last year made use of some Tosh Sock that had also been sent to me and I was really pleased with how that one turned out too.

Even though these projects were picked to be quick I'm still really glad to have made them and I'm proud of the end results.  The shawls that I was going to make have been postponed until next year when I will be able to take my time and enjoy knitting them, which really is the whole point of knitting them at all!

Boo challenge update and FOs

With just a few days left of 2018 I am pleased to report that I have completed the 2018 Boo Knits challenge - yay! I do have a few left unblogged however and I would like to get to have them all shared by the end of the year as well.  Some of the shawls I've made this year I have made before so I don't have much to say about them apart from sharing a few photos so I'll probably tack those ones on to the end of a post about a new to me pattern.

So lets go!  First up today is Forever Yours which I actually completed in March and blogged about here when it was a WIP.  It turns out I never posted about it when it was finished though.... oops.

I had to refresh my mind from the old blog post because I finished this one such a long time ago that I've mostly forgotten the details by now.  I only have 50g of yarn to play with and I wanted to use as much of it as possible because I do like a larger shawl.  Despite my concerns that this might come out a bit small I was really please with the finished size of this one.  In fact I managed to do more repeats than I thought I would and I had to order extra beads before I could finish.

Looking at the photos of this shawl reminds me that I would definitely like to knit this one again, each of the sections is repeatable and you can make a different shawl each time depending on how many repeats of each section you do.  Because I was concerned about yarn I did a smaller number of repeats of the earlier sections and then increased the repeats of later sections as it became clear I'd have enough yarn.  I'd like to make this with a good amount of yarn so that I can plan how I'd like it to look rather than being led by yarn constraints.  that being said I like the way this has turned out and it is a real statement piece. 

The beads I chose were a lovely matte red, I decided to go for a textural contrast rather than a bold colour contrast and I think the effect is really lovely.  All in all I feel like this is something quite special and I'm glad to have made it.

Next up today is Intrepid Spirit

I made one of these last year for my Sister in Law in purple (it turns out I didn't blog that one so I'll include some photos of that one too I guess) and then found it really hard to actually give away!  I used the same yarn for both, DROPS Baby Merino, this time in grey and I chose some frosted purple beads.  The beads were actually a lot more muted than I had hoped and as I began adding them to the shawl I was slightly underwhelmed.  But then I held my knitting up to the light and the sun caught on the beads and just made them glow.  Unfortunately I've not managed to catch the effect on camera, but it really is something.  Theres not much to say about this one, it was a simple knit and I enjoyed knitting it again.  Again this is a pattern you can alter by doing different numbers of repeats but I just went by the pattern for both of mine and I'm happy with the size and the effect.

Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with another 2 Boo projects.  Spoilers:  one of them is not a shawl!

FO: Mustardseed

Continuing on with my little Boo Challenge catch up, my next finished shawl was Mustardseed.  This was a project I started in April and ended up picking up and putting down in between other projects.  I finally finished it in October after vowing to finish it before starting anything else.

If I'm honest I don't think that the yarn was really doing it for me, I had been hoping it would be more of a gentle fading between colours but ended up a little more stripy than I'd wanted.  I used Knit Picks Chroma Fingering in Avalon, which I'd bought on a whim and thought might work for this pattern.  It works ok but it's not entirely what I was after.

With the yarn having a few colours in it I chose simple transparent rainbow beads which I think was the right choice.  They add sparkle without adding more colour to the mix.

This is a lovely pattern, nice and simple but with a little lace at the end.  I would definitely like to make another with plainer yarn to really show off the pattern.

The more eagle eyed among you will notice that the edge on this shawl is a little different than the rest because I actually ran out of yarn.  Super forward planning there Hannah!  I had no intention of buying more yarn or ripping back so I just searched the stash until I found something in the right colour family and went for it.  The yarn I ended up with is DROPS Alpaca, so a bit different texture wise to the  Chroma which is a loosely spun single.  It looks ok though and while this will never be my favourite knit shawl it is perfectly fine and I glad I gave this pattern a look because I will knit it again before too long.