Work-In-Progress Wednesday #15

Since I've been hard at work busting out a couple of secret designs for an upcoming e-book for Afghans for Afghans, I don't have much I can show you this week. However, I have been doing a bit of knitting on my  Star Athena Mystery KAL project (look away if you don't want to be spoiled!):

.

.

.

.

.

BMFA De-Vine, colorway Smokey Mountain Morn

I've missed knitting with the lovely yarn that I gushed about last week, so I'm very happy the final clue came out yesterday. I also think I found the perfect buttons for the cowl. They are somewhat misshapen silvery ones that are funky enough for the style of the cowl but plain enough to complement the crazy stitch patterns well. I bought them at Love 2 Knit (formerly known as Unwind), one of the local yarn stores that are within minutes of the new apartment I'll be moving to in a few days (which I am embarrassingly excited about, btw). While I was there, I couldn't resist picking up a little yarn, too:

These are The Fiber Company Acadia, colorways Driftwood and Blue Heron (60% Merino wool, 20% alpaca, 20% silk). I love how soft and light they are, and the silk slubs give them a fun, tweedy texture. I think they might become a colorwork cowl someday, like Gyre by Elizabeth Elliott (when I get brave enough to try real colorwork, that is).

Any fun new yarn finds for you? How about good colorwork cowl pattern recommendations? Don't forget to check out more WIPs by clicking the image below!

Color!

Our new apartment complex allows us to paint one wall in each room as an 'accent wall'. It seems a little silly that we can't do the whole room, but I'm just glad to have the option to paint at all! So of course I went a little crazy trying to pick colors. The Fiasco and I finally settled on these (the coins indicate the ones we chose):

The yellow will go in the kitchen, which has grey countertops and tiles, so I think it will compliment nicely (and the Fiasco was surprisingly dead-set on having a yellow kitchen). The green will go in the living room and the teal will go in both of the bedrooms. If we have leftover paint, we might do some yellow and green stripes along the top of the wall in the bathroom, too. I'm not entirely sure how all these colors will look with the mauve/beige-ish carpeting everywhere but I am just so excited to have happy colors in my home that I don't really care!

We're going to do some stenciling, too! In the kitchen, we're going to paint some dandelions:

From Cutting Edge Stencils webpage.

Probably in white. And then the master bedroom will have an all-over pattern on the wall which will look a lot like this:

Photo from Cutting Edge Stencils webpage.

It might take a little while before we get around to doing the stenciling because we'll have to wait for weekends when I don't have other things to do, but I think it's going to be awesome. I'd also like to do a vine design of some kind along the top of the living room walls, but haven't found a good stencil for that yet. There might be some large paisley or damask stencils done in the second bedroom, too, still thinking about it. Have you done any stenciling or seen some that you like? I'd appreciate any painting tips!

We also went to Joann's Fabrics and ordered some fabric for curtains. Our new place has a ton of windows and to purchase curtains to cover all of them would've come close to $200. For less than half that price we bought enough fabric for the Fiasco to make curtains himself. His mom taught him to sew when he was a hyperactive little kid needing something to do and it's sure come in handy! He used to make costumes for theater groups in high school and he'll occasionally go on a sewing bender and make a giant quilt or two, which I think is pretty cool. Since I never learned to use a sewing machine, I love having a fiance who knows his way around one and I'm excited to see what he makes. And of course, any curtain-making tips would be appreciated!

Inspiration Saturday #1

I've decided to start posting patterns, designs, ideas, yarns, and/or projects that inspire me every Saturday. Most of the posts on this blog are about things that inspire me but this way such posts will 1) be a bit more structured (and guarantee that I post at least once a week!) and 2) allow anybody else who'd like to join in to do so. At the bottom of these posts will be a place for you to link to your own 'Inspiration Saturday'-themed post, which I know I'd love to read!

As a general rule, I find every single design published through Twist Collective inspiring. But for today I will try to limit my effusions of admiration to three designs from the most recent Winter 2012 edition.

Design #1:

Photo from Ravelry pattern page.

This is Berwick, a wonderfully stylish aran-weight pullover designed by Kristen Rengren.This sweater is a great example of how a few carefully placed details turn something fairly simple and into something fantastic. That giant brioche rib cowl collar with contrasting buttons really makes this piece, and the front pocket doesn't hurt, either. When I look at this picture, I instantly want to be wearing that sweater. Plus, it seems like it would be flattering on many figures, which means there's a pretty good chance I'll get around to trying to make it someday!

Design #2:

Photo from Ravelry pattern page.

This fingering-weight hat and mitten set is called Chamomile, designed by Rachel Coopey. I am often inspired by colorwork projects knit in fine yarn, perhaps because I'm still working up the determination to try to attempt such a project. Whatever the reason, it's undeniable that fine-gauge colorwork has a great wintery feel to it, and these designs fit right in with that. I also like the delicate look of this colorwork pattern in particular, it reminds me of lace doily edgings which I think is pretty unique.

Design #3:

Photo from Ravelry pattern page.

This DK-weight cardigan is Picard, designed by Marnie MacLean. This is another garment with a basically simple shape but with a few really great details that make it stand out. I love the inverted V with the lines of twisted stitches traveling down the front of the cardigan. I'm not sure I'd be able to pull this look off, the angles of the V might not hit my bust correctly and the vertical lines might draw a little more attention than I'd like to the belly region, but I love it on the model nonetheless. Marnie posted about her rather dorky inspiration for this design on her blog, if you're interested. I know I love reading about how designs are born.

I hope you enjoyed my first attempt at Inspiration Saturday. Please join in and spread the word! What's inspired you lately?

Work-In-Progress Wednesday #14

Is it just me, or did today feel more like Friday than Wednesday? Hello, 4-day-weekend, am I glad to see you! I'm totally not complaining. Wanna see some WIPs?

Ever More Ribbons:

Malabrigo Yarn Rios, colorway Azules

That is a terrible photo of the knitting but an adorable photo of Darwin, so I kept it. Thanks to an extra-long conference call today, I finished one of the pair of my Beribboned Wrists and started the second. These are my leave-at-work knit because they are simple and I can just knit a row here and there when I have a second without messing anything up. I anticipate having a pair of these on the needles continuously for a while, people have been chatting them up on facebook and I'm being convinced to open an Etsy shop and sell them... but probably not until after the new year. Too many deadlines!

Dragonfly Fibers Traveller, colorway Riptide

In addition to the secret knitting I 'showed' you last time, I have another secret design on the needles using yarn from Dragonfly Fibers. Kate uses similar yarn bases as The Verdant Gryphon and Cephalopod Yarns and is another Maryland-based indie dyer. I don't know what they put in the water down in Maryland but it sure makes for some talented and creative fiber artists with great color sense, and I'm grateful for it!

Mystery Cowl:
.
.
SPOILER ALERT: If you are taking part in Star Athena's Mystery Cowl KAL and don't want to be spoiled, you should probably stop reading now. (Bye!)
.
.

BMFA De-Vine, colorway Smokey Mountain Morn

This was a total impulse project. I saw the post about the mystery KAL, knew that I liked Star's sock design I'd recently knit, had been thinking about making myself a new cowl, and once I heard the word "discount" (10% off the yarn with purchase of the pattern) I jumped at the chance to justify trying this new-to-me bulky yarn: De-Vine from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. The yarn is crazy cool and different from anything I've knit with before.

Here's the website description:
    "Thirty six singles spun fine then 2 plied, then 4 plied, then take 8 of those sets of 4 ply and twist. DeVine!  Soft with a bounce and spring. DeVine takes color like our sock yarn, all bright and glorious."

How crazy is that, right? It has a dense, almost velvety texture. It's really nice. And the pattern is simple and fun so far. It involvs linen stitch and herringbone stitch, both of which are pretty rough on the hands (especially on size 15 needles!) but work so well with the variegated colorways of Blue Moon that it's worth it. You can read more about the KAL in Star's Ravelry group.

One more beauty shot...

That's most of the knitting I'm actively working on right now. I'm looking forward to some seriously focused knitting-and-blog-reading time this weekend, I feel so behind! I normally travel to Long Island for the holiday but the Fiasco and I are staying in CT this year. We'll spend Thanksgiving with his family and then spend the rest of the weekend packing our apartment up because we'll be moving to RI the following weekend! It's not a very far move but it is an exciting one because it means we 1) gain about 400 square feet of space (yaaaaaay) and 2) lose 45 minutes off my current commute (double yaaaaay). While I'll miss seeing my family very much, it will be good to get ahead on things around here. I hope you all have a good holiday!

Lickity Split

Hello, folks! I'm going to be blogging quickly today because I'm on a deadline but I've missed thinking/talking/writing about knitting so here's what I've been up to!

A bit of holiday gift knitting:

Cascade 220 Superwash

This is a simple 2x2 rib hat for my little cousin. It warms my heart how much he loves the hats I make him, but I have to use superwash because his first hat got accidentally washed. I hate the lack of bounce that superwash yarns have sometimes, they can feel so lifeless, so I held the yarn double and it made a nice squishy fabric. That makes 6 holiday gifts down, 10 more to go! (They're small... but it will be a close finish.) And that makes my 17th out of 50 Year of Projects goals completed! My list of goals has been evolving and has grown to much longer than 50 projects, so my revised goal is not necessarily to finish the entire list, but rather to just finish 50 things off that list.

A bit of secret design knitting:

Cephalopod Yarns Skinny Bugga, colorways Ghost Moth and Blue Ringed Octopus

I can't tell you much about this except ahhhhh I love this color combo!

A bit of swatching for a good friend's impending tiny human (Bridgi, don't look!):
.
.
.
. 
.
.

Malabrigo Yarn Rios, colorway Archangel

This is going to be a Sylvan Afghan, designed by my Ravelry friend, Erica. It's a great pattern with lots of options and detailed instructions to help you make exactly the blanket you want! I'm going to alternate strips of leaves in the colorway pictured with a lime green and undyed color. It should match the crib set pretty nicely.

Finally, Darwin wanted to say hello:

Blurry but cute!

That'll have to hold me over for a bit. I'm hoping I have more time next week to blog. But for now, back to writing about science!