Luna Moth Update

I re-blocked Luna Moth, and it is now 54in x 27in. DH got into the process when he started commenting that the points along the edge weren't all the same distance apart, and after that he started doing more maths, and ..... OK, he was right and was helpful. Love that guy!! I'm not as pleased with the shape that the motifs have now as I was with the first blocking. Making them look the way I liked was how I got the first blocked size. It took a lot of pulling to get the 54in across, and I kept patting the fabric into place to get the 2:1 ration of width to length. I'm thinking that the fiber content - cotton, viscose and silk - just isn't as adaptable as an animal fiber would be.

BTW, this is my alternate blocking surface. These are 2ft x 2ft foam squares I found at Toys R Us for $20US; they're meant for babies' play surfaces, and they fit together like jigsaw pieces. I drew lines across them with a Sharpie, and marked the corners that need to go together so that I can use the lines to help with a more rectangular project. Again I used the little fan, but I started earlier last night and didn't run it overnight.

We Have FOs!!!

OK, friends, here's some real knitting content, at last!! I have finished 2 shawls in the last few days, though I still have ends to weave in. Both of these are free patterns at Elann, designed by Shui Kuen Kosinsky.

Luna Moth has been OTN since late April, and I finished it Sunday night. The yarn is Filati Fantasia Cezanne, 3 skeins @103yds in Pale Straw, worked on US 9 needles. I worked only to Row 18 on the last pattern repeat, due to my limited yarn; I have just a couple of feet of the yarn left. Whew!! The link shows the Pale Straw color on the left. I got this from Elann last year, and while it is very loosely plied and therefore somewhat splitty, it's easy to knit and beautifully drapey. With the high cotton and viscose content, the shawl blocked very differently than wool or alpaca would have done. The finished size is 49in across and 32in down. I don't know that I can get it to be larger by another try at the blocking. Any advice or suggestions are welcome; it would be nice if it were a bit wider across the shoulders.

I have finished Sun Ray, which I started last month when I was in Vancouver. This is done with hand-dyed yarn in Apricot from See Jayne Knits, 2 246-yd skeins of her 100% merino, worked on US9 needles. I LOVE this yarn! It is soft and sproingy and a joy to knit with. I have about 10g left of the total of 200g. I'm not sure I like the picot bind-off, and I will say it is tedious, perhaps even a PITA, to do. It seemed to cause a lot of aches in my wrists and my left thumb. It is a very flexible bind-off, as the pattern says. The finished size is 56in across and 34in deep.
Last but not least, I finally finished a baby cardi that I've donated to the Stitches from the Heart (STFH)charity. The yarn is James G. Brett's Marble yarn in Moss. The closeup has truer color values. The link is to the best picture I could find online, which is sort of pitiful. I bought the yarn from SFTH. It's rather odd-looking in the skein, with 2 plies wound somewhat loosely, but it knits up nicely and then you go Wow! when you see how pretty the color changes are. I washed and dried this with my undies and it came out really soft! The pattern is free from Knitting Pure and Simple, and is SO easy to knit, all in one piece from the top of the hood down, with the sleeve stitches put on holders at the armscye and then knitted down to the cuff. I did a provisional cast-on and then a 3-needle bind-off for the only seam, at the top of the hood. You can see that this allowed the stripes to line up very nicely.



I thought you'd like to see my simple blocking system. I use this 4ft x 8f piece of foam insulation board for really big things like shawls, though I prefer the soft foam interlocking squares. But this works really well. I washed and blocked these late Monday night, left the little fan running overnight and the shawls were dry by 9am yesterday. I took them with me to meet Mary Tess for show and tell, lol!

Next up, I'll be finishing a little scarf that's been OTN for months, and then picking up Mystery Stole 3. I'm probably going to make a symmetrical stole, though the last clue won't be posted until Friday. At the moment, the 'wing' pattern looks a bit odd, but perhaps it will look better with the last segment. If I do the symmetrical version, I'll put the first section on a holder and then do a 3-needle bind-off. That's got to be easier than trying to Kitchener laceweight yarn. Plus I dug out my Lacevember project, Hand Jive Knits' Dayflower Stole, which I'm doing in Elann's Baby Silk in the beautiful green Cedar color. Since I'm on a roll with lace, I thought I might do well with this, too.