Jennifer, Where You At?

...well I'm right here, sitting on a pillow.  And not just any pillow.  A big fluffy please-cushion-my-worn-out-tush sort of pillow.  I have been working for days (and nights) updating and moving files from my old site.  And in the words of Sheryl Crow, "I'm living on coffee and nicotine*..."

I had been severely neglecting things at NIK for the past couple of years.  I had made the occasional post, but with too many other irons in the fire I couldn't give it the attention it deserved.   I'm now looking forward to moving it to the top of my "queue!" 

As I've sorted through everything this week I've been making lists.  All sorts of lists!  Lists that need to merge with other lists, lists that need to be trashed.  I've got lists everywhere!  My dad is king of the LIST.  No matter how great or small the task, you'll get the same declaration from him... "Add it to the LIST!"  (Word is he's been known to even add things after the fact, just to mark them off.)

In making all my lists I discovered I have a pile of knits I have finished and photographed, but never wrote about.  I have them cataloged on my project page in Ravelry, but that's as far as I got.  Above is a collage of some of my favorite knits over the last couple of years, as well as a favorite hank of hand-spun that I dyed as well.  I'm still learning to spin, so needless to say it ended up more like rope than yarn.  But rope works great for slippers!  And Annabelle is still wearing her Slippers from Scratch!

So it's back to work I go.  Thank goodness for fluffy pillows and caffeine!  

Happy Knitting! 

*I can't even pretend to be a smoker.  I never learned to inhale properly and may be the only person alive who knew exactly what the President meant...

Shawl Crazy.

Shaelyn Shawl, [ jenleigh ]'s version.

Shaelyn by Leila Raabe

Project Specs:
Knit in Kauni Effektgarn in colorway EN.

Knitted on size US 8 circulars.

All the snowfall has made me stir crazy, which has made me shawl crazy.  I love how quickly shawls can knit up... and wonder why it took me so long to jump on board this train.  I've knit three in the last few weeks and have worn them all numerous times.  This is Shaelyn, by Leila Raabe and I am really pleased with how it turned out.  I've had two balls of Kauni for a couple of years now and couldn't decide on the right project for them.  When I saw this pattern I thought the long colorways of the Kauni would be perfect for the scalloped lace detail in the pattern.

I knit an extra pattern repeat to end with the brown colorway instead of cream.

It took less than one ball of Kauni (roughly 440 yards) to complete this project.  And that's including an extra pattern repeat.  I really wanted the shawl to end with a brown edging instead of cream, and thankfully it came out just right.

This is such an easy yet elegant pattern that's perfect for TV knitting.  With rows of stockinette tucked between simple lace work, it would be fairly difficult to really lose your place.  Although, I did manage to do so a couple of times!  As usual! 

I really loved working with the Kauni as well.  Don't fret if you've begun a project with it and wondered if you had indeed found a yarn rougher than Noro, because it really blocks well and fluffs quite a bit.  Now, in saying that, I'm not comparing it to Malabrigo!  It's a more rustic yarn that smells like a sheep! (I love that, and so does my cat.) But it does block to a nice fabric that you won't have to sacrifice comfort to wear around your neck.  Overall I think they are a perfect pairing!

Happy Knitting!

----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lanora  DATE: 02/28/2011 04:11:43 PM Wow. That yarn goes well with your hair. Very nice!