Works in Progress, Etc.

I got a lovely email over the weekend from Alison Hyde, author of Wrapped in Comfort. Apparently she did the written directions for all the patterns, but the charts were made up separately by someone Martingale hired. She explained, “I knit some of those shawls a half a dozen times to make sure I’d written them up right. It paid off: my tech editor said it was the first knitting book she’d ever seen with zero errors. But that was before the charts got added in. So when in doubt, go with the written part if there’s a question.” That’s good advice to have.

Here’s my shawl from that book in progress.

Since I’m working on circular needles, it’s a bit bunched up, but I’ve spread it out so you can see one repeat of the leaf pattern. The malabrigo I’m using is much heavier that the yarn the pattern calls for, but the results please me no end. I’ve got some rich purple malabrigo lined up that I’ll cast on for another of Hyde’s shawls as soon as this one is finished.

I continue plugging away at the Origami Cardi. The back and both fronts are finished. Now I’m working on the sleeves.

I’m knitting both at once in hopes of keeping my guage consistent.

Finally, here’s my version of Rosebud.

I’m using Cherry Tree Hill‘s Ariel in the Fall Foliage colorway. The mock cable (sl1, k2, pass slipped stitch over both k stitches) makes nice, wide eyelets. I’ve got a new design going in my head that will use this stitch.

Kim Hargreaves has a great new pattern book out, Heartfelt. On my first glance at the projects, I picked out nine (count ’em, nine!) that I’d like to do. Of course, I won’t get anywhere near that many knit up, but I definitely need a copy of this book. Faith and Darcy have very graceful shaping; Erin is a classic in the very best sense; and Tess and Ward look wonderfully cozy.

Here’s a lovely lace scarf pattern I found via Ravelry. It’s knit length-wise, which allows for a pretty arrangement of stitches at each end without having to join separate pieces.

And check out this great watermelon self-striping yarn from Freshisle Fibers. Sadly—but not surprisingly—it’s out of stock at the moment, but I will be haunting their web site looking for its return.