Project Specs
Pattern: Vintage Velvet by Lisa Daniels
Pattern Source: Scarf Style
Yarn: Muench Touch Me in #3609 Turquoise, 5 balls (I had about a yard leftover)
Needles: US 8 Knit Picks Options interchangeable needles
Finished Size: 65" long and 5" wide
Date Started: 8/22/08
Date Finished: 8/31/08
Modifications: None
See it on Ravelry

This is one FO where I loved the process just as much as the final product. This yarn is amazing! While knitting it’s soft and silky (though a bit slick) and after felting it’s buttery and supple. I was expecting the scarf to feel like velvet, but it turned out even better than I’d hoped.

Grace and I both bought yarn for this scarf at the same time and she knit hers a long time ago. For the Ravelympics I decided to finally make a Vintage Velvet for myself. Unfortunately I didn’t finish before the closing ceremonies, but I am so glad it pushed me to finally get this yarn out of my stash and onto my needles! I’m actually glad I didn’t rush through the whole thing because it was such an enjoyable knit to sit down with before bed and unwind.

Even though Grace did it before me without any problems, the felting portion of this project really freaked me out. I’ve felted lots of things before, but certainly nothing this luxurious. I followed the pattern instructions and washed the scarf on hot with some old towels. After this stage of the process really the scarf looks terrible—kind of like a drowned muppet. My advice is not even to try to make any sense of it at the moment, quickly throw it in the dryer without looking at it too much! I dried my scarf on medium for about thirty minutes then switched to low for the final bit. I pulled it out before it was totally dry and hung it up over night. This morning when I woke up I gave it a quick fluff in a no-heat dryer. The overall transformation is amazing!

I’d love to knit this scarf again, although next time I might buy another skein or two to make it a bit longer. Right now it’s a nice length to drape around my neck once, but I normally like my scarves a little longer. My only negative for this yarn is the price. It retails for about $15/ball, and since I bought this yarn over a year ago I’ve rarely seen it go on sale. If I were to knit a larger scarf than this one it could easily run $100 for the project. I’m dying to work with Touch Me again though, so I’m going to be on the look out for projects that can be made with two or three skeins.

I feel a little guilty keeping this scarf for myself, but because of the size I think it will be a nice scarf for Las Vegas winters. Plus, I’ve been wearing it around all day and don’t want to take it off!

Project Specs
Pattern: Gossamer Stars Scarf designed by Kat Coyle
Pattern Source: Interweave Knits, Summer 2008
Yarn: Fiesta La Luz in Orchid, 2.3 skeins
Needles: US 7 Denise Circular Needle
Date Started: 8/8/08 @ 8:00 AM
Date Finished: 8/12/08 @ 8:45 PM
Size: 10" wide x 62" long
See it on Ravelry

The Gossamer Stars Scarf was my first Olympic cast on and it took about three days of marathon knitting to finish. I had been searching for a pattern to use with this yarn for a long time and was so glad to see it in the Summer 2008 issue of IK. I was pleasantly surprised with how easy it was to knit while at the same time learning a few new techniques (this was the first time I worked a provisional cast on and it surely wont be my last). The instructions are so simple they only take up one page in the magazine! I'm excited to give this to my grandma for Christmas this year. Purple is her favorite color and I know she'll appreciate the luxuriousness of La Luz.

This scarf has more of the feel of a small wrap due to its width and weight. The dimensions could easily be tweaked to make it wider or longer, and the design would also lend itself well to many different types of yarn. The pattern suggests using 3 skeins of Fiesta La Luz, and with a retail price of $25.00 per skein it's not the most practical choice. I was kind of annoyed that I only ended up using a third of the last skein, because when you spend that much on yarn, you want to use it all up! I could have probably gotten one more pattern repeat for each half of the scarf with the leftovers of the third skein. Now I'm left with about 150 yards, maybe enough to make another La Luz Eye Mask or a lacy cowl.

I was really good about blocking my Ravelympic FO's immediately after finishing them, that is except for this scarf. I was nervous about washing this yarn especially since the label is adamant about it being dry clean only. I've read several places that silk fibers can become very delicate when wet, so I made sure to handle it with extreme care. I placed the scarf in a bowl warm water mixed with a bit of Euculan wool wash for over an hour to make sure the silk fibers got thoroughly soaked. The yarn bled A LOT, the water almost instantly turned dark purple. I have noticed that the color is a bit lighter that it was before washing, and I wonder how much more it would lighten with each subsequent wash. When taking the scarf out of the water, I made sure to support the entire weight of the scarf at all times and used a clean try towel to press out as much water as I could before laying it on the bed to dry. I have to admit the scarf looked pretty shabby as I was knitting it. Since there are no border stitches, the edges curled in making it look really sloppy. However after the wash and gentle block (not using any pins or wires) it was transformed!

I should also mention that when while wet this scarf stunk to high heaven! I've heard that wet silk can have a pretty strong smell, but I wasn't prepared for it being that bad. Just thinking about it now makes me nauseous. Once it dried the smell faded but is still present. I hope that it isn't too overpowering for my grandma because I know I would have problems wearing the scarf. Does anyone have any advice on how to get it to smell a little nicer?

As for the rest of my Ravelympic projects, I finished everything except the Bird in Hand mittens and Odd Fellow. I got pretty far in knitting the mittens before I realized that I totally hated the color combo that I chose, and figured that it would be best to frog and redo them later instead of living with mittens that I couldn't stand. I'll be posting the rest of my Olympic FOs this week and early next week so stay tuned!

Project Specs
Pattern: Bainbridge Scarf by MintyFresh
Yarn: 40g (120 yds) Manos del Uruguay Manos Silk Blend, color #3106
Needles: US6 Denise Interchangeable
Finished Size: 4" x 26"
Date started: 8/17/08
Date completed: 8/18/08, added button on 8/24
Modifications: Cast on more stitches, used a loop and button closure instead of ties
Extras: JHB Wooden Button (#1758) from JoAnn’s
See it on Ravelry!

Well, I eked this one out right under the wire. All the knitting was finished on this cowl quite a few days ago, but I put off sewing on the button until just before the end of the Olympics on Sunday morning. I’ve got one more finished Ravelympics project to show later this week (right now it’s drying), but that’s the extent of my completed Olympic knits. I definitely came up short of my goal of ten finished items, but I’m happy with the ones I did complete—plus I almost finished two of the big projects I had planned and I’m excited to work on those more this week.

This cowl really was a super fast and easy knit. For such a simple pattern, the finished product turns out pretty stylish. Because I’m a tight knitter, I casted on 160 stitches rather than 144 and went up to a size US6 needle. The scarf ended up right on the original measurements in the pattern after blocking. Instead of using ties I opted for a simple loop and button closure (inspired by this one) for a cleaner look. Unfortunately, I’m not keeping this cowl for myself (yay, another x-mas gift finished!) but it will be easy to make myself one so I’m not too sad to see it go . Plus, I’m really excited to be checking things off my holiday to-do list this early in the year!

I chose to work Manos Silk Blend that I picked up at The Dancing Ewe during a recent trip to visit family in Ellensburg, Washington. The yarn is so pretty in person I couldn’t resist buying some. I love the colors throughout and the dye job is flawless. I also bought a few skeins in the Wildflowers colorway to knit up something for myself in the future. Working with this yarn is very similar to knitting with Malabrigo Silky Merino. It has a nice consistent thickness and a great sheen to it. There are some differences though where I think Manos Silk Blend falls short when comparing it to Silky Merino. Manos Silk Blend is a 70% wool, 30% silk blend, while the Malabrigo is a 50/50 blend. At first I didn’t think I could tell the difference in the softness, but after comparing this cowl side by side with my Step Ribbed Stole I really prefer the silkiness of the Malabrigo. Although both yarns have the same yardage per skein, a hank of Manos costs about three dollars more. I’m glad I tried this yarn out, but in the future I think I’ll stick to Malabrigo Silky Merino if I’m looking for a nice DK weight yarn—that is unless there is a certain colorway I can only get in the Manos Silk Blend.

I’m excited to finally have jumped on the cowl bandwagon, though I’m not sure if this is actually a cowl or more of a neckwarmer. Now I’m looking forward to making a cowl for myself and I think this is the perfect one for me. After reading the pattern over I am a bit scared though. I’ve never done double knitting before and it sounds tricky! At least I have quite a few months to conquer that fear before the weather gets chilly here in Las Vegas!

P.S – I started my Camdyn 365 project today!

Project Specs
Pattern: Green Autumn (Druid Mittens) designed by Jared Flood of BrooklynTweed
Pattern Source: Vogue Knitting, Fall 2008
Yarn: Harrisville New England Shetland in color #8 Hemlock, 1.3 skeins
Needles: US 3 Clover DPNs
Date Started: 8/10/08 @ 4:30 PM
Date Finished: 8/20/08 @ 5:10 PM
Size: 10.5" from bottom of cuff to tip of fingers, 4" across palm of hand; to fit Womens Large
See them on Ravelry

Obviously the Yellow Harvest mittens weren't the only ones I loved from this magazine! The Green Autumn mittens also stood out when I saw the preview, along with the Snowbird mittens and Buttonhole Scarf. I have to admit that I'm not usually the biggest fan of Vogue Knitting magazine. I had the subscription for a year but canceled it after dealing with their totally unreliable delivery (I always ended up receiving my copy after it had been on the stand for a few weeks) as well as a complete lack of patterns I'd ever want to knit. Of course as soon as I cancel they put out a magazine with several patterns I loved!

After casting on I soon realized that these mittens were more detailed than I had originally thought. There are cables, bobbles, knit, purl, and slipped stitches all working to create a design that is intense but surprisingly simple. It took me about three full days to knit the main body of the mittens plus an extra half day for the thumbs. Honestly they went quicker than I thought they would considering how much cabling there was to do, but if I were to knit these again I definitely wouldn't do it under a deadline (at least a two week deadline along with nine other projects). This pattern seems like it would be better suited for leisurely knitting over the course of a month.

I really couldn't be happier with how they turned out. They fit me like a dream, and like the Yellow Harvest mittens I'll be sad to see them go. I already have plans to knit myself a pair using some Araucania Ranco, and hopefully I'll get around to them before the holidays arrive. My favorite part of these mittens probably has to be the thumbs. Be careful when you're knitting the right thumb though because the cabled section of Chart 3 should be mirrored to keep the pattern going.

This is my second time using this yarn, and again I really enjoyed working with it. New England Shetland is perfectly suited for colorwork, and I was pleased to discover it works really well for cabling too. It isn't by any means the softest yarn and can be a bit itchy, but it does soften with a good washing. I love the stuff, and I hope that the friend I'm giving these mittens to feels the same way!

The Olympics are winding down, and I have to finish all my knits by noon on Sunday. I feel like I'm in pretty good shape with all but three completed. Tonight I'll be working on the Odd Fellow, then tomorrow and Saturday will a knitting marathon to get Butterfull and Bird in Hand mittens finished. Alice doesn't think she'll be able to finish all of her projects but I'll be rooting for her to finish what she can.

Project Specs
Pattern: Butterfly Hat by Sofiya Cremin
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Jacinto, 45g (97 yards)
Needles: US5 and US7 Denise Interchangeable Needles and US7 Clover bamboo DPNs
Date started: 8/11/08
Date completed: 8/13/08
Modifications: Worked one less butterfly repeat for child’s size, adjusted decrease rounds accordingly
See it on Ravelry!

I was totally inspired by Jen’s child sized version of this hat that she knit during Malabrigo March. It became an instant favorite of mine and I always knew that I needed to make one like it for Camdyn. I used all Jen’s tips and modifications to change the sizing and after blocking the hat fits Cam perfectly.

Though the pattern was simple and quick to knit, I had some setbacks with my yarn choice that added to the knitting time. I knit over half of a hat with a more variegated colorway of Malabrigo and it ended up looking terrible so I opted to reknit it with a semi-solid colorway. I’m still not totally happy with my color choice. I really wish this color was a bit less solid than it is. I still like the effects of the floats though, and the pattern really goes fast so I could see myself knitting this pattern again once I find the perfect color for it.

Speaking of color, the color of this hat is totally off in these photos! It is a bit lighter and much more purple than shown here. I had forgotten how it is to photograph purple—then I remembered that I also had the same problems taking pictures of Camdyn’s Tomten Jacket. If anyone has any tips on photographing those hard to capture colors I’d love to hear it. I tried adjusting the white balance and using natural light without any luck!

So far I’m loving my new camera, but there are so many features I haven’t even tried yet! I’m thinking of doing Project 365 with Camdyn. I think Cam would have no problem with this, since she asks me to take pictures of her every day already. I think it would be fun to look back on and it would also help me become a better photographer. Maybe after the Ravelympics I’ll give it a go!