WIP Wednesday - Prayer Shawl

Last fall I agreed to join the newly formed Prayer Shawl Ministry at church. I'd been looking for some way to contribute that didn't involve being away from my boys a lot, since I work full time outside of the home. This was a perfect fit. Work at your own pace, meetings once every couple months, and something I already know how to do.

My first shawl is a simple garter stitch, and I plan to add some fringe to the ends. The colours are earthy, subtle, and soothing. It will be easy to take care of, so no matter who it is gifted to, there's not a lot of special instructions. I think that's one of the main ideas behind the prayer shawls. Low maintenance seems to be key.

I'm think I'm about 60 percent finished the knitting portion. The nice thing about garter stitch is that it doesn't require a lot of thinking, there's not reading charts, you can truly give in to the meditative process as you knit.

Pattern: Comfort Shawl. Yarn: Lion Brand Homespun in Mediterranean

For more WIP Wednesday creations-in-progress, head over to Tami's!

Falling Water

My mother-in-law's Christmas present. I finished knitting this ages ago (in, like, September?), but didn't get around to blocking or finishing it until just before Christmas. Then I realized we were actually going to be seeing them on the 23rd, instead of the 24th like we normally would, and in a sudden panic, I had it soaked, measured, and pinned before going to bed on Thursday. Then I raced home from work on Friday to weave in the ends.

Pattern: Falling Water by Bonnie Sennot. Yarn: Estelle Cadenza

Anyway, she likes it. And I'm glad. I've never been able to get a sense of what she likes in clothing and accessories.

It's such a pretty blue, I kept a skein for myself.

WIP Wednesday - Broken Rib Cardigan

Pattern: Broken Rib Cardigan by Debbie Bliss, Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease thick & Quick in Wood

Would you believe this is the fourth project I ever started? Like my Mum, my thought process was 'go big or go home' (her first knitting project ever was a sweater).

It's a cardigan for Hubs. To warm him up in the winter. For cozying up at home or at the cabin. It's already close to two years old and I'm still working on it. For a few reasons:

•  It's huge. At 6'2", Hubs is a big guy, and hence needs a substantial sweater.
• It's repetitive. Two rows to know.
• I'm on the sleeves and the shaping scares me.
• I haven't found appropriate buttons yet, which means I can't get going on one of the front panels.

 So far, I've finished the back and one front panel. I'm 3/4 through one sleeve. So, I'm technically over 50% done, but considering I pick it up once a month to work on, there's still a long way to go!

 

(Apologies for the poor picture. This was one of my first cracks and photographing my knitting, and I also had to grab the picture back off Ravelry because I'm on a different computer.)

 

For more WIP Wednesday goodies from this week, head on over to Tami's!

Apparently Unpacking is NOT Going Well

I'm supposed to leave for a weekend in the mountains tomorrow afternoon. I'm driving, but once there, I will have a lot of time spent sitting and relaxing, which for me = knitting time! (I may get my brother to drive on the way home!)

But I can't find the socks that I started and wanted to work on, since my shawl is coming to an end. I used them as lightweight filling in one of the moving boxes and have not found them yet. Other projects are too heavy and hot to work on while sitting on the deck in the sun, I'm leaving them for fall.

I was sure I would have come across them by now, as they were in one of the last boxes to be packed. Along with them, is my 'support' bag. The little bag I keep with my needles for weaving in ends, my measuring tape, the pins I use for blocking projects. Without that little bag, I foresee an endless list of UFO's (unfinished objects) in my future.

So, when I get home on Sunday night, I am not allowing myself to open a book and read. Nor will I be allowed to pull out a DVD to watch (Netflix is grounded too). Once the car is unloaded, and the laundry started, unpacking resumes.

The past week I have used many excuses. I'm back at work. I only want to arrange the furniture and unpack once. But, it's time. The floor plans are done. I am fully capable of moving furniture myself. If I have to unload a box in one room and walk things across the house because I'm too weak to move the box, so be it. This needs to get done.

Because, dude, I'm excited about those socks. It's the first time I've used a yarn with a colour pattern that I'm unsure about. It took me a long time to work up the nerve to wind and start knitting with this yarn. And I can't wait to see them when they're done.

WIP Wednesday - Dishcloths

For a Christmas gift for all the ladies in my family, I thought I would make a week's worth of dishcloths. I like working on them because they're fast, small, and I don't necessarily need to carry around a pattern. Just in the car ride to and from the mountains, I can knock off 2 or 3 of them, as long as Hubs does all the driving. So far I've made 17 of them, all in various colours. Most are a basic pattern, but I'm trying to make some picture cloths as well.

 
In all, I'll need 35 for gifts, 42 if I want to keep some for myself.

Knit dishcloths are fantastic. They make fantastic scrubbers due to the stitches, but are gentle on dishes and cookware.

I haven't tried getting 2 cloths out of one ball of cotton yet, as they seem to use just over half. But, maybe mine will be made with colourful leftovers.

Head on over to Tami's Amis and Other Creations for other WIP Wednesday fun!

WIP Wednesday - New Year Shawl

 On January 5th, I wound 900 metres of lace weight yarn (Handmaiden Lace Silk) and cast on the 10 in 2010 shawl by Janine Le Cras:

By February 8th, I had gotten this far:

Then, it was put aside as I worked on birthday gift after birthday gift, finished some socks, and finally got started on the prayer shawl I had signed up to make. I think the fact that it took me close to an hour just to knit two rows was a bit daunting for me. Then, about a month ago, I picked it up again. After knitting 2 shawls for my sisters-in-law, 2 pairs of socks, and 4 scarves for the men in the family, I was getting faster. Now the shawl looks like this:

I've made it through the main body chart, and the transition chart, and am on the edging chart. I am 44 rows from finishing this.

If you're interested in seeing more WIP Wednesday posts, check out Tami's Amis and Other Creations for other WIP bloggers.