Knitted Candy: October 2014

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

To Frog or Not to Frog? Finding Something to Knit Even Better

This was my knitting dilemma for completing Shawl Number 9. I rarely ever frog because I spend so much time up front finding the perfect pattern to match the yarn I picked.

I had this particular yarn, Cascade Yarns Eco+ Merlot 7098, I purchased years ago for a particular shawl wrap pattern I had in my Ravelry project queue that I've never found the time to knit. I thought this would be perfect to knit for my 9th shawl to help me attain my 12Shawls2014 goal and to finally get this off my project queue.

One of my very first yarn purchases few years back.
Cascade Yarns Eco+ Merlot 7098, 100% Wool
Photo: Knitted Candy Diva, August 2014

Well, as I was knitting this last month, I didn't like what I saw and was getting extremely bored at the same time. This is not a good situation to be in when the pattern I was trying to knit requires over 450+ yards of bulky yarn and I was quickly losing motivation as I was knitting the first 50 yards!

So back to Raverly Patterns tab and a very fortuitous thing happened last month. Kate Atherley was offering her half Pi-shaped Sick Day Shawl as a free pattern for a limited time only and suggested Cascade Yarns Eco as one of the yarns. I quickly frogged what I was knitting and started to knit Sick Day even though I wasn't sick or taking any meds – I love Kate's pattern name – and never looked back!

My Review

Shawl #9 of 2014:
My HUGE I'm Not Sick "Sick Day Shawl"
Size: 76 in (w) x 27 in (h)
Pattern: Sick Day Shawl by Kate Atherley
Photo and Hand Knitted: Knitted Candy Diva
October 2014

Knitting my Shawl #9: I’m Not Sick “Sick Day Shawl" was a very quick, fun knit and definitely would knit this half Pi-shaped shawl again. I am so glad I frogged my other project for this because I also found another great gift knit project idea to keep in mind. And to put the “icing on the cake,” finishing this shawl kicked off my Christmas gift knitting!

I pretty much followed the pattern instructions, except for the following:

My Modifications

Used a US11 (8.0 mm) needle, instead of US9 - 10 (5.55 - 6.0 mm) because I chose to knit bulky Cascade Eco+
Not part of my original plan - I ran out of the Eco+ as I finished knitting Row 6 before binding off. So went digging through my leftover yarn stash and found this Lion Brand Thick & Quick, Charcoal Grey to bind off.
Used my favorite shawl bind-off because of its surprisingly stretchy bind off (no pun intended LOL) – Planet Purl’s Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off – with a US13 needle. Going up a needle size made the transition from knitting with bulky to super bulky yarn seamless.

I'm Not Sick "Sick Day Shawl," Front view
Photo and Hand Knitted: Knitted Candy Diva
October 2014

I'm Not Sick "Sick Day Shawl," Back view
Photo and Hand Knitted: Knitted Candy Diva
October 2014

I loved that you get a lot of 100% wool yarn in the Eco+ so I did not have very many ends to weave in, unlike my last shawl requiring two colors.

I'm Not Sick "Sick Day Shawl," Close-up
Photo and Hand Knitted: Knitted Candy Diva
October 2014

Future Knitting Ideas: Sick Day Shawl #2, 3, etc.

How about knitting the last 6 rows with another color (CC) or knit the last 6 rows (Rows 1 -2: CC, Rows 3 – 4: MC, Rows 5-6: CC) to give the shawl’s border a little more pizzazz or pop?! Or about knitting this pattern using self-striping yarn or soft, squishy alpaca?!

Wanna learn more about my details knitting this pattern, please visit my Ravelry project page.

Love to hear from you: Do you frog a knitting project because you don’t like what you see? Or when you stop being motivated or inspired by what you’re knitting because you know the project will just sit and you know you’ll never finish it? Ultimately, are you happy that you frogged and the final, completed project is better than what you started with?

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Need One of These - An Easy, Simple Knitting Project Idea

Not enough time of the day to get everything done? Have stress and need a way to burn off some it off and just decompress? Or have you tried stripes-colorwork knitting?

Looking for a simple, easy all garter stitch knit?
MC: TOSH Merino Light, Duchess
CC: TOSH Merino Light, Composition Book Grey
Close-up: Mindless in a Good Way "Fibonerdy"
Pattern by Kourtney Robison
Hand Knitted and Photo:
Knitted Candy Diva
October 2014

Well, it's October and I've just finished knitting my 8th shawl for 2014. I have 4 more to complete before I start my gift knitting for Christmas and I am starting to feel the pressure to finish knitting my 12Shawls2014 Ravelry Group goal by the end of December. To keep things simple for Number 8, I was looking for a shawl pattern that was easy and mindless to knit since so far I have been knitting intricate lace pattern shawls, last being, Autumnal "His Golden Lair" by Kourtney Robinson.

Luckily, I found Fibonerdy, a pattern that Kourtney also designed, that is just simple repetitive garter stitch knitting and switching between two skeins of fingering weight yarn, MC and a CC, The only issue is having the stamina of getting to the end of this pattern and knitting 535 garter stitches!

Fibonerdy, IMHO, is a not so strenuous alternative to knitting the extremely popular all garter stitch shawl wrap Color Affection which involves knitting short rows and switching between 3 skeins of fingering weight yarn.

Conquered My Fear of the Hook

Took on one of my biggest knitting fears head on!
My pattern world has expanded exponentially!
I now know how to do a provisional cast-on.
Photo: Knitted Candy Diva
September 2014

I did learned how to do a provisional cast-on and finally conquered my fear of using a crochet hook. I've been avoiding learning how to do this particular cast-on for a few years because of my crochet phobia (Silly, I know and it does not make sense.) and would not knit a pattern if it required this cast-on. This was pretty much the only stressful thing about knitting this. I was able to do this successfully after my first attempt after watching my digital knitting instructor - YouTube!

My Results

Huge, versatile scarf, shawl, wrap
Can wear it many different ways
Finished Measurement: 80 in (w) x 16 (h)
Mindless in a Good Way "Fibonerdy"
Pattern by Kourtney Robinson
Hand Knitted and Photo:
Knitted Candy Diva
October 2014

After purchasing my skeins at Nine Rubies Knitting, one of my favorite LYS in the San Francisco Bay Area because of their great yarn selection and wonderful, helpful service, I ended up knitting to gauge and had about 25 grams left of MC: Madelinetosh Merino Light, Duchess and a few grams of CC: Madelinetosh Merino Light Composition Book Grey. At first I was worried that the MC would overpower CC. But the CC neutralized the MC. The shawl wrap is huge, but versatile. Definitely can wear it with a lot more than things than if I reversed the colors.

Warm and drapey.
Be sure to a lot time for binding off and
weaving all the ends.
Mindless in a Good Way "Fibonerdy"
Hand Knitted and Photo:
Knitted Candy Diva
October 2014

I binded off going up a needle size, US6 (4.0 mm), with now, my preferred go-to bind off - Plant Purls' Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off because I get great results every time, instead of what was stated in Kourtney's pattern.

Would I Recommend Knitting This?

Garter, garter, who has the garter?
Close-up: Mindless in a Good Way "Fibonerdy"
Hand Knitted and Photo:
Knitted Candy Diva
October 2014

YES! I loved how it turned out. This is a great travel knitting or knitting group project because all you knit is garter (with two colors) and its mindless to knit so you can focus on other things.

Stripes, stripes. I see more stripes!
Mindless in a Good Way "Fibonerdy"
Hand Knitted and Photo:
Knitted Candy Diva
October 2014

But if you are looking for a little challenge, like learning a new lace pattern stitch, this IS NOT the pattern for you. Towards the end, you'll be knitting 400+ garter stitch/row after row till you make it to Row 138 (535 stitches) or around knitting 750 yards!

A lot of repetitive stitches!
Mindless in a Good Way "Fibonerdy"
Hand Knitted and Photo:
Knitted Candy Diva
October 2014

I couldn't knit this as gift knit because it would kill me if the recipient would never wear this and left it in a drawer. Also after finishing knitting this, whatever feelings I had that maybe I would like to knit Color Affection has been squashed forever because just plain garter stitch knitting is not for me. My Mindless in a Good Way "Fibonerdy" is my one and only and is more than big enough for me.