Nine years of education in the making, and we now have a new elementary graduate in the house. My lovely daughter, whom I’ve been training up as my knitwear model, received her diploma at the ceremony last night. All the girls were beautiful, the boys I didn’t recognize at all, and now there’s a whirlwind weekend of parties, dinners and merriment.
Congratulations!
A lightweight lace cardigan knit seamlessly in one piece from the top down, Aqueous features frothing waves of lace which roll back and forth in slimming vertical lines. With minimal finishing, this simple cap sleeve raglan pattern is an easy and soothing knit, ready in no time to dress up a summer outfit.
Construction: Aqueous is cast on at the neckline, and worked back and forth with raglan construction, in a simple lace pattern with garter button bands. Body and sleeves are divided at the armscye depth, then the body is worked to the hem. Short sleeves are then finished with narrow garter edges.
Techniques & Skills Used: longtail CO, raglan construction, knit/purl, easy lace. Aqueous is both written and charted, and includes instructions for increasing in pattern.
Size: 30 (33, 35, 37.5, 40, 42, 44.5, 47, 49.5, 52)” bust; sample shown in third size worn with no ease.
Yarn: The Fibre Company Canopy Fingering (50% Baby Alpaca, 30% Merino, 20% Viscose Bamboo; 200 yards/183m/50g), shown in Manatee; 3 (4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 6, 7, 7, 8) skeins, or approximately 550 (650, 725, 825, 925, 975, 1150, 1250, 1325, 1450) yards of fingering weight yarn.
Other Materials: US 6 (4mm) 32” circular needle or size to match gauge; Stitch markers (10); Stitch holders (2); Yarn needle; ½” buttons 13 (14, 15, 16, 17, 17, 19, 20, 20, 21); Matching sewing thread and needle.
Gauge: 20 st and 32 rows/4” in Waves Lace pattern; after blocking.
See it on Ravelry or on Payhip, to read more or purchase the pattern. 
Who doesn’t want to stir up a little love? This triangular shawl begins with many stitches and an enticing ruffle, then decreases the stitch count by 2/3 before the body begins. Strong ribbed lines lead to the top, with optional beads added for glamour. The reversible stitch pattern is bewitching from both sides, all in the service of love. The hotter and stronger, the better!
Techniques & Skills Used: longtail CO, knit/purl, beading (optional; prestrung and crochet hook methods, with link to tutorial), decreasing. This pattern is both written and charted, and includes links to my grafting and beading tutorials.
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Silky Merino (51% silk, 49% merino; 150 yards/50g; 2 (4) skeins. Size S shown in Cumparsita with beads, and using about 240 yards; size L unbeaded, shown in Redwood Bark and using about 495 yards. The Silky Merino becomes very drapey when blocked, which is essential for achieving a straight top edge, as the body of the shawl is ribbed and the wings must be pulled up to avoid a point at the middle of the top. For a similar result, choose a single ply yarn with significant silk or other non-springy fiber content.
Other Materials: US 7 (4.5mm) 32” circular needle, or size to match gauge; Stitch markers (4); Size 6/0 large hole seed beads 422 (982), optional; 1.25 mm crochet hook for placing beads; Yarn needle.
Gauge: 16 st and 28 rows/4” in K3P1 Rib, after gentle blocking. Gauge is not critical for this project, however a different gauge may result in a smaller or larger finished shawl, and different yardage requirements.
See it on Ravelry or on Payhip, to read more or purchase the pattern.
For whatever reason, I’m working on two projects with two giant skeins of yarn.
The silver is a 620 yard skein of sportweight BMFA Woobu, which I picked up during the NJ Yarn Crawl at Knit Knack during my trunk show. The elecrtic blue is all of 1120 yards (!) of fingering weight, from the Sliver Moon booth at Rhinebeck this fall. Together they practically obscure my desktop keyboard.
They seemed like a good idea at the time; top down summer cardigans, no joins, no ends to weave – and I’ve no doubt they will be good. The blue was a bit of a challenge to wind, though; not only did it exceed the capacity of my ballwinder (even with the metal arm pulled as far away as it could go without bending), but it also swallowed the beginning tail of yarn when I pulled it off. So of course I thought I’d just yank it back out again, and somehow it came out the bottom end in a tangle that refused to pull free of the center. I rewound it from the outside, the last 100 yards or so by hand onto the excessively giant ball.
Now I feel compelled to find the perfect stitch pattern to make it all worthwhile. Meanwhile, back to my last, tiny, manageable 200 yard ball of Canopy fingering:
