cosmicpluto knits!

FO: Monkeys

1 skein Indigo Moon fingering weight, Monkey socks by Cookie A

Ilkley Shawl

I worked on this shawl while traveling in the UK, and I’m very excited to share it with you all!

ILKLEY SHAWL
Ilkley is a triangular shawl, knit from the bottom up – you start with lots of stitches but start decreasing right away! No casting off hundreds of stitches. Shown in two sizes, a two-colour smaller scarf and a five-colour ombre version in a larger shawl size. The non-lacy stitch pattern is cushy yet airy, and easy to work! Perfect for small amounts of sock yarns or handspuns.

Special thanks to Victoria Panos for modeling. http://www.wildthingscreations.ca/
Technical Editing by Jaya Purswani. http://www.windchains.com

SIZES
Scarf (Shawl)
Scarf is 48” / 122cm across the top, 19” / 48cm deep at centre back; shown in silver/burgundy
Shawl is 60” / 152cm across the top, 25” / 64cm deep at centre back; shown in brown/orange/yellow

MATERIALS
YARN
Fingering weight yarn
370 yds / 334m total for Scarf
575 yds / 525m total for Shawl

Scarf size shown in Handmaiden Casbah (81% superwash merino, 10% nylon, 9% cashmere; 357 yds / 325m per 4 oz / 115g skein)
MC: Smoke, 260 yds / 234m
CC: Burgundy/blue/gold (colourway unknown), 110 yds / 100m

Shawl size shown in Spud & Chloe Fine (80% wool, 20% silk; 248 yds / 227m per 2 oz / 65g skein), 2 skeins of MC and 1 skein of each contrast colour
MC: Dachshund #7803, 400 yds / 365m
CC1: Orangutan #7819, 80 yds / 73m
CC2: Clementine #7802, 60 yds / 55m
CC3: Goldfish #7817, 25 yds / 23m
CC4: Bumble Bee #7811, 10 yds / 9m

NEEDLES AND NOTIONS
US 5 / 3.75mm circular needle, 32” / 80cm or longer
tapestry needle
split or locking ring stitch markers

GAUGE
18 sts / 36 rows = 4” / 10cm square in Garter Stitch, after blocking
16 sts / 40 rows = 4” / 10cm square in Tweed Check stitch, after blocking
Exact gauge is not critical for this project, though it will affect the amount of yardage required.

MORE INFO
3 page PDF pattern with colour photos and abbreviations list. Suitable for an adventurous beginner.

Available through Ravelry, payment through Paypal (no accounts required).

Fave the Ilkley Shawl on Ravelry!

Darrin!

I have a surprise for you! A brand new pattern available for free in Knitty – the Darrin cardigan!

Perfect knitting for the summer since it is knit in a couple easy pieces (that aren’t huge to carry around with you), Darrin is a relaxed, cozy tunic length cardigan with a ribbed belt.

Add Darrin to your faves and queue on Ravelry! Lots more photos there, too.

Special thanks to Jasmine Cirjanic for her awesome work as a model, and Kelbourne Woolens for their gorgeous Road to China Light!

so many socks!

I finished up the pair of plain stockinette socks I started in Dublin – one skein of fingering weight merino from Dublin Dye Company, 2mm needles, 64 sts.

Since the socks are really speaking to me these days, I decided to start a new pair – these ones are my first pair of Monkeys, believe it or not! It turns out that although I don’t knit much from other people’s patterns these days, following a pattern for a pair of socks seems to hit just the right knitting sweet spot.

Fingering weight merino from Indigo Moon – it’s been in the stash forever!

what I made while I was away

I took just 3 projects while I was traveling – a sweater (which isn’t very far along still), a shawl and a blanket.

A blanket? That doesn’t seem like a good traveling project! Well, that’s true, but my blanket is made up of many many individual crocheted hexagons. So they were actually great for going around – the yarn didn’t take up a lot of room (two 100g skeins) and the individual pieces were easy to start and finish. Plus, I mailed the completed ones back home as I went! I’d made over half of the hexes in the last several (okay, many) months, but the deadline is approaching and I needed to step up my game.

Of course, now I have to put the whole thing together! I’m not sure if it’ll be quite as big as I wanted, but it’ll be fine. I’m out of yarn, so it’d better be!

The other main project I worked on was a shawl, out of two colours of Handmaiden Casbah. It really makes such a lovely fabric, and this texture stitch is easy and fun.

I’m hoping to get this shawl pattern out to you soon – just have to find some time to block it and take photos.

When I got home, I picked up a project that I started before I left, a pair of Conwy socks (from Knitting on the Road). I substituted my usual toe, not really on purpose but because I didn’t read the instructions very carefully! I made these as a birthday present for my dear friend Jane. I missed her birthday while I was away, so I wanted to give her something special!

1 skein of Socks that Rock lightweight in “Ruby Slippers”, 2.25mm needles. Fun! I’ve had tons of socks on the needles lately – they’re such nice comforting, soothing knitting.

FO: Diva!

It’s been a long, long time coming, but I finally finished my Diva sweater a few months ago! Took me ages to get some decent photos…

Pattern: Diva by Hanne Falkenberg, in Dark Olive and Cyclamen – I think I bought the kit from CucumberpatchUK on ebay.
Needles: 3mm
Yarn: kit yarn; it was a pretty delicate two ply lightweight wool, slightly scratchy, something like Jamieson’s.

Thoughts:
This sweater took ages, but it was kind of nice to knit a sweater from someone else’s pattern for once. The shaping is unique and very interesting to knit! It took me ages to figure out what the heck was actually going on with some of the shaping. The collar was a LOT of knitting but it’s shaped with short rows in a really interesting way.

Cons: It’s a little big. I knit the smallest size, which was supposed to 37″ – it’s a pretty good jacket size, but a little looser than I usually like my sweaters.

The sleeves are WAY long, about 4″ too long, and the collar kind of hits at a funny place. It’s difficult to find a good place to pin it closed that isn’t directly on my boob (which I have much more of than the pattern model), but it doesn’t really work worn open. From a design standpoint, the armholes are a little weird fitting – they’re not quite set in and not quite raglan.

I shouldn’t have seamed with the main yarn – it’s just a little too delicate for the task. I found this hole in the sleeve seam after washing. I should really fix that up.

Overall? Fun to knit, interesting construction. It doesn’t fit perfectly but I’m still happy I made it.