Tender Is the Hat....and Cowl??? Cabernet Time!

This girlie can officially be WARM this winter!!!!  Seriously, isn't it beeee-yoo-tiful???

Can I also say that I'm glad it's DONE???  Aha!  Neither of these projects is lengthy/difficult.  Naturally, though, I made them more difficult - because that's the sort of ship I run.  The first time I made the hat, it turned out too small, because I failed to read the directions and left out the first several rows I was to knit after the ribbing.  Such is life.  This first version will head off to a cousin - naturally!  I didn't want to rip it out, because I figured a finished hat is a good thing - as long as it fits someone and I have enough yarn to complete everything else, which I DID.  Whew.

Gonna get ya'!

I used Colour Adventures (the FB page link), base Dia Merino DK, colorway Tender.  Elena Nodel, as always, dyes up a gorgeous yarn.  And it needs to be known that after blocking this yarn out, it softens up super nicely, not that it's rough to begin with, but you get me??  The patterns, Cabernet Hat (in DK weight) and Cabernet Infinity Scarf (which covers several weights of yarn, though the link says it's DK) are written super well - easy to understand and no issues at all.  Monika Sirna, the pattern writer, includes a tutorial to help peeps out with the cabling, but it's not something an experienced cabler needs to look at.

Always have to do a sad face

With that hat, my gauge was trying to trick me, as usual.  I didn't want to go down a needle size, and I didn't actually do a gauge swatch IN pattern, which the pattern calls for.  I winged it, and I found the right size needle I needed for the ribbing.  I cast on for a small but did the length of the medium.  And naturally, after blocking, it's a bit bigger in the ribbing than I'd like it to be, but thankfully, the hat is a teeeeny bit slouchy, so, she'll grow into it just fine.  And as you can see, the cowl is a great fit, so, I'm pretty happy with the set.

As a bonus, it SMELLS awesome, aha!  I used Eucalan in the grapefruit oil scent...which for some reason, really stands out this time :)

Love this!

And bonus:  I love that I made two hats AND a cowl out of two skeins of yarn!  Yay to me!  One day, when I have TIMETIMETIME on my hands, I will whip up one of these sets for moi.

One day.

A Hike in Bryce Canyon....Minus the Hike: A Shawl

Omigosh - super excited about my second-ever shawl!  Well....let's not get hasty - it's a shawlette, more specifically - a teeny, tiny thing, to be truthful.

I used some awesome-possum MarigoldJen yarn, a 50/50 merino/silk in the colorway Greenridge (my Ravelry project page).  It is a fingering weight yarn, and it was simply divine.  Speaking of MarigoldJen, the Jenny behind the yarn is SUCH a sweet lady - sooooo nice and to work with (which means super patient with my 50 convos on Etsy, LOL)!!!  If you are not already in her Ravelry group, you need to join!  In fact, I was doing this shawl with her yarn as part of a KAL in the group...and I started to get quite worried I wouldn't make it!  Thank goodness I did!

The shawl pattern, Bryce Canyon by Very Busy Monkey, is written super well and is wonderfully easy to understand, but - you guessed it!! - I naturally had a couple of simple questions while knitting it, and one of the knitters in the VBM group was super helpful throughout!  Thanks, Nadja!

I tried to block aggressively, but I'm guessing I don't block as aggressively as I should, because I feel badly pulling on the yarn, aha!  I say this because my shawl is likely shorter than it should be, because of my row gauge.  My pre-blocked stitch gauge was right on, and I knew that would hopefully grow, but because I'm a loose knitter, I always go down a few needle sizes....which then makes my ROW gauge too tight.  Eff that, but whatever.  The shawl is a cute little thing on me - but quite a lovely size for Camden, LOL.  It was dry this morning, so, I was happy to wear it to the library today for story time - and Tiberius was happy to chew on it at said story time ;)

Fits camden well, aha!

Also, for the washing of the shawl, I used my Tuft Woolens (FB page) Lanolin bar in the Royal Apiary scent, which is part of the sample set you can purchase on Etsy - not sure it's my favorite smell, but it's the one I had already opened up, and it's a lovely wash!  I can't wait to dig into the others, and she is also a lovely woman to work with.  Snap if this shawl doesn't have a lot of good vibes tucked into it from all the wonderful people I worked with!

Not sure if this picture captures the color better/differently

You must know by now that I'm, of course, going to sneak in pictures of my kids!  Tiberius is getting huge, and Camden is a bit more "into" him now, which is nice - he loves when she makes him giggle :)

Loves her Tiny Titans comic books! 

Playing with his dad in a fun onesie knit up by my friend at That's What She Crafted (FB page)