Wednesday, July 05, 2006

WIP it up

A certain reader complained that I didn't show any in-progress photos of my last two FOs so this post is specially for her.

I have two new projects on the needles. I started both of the last week after finishing the Tiger, so they are still in their "infancies" as far as WIP go.

First up: Salt Peanuts using the lovely Malabrigo that I bought from Yarntopia. Salt Peanuts (for those two knitters out there who don't know) is a pattern that was published in Interweave Knits a few years ago and is now available for free online for IK subscribers.

Red Hot Peanuts

I finished the back and the fronts and have cast on for the sleeves. It is knitting up wonderfully fast (yes I did all this in one week) and is looking great. I picked this pattern because I wanted a pattern that was mostly stockinette to show of the yarn, but I didn't want to do anything boring either. The funky collar shaping kept me happily entertained. I'm looking forward to finishing by next week.

Second: Shaped Triangle Shawl

Purply Pink lace

According to my spreadsheet, I am exactly 4.96% of the way through this shawl. (Don't you love spreadsheets? I have knit 3,424 stitches so far. No, I don't look at my spreadsheet after finishing every row.) Quite different from my progress on the sweater. However, I don't intend on knitting on this very much until August. My big Alaska trip is at the beginning of August and this shawl is my travel knitting. I don't want to get too far into it before then so that I won't be working on insanely long rows and won't have a huge shawl to tote around.

Is the shawl working with the handpainted yarn? I don't know. I'm reserving judgment until after the thing is blocked. I do love the colors a lot and I enjoy having the colors change as I knit, but I'm not sure that it will all work out in the end.

9 comments:

Meredith said...

I love salt peanuts! That should be a great pattern to show off the Malabrigo.

Anonymous said...

Well, here's one reader glad you linked to salt peanuts. I never remember what pattern goes with what name.

Helen said...

mm. i am tempted to get the spreadsheet capabilities from you for when i knit this shawl. IF i ever get to it. must knit Ana's shawl. then it's wedding all-out. knitting and not. so not sure how much pleasure knitting i will get done.

Jennifer said...

Salt Peanuts in malabrigo = genius! It looks great.

I'm not sure how I feel about shawls in handpainted yarn. I do like my Charlotte's Web, but I think lace does look better in a more monochromatic yarn.

amylovie said...

PLEASE bring Salty Peanuts by the shop the next time you come. I'd love to see it.

Amy

Anonymous said...

What is the name of the yarn you are using in this new shawl? I really like the colors.

I'm knitting a stole in handpainted yarn, and like your shawl project, it is multicolored. I'm not sure if it works or not, so I'll be watching your project to see what you think!

turtlegirl76 said...

Wow - you knit that up in a week? It is knitting up beautifully. And I'm one of the ones that never heard of the pattern. It's nice.

Anonymous said...

I love both projects, especially the colors in the shawl.

I think a lot depends on if it works out, the amount of detail in the pattern of the shawl. I used a hand painted yarn on a shawl and it turned out okay, but it was a bit overwhelming, however my colors were much, much brighter. Think 5 flavors of lifesavers colors.

Anonymous said...

My guess is that when blocked and not placed on a mottled, textured, neutral surface, the pattern will show well. That's how I'm feeling about my Ene's Scarf, so if you start expressing doubt it's going to bring my confidence down too. So don't.