FO Report: Spiral Shell
Designers:  Deborah Newton
Pattern Source: Wrap Style
Yarn: DB Cashmerino Aran, only 5 balls (see below), not the 6 recommended
Needle Size:  8
Gauge: ??
Date Completed: March 2006

Hello ... My name is Jenifer ... and I'm a poncho knitter.  Yes, it's true ... After being on the fence for some time now about whether I was "pro-poncho" or "anti-poncho," I can no longer pretend ... I am a poncho knitter.  Let's get this out of the way here at the beginning ... we can call this a shell (doesn't spiral shell sound so elegant?);  or perhaps a wrap (wait -- that's what I order at Q-Doba for lunch); but we all know what this really is.

I don't care -- I love it. 

On to the details ... (that's what you really want to know, right?):

I knit the smallest size, and had no issues with this until I had just a tad too much wine at Thanksgiving last year, and then the spiral shell became a poster child for "Friends Don't Let Friends Knit Drunk," or in other words, I made a sudden jerky movement and about one and a half repeats ripped down about 6 rows.  Arrgh!  My absolute worst nightmare as a knitter is to drop multiple stitches on a lace project!   So, I instead threw this wrap into the naughty corner where Rogue is still residing (remember Rogue? -- which I cast on for in August! --he made the same offense to me some time ago [and yes, he's a he now]), and I just had the courage to pull this little shell out again during the UFOlympics.  (Rogue may not officially come out of the naughty corner until next August, I just decided.)

So, after I recovered from that point, I had no more issues until I came to the BO row ... and I ran out of yarn!  In the middle of the row!  More to the point, I ended my fifth ball of yarn and started my sixth ball on the BO row.  When I tried the poncho on, it fit WAAAAY too big on the top -- there was no semblance of wrapping around my shoulders, despite the fact that it looks perfect on Caitlin Fitzgerald (yes, that's Pam Allen's daughter).

So, I ripped back the ribbing on the top and just the very top repeat -- which wasn't too bad, actually, though I thought it might be.  I then decreased one more stitch in the FIRST row of that repeat by creating a P1 of the P2 section, and then on the last row of the pattern I decreased AGAIN by making a "YO, K2tog" where there didn't need to be a k2tog. 

In total, I turned the 12-stitch repeat into a 9-st repeat by the end, with three decrease rows total, instead of the just one dec row total.

I ended the shell with a k1p1 rib instead of k2p2 (I thought it might be more tightly fitting), and the result seems to have worked out pretty well. 

(Honestly, I still think I could have made the top even smaller.)

So, I love it!  I think it'll be so cute over a tee, over a tank, over a dress ... So, who cares if it's really a poncho?

The "Look, I can still put my hands on my hips" pose.

The "Check out how gracefully the Spiral Shell drapes across my back" pose.

The "Is that the FedEx truck coming with more yarn?" pose.

Come back tomorrow ... and you'll find another FO Report from Wrap Style!

1.  Need to find out where a yarn shop is?  Check out the new, interactive yarn shop finder on mapmuse.com right here.  You can click on your area, and find, add, or delete shops (but only if they've closed!).   When browsing the Denver area shops,  I found out about ...   dum dum dum ... (for suspense, that is)
Denver's newest yarn shop, opening in March!  A coffee/knitting bar!

LambShoppe
3512 E. 12th Ave.
Denver
(this is the only linkI could find to their shop.  Note that the address is different than the one above, however.  So, if it's the same shope, we know they'll have Trendsetter yarns ... yippee.)

This is the yarn shop that we've been hearing about for some time, and just down the block from where some local mommies like to stitch and drink coffee as well.  Exciting!

2.  Only because Scout made me do it ... go click for yourself on this link.  Beware ... if you are a knitter of little self control, as I am, and/or if you're a collector of sock yarns ... click on your own risk.  I'm not responsible for any damages incurred to your credit card. 

I haven't had much time to browse sales lately ... have you come across any great deals to share??

Here's the list of links that were over at my old blog ... I'm just updating them here on this blog.

Question:  What can you do with one ball of lightweight yarn??

Answer:  There are a variety of free patterns on the internet for lacy scarves, and here are the ones that I found. Some may need to be tweaked a little to fit the 227-yd requirement if you only have one ball of kidsilk haze, but here they are (and of course, if you have more than that, these may work for you, too):

Cher's traveling scarf - scroll down -- this scarf takes 100 - 125 yards of a fuzzy yarn

Knitting patterns for scarves - many patterns are listed here; browse through them!

Knotted openwork scarf - takes about 220 yards of laceweight yarn

Charlene's scarf - takes 160 yards in a heavier yarn, but could easily work with laceweight

Lace Sampler scarf - a laceweight scarf that uses patterns from Barbara Walker's Treasury Vol. 1, and is very adaptable to different weights and lengths

Morning surf scarf - written for laceweight to worsted yarns, this pattern uses dropped stitches

Long-ways scarf -  this side-to-side pattern takes about 600 yards, but adjusting it is easy

Old Shale Mohair scarf - the pattern is classic, and this pattern calls for a worsted fuzzy yarn, but you know that a laceweight would look beautiful here, too

Simple Knitted Lace scarf - this calls for 400 yds of worsted weight yarn ... playing around with yarn weights and widths are a strong possibility here

Soiree lace scarf - takes 320 yards of a lightweight yarn; make the pattern more narrow and one ball of kidsilk haze would work

Madeira Cascade lace scarf - this pattern calls for 848 yards, though Stephanie writes to say that it only needs 300 yards -- and thus a smaller version would be great for 1 ball of Kidsilk Haze.

Little Leaf scarf - this beginner-level cute little scarf takes 200 yards of laceweight or fingering weight yarn (and can't you just see this in Koigu, too?)

And there you have it!  (And yes, I could easily make all of them.)  I had many of these saved as bookmarks before my computer crashed, so I thought it might be wise for me to post them here, and why not let other people see them as well?  Thanks to everybody who sent me in a pattern, and if you're interested in sharing another pattern, why not leave me a link in my comments, or email me the link, and I'll add it in here. 

In all the knitting olympics excitement, I forgot to mention that we had ourselves some fun last weekend ...  my daughter and I made it to the Alpaca Extravaganza! (emphasis mine, only because I'm a dork), and my daughter became good friends with a little cute alpaca:

This little alpaca practically fell asleep while we were petting it, and made little noises that were half-kitten meow and half-baby goat bleats. 

Seriously ... I had a hard time saying no when she asked me if we could buy it.

I also ran into other area knitters ...

It's Erica and Alex!

... and I also saw Meike (okay, pronounced "Micah", right, Meike?) and her husband. (I *almost* talked them into buying an alpaca ranch so I could house some alpacas there ... I mean, so they could get a great tax advantage.)

Upon leaving, I did score just a *little* fiber.  I mean, I know we haven't yet had that whole talk about the "Year of the Stash" -- let's do that next time, shall we? -- but I couldn't escape without fiber.  Alpaca fiber.  Alpaca fiber now that I know how to spin!  Here's Lia, learning how to covet the fiber as I do:

Ahh ... to teach your children about the important things in life ...

I also had more fun last weekend thinking of uses for this ...

One humungo hank of Interlacements "Cable."

Yes, it's one enormous hank of specialty yarn from our local company ... I know it's a specialty yarn, because when I google it I practically only come up with this another blogger's post.  Why do I mention that?  Because that blogger is Joanne, the one whose contest I won, and that's the exact same hank-o-yarn on her page as is now here. 

Thanks again, Joanne!  I just love contests.

So ... I had so much fun on my last little contest ... and because I just won Joanne's contest and feel the need to "pay it forward" .... I propose a new little contest for you ... 

To enter, post your answer to the following question by next Wednesday, March 8, at midnight. 

"Cable" has 800 yards and looks like a chunky-to-heavy-worsted weight yarn (let's just say around 3.5 - 4.5 sts/inch)... so, what patterns do you recommend that I make with it?  Preference will be given to sweaters and shawls, but anything will be considered!  Please either link to the free pattern, or else tell me where the pattern can be purchased.  The winner will be randomly chosen (again, by my precise and technologically advanced random number generator) from amid all the entries.  So, post an entry!  You might win!

Speaking of winning ... this little package just went off to Becky in PA today ... have fun with it, Becky!

Rendiconto della Cosa Finita!  (Yes, that's FO Report in Italian!)

FO Report: Aran Weight Lace Cropped Cardigan
Designers:  Ann Cannon-Brown and Michelle Ciccariello
Pattern Source: Free pattern from Elann.com
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Worsted in Silver Sliver
Needle Size:  8, 9, 10
Gauge: varied
Date Completed: Feb 2006

Here it is!  The finishing was luckily extremely minimal ... which means it won't languish in my knitting basket for months.  This was my Knitting Olympics project, even though I didn't really sign up with the Yarn Harlot, and the inspiration from fellow Team Members helped me to get to the cast off during closing ceremonies last night!  (Okay, I'm lying ... I actually cast off during Season 4 of the Gilmore Girls, but it did occur concurrently ... does that count?)

Besides the fact that I really like the fit here, I highly recommend doing this pattern as it was the most interesting sweater to knit.  I've knit bottom-up sweaters before ... I've knit top-down raglans before ... but never a top-down lacey raglan cardigan.  It was really interesting to see how the sweater was put together.  The lace patterns were both fairly easy, and now that I've made this sweater I'm seeing the Horseshoe lace pattern crop up everywhere.

I had a minor issue with the pattern, however ... the pattern itself is rather loosey-goosey and is written for you to decide just what you'd like to fit.  As such, it's a little difficult to decide just what exactly to do when -- and because the lace stretches out considerably when block -- it was difficult to measure as I went, and there was a lot of guesswork involved for me.  The authors didn't even say exactly how many repeats they worked before the next step -- which left me guessing and trying to count the number of repeats based on the dark photos.

As such, here are my specific notes on the pattern:

1. I worked the pattern from size 8 to size 10 needles -- I'm not sure why I never switched to size 10.5, but I think it had something to do with those needles being occupied on another project.  I was a little overconfident when I made this decision, and then I started worrying that the project wouldn't block out well -- but it all turned out okay in the end.  You, however, should probably go with the 10.5's ... it can't hurt.

2.  The yarn I used worked fairly well -- I guessed at when I was halfway through one skein (half of 190 yds is 90 yds, very close to the original), and then I switched needles.  This is actually my first sweater done in Lamb's Pride -- and man, did this shed!! It was a little difficult to knit, because I was turning the whole sweater around with every sleeve round, and the shedding started to really itch my throat.  In the end, I hope that the yarn wears well for me.

3.  As for the repeats ... I ended up doing 11 total body Horseshoe pattern repeats plus the bind-off pattern, and 7.5 total sleeve Milanese lace repeats.  I had a total of 14 Horseshoe repeats in the width of the sweater -- see #4 below for an explanation.  If I were to do it again, I'd consider doing the sleeves in all-Milanese, rather than switching from Horseshoe to Milanese at the top of the shoulder. 

4.  As for the separation of body and sleeves ... the instructions were very unclear about how to do this, and I just sort of proceeded as it made sense to me.  As it was, I separated the sleeves at the end of a Horseshoe lace pattern (I need closure in my life at times), with several st st stitches outside of the lace pattern.  I ended up with 2 sts on either side of the raglan marker ... so, when I joined the body again, I had 2 sts on either side of the body and I cast on an additional 4 sts to create one more complete 8-st repeat.  Because of this, I had a whole additional repeat of Horseshoe that ran directly under my sleeve.

5.  When I joined the sleeve, I had the same number of extra st st stitches -- 2 on each side (4 sts), and I cast on another 4 sts for 8 sts total between the beg of the round and the end of the round.  I left these sts in st st, and I decreased 2 every 5 rnds (not every 4 rnds -- every 5 just made more sense in the pattern, at the middle and end of the repeat).  So, I only decreased 8 sts total in the sleeve, and all at the top.  This left a very bell-sleeve, which I'm fine with, but you could always decrease more. 

6.  Also, I modified the picot BO on the sleeve ... instead of casting on two stitches, and binding off 4, I cast on one stitch and bound off 3 to make the picot edges a little smaller.  Knowing that I live in my sweaters, I needed the sleeves to be somewhat workable for everyday life.

Visit another helpful post by Step Into My Thimble for more information on how she finished her sweater, as well! 

More photos, just for fun:

Since we moved my stereo cabinet, I no longer have a good place to set the camera on auto for self-portraits of FO's ... that's good, because it means no more goofy poses in front of my closet-door-cum-wreath ... but it also means I'm trying out different corners of my house to see if they'll be a good replacement.  Welcome to the corner of my dining room here!

And welcome to the ugly unnatural-lighting-bathroom shot!  I like the back of this sweater so much, it's worth showing the pose here.

Time will tell if these silver beads were a good choice or not.  Here's my modified picot edge on the sleeve, too.

And here's the button! 

And as for that whole UFOlympics thing ... I didn't quite reach the goal of 16 UFO's turned FO's, but I at least finished 8 ... which makes me feel better, even if I didn't medal in that event.  One UFO every two days is a pretty good average ... if only I could keep those statistics up in the off-season.