May Knitting

May wasn't the greatest month for knitting project - I was ill for a big chunk of it, and dyeing took up a bit portion of my time. But, I did start and finish some projects. So here's what I was working on.

I couldn't resist knitting the Undersized Unicorn from Rebecca Danger's 50 Yards of Fun book. What unicorn girl could resist?

I had some lovely sparkly Louisa Harding Mila yarn leftover which was just perfect, because everyone knows real unicorns sparkle.

The Mila was leftover from TinyOwlKnits' Moonbeam Duster , because like every unicorn, I just wanted to sparkle! I'm really enjoying making the duster, the waistcoat part was done in a jiffy so now I'm just working on the fringe. It's mad, bright and colourful and I LOVE it.

I also couldn't resist knitting Hilary Smith Callis' beautiful Itineris shawl - the stripes just really called to me. I'd been looking for the perfect project for my The Uncommon Thread Confetti yarn which had a pretty short yardage for sock weight. So, stripes seemed like the perfect solution. I paired it with the lovely and spangley Bigger on the Inside by KnittingGoddess.

I couldn't stop knitting this shawl. It was just the perfect pattern to get really stuck into and the construction is so clever and unusual. It kept the striping from being a bit monotonous to knit. Plus, it's really squishy and warm - the perfect Spring shawl.

I finished my 2014 May socks in Countess Ablaze's amazing This Ain't A Scene sock yarn. I really like how one is a little darker than the other. Brothers rather than twins! The sock pattern wasn't so great and neither was my knitting to be perfectly honest. It's ended up with ladders up the sides - bah!

I also replaced my Game of Thrones disastrous KAL with Sivia Harding's gorgeous Tyrian. I' m knitting this in the most beautiful earth-toned Malabrigo sock. It's actually a bit of a joke at my local yarn store about how much I love Malabrigo. I just can't help it, the colours are always amazing and the yarn is so, SO soft.

I'm using gold beads, which seem to blend well with the yarn without fading into the background. I am hoping than in sunshine they will get a lovely glow. I can't wait to see Karen's interpretation of this shawl.

Finally - I have begun my June socks using my The Cryptozoologist Stormborn yarn. I REALLY love knitting with it. I'm using Yarnissima's Spiceman pattern, which is without a doubt my favourite sock pattern.

Game of Groans

A few weeks ago, my newest knitting buddy (and all round best pal) Karen pointed out a pattern on Ravelry that really interested me. The pattern was a Game of Thrones knitalong aiming to make a Daenerys-themed shawl. Now as a big fan of shawls, Dany, Game of Thrones and knitalongs the pattern really jumped out at me. We decided to make the pattern together, and I even dyed myself some yarn to go with the pattern. I chose gold, blue and turquoise, the colours that predominantly make me think of Dany - plus I'm not a huge fan of hot colours so wanted to avoid the fiery themed yarn the KAL chose.

The KAL started well enough. I adored how my yarn was knitting up, and the pattern was starting to look like beautiful dragon scales. I whizzed through clue 1 and eagerly awaited clue 2.

However, this is when it all started to go wrong. Clue 2 was incredibly confusingly written, and I had to rip out and reknit several times, each time ending up with extra stitches all over the place. It was becoming a chore to knit, and I decided that enough was enough and frogged the entire shawl.

I was a bit dubious when clue 3 was corrected three times in a short succession, but carried on trying to make clue 2 work. But when knitting becomes hard work rather than pleasurable it's time to reconsider.

I guess the problem with mystery knitalongs is that you don't know where the designer is taking the pattern so it's tough to make any adjustments, and of course the pattern is so new there hasn't been chance to iron out the errors.

So, I've picked myself up, felt sad about the loss of the shawl - because despite all of the issues it was a beautiful shawl. I know I will find the perfect project to replace this pattern and use my lovely themed yarn.