FO- Ishbel Shawl and Hat

Holy crap. I finally made a matching set!

I finished my Ravelympics Ishbel Shawl last Wednesday when I was at my local knit night. It was tiny...we kept saying that it could be a babushka. I blocked it as hard as I could the next day and the lace and superwash merino stretched and blocked out to be normal scarf/small shawl size.







It is a sweet, wearable and unfussy project.

I had a decent amount of yarn left over, so I cast on for the matching beret. A couple repeats in and I got nervous about running out of yarn, so I made it into a beanie instead of a floppy beret. Good thing- by the time I was done I have about 6 yards left. It only counts as de-stashing if you don't have to run out and buy more yarn for it.



It's my very first matching set, which has been a goal of mine for a while now. I'm the queen of mismatched/sort of matching if you squint knitwear. Hat and shawl are made of the same lace pattern and the same yarn. Woot!



I used size 4 needles and about 450 yards of Dream in Color Smooshy sock yarn in the color "Cloud Jungle" for both projects. The hat was size medium and modified with one less lace repeat than specified.

We've been having slightly more springtimey weather lately and I think it will be the perfect set to take me into the unthawing but still chilly time of year.

Some WIPs

I've somehow gotten involved in the Ravelympics. It's totally arbitrary, but you choose a project and cast on during the Olympic opening ceremonies and complete it before the closing ceremonies.

I'm using some Dream in Color Smooshy sock yarn:



The color is "Cloud Jungle". It's superwash merino, and utterly smooshy.

I'm making the Ishbel shawl. This picture is a few days old, but I'm on the last lace section now. I think I'll have enough yarn leftover for a matching hat.



I love the color. I was thinking it might be too busy for a lace pattern, but it is subtle enough so it works.



The colors remind me of the inside of an oyster shell.

Since I can't multitask while knitting lace, I am also working on the Lion Neck Cardigan.



I'm not quite sure about wearing it with short-shorts, but it will be a cozy cardi. I'm using Rowan Scottish Tweed Chunky, so my fabric is denser then the sample shown. I'm hoping it won't be so dense that it will stand up on its own.



The yarn is woolen-spun 2ply, which makes for a fuzzy yarn and a little variation in the thickness. It's not quite a thick-and-thing yarn. Kind of more of a thick and thicker yarn.

In a sweater frenzy, I also cast on for the Baby Cables and Big Ones Too. I've been wanting to make myself a Cobblestone type yolk sweater, but I kept seeing people at Rhinebeck wearing this one. I liked how it was a bit more feminine then the Cobblestone and the cable details are sweet.

I'm using some Valley Yarns Northfield that I dyed in eucalyptus. It made the house smell great and I got a bright gold yellow color from it to boot.



It take some concentration- there are plain rows in between- but there are a five sets of stitch markers to denote placement of five different cables, plus raglan markers and increases and oh, I think I'll be working on this exclusively at home in good lighting for a little bit.





Of course, I have not forgotten about my commitment to the A-Z project. Once the Ravelympics/Olymipics are over with, I'll jump back on to the Shetland Shorty bandwagon. Here's what I had before I put it aside:



The bird's eye lace pattern is easy, but it's really hard to correct mistakes. I've had to tink back twice so far because of a mesh mess I made. I'm stopped at the shoulder shaping, but it feels like I've ripped back more than I've knitted.