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.

FO: Gothic Blackrose Socks

I have a FO to show! It's the Blackrose socks from Knitty.com.



I'm calling them my Gothic Blackrose...the yarn in Dream in Color Smooshy in the "Gothic Rose" colorway.



Smooshy is great- it is dyed so the colors don't pool and most of the colorways are subtle enough to use for lace patterns. Like the title implies, this is a thick, sproingy 100% superwash merino. It makes for a nice cushy pair of socks.

I cast them on top down, two at a time on two circs for Socktober Fest, where knitters went and invaded the local Teutonic establishment for the evening:



It's pretty amazing I was able to cast on and knit on the first try. There's a lot of empty glasses on that table!

The lace pattern is easy and goes quickly- it's an 8 row repeat with a plain knit row every other row. I like how the lace is placed on the outside of the foot.







It's really hard to take pictures of your own feet.

Gothic Blackrose Socks

I feel naked without a pair of socks to knit. Really. No matter what else I have going on, there will always be a pair of socks on my circs. I don't usually work on them any time except for my commute, which can be heinous some days. As soon as one pair is complete, I go right to the next with barely a pause. Despite having two sweaters going right now and a dire need for a stylish hat, I cast on for the Blackrose socks.

I dug through my sock yarn stash and pulled out a hank of Dream in Color Smooshy sock yarn. SMOOOOOSHY! It's in the "Gothic Rose" colorway, so I thought it was appropriate.



It has very subtle color changes, meaning you can actually see the lace pattern.



Well, you can't really see the lace pattern if I continue to take crap pictures of my work.