Finally Some FOs!

I finally managed to get some FO photos taken this weekend! Alas, I made the collar on my Villainous CYOAT so tight it won't go over my head, so I'll have to rip that out and redo it. But my Ripple Bralette and Currituck Sound are both gorgeous!

The only thing I'd change about my Ripple Bralette is making the straps two inches longer. I guessed on these ones, and I think I want more cleavage showing. I'm thrilled to bits with how this one came out, and I love wearing it. I already have yarn set aside for another one, and I'll remember to lengthen the straps on that one.

Ravelry Page: Ripple Bralette

Pattern: Ripple Bralette by Jessie Mae Martinson

Yarn: Tanis Fiber Arts 75/25 merino silk fingering "Ballet Slipper"

I finished my Currituck Sound on Friday night and I'm SO IN LOVE with it. I'm so glad I decided to cut out the second repeat of the zig-zag slipped stitches, because I definitely wouldn't have been able to do two-color brioche if I hadn't. In a more perfect world, I'd have been able to get another two or three inches of brioche out of the orange yarn, but I'm still super happy with how the shawl looks.

Ravelry Page: Currituck Sound

Pattern: Currituck Sound by Kristen Jancuk

Yarn: The Dyeing Arts Splendiferious Sock (blue) and The Dyeing Arts Superwash Sock (orange)- both dyed by me at a dye workshop several years ago

(I have no clue what my eye is doing in that picture, but the shawl looks GREAT)

We Have Brioche!

As you can see, I decided that three braids was enough, and I'm now on the final brioche section of my Currituck Sound. I've never done two-color brioche, and I've only ever done one practice swatch of single-color brioche, years ago, but it's going well. I messed up the setup rows and had to rip back and redo them, but in the scheme of things that was just a minor hiccup.

I'm hoping to get this finished tonight and then catch up on blocking over the weekend, but we'll see if I get distracted by one of my current books. My bell choir is playing on Sunday, so I have morning rehearsals tomorrow and Sunday before we preform. I'm also planning on making a couple of loaves of bread to use for stuffing on Thanksgiving, so I definitely have plenty to do this weekend! 

Currituck Sounding

My Currituck Sound is finally portable again, and I have delusions of finishing her early this weekend. Is that wildly optimistic? Probably!

I decided to cut out one of the repeats of the zig-zag slipped stitch section. I really, really love how that section looks, but it wasn't my favorite thing to knit, and I started running low on my orange yarn. I have the NMKAL version of the pattern, which includes options for twisted rib or fisherman's rib to finish the shawl, but I really love the look of two-color brioche and want to use it in my shawl, so I decided to cut a repeat and save the orange yarn for a nice big chunk of brioche.

I'm on the vikkel braids now—the sample used three, and I think I want five before starting the brioche. I had to look up Kristen's tutorial for the vikkel braids—I've done them before, but I always want to ktbl in the second stitch by going in between the stitches instead of going around behind both of them, which works, but it puts the braid on the wrong side of the work. It's all sorted now, and hey, if I ever need to work a vikkel braid from the back, I know how! 

WIP Wrangling

The past few years I've participated in NaKniSweMo and tried to knit a sweater from start to finish during November, but this year as November approached, I felt overwhelmed at the thought of casting on another big project when I have so many WIPs in various stages right now. So I'm participating in the more chill NaKnitMo, setting a stitch goal of 75k stitches for the month as well as an unofficial goal to finish up as many WIPs as possible.

I've already finished one project (my Villainous CYOAT, which just needs blocking), and I'm making great progress on my Currituck Sound, which has been sitting abandoned since last year. Currituck isn't especially portable right now (I'm in a fiddly section that really ought to be knit on a sofa), so this week I've been carrying around a shawl sample I cast on back in September and then promptly set aside. I'd love to get this finished and written this month, but I also just got the last skein I need for Arachne, and I can't wait to get that off the needles too.

(I also want to finish the sleeves for my Old Harry that's been languishing since last winter, and in a world where I had more time and no hand/wrist pain I'd think about finishing my Guernsey, Recharge, and Cormac, but it turns out there IS a limit to how much I can fantasize about actually getting done in a month.)

Weekends

I've reached the bottom ribbing on my Arachne and I've come to the unsettling conclusion that I don't have enough yarn. This is all my fault—when I was gathering materials, I thought I'd knit the size smaller, and then once I read the pattern I realized I needed the size 49, and it never occurred to me that knitting the next size up would mean I'd need an extra skein for the sleeves. I've ordered the yarn, and hopefully it will be here in a week or so.

This weekend was the holiday bazaar at the Lutheran church up in the city, and I went with my mum. It was, as always, a great day, and I got a ton of great stuff. Walking around a crowded building for almost three hours is no joke, though—I ended up taking a four-hour nap once I got home! Yesterday was a baking day, and I have fresh bread and coffee cake to show for it.

This week we're taking measurements at the dance studio, so I'm going to have some long days. Lee Lee's not going to be happy about that, but I'm leaving Friday night open for snuggles, and hopefully she'll forgive me.