some fun fabrics and an interesting start

No parent visit is complete without a trip down to Pacific Grove/Monterey. We went to the aquarium this time, which has been a long while! It was a really fun day of fins and bubbles, but at the end we squeezed in a trip around the Point to Back Porch Fabrics and Monarch Knitting. Uncharacteristically I did not get anything at the yarn store, but we did find fun things at the fabric store. I was charmed by the cats and bunnies so very much, both Ruby Star Society I think. I was also really pleased to find that echinacea print from Anna Maria Parry. That line has been out for a while and I did not snag the navy/orange/pink when I first saw it, nor did they have it this time, but I do enjoy this colorway quite a lot. And now looking at these stacked, the coordination with the cat print is quite excellent. Perhaps a drawstring bag? The bee print is a lightweight canvas that will probably end up being a sturdy zippy bag. 

Another uncharacteristic thing in my yarny world is that I started a pair of socks. Right? It's been YEARS. I have never truly understood the draw, though I have knit a couple pairs for myself (which turned out too big and I never wore them, they have been donated) and a handful of gifts. I don't mind DPNs but the yarn twists and tangles were not relaxing and unlike many I have not considered socks as "mindless" knitting. That all may be about to change... I have been a) watching an almost unhealthy amount of YouTube including two lovely ladies who knit A LOT of socks and b) trying to knit from my stash and getting stuck on this ball of yarn that has been peeking out at me saying "me next". 

Well, first off look at the super cute kitten stitch markers. Learning about placing markers every 10 rows to help the second sock match without as much counting kind of changed the game for me, as has knitting on small circular needles instead of DPNs. I finished this first sock in two days. TWO DAYS. I can now see how some people might consider doing 52 pairs of socks in a year if you're enthusiastic about knitting only socks at clip of a pair a week. 

I tried really hard to consider other things I could have made with this yarn. But, it's self patterning. That can be a lot of fun things (including some great teddy bears I've made in the past) but I really felt like this was my chance to try socks again. The yarn is an acrylic/rayon/polyester blend so maybe I won't mind it on my feet as much as wool? Not that wool was really the problem with the first pairs, those were just kinda baggy after wearing. I went down to fewer stitches here. It will be interesting to see if I can keep the heel flap and gusset instructions held in my mind for the next sock (a test to see if it can be truly relaxed), and how I feel about knitting the second sock after the excitement of the first has worn off. TBD. So far, so good. 

project planning

I cleaned up my craft space today.  It felt like an appropriate activity to refresh my headspace and take stock of what I was up to since I just got a big project off of my needles. I can tell I have the itch to start something new! I still have a couple of things going that I'd like done, though, so I am making the choice to wait until at least one of those (the blanket or the summer tank) is done before casting on a new project. I think I have been watching too many YouTube influencers start all. the. things. 

I had a couple items of yarn that entered the chat from LYS day yesterday so that got me playing with my stash and considering what I wanted to cast on next. Since I was planning and have been having an excellent time making project bags, I decided to tuck the yarn (and in one case, wind it) into bags so they are ready to go when I am. 

There is of course the yellow for my Agave sweater that I have been thinking about forever - a yarn crawl purchase and my next garment start. The other yarn crawl item is the dark blue cake which will become a textured scarf. I think that should be a fun project that's easy but interesting. The bright poppy red skein in the appropriately neon bag is going to be a micro scarf. I have been loving the little crocheted Sophie scarf my mom made me, and I've been thinking about a knitted one. I actually went to the LYS with the intention of getting JUST yarn for that little scarf and for checking out the DK stock for potential materials for a crochet row blanket project. There wasn't much I liked for the row blanket, but I did look at patterns and find one for a cute shrug. And lo, she also had the right type of yarn. That will be a fun no thinking project, so probably great for when I finish my blanket up and is hanging out in my big Firefly tote until I'm ready to start. 

It felt good to line up the next projects. Of course, I still have a few other long-term projects that will remain on the go (Clint shawl and tiny succulents, I'm looking at you) but I like the idea of waiting until at least one of the blanket or tank top is done before picking up a new shiny object. This process was fun and I kind of feel like I've already started ;) 

outta dodge

I took a much needed day trip down to the Monterey Peninsula this weekend. Among the wave watching and pelican photography visits were of course made to my two favorite local establishments, Back Porch Fabric and Monarch Knitting. 

I enjoyed a browse around all of the colorful fabrics in BPF, as always. It was tough to not bring many things home with me, but I stuck to a few larger cuts that I imagine may be made into bags or similar non-quilt projects. I am not usually drawn to oranges and reds, but it was a vibe this time. I am looking forward to using that colorful kaleidoscope print especially.

And I couldn’t not come home with this yarn. It is so very Wicked in its appearance, I splurged. I have often seen but never purchased Spincycle. It’s a bit itchier than I would normally choose, but their colors are quite fantastic though I’ve often wondered if it just turns out looking muddy. There was a hat knit up that looked really striking just in stockinette (with shaping, of course) and it had a different lining yarn that was softer so I am wondering if I could do the same thing, potentially with any leftovers from the sweater I’m working on right now. It would be a green extravaganza. 

Along with that, I kept passing by the display of squishy ikigai yarn. I LOVE the colors and the last few visits I have eyed these skeins. Since I was viewing this as a “Yarn Crawl Addendum” for myself, I did decide to splurge and get some. I think they will end up being a scarf after browsing around a few patterns. Whatever it is, it’s going to be beautiful and so very soft. 

Besides the bright and bold fabrics, I found a cute snail print in the sale corner that will potentially be pajamas, and I impulse bought a set of 8 fat quarters that are all different prints of bright kitties. No idea what they will end up being, but whatever happens it is going to be so fun. 

couldn’t wait

I couldn’t wait - I have several projects going right now that are really quite fun, but I kept thinking about this sweater. I just got done playing around in the yarn stash finding appropriate colors to combine with the green I recently bought. Lo and behold, I sense a movie theme! This should be fun. The dark pink even has some gold sparkles on it. Perfection. 

2026 yarn crawl

Well that was fun. It’s been a weekend full of lots of different things so this seems like it was forever ago, but in fact it was just Friday. I’ve got some vacation to burn, so I took the day off to have breakfast with a friend after which we moseyed over to the local yarn shop for the first day of this year’s Bay Area Yarn Crawl. Ahem. This is the chaos that resulted. The bag on the left is mine, the pile of books and the basket is hers. We certainly did some shopping!! 

I also snagged a couple of pattern books (free!) but I admit I didn’t have a whole lot of patience to sift through them all. I did, however, do a great job picking through the sale yarn outside and here’s what I got. It’s all cotton or cotton blends, which is something I appreciate so much about this shop - she carries great non-wool options. The four colorful skeins on the right, and possibly the hank, will be headed to my mom. The four neutral balls on the bottom are going to be great for gnomes, particularly the white and gray for beards and noses. I wish I had just one more ball of that fluffy yellow because then I would know exactly what sweater I would make, but as it is I might be a bit too short to want to play yarn chicken. Still, it’s so soft and I’ll find something to make with it. 

 

Once we managed to get inside, it was really fun to look around the trunk shows Kristi had displayed. She ordinarily has a great selection of yarns but boy these indie dyers did not disappoint! The whole bottom row of skeins is from those trunk shows. The left, highly variegated yarn is from Forbidden Fibers Co and will be my first (brave!) foray into a super variegated sweater and learning to alternate skeins. The rest of the bottom row is from a dyer with moody colors I just loved called Dragon Hoard Yarn. I limited myself to tonal skeins for projects I had picked out otherwise I would have come home with many more of her beautiful variegated works. The set of four purpley red will be a sweater, likely an Amrum. The dark slate blue will be an Architexture scarf, and the other one? Well that was kind of a compromise impulse buy. I think it might make a nice second Architexture, if I like knitting that pattern, or I will find something to do with it. I have many fingering weight shawl patterns, and it was too pretty to pass up. The bright green at the top is going to be a Geddy tee, the Noro (another sale yarn) and navy might end up as a sweater or vest - definitely a garment of some sort. And the last skein was a total no plan but I kept walking by the cubby and picking it up. There were many more so I could have gotten another sweater quantity, but this one seems to say accessory to me.

Safe to say I have supported my local yarn shop, and I have plenty of projects planned for the year! These of course are all in addition to the ones I already have queued up from my stash. My I’ve gotten ambitious. There may not be enough hours in a day. I did decide I don’t need to do anymore yarn crawling over the next week. I have a trip down to Pacific Grove next weekend, so I will certainly come home with something fun from my other favorite yarn shop, but other than that this is plenty of yarn to keep me busy for a good while. 

girly quilt for a colleague

A coworker is expecting, and I know her well enough to feel comfortable asking if she would a) enjoy having a small quilt from a coworker and b) if girly colors and patterns were ok to use. Happily she said yes to both so I got to have a lot of fun putting this piece together. Pulling fabrics was, of course, the best part. I started out thinking I was going to use an entirely different cat fabric with bright colors, but as I pulled both from my bag of scraps I've precut into charms plus some of the pinks and floral fabrics in my stash, I gravitated more towards the softer palette here with purples, yellows, soft pinks, and neutrals. 

I knew I wanted to make something relatively simple because I didn't have much time (said coworker was going to be in town for just a week). Some creative googling led me to a tutorial on the Diamond Chain pattern at Missouri Star and followed that (loosely) to make the center panel. It looks the same, but I didn't follow the specific sewing instructions since I wasn't starting from the precuts that were shown. 

Despite including lots of yellows and purples, it was still feeling VERY neutral and kind of washed out, so I played around with some of the prints and decided to add stripes at the top and bottom. That really changed the character of the whole quilt. The purples popped much better and the yellows sparkle around the pattern instead of blending in. Very pleased with that decision!

I had exactly enough of this wonderful ric-rac stripe print for the binding. If that's not the universe saying "great choice!" I don't know what is. Aaaand it's pretty perfect. I'm finding that working with fabric collections is fun, but my real joy is in these types of projects where I can assemble something cohesive from different fabrics I've collected over time, even better if I use scraps! Some of these are offcuts from trimming quilts after quilting, one is a blender my mom sent from her stash (so quite vintage!), and of course because it's me there's some unconventional texture in there in the form of flannel. Usually it's linen, but here there be flannel kitties. 

The backing is just a couple of large leftovers of a couple of the prints that are pieced together. I quilted it with gray thread and a simple cross hatch in the center panel and "in the ditch" along the stripe seams on the top and bottom. It ended up being 32" x 44". It was a gorgeous morning today, so I snapped a couple pictures outside before heading to work with quilt in tow. I'm pleased to report that it was well received. 

in the lineup

I needed to wind up some more of my sweater yarn, so I also took the time to set myself up for a couple more projects. I have just two things on the needles, both garments, and that just doesn't feel right! (Though it does actually feel kinda good....) 

This first set is yarn I got sometime last year at my local yarn store. I am pretty sure it was an anniversary sale of some sort because I remember buying a bunch of this beautiful cotton yarn on a whim because it was very reasonably priced. At the time I was thinking 'blanket' but wasn't sure what kind. I've picked out what I hope will be an interesting round throw blanket project. 

These lovelies are from a stash dive I took when I saw a recent Wool & Company newsletter featuring the Clint shawl. As both a knitter and a quilter this feels like something I would really enjoy making and wearing. I am feeling inspired to use my stash yarn whenever possible right now (thanks knitting YouTube), so I sorted through my skeins, assisted by Ravelry helping to tell me quantities, to find this combination of colors that I think is unusual but will be effective. My main color will be that bright saffron yellow! 

I have these all tucked into project bags and am happy that I'll have something to cast on when the mood strikes me, no planning necessary. 

stashing and starting

Yesterday in the craft room was all about stashing and starting. First, here's a round up of all the fabric I acquired on the "tour" of local quilt shops with my parents. The top row are from Golden State Quilting up in Campbell. OMG. The Charley Harper horsey print! The mushroom and fabulous hippy horse from Ruby Star Society (Sarah Watts and Melody Miller... two of my faves)! They have also always had Tula Pink fabrics when I've gone in, which I resisted this time but mom did get some very cute bunnies and owls. It's so nice to have a shop nearby that you know will have the latest from your favorite designers. 

The bottom row big three are from Back Porch Fabrics on our trip down to Pacific Grove. I got the Anna Maria Parry zinnias and the somehow irresistible mustard/hot pink blender and mom snuck in that beautiful Charley Harper butterfly fabric for me. I thought she was getting it for herself! Monarchs are "a thing" down there, so it's a fun thing to remember the trip with. 

Last are a few fat quarters from my true LQS in Morgan Hill, Quilts and Things. Somehow this visit my eye was drawn to all the pinks and oranges, which is quite unusual for me! The checkerboard print in the middle is not coming through quite as eyewateringly neon in the photo as it truly is in person. I am 99.9% sure that's a Tula Pink blender. I'm not sure what any of these will be used for, but in laying these out I can see an interesting project potential taking shape in that bottom row.... 

Mom and I also spent a loooong time winding yarn. The two balls on the right were wound for me at the shop where we got them (Fillory) and will turn into a sweater for my dad - along with 10 of their closest friends when they arrive on order. Realizing I was going to start that sweater project made me want to line up a couple of others that have been on my mind since the yarn crawl in spring. The blue and coral on the left are going to be another Hold Sway Sweater, and the brown is going to be some sort of boxy summery top. Not shown are the yarn hanks for my next Shift cowl I have planned, also with yarn from the crawl supplemented by that aqua peeking in the background (from a trip with mom to A Pop of Color in town). They won't get made if the yarn's not wound! So we wound. And wound. And wound. 14 cakes! I did not snap a picture of them, but it was a lot. They are all now nestled in project bags waiting patiently for me to get started. I think my plan is to get them all cast on and started a bit so that I can work on whatever I'm in the mood for without the barrier of "ugh casting on" to deal with. 

Also part of the day was spent with mom choosing a gnome. I showed her my book of Gnomes of Grimblewood that I got at the workshop in February and suggested she pick one for me to make. I already sent her some cute earrings, but I have been thinking of starting another gnome so it would be fun to send it along to her house. ( I haven't made one since April! So much for doing one a month ;) ) We did some stash diving and came up with a rainbow of colors to use on one of the tall stripey guys. I've already cast on and knit a few rows, so more to come. 

It feels good to be organized in the craft room again, to have infused a few new things, and to have some plans! It was also really fun to take a tour around my favorite shops with my parents. I am lucky in how many great places there are pretty close by. May they continue to thrive.

Pacific Grove favorites

Well true to form a trip to Pacific Grove with my folks turned into a tour of some old favorites! We headed down for a day trip to "see the ocean", which included a lovely lunch at a coast-side local park, and pretty much my favorite other thing to do there which is to check out the local yarn and fabric shops. 

Back Porch Fabric recently changed ownership and I am glad to see that the new owners have continued stocking prints that I really enjoy. In fact, it might even be more up my alley than the previous owner which is kind of surprising given how much I liked her choices. Designers I recognized were Charley Harper, Kaffe Fassett, Sarah Watts, and Anna Maria Parry. There are still plenty of batiks, ocean themed prints, and pretty blenders that pop. This gorgeous zinnia print had to come home. There was also a chicken quilt on the wall that was so fun I'm tempted to try it even though I'm not a big chicken person. I'm pretty sure it was Kaffe Fassett prints - so fun to see a traditional topic worked up in bright and busy prints!

I don't think I've skipped popping into Monarch Knitting on a trip down here since the first time I found them. I enjoy the space and the way they've arranged it, the yarns they choose to stock, and they always have some beautiful samples to check out. Case in point, the adorable whale and pufferfish stuffies they had knit up out drew me over to the table where I found this little guy who came home with me. I went in thinking (knowing) I did not need to add to my yarn stash, but does a kit to make a toy turtle really count? I at least have a plan for the yarn. :) 

Petaluma

This past weekend brought a getaway trip to Petaluma, which is a charming place in a beautiful part of the Bay Area. I liked it so much I wondered if it was a mild place to live during the summers... worth considering for the long term daydream!

One of the great things about it was the small town feel, made even better by the presence of a great quilt shop. Quilted Angel was a small but mighty space, as so many quilt shops here are, with a wide array of beautiful fabrics, lots of patterns, and a bunch of lovely quilts on display. It also looked like they had a classroom space in the back. The shelf above was my favorite, full of Ruby Star Society fabrics. I also have to mention that the folks there were very friendly. The woman who checked me out gave us a great recommendation for a day trip out to Bodega Bay complete with directions to a delicious crab and lobster themed lunch spot. 

Our last day in town found us at the local yarn store, Fiber Circle Studio. This was a great space with lot of beautiful things. I took these pictures below for my friend Sam who was interested in what kinds of options there were for loom-compatible yarn. The colors are just gorgeous. 

I of course struggle to leave any quality crafty establishment without purchasing something, and I was on vacation so the excuses to splurge a little were abundant. I did not intend to get thematically matching items, but here we have it. I was in a poppy, plum, and teal mood. Quite a nice combination, actually! 

Bay Area yarn crawl

Oh boy did we have fun! Sam and I cavorted all around the Bay Area, from Morgan Hill all the way out to Livermore and back through San Jose, picking up yarn as we went. I think in the end we went to 5 or 6 shops, most of which were new discoveries and some of which I expect will become regular (if infrequent) spots for me. This came at a time when I definitely did not need more yarn, more projects, more ideas, or anything of the sort. But what a fun chance to head out with a friend for a day of crafty bonding and mutual enabling. 

I think I picked up something at each spot we went to, and with one exception (those gorgeous purples) I do have a project in mind for the yarn I chose. The cottons on the left may combine to be a Shift cowl of my own, the browns I hope might make a summery top, the bundle of lovely minis is a kit for a color work cowl, and the navy and coral I intend for another Hold Sway sweater. See? Justified. :) 

One of my favorite spots was In Between Stitches out in Livermore. It was also a quilt shop! Rather than buying fabric with no plan, I got myself a pattern for some really great totes they had on display. I am hoping this will help me with my goal of sewing smaller-than-a-quilt things this year, and the construction was quite unique so it was different enough from anything I already had. 

I think I have my work cut out for me for quite a long time at this point. I always feel slightly guilty after a stash infusion such as this, but also excited for the enjoyment of stitches to come. 

stitch markers for crawl

Bay Area Yarn Crawl is just around the corner, and I recently heard that there will be a stitch marker swap as part of the festivities. I've made some in the past, and this seemed like a great opportunity to dig into my miscellaneous beads and findings and see what I could come up with. 

These yarn hanks are really fun and unique. It's kind of a kick to contemplate all the different colors of yarn on the shelves of a yarn shop and to recreate them in miniature. I have a lot of DMC floss from a very long time ago, and these variegated colors haven't been that useful to me in stitching but are the perfect mini hand dyed yarn. 

These little sparkles look just like oblong skeins of yarn to me. The silver findings in the middle give the impression of the label and the jewels on the end are the squishy yarn bits. 

And of course I couldn't pass up the chance to add some of my sunflower charms to a few. These lovelies are combined with the sparkly yarn skeins and millefiori heart beads to make longer charms that should hang quite nicely. 

I made markers on several different sizes of rings and even included a couple of safety pins (saved from clothing!) to accommodate use in crochet. I'll have to find a good box or tin to pop these in for carrying around during the yarn crawl. No idea how this will go, but it was certainly fun to revisit stitch marker making!

stash diving

Inspired by my recent foray back into knitting on something that isn't the wrap I was working on forever, I revisited my Ravelry queue, my yarn stash, and my brain to see what is next. I have already started a new shawl when I decided to be brave and go to knit nights at my LYS. Having monogamously knit the last wrap, I'm feeling it's going to be more fun for me to have a few things going and plans for others that I can start when I feel momentum stalling. 

Voila. I wound a bunch of yarn. It always seems like more effort than it actually is to set up the swift and winder. It really is only as slow as clearing off the table is, and it's so magical to do the winding. Plus, it's a good thing to visit one's stash when one is spending one evening a week at a yarn shop surrounded by beautiful skeins! 

These three cakes will find themselves transformed into a Shift cowl. Mom picked out the colors after we saw one made up in the LYS and I think it's going to a be a fun one to work on. And all cotton! 

I have had this kit for a Quadrant cowl for some time. I think Dave and I bought it on our last trip down to Pacific Grove together. Can't wait to work it up. The yarn has some silk in it that makes it have a lovely sheen, and I unexpectedly love that light blush color. What is the world coming to when I like a neutral?? 

I wound up this skein of redwood color today, but the iris leftover is the same yarn that I used for a hat not long ago. I am considering making the same hat with the redwood and maybe adding a brim stripe of the iris. The combination is quite something and may be just the thing to make that orange-y color look good on me. 

happy new year, a quick quilt top

[Note, I will be back filling this blog with posts "written" at the time the projects were actually done, I will be writing now but my sensibilities are much more satisfied with backdating them. There's been a few things since 2021, but not a whole lot to catch up on until quite a bit this past year, so I think it's not too crazy to do this. For now, I am actually starting to write real-time again in January 2025 because I have found the mental space to miss it.]

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I can't quite believe how happy I am with this project. The fact that so many of my quilts-in-waiting are now finished (minus one) has really lifted weight off my mind and allowed my creative juices to start swirling around big projects again. 

I have had most of the fabrics I used for this quilt sitting together in a stack for a long time. I knew I wanted to use them together, I just did not know how. Those mustang prints from Melody Miller are large scale and I have struggled to imagine cutting into them and losing most of the "fun" I get from the pattern. I like that they are horses running together - having a random ear or head in a half square triangle block or something like that just wouldn't do it for me. There's also a great print from Sarah Watts called Horseback which, appropriately, has sketches of horses with bright saddle pads on the perfect greenish blue. Note for the interested, it's the Honeymoon line for Cotton + Steel (just in case it ever gets re-released, I'll remember what it is from this note). Regardless, a special collection over time for sure. I had a hankering to play with these fabrics now that my table and mind are clear, and so I just started laying them out and adding a few more leftovers of prints that I thought might play nicely. 

I was binging on some Missouri Star Quilt Co. tutorials on YouTube while all of this was going on, and one of the projects that came up was a slant rhyme to a coin quilt. While coin quilts are usually smaller strips, this Simple Stacks quilt was stacks of 5"x10" cuts of fabric, ideal for large prints. I didn't buy the pattern, but the great thing about those videos is it gives you the gist of the pattern well enough for a person who has quilted a bunch to be able to do it on your own. I did watch the tutorial a few times to absorb what was going on, and then I committed to cutting out some big bricks of fabric. I adjusted the size to be more amenable to the fat quarter and half yard cuts I had, and away I went. 

It didn't take long, maybe a couple of evenings, to get all of the fabric cut. I used as much of my stack of curated fabrics as I could and then augmented with some Anna Maria Horner scraps and one mustard tree fabric that I don't remember the origins of. It matches those mustard mustangs pretty perfectly. I was doing math on the fly to see how many bricks I would need and about how large the quilt would end up being. My goals were to have something that would use up fabric and be proportional, so I was pretty much making it up as I went along. In terms of fabric placement, I resisted the usual impulse I have to be deliberate. I made myself improvise a bit and just try not to put things near each other that were too similar. And guess what? I didn't die. And it looks great.

In digging through my cabinet for fabric to use for sashing, I found leftovers from an all-white jelly roll that was hiding in the back. What. A. Gift. It was so easy to just piece a bunch together and go to town on sashing the thing. By the time I was done, it was tempting to leave it without more of a border, which is what I usually do. The "modern" look of no borders is generally appealing to me. But. I laid it out on my bed and it was so close to being the perfect size to drape nicely over the sides of my mattress that I decided to go for it. The teal linen was leftover from my shot cotton quilt and I found a floral print that I remember buying yardage of thinking "I'll use this as a quilt back, or something. It's on sale and it's pretty.". I debated adding the more 'traditional' looking fabric with the more tribal/geometric mix I had, but it actually worked out pretty great since there were a few florals thrown in there anyway. Mixing the two also makes it feel a bit more bohemian to me, which I like. 

I'm really proud of how it all works together without having been a designer's collection. How did I have all of these great things in my stash?? The top measures 84"x96" and it's going to be epic. I'm pretty sure I will finish it on my machine with the wavy preset stitch pattern. I'm not sure what thread color to use yet, but I have some time to mull it over because I don't have a great backing fabric at the moment. It took me just under a week to work this up, and it feels like a great way to start this year's creative adventures. 

week twenty two

 I’ve been wanting to knit lately. That’s somewhat strange given the fact that it’s so incredibly hot outside - in the 100s! - but there it is. I should say that I also did finish a couple more hexagons for my tree skirt this week and picked out a layout, but that’s for another post when I actually have it done... sometime before Christmas. Back to yarn. Current mood: use things in the stash.

These three lovelies are from my Honey Girl Farms Outlander Yarn Club that I was in for a while. I was accumulating too many skeins without using them so I paused it. The colors are so nice and I really like the silky yarn base, so maybe someday if she’s still got it going I’ll start up again. Along comes an itch to make another large shawl and boom, three skeins will get used. It’s a somewhat unusual combination, but that is just what I was going for. This piece will have narrow stripes and panels of lace. In theory the stripes could be very contrast-y, but I am curious to see how the blue and green mottled yarns play together. I think once the fabric gets larger the stripes will become apparent. It’s reminding me of a dragon’s scales or a phoenix feather right now. Such pretty colors.

The pattern is out of a book I got down at a new-to-me shop in Monterey sometime before the pandemic - The Before Time. It’s going to be an asymmetrical sideways chevron which is a new construction for me. It should be really interesting! 

Cloud Dweller

Well, I’ve got that winter hat problem all taken care of. It was obviously super important that I start and finish a chunky winter hat in the midst of the summer. Just in case? Regardless, I made a hat and I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. 

I’ve had this yarn in my stash for a while now. I picked it up at Knit, Purl in Portland on a Thanksgiving trip we took in 2015 simply because I couldn’t pass up the color. I just love the combination of sky blue and dusty purple. I would totally make myself a big comfy sweater out of this stuff. The cables pop out perfectly and the overall heft of the hat is really satisfying. 

The other satisfying part? This pom pom. Of course I had to make a nice big pom pom to top it all off. I used my 3 3/8” gadget and wrapped generously to end up with this really dense beautiful ball of fluff. I attached it through a button on the inside of the hat hoping that will help it to stand up a bit better instead of sagging off the hat under its own weight. I used up almost as much yarn on the pom pom as I did for the hat! Totally worth it. 

Pattern: Illume, free on Ravelry (my Ravelry page) 

Yarn: madelinetosh chunky in ‘cloud dweller’

Needle: US 10 (6 mm), US 8 (5 mm)