Having just finished the Redford sweater I now have time to concentrate on other projects. I'm still working on the Aurora scarf although it's now on a bit of a hiatus because I ran out of yarn. The scarf is two thirds done so there's not much left to knit, as soon as I just get the missing skeins. I'm still not sure if I will make it into a circular scarf or a straight one, and even though my initial plan was a circular one, I'm starting to think I will make something that incorporates both the options: making a ribbing to the ends but adding buttons to one end and buttonholes to the other one. That way it could be worn either way.
I've actually knitted some more after I took these photos and before I ran out of yarn.
I started to knit the Lady Stardust scarf on the same evening I finished the Redford. I'm done with the border and next I will start to work on the main part of the scarf. I'm using light grey Novita Wool from my stash. I bought it earlier this year because it was on sale even though I didn't have anything planned for it. For the contrasting color I chose the muted red yarn I bought from an artisans' market in July, the one from Puffala.
The border for the Lady Stardust scarf.
Since the Aurora is on hold and I always need a couple of projects on my needles I also started two sweaters, one of them is the Stasis pullover by Leila Raabe and the other one is Docklight by Julie Hoover. I really like the new BT Fall 14 collection, and would like to knit almost everything from it. I've always had a soft spot for cables and fisherman-style sweaters. Two of my favorite knits (both to knit and to wear) have been the Stonecutter sweater and the Beatnik pullover. I'm using my new favorite yarn, Drops Cotton Merino, for the Docklight. I was actually going to make a scarf with this yarn, but when I saw this pattern my plans changed. I don't think I have enough skeins to make the sweater, but since I'm trying to reduce my stash I won't buy more until I run out of yarn and see how much more I need. Otherwise I might once again find myself with one or two odd skeins of leftover yarn.
The first few rows of the brioche ribbing or "single shaker rib" as it's called in the pattern was quite hard since I haven't done anything similar before. I don't usually print the patterns unless I'm knitting while traveling. Instead I read them on my iPad (I'm trying to reduce the amount of unnecessary paper in my life) but this time I had to use the paper version. At one point I had 4 different pages of instructions in front of me (instructions for the body, explanation of the shaker rib, the chart and the abbreviation page) while trying to read all at once. Scrolling back and forth on my iPad would have been impossible. But once I got the hang of the pattern it's actually really fun to knit. I went to bed way too late last night because I kept thinking "one more round... one more round..."
While the Docklight was an extempore project Stasis has on the other hand been in my to-knit queue for over a year now. It's such a lovely basic knit, and I'm sure it will become a staple knit and an essential in my daily wardrobe once it's finished. I've had the yarns for it for a while now but just haven't had the time to start knitting. Browsing through other people's projects on Ravelry I've seen many lovely color combinations for this sweater, but decided to knit it in the same color scheme as the sample. I'm using light grey Garnstudio Drops Baby Merino for the base and making the contrasting sections with a darker grey.
I really like the Brooklyn Tweed designs; I've already knitted quite a few of them and queued many more. With them you can always count on a well-written pattern and easy to follow instructions. The designs are also very classy but at the same time modern and wearable. I've learned a lot of new techniques from the patterns like 1x1 and 2x2 tubular cast-on, sloped bind off method (used in the Redford as well as the Docklight), the brioche-style stitch mentioned earlier and a tubular bind off which I really liked and will definitely use again. They also have unique cable designs and other small details that I really like.
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