More Botanical Knitting

"When we last left Knitter Kathy, she'd just posted photos of her Live Oak shawl. We continue her botanical knitting adventures with a Kudzu shawl."

OK, Mr. Announcer, I'll take over from here. It's not intentional, but between my Camp Loopy projects I have been knitting shawls that are inspired by flora (but not fauna). And coincidentally, flora that grows here in Houston.

This is my Kudzu shawl.

I fell in love with this when I saw it in the Classic Elite newsletter. Soon I was ordering the yarn and casting on. I'm still in love.

Here's a closeup.

I have mostly been knitting my shawls out of wool so I am familiar with the blocking of wool. This cotton/bamboo behaved totally differently. After soaking in Soak, I laid it out on the guest bed to block. I shaped and smoothed with my hands. The shawl stayed in place and didn't try to bounce back. I probably didn't need to pin it down but I did anyway.

15 Days and Counting

I'm talking about the number of consecutive days the temperature in Houston has been 100 degrees or higher.

So it'll be a while before I can wear this:

It's the Live Oak shawlette by Romi from the latest issue of Knitscene.

When cooler weather arrives, I know this will be my constant companion.

When I saw the pattern I immediately thought "fall leaves" so I found a skein of fall-leaf colored yarn in my stash. (It's Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in the colorway Candlewick.) Then I looked up "live oak". We have live oaks here in Houston, but not being from here originally I did not know which oak is the live oak. Imagine how surprised I was to find out that a live oak is an evergreen oak--the leaves do not change color and fall off come autumn. So for a true live oak shawl, I should have knit this in a shade of green. I guess I have actually knit a post oak shawl.

Hugs & Kisses Mittens

I have been having fun at Camp Loopy. This time we went "Hiking in the Mountains". The goal was to make a pair of cabled socks, gloves, or mittens. I chose mittens. I picked a pair out of a book that I own, 60 Quick Knits. That itself was an accomplishment because while I buy lots of knitting books, I rarely actually knit from them. This is my first cabled project. I found that while cables look quite complicated, they really aren't. That was a surprise to me. This is also my first mitten project. I don't think it will be my last.

Got to admit, I felt a bit silly knitting mittens in 100 degree weather. But it's nice to know they'll be waiting for me when winter arrives.

The next session of Camp Loopy starts August 15. The theme is Field Day. But as of now, I don't know what that entails.

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Every time I wear these mittens, I know I will be thinking of Wilfred. I watched several episodes of the original Australian version while finishing these yesterday. I often associate certain projects with something that was going on while I knit them. For example, every time I wear a certain scarf I immediately think of knitting it in the car while on vacation. Is this weirdness unique to me, or do you experience something similar?

Hoodie Shawl -- Jo's Pride

Photographs, finally!

Way back when I joined Woolgirl's Victorian Writers Club. This is a series of knit kits inspired by Victorian literature. Sometime in April I started reading Little Women by Louisa May Alcott to get ready for the kit that would arrive later in the month. When it did I was not disappointed. I eagerly began knitting Jo's Pride, or as I called it, my "hoodie shawl". I love lace and I learned a lot about incorporating beads into it. Knit, knit, knit. I finished. Shawl sat around for a while before I blocked it. Then it sat around until today when I finally asked Rene to help me with a photo shoot.

These are the results. It's nearly 100 degrees outside. I was sweating and suffering, as was my photographer! Now he's laying on the couch watching a movie. I'm going to get some iced tea and join him.

I love my hoodie shawl!

Yarn Blobbies

I often knit during lunch at work. I end up with little bits and balls of yarn on my desk. Today I arranged them on my mouse pad and took a photo (with the phone, thus the poor quality). I need to branch out from blue!

Hiking in the Mountains

I'm ready to go back to Camp Loopy tomorrow. This time I'll be hiking in the mountains as I attempt to make mittens with cables. I'll have some company since my Counting Sheep has decided to come with me to camp. He's number 55.

Between sessions of camp, I have been working on my Kudzu shawl. I've done more since this picture was taken. I'm really liking the results.

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Last Sunday I went to our local theater to see a production of Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None". One of the characters, an older woman, knit almost all the time she was on stage. She truly was knitting, not just waving her needles around. She seemed to be making something brown and square...maybe it was the start of a scarf. I wondered if she continued working on the same project for the run of the play. Maybe she'd end up with an actual finished object. Anyway, at one point she said, "Where is my other skein of wool?" Needless to say, she ended up murdered. This was an Agatha Christie story, after all.

Whippoorwill at Camp Loopy

This summer I went to camp. Camp Loopy, that is. I haven't been to camp since I was a 13-year-old Girl Scout and that was a long time ago. (A shout-out to Lazy Acres in Rye, Colorado!) This camp is a bit different. It's sponsored by Loopy Ewe and has three sessions. The first has the theme "Campfire Nights". Each participant made a two-colored shawl, cape, or scarf. I have wanted to make the Whippoorwill shawl (Rav link) since I saw it on a worker at my (now-closed) LYS at the beginning of the year. This was the perfect time to do it!
I'm really happy with this! Come fall (late November around here) I'll be glad to wear this.

The pattern is quite simple. It is mainly stockinette with only a few rows doing something different. The yarn I used is called JulieSpins Merino 370 (Rav link). It's very nice to work with.

As usual, blocking is the magical step that takes a project from a bit of knitted cloth to a great finished product.

Next week I'll be at camp again for the second session, "Hiking in the Mountains". I'm going to make cabled mittens. I've never made cables before. I've never made mittens before. Wish me luck!