The Dark Dragon

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I knit this dragon out of Noro Kureyon Sock from my stash. It used about half a skein. I’m not actually sure what to do with it now that it’s done, but when I saw the pattern, I just had to cast on. The pattern is called Doughty Dragon and it’s a free Ravelry download. (That’s a Ravelry link.)Doughty Dragon by Joan Rowe knit in Noro Kureyon Sock by Deborah Cooke

Above, he is clearly as outraged as I am that some squirrel has sampled my pumpkin two weeks before Halloween.

Doughty Dragon by Joan Rowe knit in Noro Kureyon Sock by Deborah CookeHere, he looks like he’s going to eat something off the steps. (Bad dragon!)

I seriously lost my enthusiasm after making the body of the dragon – I think the toes nearly finished me – so he’s been waiting headless for me to get back to him. This summer, I made his head, then he waited in two parts – because I didn’t enjoy making the teeth and still think I did them wrong – until about two weeks ago. I was trying to clean up my office, and there he was, on the floor, in parts. How sad. I picked up my needles and worked away on those back scales – which I also did wrong. There’s supposed to be two rows, and you’re supposed to pick up every second stitch on the back as you go – alternating would be a good idea – but I misread it and picked up every stitch. Rather than frog back, I just kept going but only did a single row of scales.

Trust me. By then I was done with this project. It was fiddly knitting and slow going.Doughty Dragon by Joan Rowe knit in Noro Kureyon Sock by Deborah Cooke

I think his back scales look good, even if they are wrong!

Making this dragon took even longer than I thought: when I went back into Ravelry to mark my project done, I saw that I’d cast on in July 2015. More than three years to completion! Ha. I won’t be making another one of these.

Although he is kind of cute, isn’t he? I have to find him a perch in my office.

What do you think?

My Juicy Gloss Cardigan… in Progress

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A while back, I showed you the cardigan I was knitting from Koigu KPPPM, using the pattern called Juicy Gloss. (That’s a Ravelry link.)Juicy Gloss by Asja Janeczek knit in Koigu KPPPM by Deborah Cooke

I’ve finally finished knitting the body of this one and have it off the needles so I can show it to you again.

Here’s the older post. It shows the colour of the yarn better than these new pix do – here, it looks a lot more mauve than it is. And here’s the front:

This is a looooooong sweater. A big part of that is because of the changes I made to the front at the top. If you look at the pix for the pattern, you can see that the fronts are much shorter in the original design. I didn’t think this was as flattering as I wanted it to be, so added rows of stockinette to the front at the top as I was doing the raglan increases. In the original design, there isn’t any stockinette on the fronts: the lace starts at the raglan line. I like this better.

Juicy Gloss by Asja Janeczek knit in Koigu KPPPM by Deborah CookeHere’s the back of the cardigan. It’s hard to see in the variegated yarn, but there’s a garter stitch ridge at the waist, then there are increases to flare the lower half of the sweater. In an ideal universe, that garter ridge should be just above the waist, I think. Because of my increases to the front, mine is about an inch below my waist. This is less flattering than would be ideal, but I’m not going to rip it back.

I’m quite impressed that the yarn didn’t pool at all. It’s beautifully soft, so soft that I know I could wear it next to my skin.

I haven’t knitted the sleeves yet: you can see that I’ve put my sleeve stitches on circular needles already.

Juicy Gloss by Asja Janeczek knit in Koigu KPPPM by Deborah CookeHere’s a picture from the side. You can see that swooping angle of the waistline, which is a very pretty feature. If I knit this again with the same modifications to the front (ha), I’d make the back waist swoop across closer to the point where the lace ends at the sides. There are short rows shaping the back, and I’d knit a lot fewer of them. That would bring up the waist.

And now, on to the sleeves! I feel as if I’ve been knitting this sweater forever, but progress should be quicker now.

I really like the I-cord edging on this cardigan. It’s on the fronts, worked as you go, and the hem is bound off with I-cord. That makes a lovely neat finish all around.

One thing that puzzles me about this pattern is the name of it. I read the pattern notes again and wonder if it’s a reference to the yarn used in the sample photographed for the pattern – it’s a beautiful red, which she calls “juicy”, maybe because the color is reminiscent of ripe cherries. (?)

What do you think of the sweater so far?

Escher Quilt Kit

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I’ve been sewing a little bit lately and working on a couple of quilt tops. When they’ll actually be finished and quilted is anyone’s guess, but I like playing with the colours.

Escher quilt kit

I particularly like the fabrics designed by Kaffe Fassett, so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that this kit caught my eye.

It’s called Escher and was designed by Christopher Weinhold. You can buy a kit right here.

I’m so excited about this one that it will probably jump my queue of sewing projects so I can get started. I’ll share my progress with you!

What do you think of this quilt design? Would you make it?

Lizard Ridge Afghan Completed

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I finished the border on my Lizard Ridge afghan, knit in Noro Kureyon. I used some Berella Muskoka that was in my stash, in the colourway Amethyst Heather.

I was concerned that the yarn would look too smooth in contrast to the Noro, but am very happy with the result. Here it is!Lizard Ridge by Laura Aylor knit in Noro Kureyon by Deborah Cooke

Lizard Ridge by Laura Aylor knit in Noro Kureyon by Deborah CookeThis is the edging from the pattern. It’s a nice shell stitch, which fits perfectly with the waves.Lizard Ridge by Laura Aylor knit in Noro Kureyon by Deborah Cooke

What do you think?

Lizard Ridge Afghan 5

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I’ve been sharing my progress this summer on my Lizard Ridge afghan knitted in Noro Kureyon. This has to be the fastest project I’ve ever knitted. The pattern is addictive, plus I pretty much stuck to this one project. It was great car-knitting for summer road trips.

I showed you the finished squares last time. I’ve washed and blocked them now, and have sewn them together. Kureyon isn’t a really great yarn for seaming because it’s loosely spun. Instead, I used some black sock yarn – it’s three-ply Patons Kroy – which is smoother and thinner as well as having a bit of nylon in it.

Here it is, assembled:Lizard Ridge by Laura Aylor knit in Noro Kureyon by Deborah Cooke

The pattern suggests a crocheted border in Cascade 220. Instead of buying yet more yarn, I visited the stash. I have more than a sweater’s worth of Berella Muskoka in Amethyst Heather, which is (surprise!) purple. I’ll use that for the border.

The next time you see this beast, it will be done!

Lizard Ridge Afghan 4

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Here’s an update on my Lizard Ridge afghan in Noro Kureyon, predominantly in shades of blue and green.

I finished the seven blocks in colourway 327 which has a lot of deep blues – also some burnt orange and a bit of burgundy.Lizard Ridge by Laura Aylor knit in Noro Kureyon by Deborah Cooke

I only included six in the picture, since it made a nicer composition, but there are seven of them.

Now I’ve knit one block from each skein. I have 21 blocks and a lot of bits:

They’re grouped by colourway here. The total weight is 150g and it takes about 40g to make one square.

Here are my last three squares, each of which has at least two colourways in it. That’s the last of the yarn below them. They don’t look bad, do they?Lizard Ridge by Laura Aylor knit in Noro Kureyon by Deborah CookeI’m surprised to only have 13g of yarn left, but several of the colourways were spun thicker than the original one. I have 8 complete blocks of the first colourway I used (the one from my stash – 254), plus it’s in two of the leftover blocks, and there’s still a bit of leftover. I had 7 skeins. In contrast, I bought 7 skeins of the last colourway (327) which was spun much thicker. I got 7 squares out of that, plus half of one of the last three, and the other bit of leftover.

Just for fun, I laid out all the blocks on the patio. They’re curly because they need to be blocked and I know I’ll be moving the order around, but here they are all together:
Lizard Ridge by Laura Aylor knit in Noro Kureyon by Deborah CookeNow I have a lot of blocking and sewing to do.

What do you think?

Lizard Ridge Afghan 3

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I’ve been talking about the afghan I’m knitting in Noro Kureyon, in a pattern called Lizard Ridge. There are two posts so far: here’s the first one, and here’s the update.

Today, there’s another update. 🙂

This week, I knit the three blocks in colourway 40. Here they are:Lizard Ridge by Laura Aylor knit in Noro Kureyon by Deborah Cooke

This takes me into the blues from the greens. I have some bits left but will do my blended squares after knitting all the ones that are in a single colourway. I’ve started to knit the blocks in 327 which has a lot of lovely deep blues. I’ll show you some of them next week. I have seven balls of that colourway, so it will take me a couple of weeks to get them all knitted. Then the mixy mixy ones. THEN I can start to put it together!

What do you think of these?

Lizard Ridge Afghan 2

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I’ve been knitting away on my Lizard Ridge afghan in Noro Kureyon, and wanted to show you my progress today. I showed you the first two squares two weeks ago, which were knitted from some Kureyon in my stash. That was colour 254, which is discontinued. I knit up most of that, and have the eight squares at the top of this picture as a result, as well as some bits and ends leftover.

I then knit 3 squares with colour 332, which is shades of green with a bit of brick red. Those three squares are at the very bottom.Lizard Ridge by Laura Aylor knit in Noro Kureyon by Deborah Cooke

Because it hasn’t been blocked or had the blocks sewn together, it’s a bit curly on the edges, but you get the idea.

Right now, I’m knitting squares from colour 40, which is more blue with a touch of lime and pink.

Finally, I have seven balls in colour 327, which is mostly blues with a little bit of orange and purple.

These eleven squares completed means that I’ve done almost half. The pattern calls for 24 squares (4 by 6) but I’d rather it was 25 (5 by 5). I’ll have to see what I can do with those bits and ends once the blocks that are entirely each colour are done.

What do you think? I think it’s going to be fun to rearrange the blocks once I have them all knitted! There’s an edging in a solid colour and I have a feeling mine might need to be purple. We’ll see!

Lizard Ridge Afghan 1

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This past week, I cast on yet another knitting project. It’s funny how no matter what is on the needles, I crave something else. I realized that I needed something to knit in the car, a portable project on larger needles (than socks) that didn’t require a lot of attention. Summer is the season of road trips, after all! I wanted to use yarn from my stash, too.

The Lizard Ridge afghan is one that I’ve admired for years – this is the Ravelry link and this is the link to the pattern on Knitty, where it was originally published in 2008. It’s a free pattern. Lizard Ridge is designed to showcase Noro Kureyon, one of my favorite yarns, and does that brilliantly.

Here my first few blocks – this is the colourway 254 from my stash.Lizard Ridge by Laura Aylor knit in Noro Kureyon by Deborah Cooke

I had seven skeins of Kureyon in my stash, but the pattern calls for twenty. I played with mixing and matching, but really, the Kureyon makes the project. I was compelled (alas!) to buy more Kureyon in coordinating colorways. 🙂

What do you think?

My Juicy Gloss Cardigan in Koigu

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I’ve been distracted by a new knitting project and thought I’d share my progress with you today. The pattern is called Juicy Gloss and it’s an open-front cardigan, with lace fronts. It’s knit top-down and has some interesting details. Here’s a link to the Juicy Gloss pattern on Ravelry.

One thing I wanted to change was the length of the fronts. I want them longer but still swingy. So, instead of working increases only for the sleeves and back, I did them for the fronts as well. I took the sweater off the needles last weekend to check the fit and here’s what it looked like then:Juicy Gloss by Asja Janeczek knit in Koigu KPPPM by Deborah CookeIt’s back on the needles now and I’ve divided for the sleeves. There’s a lovely short-row inset on the back that I’m currently knitting. This designer has really paid attention to the details.

And the colours of the Koigu! These pictures don’t nearly do the colourway justice plus it looks a bit more mauve here than in real life. It’s gorgeous. The mix of colours reminds me of granite. Juicy Gloss by Asja Janeczek knit in Koigu KPPPM by Deborah CookePart of the reason I cast on this project is that I’ve gone to the Koigu tent sale the past two summers and bought yarn, but not knit very much of it. I decided I needed to knit a sweater before going again this summer.

What do you think?