Long Time, No Post...

Howdy all!  It's been a really long time since my last post.  In that time, I've gone overboard on the mystery designs, discovered new designers, became disenchanted of others, done a few test knits and crochets, and tried my hand at designing.  Here's the shawl that I designed.

I still need to come up with a name for it and I'll be posting the pattern here once I finish editing.  I was inspired by a couple of the designers I discovered on Ravelry: Buccaneer by Justyna Lorkowska,  serenity now! by Jenny F and Thunderstorm MKAL by Alicia Plumber.  Buccaneer is the first triangle shawl that I knit from side to side instead of top down.  That's what inspired the lacy bits of my shawl, though I did use a different lace pattern.  The stripes were inspired by serenity now! alternating the stripes with eyelet rows that I picked up knitting Thunderstorm MKAL.  

Here are a few of the things I've knit over the last couple years:

Queen of Thorns MKAL 2016 by Kristen Ashbaugh-Helmreich

Lover's Fire by MMario

Pixie Shawl by Wendy McDonnell

Coin Collector also by Wendy McDonnell.  This is also one of the items that I test-knit.  The yarn for Lover's Fire, Pixie Shawl and this one were all dyed by Wendy as well.

Pyros by Mélina Hami.  I was in a sock making mood earlier this year and this was made with leftover sock yarn.  This one was also a bit of a fade, as I started with a black/gray stripe, then moved to a teal/gray, then a teal/blue, and finished with a blue/green.

Fascinating Mitts Binge MKAL by Shannon Sanchez.  This one was fun and quick!  She's my go-to designer for all things nerd related! This pattern also comes in a crochet version.  She also designed two Star Trek inspired shawls, one crocheted and one knitted.  

Follow Your Arrow 2 by Ysolda Teague.  This one was neat because for each clue in the mkal, you got to choose between two different designs.  This way everyone's came out differently.

Dragonfly MKAL 2016 by Rachel Roden.  This was fun!  I learned a lot of new things on this one.

This is just a smattering of all that I made.  Throw in at least 15 pairs of socks finished (thanks to Sivia Harding and her Stepping Into Fall sock pattern!  THE best sock pattern EVER! Very easy to customize.) and several more shawls and scarves and that's my last 3 years!  

Thanks to Andrea Mowry, I learned how to knit brioche and do an i-cord edging and bind-off.  Currently I'm working on her Find Your Fade shawl and Comfort Fade Cardi .  I knit her What the Fade?! MKAL earlier this year and fell in love with her designs.  It was this the project that I learned the i-cord and brioche techniques.

I also ventured into the wild world of Stephen West's designs.  I started an MKAL of his called Speckle and Pop.  Everyone kept telling me I was brave to start one of his designs without seeing it first since his designs are very adventurous! But I jumped in with both feet and gave it a start. I'm about half way done with it. Here's what I have so far:

I'm actually a little bit further along than what's in the picture having picked up over 300 stitches on the long edge to start knitting downward. This was very fun.  This one also has an i-cord edging and bind off and I learned how to hide my ends from the many color changes in the i-cord edging so I wouldn't have to weave them all in!  Even if I never finish this, at least I learned a new technique.

Well, I probably ought to get back to real life. I'll post more pics of finished project next time and soon will have the pattern for my shawl up for everyone to enjoy.

Enjoy your weekend!