Here is a quick look at what I finished in the last month and what I’m working on in July. And a little bit of cat shaming.
FINISHED
The Whydah Scarf test knit is finished and the pattern is released!
The Botanist Hat test knit is finished and the pattern is released!
And the Eugenie Cowl (pronounced You-Geen-ee) test knit just started. The Eugenie Cowl uses simple knits, yarn overs and decreases to evoke shark fins slicing through the water. Eugenie is offered in two sizes. (Named Eugenie after Dr. Eugenie Clark – popularly known as The Shark Lady and an ichthyologist known for her research of sharks, being a pioneer in the use scuba diving for research and a strong proponent of marine conservation.) I really love this one!
ON THE NEEDLES
July’s projects look very much like June’s projects. With a large number of submissions, several releases and two active test knits through most of the month of June, I have to say again that I didn’t get as much time to actually knit as you might expect.
This scarf designed in Malabrigo Arroyo scarf in the color Fucsia is down to the last edging rows and pattern writing before it is ready for test knitting. This pattern alternates between lace and simple knits/purls and I really love how it came together!
Whenever I have enough minutes back to back to think a little harder about a design, I’m working on this top down cabled shawl out of this Rowan Pure Wool Superwash DK in the color Dust. The cables really pop in this yarn and the deep brown is one of my favorite colors. A friend gifted me a whole 10 balls of this yarn. I’m hoping to use a good chunk of the 1370 yards in this shawl so it should be a big one! This shawl should be ready to head into test knitting in another few months.
This sweater design will be on my needles a lot of July too. It stalled a bit with the end of the school year and the beginning of summer, but I’m about through all the hip decreases and will be looking at bottom edging, the sleeves and neck before too long. I’m knitting the sample sweater in my size out of Valley Yarns Northfield in the color 03 Chestnut using US Size 4 needles.
My Sockhead Cowl out of Berroco Comfort Sock (50% nylon, 50% acrylic) is a real pleasure to work on in the warm summer months. So this project has become my take along knitting for car trips and days spent outside with friends. I’m changing this one a bit and using the measurements from the longer version of my Shenandoah Cowl to give me a thinner and longer version of the Sockhead Cowl. I enjoy wearing the long and thin cowls like this with tees and jeans to dress up an outfit.
I’m waiting on some beautiful gold yarn from Treasure Goddess in her new colorway Copper Cove in her worsted weight to cast on a project for the Knitting Vicariously GOLD-a-long. I really enjoyed using her DK Treasures for the Whydah Scarf so when I saw this new color of hers I squeed….loud enough the puppy came to check on me. I haven’t signed up in the thread yet because I want to be able to add a pic of the yarn when I do. But I’m ready! I’ve got the pattern picked and I’m thrilled with the yarn.
I’m almost ready to cast on a cowl design in two sizes with some yarn support I received from Miss Babs in their Kaweah DK yarn in the colors Dark Roast and Russet. I love this yarn already just from winding it so I’m excited to get started on this one! And I really appreciate the support and the faith in my vision!
And finally I have another new project that is ready to cast on! Sometimes I like to knit other designer’s patterns. I love to knit obviously. But when the only projects on my needles are my own designs, some of the fun of knitting is missing. I try to pick a pattern I love that will walk me through a technique or style I don’t generally use so that I can learn something while I work and end with a beautiful project. This time I’ve picked Joji Locatelli’s Starting Point shawl.
And I’m going to knit it out of a beautiful Rustic Fingering Gradient from Neighborhood Fiber Company in the Shades of Vermillion color.
Before washing. 
After washing individually. 
After washing all together.
Color work is not my thing at all. So my first question was whether I needed to separately wash the skeins and/or give them a citric acid bath to set the dyes. I asked a friend and she suggested I take a tiny snip of each of the colors and wash/rinse it like I would the finished shawl. From that I should be able to decide if I needed to do anything special to this yarn before winding and casting on. I did that and took the pictures above to share. I washed each color separately and none of the colors bled. I have zero plans to machine wash and dry this beautiful plans. So instead I did my normal luke warm water bath in the sink exactly as I plan to treat the finished shawl. I washed all five colors together and still no bleeding or running. That means that as far as I can tell, I’m ready to move forward. I’m really looking forward to this project!
Guilty cat. 
Hopefully unharmed yarn.
In the process of deciding how to check about the colors, I left the package of yarn on the dining room table overnight. The next morning I found a very, very punctured yarn bag on the floor next to a very happy cat. As far as I can tell, she did not hurt the actual yarn (or eat any of it to hurt herself) but she did mangle that bag. Bad cat.
