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This is my second shawl for the 10 Shawls in 2010 Challenge. When I choose Haruni, somehow I didn’t quite realize I was joining a wave of other knitters who were knitting it. It has been the #2 popular pattern on Ravelry lately.

Pattern: Haruni by Emily Ross
Yarn: Knitpicks Bare - Merino Wool Fingering Weight
Needles: US 5 Circulars
Notes: Another wonderful free pattern! Reading the instructions for the charts can be a little bit trickier than other patterns, but it’s really not a big deal. My only modification was to do another full repeat of the first chart so I had 14 stems instead of 12.

Not being proficient in crochet, I found a video on youtube that showed me how to hold the crochet needle and yarn - that helped a lot since even though I could crochet a chain, I had no idea how to hold the yarn/needle to do it efficiently.

By weight I used 626 yards of yarn. That’s 1 full skein and 40% of a second skein. Blocked to 54 inches wide and 29 inches deep.

Only one project again this week. I have to admit I am still liking this mode of operation since projects get done so quickly. And speaking of projects being done, Haruni is done and blocked, but I haven’t had the light to photograph it.

1. Flutter Scarf - as soon as Haruni was off the needles I cast on for Mimknits Flutter Scarf. At first I thought I’d get bored with the simple 4 row repeat even though I was telling myself this is no different than knitting a pair of socks with an easily memorized repeat, but my worries were unfounded as a few days later the first half is finished.

Sorry about the horrible color in the photos. I’ve had such good luck taking pictures with this light, in this location, but for some it doesn’t work for this yarn. If you recall, this is the same yarn that my Desdemona Shawl is knit out of and here I am using the leftovers for another Miriam Felton pattern. This is what the yarn (hand dyed by my friend Anne of Wooly Wonka Fibers) really looks like:

After a lull at the end of last year we’re getting back into our projects around the house. By “we” I mainly mean DH since he works on projects and I go to work for someone else during the day.

In the last two weeks we’ve done 2 concrete pours for the barn. We went from footings only as you see in the first photo (you’ll have to take my word for it - in the photo you can barely see the footings and rebar sticking out of them), to stem walls being poured and panels stripped, to pouring the floor in the barn and spreading gravel in the stalls, to nicely back filled, and finally the lumber arrived yesterday.

I’m excited! Although it’s wet outside this morning the weekend is supposed to be mostly dry. DH is preparing for truss delivery next week which means all the walls have to be up.

I only have ONE project on the needles. Can you believe it? I’ve enjoyed focusing on one thing, but it’s time to add a second project as Haruni is too big and the rows are too long for it to be a good lunch time project.

1. Haruni - I’ve now used up all of one skein of Knit Picks Bare. Nine border rows are complete. I don’t know how many stitches I have on the needles; I do know the rows are taking a long time to knit now.

It’s a good thing we have variety in knitting! While I’m really enjoying Haruni, I’m already thinking that my next shawl (most likely Ene’s Scarf, but it will be after Flutter Scarf) will be one that starts from the long edge so my rows will be getting shorter and shorter as I go. And then after that I’ll be ready for another one that starts in the center and works it way out…and so forth.

This is my first shawl for the 10 Shawls in 2010 Challenge. It was everything I was looking for: quick, easy, satisfying, and uses yarn from my stash. I love how it turned out.

Pattern: Traveling Woman by Liz Abinante
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino
Needles: US 6 Circulars
Notes: This is a wonderful free pattern. I highly recommend it. It uses a single skein of sock yarn (well, if it’s one of the skeins that you make a pair of socks from) and it’s super quick to knit. I think it took me just as long to soak and block this shawl as it did to knit it.

I followed the pattern until I finished Chart B, then I added 6 more rows. I love this style of edging AND I wanted to use up a bit more of the yarn.

Original skein: 117 grams
W/ Chart A finished: 61 grams remain
W/ Chart B finished: 33 grams remain
W/ my additional rows done: 17.5 grams remain
So that means I used 357 yards.

I see I’ve forgotten to measure it - I’ll come back and add the finished measurements here and to my Ravelry project page this evening.

ETA: Finished measurements are 58 inches wide by 16 inches deep. These were taken a week after it was unpinned so the pinned measurements were probably a bit larger.

Did you see the Help for Haiti patterns on Ravelry? Buy a participating pattern and the designer donates part of the proceeds to help in Haiti. I bought 5 patterns so far.

1. Traveling Woman - out of the sink and onto the blocking board. It’s probably dry now, but I always like to be extra safe. I’ll un-pin it tomorrow.

2. Haruni - next up is Haruni. I cast on with some Knit Picks Bare, 100% merino from stash. I’m a little bit concerned about the durability of this yarn and whether it will pill. But then, what better use for it than a shawl since shawls are gently used? Still I worry about it.

After Haruni? I’m pretty sure it will be Mimknits Flutter Scarf.

It’s done!!! I’m excited to show it to all of you. I was so focused on this, then I set it aside to work on Christmas gifts, and finally after Christmas I was able to get back to it. If there’s anything I’ve learned since I started knitting, it’s that I like to work on a project through completion.

Pattern: Birnam Wood Wrap by Anne Hanson of Knitspot.
Yarn: Alpaca and Silk Laceweight, hand dyed by Anne of Wooly Wonka Fibers in the colorway Rooky Wood.
Needles: US 3 and 4
Notes: This was the third shipment of the Shakespeare in Lace Club for 2009. According to my Ravelry notes I started knitting it on October 20th. It came off the needles on January 11th. I really hated to put it down when I decided to do Christmas knitting, but that’s the way it goes.

I love how it turned out - it’s so light, it hardly weighs anything. One thing I liked about knitting it is that each row is short, but one the flips side that means *lots* of rows to knit. Like all projects, I think change is good - after this I was ready for a small project with longer rows.

Finished size is 24 x 78 inches. I did (I think) 2 repeats less than the pattern calls for of Chart C. Blocking took every single pin I have! I ran my blocking wires up the open spot between the main pattern and the border, then pinned each point individually. I was using push pins and quilting safety pins by the time I was done.

The Birnam Wood reveal is still scheduled for “later this week.” After having a horrible headache for the entire day yesterday I decided to wait until tonight to block it.

But, I did finally decide which new project to cast on for. I had a heck of a time choosing. Relatively simple, small, and easy were the criteria.

1. Travelling Woman - the yarn is a handpainted sock yarn from Cherry Tree Hill. So far, so good!

The other projects I considered (and that will probably show up in the future) are: Ishbel, Aestlight, Haruni, Clothilde, and Citron. These are all in my queue on Ravelry if you’re a Rav user. Then again this one wasn’t in my queue - sometimes that’s the way it goes.

I knit up these Korknisse last month just for fun. They were a diversion from other projects and they use up tiny scraps. I’m sure at some point I’ll make more, but for now these four are enough. Now that they have their faces I can say they are officially finished:

Pattern: Korknisse, free pattern
Yarn: scraps of Regia sock yarn and Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock
Needles: 2.5 mm circular
Notes: I modified the pattern for sock weight yarn. I don’t think I’ve perfected it - I kept adding rows to the hats to make them taller and yet each one kept coming out too short! Anyway, I was casting on 22 stitches and adding rows to the original pattern. It’s such a small amount of knitting you don’t have much to lose if something doesn’t work out.

This is going to be one of those weeks where all my projects are finished. First there’s the socks further down in this post, then I’m super excited to say that Birnam Wood is OFF THE NEEDLES and will be going into the sink to soak tonight. I’m also going to put faces on the Korknisse so I can say they are officially finished too.

Pattern: “Gentleman’s” Plain Winter Sock by Nancy Bush, pattern in Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Regia Brasil Color
Needles: 2.5 mm circulars
Notes: The Plain Winter Sock pattern is my default pattern for this highly patterned Regia yarn. This is my 4th pair knit with this yarn/pattern combination. I did use the Dutch heel called for in the pattern on the first sock, but after that I’ve gone with the more common round heel every time. I didn’t particularly care for the fit of the Dutch heel.

Now I’ll spend my lunch mulling over what to start next…