Cocoons, sort of

this isn't a great picture, but i'm making progress with my little puffy cocoons. the only problem is the utter unstretchiness of the yarn, which leaves some baggy ends. but i think it'll work, and it's been fun to make.

The Olympics of Knitting

I love this book! My try at Drifting Pleats set me to swearing, so I started with Fringe and then Easy Wave. Now I'm doing Hourglass and then Flapper. Once I get into shape, I'm going for Tricorner and my ultimate goal, Drifting Pleats.

It took two heavy staplers to keep my book open, so I took it to Kinkos and after a few dollars it was a spiral bound version.

I really hope there's a sequel!

Another convert

I took The Book into my local knitting store yesterday (Stitch Therapy in Park Slope, Brooklyn) and the owner was so excited about it! She's ordering it for the store and can't wait to get started on her own scarves. She was really impressed with the quality of the patterns and the unusual techniques.

I, meanwhile, am working on Cocoons, but it's not easy. The linen yarn doesn't stretch at all, so it's tough to do the knitting around on 2 needles. I think I'm going to try making the cocoons on smaller needles and see if that makes it any easier.

Finished!

Here's my Tilted Blocks. What a fun and easy project - I feel very accomplished. The yarn is Lanas Stop Maxi Stop, acrylic and wool. I wanted something really chunky, but also want to make this scarf again with something more delicate.

I went to Purl yesterday and bought some linen for the Cocoons scarf. Since it's been stuck in my head that it's called Clouds, I'm making it in a lovely sky blue. If it goes well, pics will follow.

Chickens and roosters and hens, oh my

> Hi Little Red Hen. I think I’m seeing a poultry theme here! I’d never heard of Rooster Almerino Aran, so I googled and found it at Laughing Hens. Is it your yarn?

That's a pretty funny coincidence! No, not my yarn -- I spin a little but nothing so soft and nice as this yarn. Rooster is a UK brand.

And while I will be more than happy to post some piccys of my Drifting Pleats when I've progressed a little, we're having a pretty awful heatwave here and it's beginning to feel like someone's cancelled autumn! I am working on finishing a light lace shawl rather than this thicker scarf.

Habu Textiles/Substitution

I went to the Habu Textiles showroom today (some days living in New York is a good thing!). They have discontinued the cotton linen cord used for the Cocoons scarf. I could order it from Japan, but only in huge quantities.

I like the texture of that blend for that scarf - does anyone have another yarn like it that they'd recommend?

Tilted Blocks Finished

Two balls of Silk Garden, 5mm needles, February 15th to March 1st. It came out at 75" (I just knitted until I didn't have enough yarn left for another complete block). This was perfect television/travelling knitting - enough interest to keep me going and prevent me from making silly mistakes out of boredom, but simple and very portable.