one step at a time

...or otherwise known as a few rounds at a time.

It grew quickly at first.

And then it got bigger and slowed down.

I was so excited to get to the edging when it finally came!

By that time, it had grown really heavy.

So heavy, in fact, that the needle twisted off my cable! Luckily, I have lots of extras.

Then I ran out of yarn and needed some more from Cascade. And when it came, I was in the middle of something else. Yesterday, I finally wound it and got back to work.

And then - just like that - it was finished!

Whew. Blocking time; pattern writing time. I can't wait to use it!

too

It's time for another winner from my give-away!

Yarnologist! You are the second winner! Please email me at romi(at)designsbyromi(dot)com! Congratulations!

A little note here. As I post the winners each day, I will try to get in contact with each winner as best I can. If I cannot and I don't hear anything within two weeks of my posting a winner's name, I will draw another name. As the list of winners progresses, it will be completely first come, first serve. In other words, if you are the third winner, but contact me first, you get first choice. :)

Since I'm a computer volunteer for our home swim meets, I am always in the air conditioning. It can get a little chilly! So...this past weekend, I was working on my Carson Throw.

It's getting to the point where it's nice and warm on my lap! Perfect movie knitting in the evening. And perfect for loads of AC.

I love working on projects when I'm out in public because I always meet at least one other knitter or crafter! This time, I met the new coach of one of the participating teams. She was working on a pair of socks, though she didn't get much done at the meet. I had way more "waiting" time!

So - I know you are wondering.... My little experiment of that unstructured throw KAL based on changes posted on my blog? It did not work. For you or for me! So I am diligently working away, and when I'm finished, I'll put it all together in a pattern. Because I can tell I'm going to love this when it's finished (if I can wrest it from the rest of my family)!

it's getting to be afghan weather

The evenings are getting chilly. It's great weather for snuggling up to watch a movie and knit. And I am working along on my Carson throw! It's superior tv knitting for this time of year. Warm, wooly, and wonderfully chunky! Of course, it was pretty fun lying on the floor with it too. Hee. :)

With all the fire weirdness going on, I haven't worked on it as much as I would have liked, but it's moving along nicely!

I am loving the subtle change of colors.

The colors are so close, that when you look at it enlarged as below, you almost can't see where one begins and the other leaves off.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Eco Wool?

And now we're to the portion of the throw that uses the Carson shawl pattern. Woot!

Rules:
1. This throw is knit in the round rather than back and forth, so all the rounds are RS.
2. The WS (even) rows on the Carson shawl will be worked with "opposite" sts (see key below) when worked on the Carson throw.
3. The edging on either side of each row on the Carson shawl will be omitted from the throw. That is 3 sts on the leading edge of each RS row, and 4 sts on the end of each RS row. On WS rows, that is reversed: 4 sts at beginning and 3 sts at end will be omitted. The 3 sts on one side and 4 sts on the other make the shawl symmetrical when worked as a semi circle, and add a garter stitch border that helps the shawl edge remain flat. When the pattern is worked as a full circle, there is no need to add an edging.
4. Disregard the number of repeats shown for the sts in [ ]s. Instead, repeat the sts in [ ]s all the way around the circle to the end of the round.
5. Carry the yarn behind the slipped sts loosely so that it won't pull the throw in.

Key to translate WS (even row) Carson Shawl instructions into RS (even round) Carson Throw instructions:

knit in Carson shawl pattern=purl on Carson throw

purl in Carson shawl pattern=knit on Carson throw

wyib in Carson shawl pattern=wyif on Carson throw

wyif in Carson shawl pattern=wyib on Carson throw

kfb in Carson shawl pattern=pfb on Carson throw

Here is an example of how the above key works:

Shawl instructions:

Row 77: (CC) sl3 wyib, [k1, sl1 wyib] 79 times, k1, turn (there will be 3 sts remaining on right needle)

Row 78: (CC) [k1, sl1 wyif] 79 times, k1, sl 3 wyif

turn into throw instructions:

Round 77: (CC) sl3 wyib, [k1, sl1 wyib] to end of round 79 times, k1, turn (there will be 3 sts remaining on right needle) 

Round 78: (CC) [k1, sl1 wyif] 79 times, [p1, sl1 wyib] to end of round k1, sl 3 wyif

Once you begin working the pattern rounds and that pattern is established, it will become second nature to reverse those WS rows on the shawl pattern to work the throw!

On my Carson Throw, I will be putting in an extra 4 rows in each section (in the garter/slip stitch area) before increasing. This will make the throw a little bit larger. And even though the increase pattern will not strictly adhere to Pi increases, I think it will stretch into shape properly as long as I keep the floats behind the slipped sts nice and loose. If they are too loose at the end, I plan on fulling the throw a little in the dryer to tighten it up.

I think I'll go knit a little now. :)

ready? set?

Before we cast on, there are a few details to clear up! First off, the Carson Throw is basically the Carson shawl, but it is knit as a full circle rather than a half circle. We will be putting together two shawls, and you will need the shawl pattern as we progress through the throw. The Carson shawl is a half Pi shawl; the throw is a full Pi. Two, you can use as many or as few colors as you wish, but I suggest at least two for contrast, like the shawl. I had several colors of Ecowool in stash (three: one partial cream, two full taupe and one full brown), so I decided to augment those with a few more: one rusty red, one intermediate color between the cream and taupe, and one dark brown. I plan to use them all, from light to dark with red thrown in, and you will see my scheme as it unfolds! Three, I estimate that the throw will need at least 5 skeins to knit as a double shawl. I am planning on adding some garter stitch border if I have extra yarn after completing the shawl pattern. Four, I am looking at this as a great stash busting project! That means I have a color scheme, but it's an overall idea and it has some wiggle room so that I can use up the maximum amount of yarny goodness. If you want to follow my exact color scheme (totally not necessary), you will have a partial skein of the lightest color left over.

Onward! :)

Everything starts on double pointed needles. I used bamboo needles because the yarn stays on the needles better than on metal ones. Do you have your US 10s ready? Your Ecowool (or other yarn)? I do suggest a little swatch, btw, to make sure that you like the fabric you are getting. Or you can just swatch with the first few rows like I did! I am planning on possibly fulling the finished piece a little (aka a little bit of felting), but when I finish, I may change my mind and keep it the way it is.

This is the perfect size yarn and needles to learn how to cast on a circular start, if you have never done it before. I used Emily Ocker's Circular Cast On for this throw. For her method (made famous by Elizabeth Zimmerman), you will need a crochet hook, and I used a big old red plastic one - size E. Here is a great youtube tutorial of the cast on:

Carson Throw Directions

Start by casting on 9 sts with your master color (MC). In my case, I used the lightest colored yarn. Distribute sts evenly among 4 dpns.
The following shaping is based on Elizabeth Zimmerman's Pi Shawl in the Knitter's Almanac. All of the following rounds are worked in the master color.

Round 1: knit

Round 2: [YO, k1] to end: 18 sts

Round 3: [k1 tbl, k1] to end

Rounds 4 & 5: knit

Round 6: [M1, k1] to end: 36 sts

Rounds 7-12: knit

Round 13: repeat round 6: 72 sts

Rounds 14-25: knit

Somewhere in this area, you will be able to switch to a circular needle. Yay!!!

Round 26: repeat round 6: 144 sts

Rounds 27-50: knit

Round 51: repeat round 6: 288 sts

Rounds 52-76: knit

The above instructions will take you up to the point where your second color comes in! From this point on, you will need to refer to the Carson Shawl pattern. I used my lightest color until it ran out on row 60, and then I switched to the next darkest color in my series and that became my master color.

The center makes for great tv knitting!

Stay tuned for the next batch of instructions - late next week. And have a great Friday!

ready to rumble

Remember I was saying I needed to supplement my Ecowool stash? (Any excuse, right?) I piled my yarny goodies into the car and off I went to Jimmy Beans Wool, where they have an even larger Ecowool stash than I do. And they let me fondle it and pet it to my heart's content. I am Very. Very. Lucky.

I came away with three more skeins: two Ecowool and one Eco + for a little dash of excitement.

I really love the color combination now; it's filled in exactly where it needed to be.

And then there's a little bit of rusty red. YUM!

I now have six full skeins of Ecowool with a partial (Mr. Romi is tall with broad shoulders and he is very very interested in the fruits of this little labor of love). I also have a plan: light to dark, filling in with a little red here and there and some edging.

True to my promise, I did put up a project page for everyone on Ravelry, and I am about to go add mine! I am really excited about this. Are you ready to cast on? How about tomorrow?! Fall is in the air!

monday's musing

"The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned." - Maya Angelou

I am so excited that you all will be knitting along with me on my Carson Afghan! Stay tuned for more info tomorrow. I will have a project page up and more notes. For now....
I've packed up my Carson afghan in a Bongo Bucket (my favorite!) and it's ready to accompany me anywhere.

nesting

It's what I've been up to lately. I still can't quite believe we are actually here and unpacking all the boxes. It feels good. Really really good.

Between unpacking those boxes, I weighed the yarn from my ripping project the other day. I wanted to get an idea of how much yardage I have so I could figure out how many skeins there actually are. And I might be a little anal retentive about it, too. It's the neat side of my split personality coming through. So I labeled them all before stapling snips to each Post-it. I can be a little OCD about my yarn.

Not a bad start, but I need some interim colors as well. No matter though, as I know I want the lightest color in the middle and I am not going to get a color any lighter than the lightest one I have. Which means, of course, that I successfully rationalized casting on because I couldn't resist!

Can you guess yet?

Monika mentioned the other day that she wished there were a full circle version of Carson. And Teresa, test knitter extraordinaire, chose gorgeous earthy natural colors for her shawl. It came together in my mind as a circular Carson afghan! And I am hoping hoping hoping that I can entice some of you to knit along with me. What do you think? Who will join me? If anyone is game, I will even put up a Ravelry project page for us. I will post modifications to the shawl pattern on my blog as I go. Since I am using up stash, I will also sketch out my color scheme and notes. At the end, I will add the pattern to the eBook. I am loving it so far (I do sooooo enjoy Eco Wool and it's been so long since I've knit with it!) I needed this. :)