FO Friday 11

Project: Avery
Needle: US 9
Yarn: 1.3 (130 grams) of Malabrigo Worsted in Tuareg

Measurement pre blocking: 50 inches x 6 inches
Measurement post blocking: 62 inches x 6 inches

It is very pretty and soft. I love the blueness of it. And the pattern is lovely.

However, I am not completely happy with how this yarn grew post blocking. 12 inches is a lot. It is now too long for my frame. It is way too loose when I wrap it twice around my neck but too tight to do 3 times. Oh well, I will have to make this again in a different yarn.

Please check out Tami Ami's blog for more fabulous FO's.

Carrot and Ginger Soup

Hello hello everyone! Sorry for the long absent. I know blog posting have been really sparse lately - except for the knitting posts :). It's been a busy few weeks and I was not feeling like posting.

But I am back now. And hoping to post more regularly.

Back to today's topic. Soup!!!

We love soups. Even before becoming a vegetarian, I would make soup every week. Now with the new diet, the soup tradition continues. No meat of course. Everything is 100% plant based.

It makes it a bit more challenging definitely but fun! In the past, it was so easy to just use chicken broth or beef broth for that extra flavor and depth. Now I have to improvise.

Heidi Swanson's Carrot Soup Recipe.

I followed Heidi's instruction on the how to, but I used a lot more vegetables. And spices!

I was a bit surprised that Heidi's recipe has no spice. I added basil, parsley, oregano, and thyme. All dried because that's all I have on hand. And freshly ground pepper. Lots of them.

I also added ginger. I thought of the ginger addition a bit late, so it was added along with the carrots. Next time, I would saute the ginger alongside onions and garlic.

Recipe: Carrot Soup

FO Friday 10

Project: Ishbel
Needle: US 5
Yarn: 1 skein of Malabrigo Sock in Boticelli Red

This is my first completed Ishbel and I LOVE it!

It will be a gift for my friend for her birthday this month. I am a bit sad to let it go but it is going to a nice home where it will be loved so that makes me happy.

I used all but 2 grams of yarn.

I love the pattern. The stockinette portion is a bit boring but went by fast. The lace pattern is really fun. I added size 6 Miyuki glass beads in the topaz colorway. The bead color works well with the yarn color and I like how it sparkles.

I made the large stockinette and large lace (A, B, A, B, A, C, D, E). Adding beads on the same placement as lmknits did:

• For Chart A, B, C: for the right side of chart, place bead in row 1 on the 5th stitch between the YOs of each repeat section. For the left side of chart, place bead in row 1 on the 4th stitch in the repeat section. 
• For Chart D and E: place bead on the 1st stitch of each repeat section.

 

Please check out Tami Ami's blog for more fabulous FO's.

WIP Wednesday 12

My WIP's from last week are going well. I've finished one sleeve of the Levenwick cardigan, though I haven't bind it off (need to learn I-Cord bind off first). I have 12 inches of body completed on the Plain and Simple Pullover. It feels like it's slowly coming but then again it's only been a week and I have other distractions to attend to.

The 1st distraction is the Different Lines shawl by Veera Valimaki (again!). My friend Ginny told me about a March Madness KAL by Mr.Yarn and I could not resist join. The rule is to make something with Malabrigo Sock yarn. The project has to start and complete in March.

I am making it using 1 skein of Malabrigo Sock in Light of Love colorway and 1 stashed skein of Cascade sock yarn in Purple.

At first I thought I was crazy to want to make this in less than a month, what with all the other things I'm also trying to finish this month. But it's been only 3 days and I've finished the 10th stripe last night.

I have a lot of mal sock left so I'm hoping to go past the 14th stripe. We'll see.

The 2nd distraction to last week's WIP's is the Cladonia shawl, using Madelinetosh Merino Light in Bloomsbury and Grasshopper.

I have no ETA for this shawl though it's so pretty and soft I have a feeling I'll have it done in less than a month. I love the colorway. It is so pretty and perfect for spring.

Please visit Tami Ami's blog for more awesome WIP's.

FO Friday 9

I am very excited to share 2 FO's with you all today.

Project: Celery Cardigan
Needles: US 5, US 4, US 3
Yarn: 2.15 skeins of Malabrigo Sock in Tiziano Red

I've actually finished this cardigan a few weeks ago but it's been sitting on the couch waiting for me to weave and block. I really really don't like weaving in ends so I kept putting it off. In the end, it is not bad and I wished I had finished it sooner. Oh well. I am making up for lost time because I've worn this cardigan several times in the last week.

WIP Wednesday 11

I have 2 WIP to share with you today.

The first is the Levenwick cardigan by Gudrun Johnston. This cardigan calls for Brooklyn Tweed yarn, which has really nice colors. But after reading several knitters complaining about having too much plant matter in the yarn, I decided to use the 2nd best option, the Cascade 200 Heathers yarn.

I've used this Cascade yarn a couple of times and it is pretty good. It is also much cheaper than Brooklyn Tweed - a nice plus.

FO Friday 8

Project: Holden shawlette
Needle: US 5
Yarn: 1 skein of Malabrigo Sock in Solis

Another finished project with the lovely malabrigo.

This yarn is actually the first malabrigo yarn I purchased. For a moment there I wasn't sure what I will make with it. And then I saw a couple of Holden shawlette in this colorway. The rest is... well, as you can see from the pictures, it is awesome.

I used size 5 needle instead of 6. I wanted to make sure that I have enough yarn and also I don't want to have a shawl that's too big. Because I went down 1 needle size, I have some yarn left. About 10 grams.

I went to town with the beads on this one. I used almost the whole 22 grams tube of Miyuki seed beads in size 6:

• Added the beads in the k1 sts between the yo in the lace rows (row 5, row 13, etc).
  
• Added the beads in each picot - co 2 sts, put a bead on the last cast on sts, bind off 4 sts.
  

 

I've worn this a couple of times and really love it. The beads adds some playfulness and fanciness to it.

Please check out Tami Ami's blog for more fabulous FO's.