June Adventures in Knitting

The final pattern I test knit in June has been released, so I can now discuss my June adventures in knitting.

My first knit was a shawl, a test knit. The Cutting Ferns Shawl, by Fiddle Knits, is part of her Shades of Green collection (as was the first shawl I knit in May, which I called an Uncertain Shade of Red, since the yarn I used was a variegated red). The pattern for the Cutting Ferns Shawl calls for bulky yarn, but since my specially ordered yarn was purportedly shipped to another store, the designer allowed me to knit the shawl with worsted weight yarn. I used Stitch Nation Alpaca Love in the Lake colorway. (As always, click on any photo to enlarge.)

I started this shawl on 08 June and finished on 11 June. Seems amazingly fast, doesn't it? But the shawl has only 71 rows. My shawl has a wingspan of 58 inches and a depth of 20.5 inches---a bit small in my opinion. This shawl would be larger if knit with a bulky yarn.

The night I finished the Cutting Ferns Shawl, I looked around for something else to knit---something that I could knit in the car. Instead of starting something new, I decided to finish a pair of socks that had been languishing on the needles since 30 April. The socks were done except for the ribbing, so I was able to finish them that night.

The socks are Wendy Johnson's Serpentine Socks. I like the sock pattern very much, but unfortunately the yarn's color variations obscure the pattern. The socks were knit with Fiesta Baby Boom yarn in the Spring Chill colorway. These socks are going to be a Christmas present for one of my nieces.

Next I knit another shawl (another test knit). This is the Elvia Shawl by Usch Engelmann. This shawl was knit with five skeins of Jojoland Melody Superwash in the Cinnabar Flare colorway. This shawl's construction was ingenious. Despite the ruffle, the shawl was knit from the top down, with the ruffles on the front edges knit using short rows. I was intrigued by the way the color patterning of the yarn changed as I went along.

I started this shawl on 12 June and finished on 28 June. The shawl has a wingspan of 66 inches and a depth of 29 inches. I may give this shawl to my youngest sister for Christmas. She likes---and looks good in---peach and coral, and the shawl is light enough in weight that she won't get overly warm.

My final shawl for June was the Roma Shawl by Kirsten Kapur. I chose to knit the version with the willow edge border, and I'm very pleased with the result. This shawl can be knit with lace or fingering weight yarn. I chose lace-weight. I used Fiesta Gracies's Lace in the silhouette blue and snow colorways. I used a little less than half the skein of blue, and a bit less than one-fifth of the skein of snow.

I started this shawl on 16 June (yes, I really did start it before I finished the previous one) and finished on 03 July. It's a big shawl---the wingspan is 79 inches, and it's 39 inches deep.

The Roma Shawl was the twelfth shawl I started this year, and the eleventh one I finished.

In addition knitting these three shawls and finishing the socks, I also worked on a summer top, which isn't quite finished. I'll tell you about it when it's done.

What have you been knitting this summer?

Susannah