FO: Playin' My Song Shawl

Every so often I find myself drawn into the allure of a Mystery Knit Along. Sometimes it's a favorite designer, sometimes it's an object I wanted to knit anyway, and sometimes it's neither of those things and I just learned about it at just the right moment and split second decide to join in. This was the case of feeling like knitting a shawl and then watching Sweet Georgia on YouTube back in July and learning there would be a shawl mystery knit along (mkal) in August. They had a discount on the pattern if you preordered it, and that was that. Decision made.

I decided to combine this mkal with trying out some new yarn (which means I did not go by the gauge in the pattern). I grabbed 3 skeins of this Lotus Yarns Swan Lake from Temu over the summer on a whim. Actually the creamy colored yarn was one of their "price drop just for you" offers and I got it for like $1.79, so how could I pass that up? Then I liked it so well I decided to get a few other colors. Swan Lake is a lace weight yarn that is 50% cashmere, 40% wool, and 10% angora which all equals SO SOFT. For real. The pattern calls for fingering weight in a size 6 needle, so I just went down to a size 5 needle and called it good. It's certainly a bit more airy than the others I see, but I like that for being in a warmer climate.

The shawl construction was pretty cool and one I've never done before. The cream colored triangular section was the first clue, which felt very normal and shawl-like compared to others I've made. Then you leave stitches live around the edges of the triangle but only work one side at a time for each of the next clues, and while the two sides are the same size and use the same textured stitches, the order of each type of stitch is moved around to look asymmetrical. If you look above you can see that the cream colored stripes are in different spots on each side. It's something I don't think you'd particularly notice when someone wears it unless you really look. 

I do really like the different textures and I dig the color combo I chose for this. I bought all of these yarns knowing they would combine well, but not knowing the design beforehand did have me stressing a bit. All good though :) While I do like the textures of the stitches, some of them were pretty similar and right next to each other, which was an interesting choice.

In the end, my shawl measures 80" x 15" is slightly longer but slightly shorter than the pattern says, as expected by using a smaller yarn and needle, but it's still surprisingly close. The miracles of blocking, folks. I could easily block it the exact size the pattern states, but I liked how this looked so it's fine as is. The elongated shape does mean this wears differently than any of the other shawls I've made, which were a triangular or half circle shaped. Typically, I wear my shawls bandana style where I drape the middle in front of my neck, wrap the ends around to the front, and tie them together under the front flap. This is not an option for this shawl - I tried. I can wrap it around from the front, but securing it is a totally different hassle. It definitely works better to just wear it as a traditional shawl (like in my top photo), but we will see how I figure out styling it when it gets cooler outside and I can wear it.

So that's my Playin' My Song shawl :) I was a little behind the clues - 3 weeks just isn't realistic for my to finish a project this size, but I did manage t finish in 5 weeks which it nothing to sneeze at.  I enjoyed knitting this and the yarn is really lovely. I definitely recommend grabbing some if you feel so inclined. Now I have a cashmere/bunny soft wrap to snuggle up in when the weather cools down.

Summary:

Yarn: Swan Lake by Lotus Yarns in colors 2 (cream), 11 (purple), and 16 (teal) on Temu = $10.79

Pattern: Playin' My Song MKAL by Tabetha Hedrick for Sweet Georgia Yarns - $6.50

Time: 5 weeks

Total Cost: $ 17.29

WIP Wednesday: MKAL Progress, Alterations, and Sewing Stays

I've been plugging right along in the Playin' My Song MKAL by Sweet Georgia yarns and I've really been enjoying it. I'm almost finished with Clue 2, and now I know what the finished shawl looks like, lol. The 3rd clue was released last week and it's just the mirror of the 2nd clue but on the other side of the center. I have honestly been enjoying working on this project. The knit along is all over now, but I still want to finish this in a timely manner so I can rework my Susan Shaw cardigan and move onto my next sweater I have waiting in the wings.

Monday night, I got the odd desire to make a few simple alterations to some second hand clothes I've picked up this past month. All of these were done within just a couple of hours that night and I will be revealing their changes on the blog soon. Very happy with this night of work.

And in other news, I've decided to finally take the plunge and start sewing my regency era stays. I've been wanting to make some for about a year but the sewing and sizing have always intimidated me. Now I'm using Halloween as a deadline and I hope to have stays and a dress to wear by then. I'm making the Laughing Moon Traditional Regency Long Stays and I will make a chemise from this pattern as well.

Last night I traced my new size off from the pattern and started making a mock up. I'm sewing it in this toile fabric I have a ton of - it's some kind of decorator cotton canvas type stuff. I just couldn't get over the opportunity to make a toile toile! Hahahaha sewing humor is the best.

Since this is a mock up, I have not been super careful with the stitching, but I'm still pretty impressed with what I've been able to produce. I've sewn all the front gussets and have this back piece completely top stitched and ready for cording and bones. I used my machine to stitch the eyelets since this is just a trial run and I'm seriously impressed by how easy they were to sew. I'll seriously have to incorporate some into a future clothing project lol. But even as technically "difficult" as this project is, I've been having a lot of fun with the actual sewing. I have a suspicion that I will need to extend the waist, but I'm basically doing a quick and dirty make up with this version to try the fit as well as the construction. I'm very excited for this one :)

Do you have any crazy new projects going? Please share!

WIP Wednesday: Knitting Progress, Mistakes, and Dying Adventures

 

Let's start with the good making news. This week I've been moving right along on the Playin' My Song MKAL with Sweet Georgia Yarns and it's looking really cute thus far, I have to say. This yarn is just SO SOFT and squishy. I just love it. It's turning out much better than I ever thought some yarn from Temu ever would. I just started the 2nd clue on Tuesday morning - just in time for the 3rd clue to be released, lol. Oh well. I'm a week behind, which is actually much better than I thought I'd be doing at this point. I will have more knitting time this week, so we will see how far I can get.

Then I swung by the library to pick some things up last weekend and the lovely librarian who dabbles in crochet held some of the decommissioned library books out for me that they were giving away. Isn't that awesome? I've actually checked out that Knitting Vintage book before, so that was a cool surprise. She showed me where the other free knitting books were, so you know I grabbed a few more. Also - someone donated their entire collection of Sew Beautiful Magazine to the magazine swap at the library, and I've been picking up every issue I see in there any time I go in. I just can't help it. This is a magazine from the 80s and 90s that focused on heirloom sewing techniques and Victorian style - think adorable kids smocked dresses and ruffles on everything. They have a pattern included with each issue, so I just have to grab them.

Now for the not so great news: I finally grabbed my Susan Shaw cardigan after letting is sit partially seamed together for 2 weeks and assessed the issues. I'm trying not to be too hard in myself about the mistakes since this is my first time grading up a vintage pattern, but I also was a dummy and didn't measure things compared to my body as I went along. Being a person who sews clothing, you'd figure I would not make such a rookie mistake, but here we are. 

The shoulder area is way too wide and that stems from the side boob area also being too wide. Two weeks ago when I seamed it and tried it on, I tried to tell myself I could just fold out the excess into my seams, but when it really came down to it I knew that wouldn't look good.

So on Sunday night, I faced the facts and decided to rip back the sweater fronts. It also really doesn't help that I have lost 4 inches in my bust since starting this project, but ANYWAY. I don't want to pull out the back, and that is 22 inches at the bust, so I just kept ripping back until I was closer to 10 inches on the front panel... well that meant going almost completely back to the waist, lol. Yeah, I basically should not have increased at all after the ribbing - apparently I am lego brick shaped. So instead of being mad about it, I just bit the bullet and pulled it all out. I'm going to knit one of the front pieces and seam it on to check the fit, then do the other front panel. At least this is enjoyable to knit :)

I also decided to dye some heavy weight natural linen chocolate brown on Saturday night, and the results were ... not as expected. Somehow it turned a purply gray? Still don't understand that one. So now I have to come up with something to sew with 2 yards of heavy weight purple-ish linen. Good times. You win some, you lose some.

Have you had any successes this week? I hope so, lol. I'm glad at least not everything I've been working on turned out badly. But we can fix it! I'll just get back to knitting, I guess.

WIP Wednesday: New MKAL, Seaming, and Refashioning!

Well, my kids are officially in school, which means I have just bumped up my knitting time in a huge way. Due to when their school starts compared to when I have to be at work combined with the distance I live from said school and work, I wind up with a couple of hours of time to kill each morning now. PLUS I have the car pickup line to knit as well. I've been frustrated about not having much knitting time this whole summer, but now it's been a huge consolation for having to wake up so early. 

I decided a month ago that I would join the Sweet Georgia Yarns' Playin' My Song mystery shawl knit along, so I pre-purchased the pattern and then waited for August 15th for the first clue to be released. I've gone a bit rogue with my yarn choices - they recommend sock yarn, but I've chose this set of lace weight Swan Lake by Lotus Yarns that I got from Temu a few months ago and I just really want to work with. These are a cashmere/wool/angora blend and they are just so soft and lovely. The lace weight makes for a light and airy shawl, but living in Florida I could use a little airiness for sure. So I'm about to cast on my shawl and have fun with the mystery :)

My car knitting has been to finish the second front panel of my Susan Shaw cardigan. I followed the original vintage directions and pressed the pieces with a damp cloth and it actually worked very well. I've only ever soaked and pinned out to dry for blocking before, but I was pretty impressed by the results with this method and it was so much faster.

Now I'm working on seaming the panels together so I can try it on and then I have to decide if I want to seam the sleeves like the pattern calls for or just knit the sleeve on the arm hole. I'm still undecided. I've never really made many seamed designs before (not intentional, I just have always been drawn to designs that are seamless), so I'm hoping this goes well.

And on the sewing front, I've been working on what I thought would be a quickie refashion, but has turned into a full reconstruction, lol. I got this Orvis brand linen skirt at a thrift store with the plan of making it knee length and adding patch pockets, but it's turned out to be much more work than that. All worth it, though, to have a good khaki skirt in such a lovely fabric, so I will persevere!

What are you working on this week? Are you feeling the approach of fall yet?