73,944 Stitches

I knit the last stitch on Saturday afternoon. The Kimono Shawl is done.



Well, the knitting is, anyway. I haven't blocked it yet - I ordered blocking wires and they haven't arrived yet. Pre-blocking dimensions are 17 inches wide by 72 inches (6 feet, y'all) long.

I am so delighted with it that I've been wearing it almost everywhere. I can't wait to see it after blocking and will certainly post when I do.

Part of me was sad to finish because I enjoyed the knit so much. So I've already cast on another shawl (Ravelry link) and am swatching for yet another.

Getting So Close

I'm 95% done with the Kimono Shawl.



Every 6 rows is another percent done. Believe me, I've been counting. I'm still enjoying this knit, but it's taken a long time.



Here's hoping I'll have an FO to show off by next weekend!

First Project of 2008

This was one of the gifts planned for Christmas that just didn't happen. It ended up being a quick little project for January and will go to the recipient next week.



Pattern: Ann Norling Kid's Fruit Cap
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash
Needles: Clover bamboo US size 7

Mods: to make a hat for a 20 inch adult-sized head, I cast on 90 stitches. In addition, I spaced the seeds every 10 stitches instead of 8 to make them more proportional to the larger hat, and the leaves at the top were formed from 10 stitches instead of 8. This gave two more rows to decrease to the top stem and made leaves in a larger and more proportional size. (I thought the 8-stitch-wide leaves in the adult-size blueberry hat I made were too small.)

I've already washed it (love the superwash!) and let it dry flat. The yarn blooms a bit in the wash, giving it a nice softness, but my pictures from before turned out better.

If this hat looks familiar, that's probably because I made a baby-sized one last fall. In fact, I got both hats out of the same balls of yarn with plenty of green and a fair amount of red left over.