Sssilky Mmmerino Entrelac Wrap-Up

The yarn:




The stitch pattern:



The Plan:



The wrap:









Entrelac Wrap (using entrelac stitch pattern from Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Vol. 1, p. 175)
Malabrigo Silky Merino, color "Bosques," 50% Silk / 50% Baby Merino Wool (150 yards / 50 g per skein), 4 skeins
US 6 (4.0 mm) Knitpicks Options circular needles
US E/4 (3.5 mm) crochet hook

With the idea of making a scarf, I cast on 40 stitches and began the entrelac pattern (each square is 10 stitches wide by 20 rows tall). I soon realized that I should have cast on only 20 or 30 stitches, as it was coming out much wider than I'd initially thought it would, and the two skeins of yarn I started with weren't going to make a very long scarf. I thought about making a neckwarmer, but my short "scarf" was so wide I would have had to fold it in half lengthwise unless I wanted it to cover my eyes, and that seemed like kind of a waste. So what did I do?

"right" side
"wrong" side

I ordered more yarn : )

... and changed my plan to make a wrap-type piece instead. You can see in my "Plan" (above) that I shaped the wrap through strategically binding off (BO) the edges of some squares and leaving the edges of others on stitch holders (*) before changing the direction of my workflow and re-incorporating those held stitches. After finishing the knitting, I used single crochet to neaten up the original cast on and final bound off edges and to reinforce the center back "V," which you can see here:



I used up almost every bit of yarn (luckily my calculations were good). After washing and blocking, the fabric lost it's highly 3-dimensional quality, but, in exchange, it's now gorgeously soft and drapey.

For fun, here's a peak at what the entrelac pattern looks like backlit:





More Model Knitting for Schaefer

I started another knit for Schaefer Yarn Company. It's the Andrea Dogwood Blossom Wrap in the beautiful "Dian Fossey" colorway.

When I wound the yarn into a ball, I discovered this lovely pooling on the ball itself:



... from lighter greens at the top edge of the ball to darker tones at the bottom edge. Cool, huh! I'm about halfway through the first of 7 and a half repeats of the charted pattern - and enjoying it so far.





New Technique

I also started something else. Two of the things I want to learn to do this year are stranded knitting and continental knitting, so I'm getting some practice with with both knitting Eunny Jang's ubiquitious Endpaper Mitts.



I'm using Hand Jive Knits Nature's Palette Fingering Weight yarn in subtly variegated dark and light teal. I wasn't sure at first, but I think there's enough contrast between the two shades.



I'm having, ahem, "fun" trying to learn to knit with yarn in each hand.... I think I'm getting better at it, but only time will tell how crazily uneven the stitches look after washing and blocking : )

...and if you have been disappointed by the dearth of felines so far in this post, I will point out that there is, in fact, an out of focus kitty in one of the above photos - but here's another (in focus) kitty for your enjoyment:



P.S. Thanks for all your nice comments about the Thrummed Mittens!