Let the Madness begin!

It's March!  And that means it's time for Malabrigo March Madness!!!  Yes, it's a crazy month for me and I"m already off to a bad start.  I started swatching at midnight last night and was unsuccessful at getting gauge.  I may have to change my thoughts on this.  Last year I finished ten Malabrigo projects and one non-Malabrigo project.  I'm not confident I can do that this year as I have two (maybe three) sweaters on the list, two pairs of socks, and two vests for the boys.  Acht!  Now that I've just typed that out, there is no way!!!!  One can hope, huh?  Well, that's the plan for now, we'll see how I fare at the end of the month.  Oh, I'm co-leading another KAL this year, General Accessory group.  Good luck to all you Malabrigo Marchers!!!  Happy knitting!

Malabrigo March: FO #10

It's done!  My final Malabrigo March project is done!  I finally went by my LYS and picked out some buttons.  It feels so good to have this in the FO bucket and out of the WIPs category!  I really do love this cardigan.  It's the Shalom Cardigan by Meghan McFarlane.  I made quite a few modifications to my version.  For starters, I knit mine in a worsted weight yarn versus the pattern's chunky.  All my notes are on my Ravelry project page.  This is knit in Malabrigo Twist, Terron colorway.  I mentioned in an earlier post that Twist is my new favorite base for Malabrigo and this cardigan only reinforces that sentiment.  I don't have a great picture as I had my four year old taking shots of me again.  :-) (Oh!  I had mentioned in an earlier post that this would be my 7th sweater of the year but I was mistaken...it's only my 6th.)

::sigh::

It snowed again last night and this morning.  Nothing major...just a dusting...but enough to make the start of our day very unwelcoming.  Hopefully that will be it for spring snow.  ::sigh::

I wanted to post a pic of the boys from Easter morning.  We went to Build a Bear for the first time over the weekend.  It was quite a treat for all of us.  Fun to see the boys choosing their pets and then the accessories.  Seamus went with a floral covered bunny and named her Blossom.  Ronan went with an owl and name him Moon Flash.  Quite original...I'm actually very proud of the name Ronan chose because it means he knows that owls are nocturnal and often times seen as a silhouette against the moon.  He is my deep one.  The kicker!  The outfits/costumes.  Seamus - for his Blossom...Obi-Wan-Kenobi.  Ronan - Darth Vader for his owl.  :-)  Very cute!

I can (almost) finally breath a sigh of relief.  ::sigh::  Malabrigo March is now over and I think I churned out more FOs in one month, ever!  I have yet to post my 10th but I'm hoping I can get that done this week.  And my 10th FO will also mark my seventh (!) sweater of the year.  I know!  I'm really excited about that.  I'm having a hard time storing all these sweaters (yet another reminder that I need to go through my closets and purge).  I have one more deadline and then I can dive in to my Apres Surf Hoodie that I'm working on with the Boulder Knitting Collective KAL.

Malabrigo March: FO #8 & #9

After I finished the shawl I was going through Malabrigo March withdrawals.  I needed a Mal March project on the needles.  With three more days left I had to knit something!

I had been planning to knit another Phoebe Hat and had yarn for it but I just wasn't sure about the colorway.  In my moment of need I caved...wound the yarn and started knitting.  This is The Phoebe Hat by Terri Kruse using Malabrigo Worsted in the Noviembre colorway.  Here's a picture as knitted.  This hat is shallow so I think I'm going to frog down to below the first garter section and add one more four row bee stitch pattern repeat to each section.

My next project came out of sheer desperation to have Mal March project on the needles.  I decided to browse my Ravelry favorites and found Sweaters for Purse Sized Tissue Packets by kmkat.  This is a really quick project and uses up all those sock yarn remnants.  I knitted mine from leftover Malabrigo Sock yarn that I had from my War of the Roses Shawl.  And...I think I may have enough to knit a second one!

My Shalom is done and I think it's big.  ::sigh::  I do still need to find buttons for it.  I think I'm just gonna sew on buttons and suck it up.

Malabrigo March: FO #7

Malabrigo March coming to an end.  I'm winding down on my projects for this event.
 

This is my next to last FO for Mal March (hopefully).   War of the Roses shawl by Debbie O'Neill was knit with Malabrigo Sock in the Archangel colorway (one of my favorite!).  This dye lot had very little variegation which I was a little disappointed with but worked out well for the shawl.  This shawl is so light and airy...perfect for spring and summer - if it ever gets here.  But I think my favorite thing about this shawl is the flower design!  It's truly amazing how designers can come up with these kind of things. 

I'm still plugging away at my Shalom.  The Terron colorway pooled really bad so I decided to rip out the sleeves and make the sweater short sleeved.  I would have liked to have knit a pair of socks for Mal March but I guess that will have to wait.

Malabrigo March: FO #5

One more Malabrigo March project finished!  I love these little mitts.  These are Susie's Reading Mitts by Janelle Masters, knit using Malabrigo Silky Merino in the Atardecer colorway.  The great thing about these mitts is that it takes just over 100 yards for the small size.  These are also nice because though these are colors I would not typically wear...they suit me just fine for an accessory item.

Seamus was kind enough to model the mitts for me, even without coercion.  :-)

Believe it or not, I have another Shalom Cardigan on the needles!  This one will be for me.  I'm modifying this one for worsted weight yarn.  I'll post FOs when it's all done.  And...I have some exciting news but I'll have to write about that later.  Maybe when those are done, too.  ;-)

Malabrigo March: FO #3 & #4

The needles are still on fire for Malabrigo March and I still can't get enough of it.  These are the latest finished knits.

Shalom Cardigan by Meghan McFarLane: This will be a sample at my LYS, Mew Mew's Yarn Shop.  I was in the store one day and the owner, Sue, mentioned the Malabrigo Chunky was not selling well.  I told her she needs to have a sample knit out of one of the variegated yarns.  The variegated colorways are so intimidating when they are in their skeins but less so when they are viewed caked or knitted up. So, she asked if I would knit something and we decided on a quick, free pattern.  This is Malabrigo Worsted in Col China colorway.

And these fun things are slippers, Bigfoot / Ogre Slippers by Cheryl Andrews knit in Malabrigo Worsted, Marron oscurro colorway.  Take note...your toes do not go inside of the knitted toes.  :-)  And the best thing about them...they're for me!














That's it for now.  I do have my fifth Malabrigo March project on the needles and I picked up some yarn, just today at Mew Mew's, for another Phoebe Hat.