Blue Flowers Lace Scarf

I've been knitting this scarf over the past 6 weeks, and last night when it reached 6 feet in length, I decided that was enough (even though I still had yarn from the skein left!)

The yarn is Cascade Yarns Alpaca Lace Paints in their blue/green/purple colorway (9788). The purples didn't come through so well in the photo, but they're there. The pattern is a free download from Heirloom Knitting called Field of Flowers. I didn't knit the edging, just the center portion with the garter stitch border. I think it came out quite well, especially after blocking opened up the lace pattern. My lace blocking wires came in quite handy last night for blocking this to a 7" x 6' rectangle, but they left a bit of a scallop along the edge because I was a bit lazy I didn't thread them through the border often enough. I suppose I could just say I meant for that to happen. :)

Time to move on to a new knitting project! Especially as my only unfinished object is a lace weight mohair sweater that I've been working on off and on for the last year. Well more off than on most of the time. I've almost finished the front!

I just got my copy of Interweave Knits Winter 2011, and I'm amazed that I want to knit 4 full sweaters from this edition (usually it's a stretch to find two!). The first is the Leif Slipover by Adrienne Larsen.

I already have some yarn that I can use (Cacade Yarns Eco Wool), so I think I'll start here. It will be a nice change and should knit up quickly after the lace weight yarn for this scarf! There's a hood on the back, but I'm going to leave that off and just finish the collar instead. It looks like it will be pretty straightforward, but I'll have to check the fit carefully to make sure that the crossover detail ends up in just the right place under the bust.

After that is my absolute favorite pattern from this issue, the Briar Rose Tunic by Elisabeth Parker. It's also on the cover of the magazine.

I'll shorten the length so it hits my hips, as I'm not much of a tunic person myself, and I might slightly shorten the sleeves so they're more of a cap sleeve. The key is going to be making sure that there's some negative ease when this top is finished, so I'll have to be careful with my gauge.

This tunic is just plain gorgeous, and I've already ordered the yarn to make it -- a full bag of Kashmir Aran in Lady Bug Red from Little Knits.

The next up is the Fauna Pullover by Shirley Paden. It doesn't seem to have gotten a lot of love on Ravelry, but maybe that's because the suggested yarn is Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere, 9 skeins for the smallest size and $45 per skein!

I love the zigzag lace on this sweater and the oversized collar, although I'm not sure what I'll do with that tie detail on the front of the collar. I may leave it, or I may remove it. I'll have to look carefully at the schematic to decide.

While I'm sure that a $400 cashmere sweater would be lovely, I decided on a still scrumptious but more wallet-friendly yarn -- Tosh Merino Light in Lapis from Little Knits.

Little Knits assures me that "[the] photo does not do justice to the rich and silky royal blues and deep blue-purples". I'm excited for my yarn to arrive!

And up last is Bettie's Pullover by Maria Leigh. I might get around to knitting this, but chances are pretty good that I'll get distracted by something else in the meantime and this will sit in my queue forever.

There are just too many knitting projects and sewing projects and not enough time to fit them all in!