Loose ends - Colour Affection finished.

Maybe it's the spring, maybe it's nesting, but my focus lately has been to finish projects, to tie up loose ends as it may be. 

Looking back over my sparse blog posts of the last few months, I realized that I never posted photos of the finished Colour Affection shawl. So here it is.

This is a project that I started with my Stitch'n Bitch group, a knit that we all loved to hate. You may recall me agonizing over my colour choices, and the famous "to YO or not to YO" issue. The endless knit rows. 

I am happy I stuck it out however, because I have gotten quite a bit of wear out of it since I finished it, and it has also turned out to be quite a versatile piece of my wardrobe. I have paired it with a lot more outfits then I thought. And it has also been admired quite a bit. I love it when knits turn out like that, and let's be honest, that is not always the case. 

I would say that out of all of my knits, about three quarters I wear often, whereas the rest I have never worn more then a handful of times.

Which begs the question....what do YOU do with those knits? Do you frog them and re-use the yarn for better, more appropriate projects? Or is it too painful to undo all those hours of work? I am curious to know... 

Color Affection - To YO or not to YO?

I am back today, to tell you more about my experience knitting the Color Affection Shawl. It is an incredibly popular project on Ravelry, having been knitted more then 10 000 times!
And because I am slowly starting to learn from my mistakes, I read up on quite a few project notes before starting my own.

It seems that there are 2 schools of thought when it comes to the correct way to knit Color Affection.There are those who choose to do a YO after the first stitch at the beginning of each row (dropping it on the way back so as to keep the correct number of stitches), and those who believe this step is unnecessary. The first avenue will result in a straighter top edge to the shawl, whereas not doing the YO, will give you a more crescent-shaped shawl.

What better way to test this theory then to start knitting 2 shawls using each technique. I was feeling adventurous you see? Below you can see the 2 samples I made. You can already notice that only after about 30 rows or so you can tell how one is curling more then the other. To me that was proof enough, I now had a decision to make. To YO or not to YO? It was not an easy decision, but ultimately, to me, the YO gives a cleaner edge, and I prefer that.

My shawl is finished and I will share photos of it in a couple of days, once the sun makes a long enough appearance to allow me to photograph.

In the meantime I have been working hard on my craft fair stash which is almost complete. The event is taking place on the 1st December in Montreal, at the Hampton Inn Dorval. If you are in the area, stop by, there will be tons of incredibly talented people there and you will surely be able to cross a few people of your list!

Color Affection Shawl - Choosing colors

I have to say that half the fun of selecting a new knitting project is deciding on yarn and colors. I don't know if it's because I have been flexing me creative muscle more through this blog (my photography and my projects), but I am starting to find more and more inspiration in my surroundings.My recent trip to California has filled me with ideas for new color combinations, projects, oh so many ideas. But more on that in the weeks to come.

Though it can sometimes be overwhelming to narrow things down, I always enjoy the process of choosing colors. Sure there is always that nagging doubt of whether the color is indeed right, but so far, I've been happy with my choices.

To help me in this process, I have created a Color Inspiration Pinterest Board where I gather pictures of color combinations that particularly speak to me. We all know what a tremendous source of inspiration (and obsession) Pinterest can be. I also particularly enjoy browsing Design Seeds. I have used their palettes as a starting point in decorating, knitting, tons of crafty projects, even wardrobe choices.

My current endeavor is the Color Affection Shawl by Veera Välimäki. This is an increasingly popular project on Ravelry and one I could not stay away from. Also, it is a three color project, that literally begs for some funky experiments.

Now here's what I think. If your goal is to have a more muted, subtle shawl, choose tones that are "related", in the same color family. If you are feeling adventurous however, and want to go bold, let your imagination soar!

I had lots of ideas but to be able to make them work I had to choose a yarn base that offered plenty of choices, and for that I went with Knitpicks Palette, after all they do offer it in 150 colors, surely something for everyone? I had several combinations I was considering, about 8 to be honest, and I looked at them for days, asked for feedback, and slowly eliminated them one by one. I even went as far as cutting up my Knitpicks magazine and playing around with the scraps of paper trying to decide. 

Curious yet? All right, well here it is, my yarn and inspiration together:

My colors (top down) are: Marble Heather, Opal Heather and Turmeric.

I find it is a very happy looking combination. Something that will put a smile on my face when I wear it, something to add some color to those dreary winter days.

If you are curious to see, here are some other combinations I was considering: