Painted Luck Designs

Two months ago, I was working on a bunny poncho design. I got the prototype all finished, but the pattern needs a lot of work, so it hasn’t gone out yet. Unfortunately, that pattern has had to be put on the back burner for now. Our lessee recently decided to move his cattle off our land, and so I’ve decided to move up my plans to open an Etsy shop, and I’ve been working furiously toward that end for the last month and a half.

At the beginning of April, I took on a new project for designer Linda Lehman over at Wearable Art Emporium, and completed that at the very beginning of May. Because of the work I needed to do to open up my Etsy, I told her that I wouldn’t be able to take on any new projects for her for a little while. This last project was a blue stole, and it is a very lovely design.

When I finished that, I made a brief detour in my goals to knit up a quick pair of fingerless mitts for my son, Duck. He’d been begging for a pair like mine, which I was wearing in the chilly mornings to knit with. He’s quite delighted with them!

Back on track again, I began knitting shawls. I started with I Heart Lace by Inese Andzane, in a purple and beige variegated yarn. Later, I picked up some of the same green cotton/silk yarn I’d made my last baby blanket with, and charted my own lace for a shawl I’m calling Mountain Meadow. Charting lace was a lot of fun, and I expect I’ll be doing more of it some time.

Also, I grabbed a silky sock yarn and started working on a Pincha Shawl, as designed by Pinpilan Wangsai. I decided to call my finished piece Amaru’s Feathers, after the Incan mythology around a great feathered serpent, Amaru. I made a second Pincha, with modifications to be a scarf rather than a shawl, in navy, blue, and purple, which reminded me of iridescent raven feathers.

I thought I’d take a break from shawls after all of those, so then I made two different kitchen sets. A pair of hotpads and a rectangular dishtowel, followed by a second pair of hotpads and a hanging dishtowel. And just for fun, I whipped up a couple of little hedgehog toys. Unfortunately, I only had one set of doll eyes, so only one hedgehog was finished, but she’s a real cutie. The pattern isn’t as complex as my poncho design, in terms of actually getting it written and tested, so you may be seeing it released soon.

Now, I’m working on a dodecahedron toy, made with sock yarn, following the Celestine Sox pattern from Berroco’s Design Team.

All of the shawls mentioned above, with the exception of Linda’s design, can now be in my Etsy store, Painted Luck Designs, along with the little hedgehog toy and the scarf. The two kitchen sets are not yet available, but will be soon.

It’s Mirasol Khusku, and she gave me two skeins, one in the Lago Titicaca colorway, and the other in the Machu Picchu colorway. They’re from Peru, and hand-dyed, made up of a blend of 40% wool, 40% bamboo viscose, and 20% nylon, and let me tell you, they have a really nice feel in the skein. Each skein is 100g (3.52 oz), and 400m (439yd), but I split the Machu Picchu skein in half, because if I don’t make my socks two-at-a-time, I never finish them. It’s labeled 1 (super fine), with a suggested knitting gauge of 27-32 sts/10cm (4”) on 2.25-3.25mm (US 1-3) needles.

As far as the care instructions, well, unless there’s something very particular I usually mostly ignore them, since I wash all of my clothes by hand and line dry them (or lay flat, for my larger knit items), but for those of you who are interested here are the suggested care directions: machine wash permanent press cold, do not bleach, dry flat, do not tumble dry, maximum temperature for ironing 110°C (230°F), and can be dry-cleaned with any solvent except tetrachlorethylene. So...I should be just fine with my normal method of laundry! Hooray!

Each skein came in a twisted hank, which I’m actually really glad of because it means I can ball it any way I prefer, and since I was going to have to ball it anyway (while splitting the skeins in half), it’s just as well. Plus, winding my own balls means that I can check out the yarn for any knots or deficiencies before I ever start knitting, and I’ll get a little bit of an idea for how the colorways will actually knit up. Both skeins are variegated, so I was really excited to check them out.

Speaking of variegated, here’s a breakdown of the colors in each skein. Machu Picchu is a soft buttery gold, a bold goldenrod, a dark reddish-brown that reminds me of red clay, a paler brown-pink, and forest green. I think it’s named really well, the colors definitely evoke an impression of gold artifacts, red clay, and green jungle. But it’s also reminiscent of the area around my own home, with its red clay, sand, and bold greens. Meanwhile, Lago Titicaca is full of—unsurprisingly—a lot of blues. There’s a bright, almost sapphire blue, a dark indigo, a seafoam green, and a yellow-green. All together it reminds me of a peacock, or a meadow lake.

Materials Yarn: 1 skein Yarn Bee Bamboospun (77% Manufactured Fibers - Rayon from Bamboo, 23% Manufactured Fibers - Nylon/Polyamide Aran weight), in black (note: this is the fiber I used, which has been discontinued. Yarn Bee has a different Bamboospun blend out now, with different color options)

Recommended needles: 1 US size 10 circular 20" 1 set of 4 US size 10 double pointed needles

Notions: 1 stitch marker 1 yarn needle for finishing

Gauge: 14 sts/24 rows = 4 inches in stockinette

Body: CO 51(55) 1: k2, m1, k8, s2kp, k8, m1, k9(13), m1, k8, s2kp, k8, m1, k2 2: k all 3-4: Repeat rows 1-2 5: k2, m1, k8, s2kp, k8, m1, k9(13), m1, k8, s2kp, k8, m1, k2 6: p all 7-12: repeat rows 5-6 13: k2, m1, k8, s2kp, k8, m1, k9(13), m1, k8, s2kp, k8, m1, k2 At the end of row 13, CO an additional 17 sts, place marker, and join to work in the round. 68(72) sts 14: k all 15: k2, m1, k8, s2kp, k8, m1, k9(13), m1, k8, s2kp, k8, m1, k19 Repeat rows 14-15 until work measures 5 inches from join. Remove marker, knit 2 additional sts and place marker. This is now the beginning of your round.

Crown decrease 1 and all odd numbered rows: k all 2: k8, s2kp, k8, ssk, k5(9), k2tog, k8, s2kp, k8, ssk, k17, k2tog (60(64) sts) 4: k7, s2kp, k7, ssk, k3(7), k2tog, k7, s2kp, k7, ssk, k15, k2tog (52(56) sts) 6: k6, s2kp, k6, ssk, k1(5), k2tog, k6, s2kp, k6, ssk, k13, k2tog (44(48) sts)

Small size only: 8: [k5, s2kp] 3 times, k5, ssk, k11, k2tog (36 sts) 10: k4, s2kp, k9, s2kp, k4, ssk, k3, s2kp, k3, k2tog (28 sts) 12: k3, s2kp, k7, s2kp, k3, ssk, k1, s2kp, k1, k2tog (20 sts) 14: k2, s2kp, k5, s2kp, k1, s2kp, k1 (14 sts)

Large size only: 8: k5, s2kp, k5, ssk, k3, k2tog, k5, s2kp, k5, ssk, k11, k2tog (40 sts) 10: k4, s2kp, k4, ssk, k1, k2tog, k4, s2kp, k4, ssk, k9, k2tog (32 sts) 12: [k3, s2kp] three times, k3, ssk, k7, k2tog (24 sts) 14: k2, s2kp, k5, s2kp, k2, ssk, k2, s2kp, k2, k2tog (16 sts)