Yarn Along: November

This is a long post, so grab a cuppa and settle in!  

(I made Russian tea again last week and it has been delightful to have a cup each day)

I usually cover what I'm sewing and watching in these posts, but it got so long, I decided to split them up.  Stop by tomorrow for what the latest off my sewing machine and on my screen!

~knitting~

Lots of finished objects this month!

Garnet Boneyard shawl:

Nothing unusual, just a straightforward knit, my favorite kind. I used two balls of DK Swish and two balls of Worsted Swish in garnet heather, and couldn't tell a lick of difference when the weight changed.  It is a great shawl, and I've worn it quite a bit since I finished it.

Rusty Ribbons Boneyard shawl:

I made this one from a single ball of Chickadee (about 360 yards) that was hand-dyed, although the variation is extremely subtle.  I was hoping it would come out a little bit bigger after blocking (the Garnet Boneyard doubled in size with blocking) but it seems to have felted slightly instead.  Oh well.  It is still wearable at the current size, and matches my new flannel dress (more on the dress tomorrow).

Major John Andre Rivel cardigan (with bonus Hitchhiker scarf):

I finally finished it!  So named in honor of JJ Feild's portrayal of Major John Andre in the brilliant AMC series, TURN: Washington's Spies. I knit the majority of the sweater while watching (and rewatching) seasons 1-3 in May.  

Ah, Johnny, we miss ye so.

I am reasonably pleased with how this sweater turned out!  I think it will look better with a dress instead of separates, but I was happy enough to wear it yesterday in the cold damp rain.  

The sweater is made in pieces and then seamed, with the neck band picked up in one long row around the whole front and knit in rib for 4 inches.  That took a bit, since there were something like 350 stitches on my needles.  I used worsted Swish in Lost Lake Heather, and it is such a pretty olive green with hints of blue in the undertone.  Just right for my complexion.  Most olives tend a little too brown or yellow for my skin tone and wash me out.  This one is perfect.

There are three cables on the sweater, one down the back and one to either side of the fronts.  They were actually quite easy to execute, and I was pleased with how they looked in the end.  I found the pattern easy to read and follow and the shaping is interesting--there is bust shaping on the fronts, but not on the back, and waist shaping on the back, but not in the front.  All in all, a nicely fitted sweater.  

I could see using this pattern as a base for future sweaters and just modify the cable details.  Ravelry notes are here.

I also made the sleeves long, because seriously: what is the point of a worsted weight sweater with elbow length sleeves?  If I'm going to wear a heavy cardigan, I probably need my forearms covered.

The Hitchhiker is growing on me.  I reblocked it and it seems better now.

Triangle cowl:

I posted about this in October, but I don't think I had the buttons on it yet.  I went with the butterscotch buttons, and I like this cowl a lot!  I might make this pattern again.

After all that, I don't have a lot of projects left on needles, but currently in progress: 

boring dark grey legwarmers for Ponchik

Gift knitting (shh!)

Another shawl in hand-dyed Chickadee, this time in a light teal color.  I'm not going to do another Boneyard, but I need to find something that will work with the yardage and not frustrate me.

~reading~

I finished two books last month:

The Awakening of Miss Prim is delightful!  I highly recommend it.  I already wrote about Matt Haig's book, and while I did enjoy it, I had a couple minor quibbles about it.

I immediately picked up a book I've had in my stack for two years, Stasiland.  I bought it when I was doing a lot of research about the gulags, the Communist bloc, and the like, but didn't get to it before I ran out of steam.  I'm enjoying it a lot--it is very interesting, and the author writes in a narrative style that I like.  My interest in this topic never seems to wane, but sometimes I need breaks.  I think I also went back to it because I finished The Americans (finally!) and finished a Russian television series I've been poking through for a while called The Red Queen (more on that tomorrow).  It all seems to be of a piece for me in my mind.

The Jasper Fforde book has been languishing, and I picked up The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society after watching the film of the same on netflix.  My friend Claire has been bugging me to read this book for a couple of years, so I guess I'd better get to it!

Joining Ginny for Yarn Along!