Still Knitting & Crocheting - Recent Items

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 It's been a while since I posted. But I am still knitting & crocheting a lot. Here are some recent items. One item is some freehand embroidery on a scrap of denim. 








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Porcupine Stitch from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury of Knitting Stitches

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The Thistle Leaf pattern in the prior post was from the Second Treasury of Knitting Stitches by Barbara Walker. This scarf, in Porcupine Stitch, is knit in another pattern from the book, the Porcupine Stitch. The yarn is from the Saxon Merino farm, also the subject of a prior post. This pattern - 9 rows, is easy enough to memorize, though it has patterning on every row. Since it has an odd number of rows, it is reversible (the pattern reverses every 9 rows). I think the top and bottom edges will have similar appearance too, so that the last few rows can remain in pattern. I started with 4 rows of garter stitch, in purl, and will finish with the same before binding off. The six-stitch side borders are also knit in purl stitch. I'm using a row counter, because otherwise, it would be confusing to keep track of the rows. I have used one skein of the yarn so far,  and have knitted about 6 inches from the second one. Here's another view:
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Thistle leaf lace pattern

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This Thistle Leaf pattern is from the Barbara Walker Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns. It's very botanical and I think it's beautiful. I finished a cream-colored silk scarf using the pattern (Purl Soho Cattail Silk, 1 skein), pictured here, after doing a swatch (dark green) which I turned into a doily-type item with several rows of crochet added around the edge. Now I am working on a bigger rectangular shawl using the same lace pattern, out of Purl Soho's Sweetgrass (undyed organic cotton and alpaca) in a light beige-tinged gray. I love the pattern but at 28 rows (14 right-side pattern rows), I'm finding it to be too complicated to memorize. So I have to work with the pattern right in front of me. 
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Silk Yarn from Purl Soho, Ostrich Plume pattern

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I'm working on my last skein of yarn from Purl Soho, a yarn called Cattail Silk . I used this for the scarf/wrap I posted about previously , and am using the same lace pattern stitch, called Ostrich Plume. The color is a dark blue-green, with lighter-colored silk flecks. The skeins have a lot of yardage (600+ yards). Here is a pic from this morning: The lace pattern is worked over a multiple of 16 stitches plus 1 stitch, and I added 4 stitches on each side as a selvedge. This has three pattern repeats, with 57 stitches total. I'm using size 7 needles. I worked two rows of purl garter after casting on, to give a more stable bottom edge, but will probably work some rows of crochet around the whole garment after the knitting is finished too. The advantage of this pattern over the Old Shale pattern , which I use a lot, is that the top edge can be finished after the second set of repeats so that the bottom and top edges match. Another pic:
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