The last day of Project Spectrum came too quickly! I do want to sincerely thank those of you that participated in this 8-month experiment of color and creativity. I am so grateful to you for sharing your work with me.

(Mosaic best viewed large)

Row 1 = February/March -Blues, Grays, Whites

1. Glee tee, 2. Cable Repeat Detail, 3. Cypress Swamp area, 4. Kristen Hat - Top, 5. Hokusai Ribbed Socks

Row 2 = April / May - Pinks, Greens, Yellows

6. Shades socks, 7. Swiss Chard, 8. Little Luxuries, 9. Window Box Daffodils, 10. Wren Cardigan Complete

Row 3 = June/July - Reds, Blacks, Metallics

11. Beads and Baubles, 12. Whitby Socks Completed, 13. Masquerade, 14. Bento Boxes, 15. Bobby Pin Necklace

Row 4 = August/Septemeber - Browns, Purples, Oranges

16. Windowsill Orchids, 17. Aran Accent Vest, 18. Verona Shawl Texture, 19. Lang JaWoll Socks, 20. Easy Street

This year’s round of Project Spectrum was a very different experiment for me, personally. My primary creative outlets were photography and knitting. I wanted to challenge myself more than I did, but I can look back and see the improvement of my photography skills.

There is a great discussion going on in the Project Spectrum Flickr Pool, as well as the Project Spectrum Ravelry Group about the next round of Project Spectrum, most likely starting in January 2008. Please weigh in with your opinions and your thoughts. I would love to hear!

Many thanks to you for being a part of this Project~

The Aran Accent Vest is coming along so well. It is probably the most difficult thing that I have attempted in my short but lively knitting career (four years next month…) and thus, the most rewarding.

I am 27/31 of my way through the first cable repeat. The side panels have a great textural basketweave stitch, and there are small twisted stitches mirroring the rope cables on the sides. These are my favorite details. Of course, I love the cabling and twisting of the center panel - that one just takes more concentration.

The Tess Designer Yarns Merino worsted weight is everything I wanted it to be - perfect for this project. So soft, and the lightest of variegation adds some great depth to the cables.

I am so happy about this one…

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Many many thanks for the comments on my last post! I stayed up way too late working on it, and it means so much to me that you liked it! I have been using the light box for many photographs lately, including this handcarved chess set we bought in Peru last month…

…I have celebrated the turning of the seasons with a mindful and observant walk through the woods…

More photos on Kris’s blog

…and by casting on for an autumnal colored sock…

I felt the need to re-motivate and reinvigorate my sock knitting. While I have a beautiful sock yarn stash to choose from, I was not feeling an especially large pull towards it, favoring sweater and cardigan knitting instead. There has been a great influx of patterns that have swayed my eyes, but with Socktoberfest right around the corner, I thought that a stockinette stripe may bring more inspiration. Several ideas are floating around in my head about my own goals for this October; yet in the mean time, I am enjoying the process of this lovely seasonal sock (knit with Lang JaWoll Colors) and the changing of the season…

Easy Street Pullover
Pattern: Patons Street Smart
Yarn: 4 skeins, Malabrigo Chunky in Indigo
Source: WEBS sale, stashbuster
Needles: Size US 9 and 10

When I was binding off on Sunday evening, I was less than thrilled with this knit. It seemed too short, despite adding almost three inches to the torso, and the reverse stockinette proved to be very hard to seam properly. (It never looked as clean and crisp as a stockinette edge…) Yet, when I put it on, and the luscious Malabrigo touched my skin, I forgot all of the little things and just enjoyed how nice it felt.

It is very simple - modified from the original pattern to be even simpler. The Patons Street Smart version includes rope cables at each of the stockinette portions of the ribbing. While I liked the look, I thought it may be a tad too “busy” with the variegations of the Malabrigo yarn. I am happy with my decision, although it means that it is not like the one in the book. I did keep one little element, however…

The Malabrigo caught my eye during a WEBS sale last year, and I bought it with no pattern in mind (this is not a frequent things for me!) but I was able to match it quickly with the pattern for a nice and comfy knit. This color, labeled as “indigo”, straddles blue and violet in the traditional Roy G. Biv spectrum, and seemed like an overall “purple” yarn for me. So, I chose to knit it during the purple months of Project Spectrum. Like many handpainted yarns, there are some large color repeats in the Malabrigo that can cause pooling - to combat this, I alternated between two balls of yarn on every alternate row, carrying the other yarn up the side. This probably contributed to the seaming problems later, but I managed to get a seam I was okay with, although it is not my best work.

It is a very soft sweater, and although I wish it was a little longer, it is still quite wearable. With the temperatures dropping and autumn on the way, this sweater will be kept closeby…

… and oh yeah, I got a big haircut

…in the dark of the café, she casts on for a new project…

A new project that is so utterly perfect for autumn.

A new project that will challenge with the twists and turns of traditional Aran cables. 

Pattern:  Aran Accent Vest, Patons Cables booklet

Yarn:  Tess Designer Yarns Worsted Merino