Knitting – Page 59 – New England's Narrow Road

Knitting The Moon Sisters Shawl Pattern in Orange

I purchased the Moon Sisters shawl pattern in June 2019 (and finished June 2020! – see the end of this post for the update).

This triangle shawl is knit by holding two fingering weight yarns together except for the middle section where the yarns are separated to create a pattern. The cast-on for the shawl begins with a typical shawl cast-on, only much longer than any I’ve ever done. The center pattern is a chart only, which for me was not all that easy to figure out. Fortunately I was able to view what other knitters had done, and that helped. It is a small chart, and once you get the hang of it, it goes along fine.

So besides doing that long cast on and figuring out the chart for the center stitches, you will have to know how to knit / purl through the back loop, and how to “make one” left and right in order to knit this pattern. Most of the shawl will be knitting or purling with that break for the center design.

This pattern can be found on Ravelry – Moon Sisters, by Caitlin Hunter.

Moon Sisters Shawl beginning the project — Moon Sisters Shawl

The center pattern is a series of triangle shapes which, to me, look like arrows. Because the orange color I am using is variegated and not solid bright orange, occasionally my center stitches are come out lighter. Then, my center pattern does not stand out as much as it should. Still, I love these colors together. My plan is to use up some dark colors in my stash, but the orange will be used throughout.

“10 Questions” Emma’s Yarn, is the orange yarn I’m using.

The Moon Sisters shawl is finished with fringe, and I think that is the charm of it. I’m a bit of an old hippie from the 70’s, so fringe appeals to me – sometimes. In this case, I think it makes the shawl even better.

Orange and blue knitting shawl pattern "Moon Sisters Shawl" by Caitlin Hunter — Main color orange is “10 Questions” shown here with Denim blue

While I am knitting this shawl, I was also working on the Quince Wrap, the Fine Sand sweater, and a baby sweater called Playdate. Those are now finished, and so are my Pink Mitts and Winter Morning headband. So Moon Sisters has become my occaisonal go to knitting project. I’m in no hurry to finish it and it’s straight forward enough to do while I watch TV.

As of November, this is where I am with my progress on this shawl. I just added a dark purple (a Wild Iris colorway by Miss Babs) to knit with the orange because I wasn’t liking the green all that much.

I’m still on my first of three skeins of orange yarn so I should have plenty. I’ll keep some of all the colors I use to apply the fringe at the end.

Moon sisters shawl knitting — Getting on with my knitting and added dark purple.

Moon Sisters Has Fringe!

I have yet to wash and block my shawl, but today I got all the fringe attached – no small feat!

I saved a ball of my main color: Emma’s Yarn, in “10 Questions” orange to mix with other yarn for the fringe. I ended up using all the orange.

Cutting yarn for fringe — Scrap yarn for fringe

Fringe on orange Moon Sisters shawl — Adding all that fringe is a job!

Cutting yarn for fringe as Fontana watches — Fontana loves all that string!

I do recommend this shawl, if you like knitting shawls. This one is a biggie. I used all three skeins of orange yarn, and it was held with lots of other colors. I needed to buy a 60 inch circular needle to finish it up, but you could always cut it shorter.

The somewhat boring knitting and purling is interrupted with that little center pattern, which is nice.

It took me a year to finish this, but I kept putting it aside to work on other things. Tomorrow I will wash it, and it will be ready to wrap up in – just in time for 100+ temps… LOL.

Ahhh Ravelry, What Have You Done?

Today I saw the changes that Ravelry made to their site over the weekend. As I opened their front page I saw the rainbow flag next to their name. Then I read the paragraph:

“We are banning support of Donald Trump and his administration on Ravelry. We cannot provide a space that is inclusive of all and also allow support for open white supremacy. Support of the Trump administration is unambiguously support for white supremacy. “ (Taken from the Ravelry website.)

What?? I support my country, and whomever is in office, whether I “like” the person or not, but to do so means (in the eyes of Ravelry) that I am a bigot and hater of blacks and pretty much everyone who is not white?

AND, just below this paragraph is one addressing specifically the LGBTQIA+ community. I’ll be honest, I’ve lost track of what all those letters stand for, but Ravelry wants them all to know that they love and support them. Yes, they are lumped together as people to love…. Trump supporters are lumped together as no good and banned. See a problem with this way of thinking?

FYI Ravelry, this is a hateful thing to say.

At least I know where I stand.

I went on to view some postings at Twitter and other places about that notice at Ravelry, and not surprisingly the Trump-haters were pleased as punch. Some were even considering taking up knitting because they loved Ravelry so much for the statement! For me, its just another fun place to hang out online that has become intolerant of anyone who does not believe like they do. (And I bet I pretty much do believe like they do except for the mass hating of a specific group of people.)

Pointing the finger when you need to look in the mirror. What’s new? This type of thing has become so tiring.

I’ve only recently become a member of the largest knitting and crafting website out there, and honestly I am still finding my way around Ravelry. But I’ve liked (until now) what I’ve seen. I’ve been building my FO’s (finished objects) section, finding and saving favorite knitting patterns from around the web, and learning from KAL (knit-alongs), forums, and others who love knitting as much as I do. Sharing photos about my projects as they progress has been fun.

I’ve never seen hate speech on the sight, and everyone seems to be friendly and helpful. But apparently a seething hatred has been building towards a group of people, of which I am a part.

I’d Love to Close My Account, But

They apparently don’t want any of us who support the leaders of America. We are ALL racists if we support our President. Removing and banning all political statements / designs from the site would have been fair, but this is not about fair. This is the typical hate message of the left, and phew… finally they got it out there!

The pattern designers are one big reason I am hesitant about closing my Ravelry account. They design and sell on Ravelry, and without the site, it will be difficult for me to find new patterns and pattern support. A lot of people who would like to make an exit from the site may feel like there is no place better to go, because presently there isn’t, as far as I know. That could change soon.

I also have a lot of links on my blog posts that go to my Ravelry pages. I don’t want to lose those links, but I do plan to remove some. Links to Ravelry helps them, and I will not do that from now on.

My Support of Ravelry is Gone

I’ve been working online since 2007, and I know a thing or two about promoting myself and others, but I will no longer promote Ravelry in any way. I will not Tweet them, Pin them, FB them, share them on Instagram, or (after today) blog about them. Yup, they are quaking in their boots over that! I am one, but I know I am not alone.

This does not include the designers, unless I see hateful posts from them individually, or see that they support Ravelry’s decision to exclude a big part of the membership (don’t know for sure, but I bet it’s a lot) on their site by lumping us into a collection of bigots.

Beware yarn-dyers / sellers and pattern designers, do not go down this road. It would be a mistake. I believe Ravelry may be sorry.

Finished Knitting Photography of My Dewdrops Shawl

Just a quick post to show my finished photos of the Dewdrops shawl. I began knitting the peach -colored triangle section a few months ago. (See my cast on post here.) I loved the yarn (Emma’s Yarn) so much that I then had to wait for the Four Purls yarn truck to visit my area again in April to pick up a denim blue color for the border.

Dewdrops shawl in peach and dark blue colors.

From the time I cast on I had pictured a dark blue color for the border. I love the outcome and am very happy with the way this shawl turned out. I’m not a super experienced knitter, but I had no trouble with that lace border.

I have more trouble trying to get good photos once my projects are complete! Outdoors is the best choice for bright, true color photos. But I don’t want to get my newly cleaned and blocked shawl dirty! So I simply held it with one hand and pointed my iPhone with the other.

Dewdrops shawl is finished! — Outside photo shows the true colors

Get the Pattern

Want to knit Dewdrops yourself? Here is the link to the designer’s Dewdrops pattern page at Ravelry. Or visit Woolenberry.com to see more of Janina Kallio’s massive selection of shawls.

More of What I’m Knitting

So what am I knitting now? Well, I always have a few things going at once but I’m focused on the Sun Kissed shawl, which is also being knit using Emma’s Yarn. When I want to relax and knit something simple, I work on my Ruffled Scarf. I’m working on a pair of socks – which are coming out okay. I’m not a sock-knitter, but I’m trying to be. A post on that is in the works.

What are you knitting? I’d love to hear about it.

Emma’s Yarn Colors Gatsby and Farmer’s Market

Whenever I buy yarn it’s a guess as to how it will look once knit up. Unless I am working with a solid color it really is a crap shoot with speckled and variegated yarns.

Below is my photo of some beautiful yarn purchased from Four Purls. The central Florida yarn store has a yarn truck which makes stops around the state to sell to us poor folk who don’t have a local store.

The yarn in my photo is “Gatsby” and “Farmer’s Market”. Gatsby is mostly white with blackish speckles. I’ve been looking online for similar yarn. The variegated Farmer’s Market caught my eye because of all those luscious shades of blue and pink. It’s a guess as to how it will look once knit up. So I’d like to share that on this page.

Emma's Yarn in Gatsby and Farmer's Market colors. — Emma’s Yarn colors: Gatsby and Farmer’s Market

I am using these two yarns to knit a triangle shawl with skinny stripes, alternating the two colors. The pattern is free to download at Ravelry. It’s called “Sun Kissed” by Veronika Jobe. Her stripes are green and white with speckles. I like the frilly lace edging. I don’t see anywhere what colors she used, only the yarn types. Someone guessed that “Optic” was the Mad Tosh color, and I think that my Gatsby skein comes close. The alternating stripes color could really be anything, but since I had purchased Farmer’s Market at the same time, I wondered what a variegated yarn would look like alongside the speckled white.

Farmers Market yarn skein is variegated blue, peach, teal, yellow-green and white. — Pretty “Farmer’s Market” skein by Emma’s Yarn

After I wound my balls of yarn (I don’t have a winder), I couldn’t wait to get started on this pattern. I have cast on and knit a few rows of the shawl, which is pretty simple (don’t know about that lace edge, but that comes later). Because both the colors are light, the stripes are not as noticeable, but I expected that. I think it’s pretty. I wish the white had more pronounced “speckles” but maybe they will show up more along the lacy border.

The Super Silky Emma’s Yarn is a joy to knit with. I just finished knitting the Dewdrops shawl using it, and had to buy more. I don’t really wear shawls, but they are fun to knit.