Spring Knitting

I've been enjoying some beautiful spring weather in the Northwest, playing with Charlie, and finishing up a couple of knitting projects!

The first is a tunic/dress I made for Charlie, Sebago Cove by Alicia Plummer.  I made a few changes:
- I used four colors of yarn to give a bit of color grading, from top down Mica (followed the pattern for the top section), Hosta Blue (5 inches), Kelp (5 inches), and Turquoise (see below) in Madelinetosh DK.
- Instead of switching to the smaller needle for the bottom section (it pulls the dress in), I stayed with the size 8 to keep more of an A-line.  I did switch to size 6 for the sleeves.
- Using the woven stitch for the whole turquoise section looked too heavy to me, so I continued on in stockinette for 4 inches and then did one inch of woven stitch before the two rows of ribbing.  In order to keep the eyelet pattern on the sides in the additional stockinette without continuing to increase, I did "fake" increases - ssk, yo, k2, sm, k2, yo, k2tog.

The second is Adrienne Krey's Portland Hoodie Cowl in the Rain colorway of Madelinetosh Chunky.  Madelinetosh Chunky is really more of an aran weight yarn, so I had to go up to a size 11 needle to get the gauge right.  This made a looser fabric than a true chunky yarn would have, but as I want this for spring weather and those summer days at the beach when a cold wind's whipping in off the Pacific, it's perfect.  It turned out very soft and snuggly!

Happy Creating!  Deborah