Ribbed Lace Boleros # 2 and #2b

So I made this Ribbed Lace Bolero for my daughter a while back. It came out great!


However, after she wore it just once, the whole thing stretched way out and completely lost its shape. I decided it was because I had used the wrong yarn (Knit Picks Shine Worsted), which was very nice to work and looked great, but did not keep its shape very well.

And because I liked the pattern so much, I decided to make another bolero (Ribbed Lace Bolero #2) with the right yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease, lime.


I love the feel of the yarn. It is very nice to work with! I finished another bolero in no time.
















One thing I changed from my first attempt, was to cut the number of stitches dramatically. I only cast on 74 stitches for this one.

I had bought two skeins of yarn, but only used one skein (or not even). So I quickly decided to make another one (Ribbed Lace Bolero #2b).


Since we are going to see my husband's family in July, and my daughter is going to get to hang out with her cousin there, and the two girls will be BFFs for a few weeks and like to dress alike and spend every waking moment together, I thought it would be great if the two girls had identical boleros to wear (I will post pictures after our trip!). Now I am just hoping that these will hold their shape better than my original attempt, which, I think, might just become another market tote :). We will see...

Hugs, shrugs, cabled shrugs, boleros, and superchunky

Other than the "endless knot" socks, I am working on a shrug for my daughter right now. She takes a sweater to school every day, because she says it's always cold inside. Jennifer Thurston calls her pattern "Hug," and Jenna (knits & pieces) altered that original pattern into a "cabled shrug" (see Jenna's picture). This shrug is basically two long sleeves that connect around the shoulder, thus keeping all the parts warm that usually get cold. It is knit starting from one wrist across the shoulders to the other wrist. I am using Lion Brand Wool-Ease solid, looking pretty much like Jenna's picture here (color is called "Fisherman"). The original pattern was knit with Cashmerino Superchunky, so I am doubling the Wool-Ease to make it "superchunky."

It's really fast and easy, except I think I made the first arm too long, so I am waiting for my daughter, so I can measure it on her. I might have to open parts up again. As easy as these shrugs are, getting them the right size always seems to challenge me.

I made this other, really cool shrug, called Ribbed Lace Bolero by Kelly Maher for my daughter. Instead of using Lion Brand Cotton-Ease like the "recipe" said, I used Knit Picks Shine Worsted, which somebody else on Ravelry had used. It came out great! Really awesome!! But after the first time it was worn, it "grew" to about double the width. The pattern completely lost its "spring," and I am totally bummed. I definitely want to make another one with the Lion Brand yarn to see if that makes the difference. By the way, I had the hardest time with the pattern at first (remember, I mentioned before that I have a hard time "reading" knitting patterns), but once I figured it out, it was totally, totally easy!