The Dusty Talon

Category: Cinder

  • 120 Stitches In

    I Did Manage to Sleep Before Casting On.

    Not for long though.

    And today, a week later, there are 120 stitches on my needles from the original cast on of 6. Cinder has claimed a respectable portion of the workbench and I’m beginning to understand exactly what I signed myself up for in Salem.

    This is my first larger knit project. I’ve watched it grow from something I could hold comfortably in the palm of my hand into this long sweep of fabric – and I’m nowhere near finished.

    The First Stretch was Deceptively Simple.

    Garter stitch, steady increases and rows that were still short enough to feel almost quick. Then came the bobbles.

    They were the first real interruption in all that garter stitch, and I love them. They’re subtle enough from a distance, but up close they give Cinder just enough texture to make you stop and look. And with the shifts of rust, copper, brown and gold running through the colorway, every section looks a little different from the one before it.

    The Rows Aren’t Quick Anymore.

    At 120 stitches, we’re still nowhere near the end, but spreading Cinder out across the workbench was the first time I’d really seen just how much she’d grown.

    Apparently this is what 120 stitches looks like.

    And I have a lot more knitting to do.

  • Cinder Comes Home

    Cinder Comes Home

    I didn’t realize I was creating content until I had 120 stitches on my needles!

    I wasn’t thinking about The Dusty Talon when I cast on Cinder. I just wanted to knit a shawl.

    But here we are.

    The three of us went to Salem last week as a family. While we were there I ventured into a little yarn shop called Circle of Stitches. I picked up a couple of things that delighted me to no end, and while I was checking out the woman at the register mentioned that they had a studio nearby.

    Of course I had to go see it.

    I made it there just before they closed. Barely. Inside, she had several of her shawls out on display and that was all it took. I’ve never tackled a larger knitting project like this before, but standing there looking at them I decided it was time.

    She had several patterns available in print so I started looking for something I could see myself wearing this fall. I took up From the Embers and decided almost immediately that this one was for me. Lucky for me they also had the yarn the pattern calls for and it’s my favorite color.

    The colorway is called Cinder. And it is gorgeous.

    So of course, both the printed pattern and the yarn came home with me. Along with a couple of their hand dyed braids and a sticker or two (three if you count the one my daughter gave me).

    It was 2:30 am when I walked through my front door and I would have cast on right then if my eyes would have stayed open long enough to do so!