Malabrigo Rios

Modern Mukluks

Shepherd's HarvestLeave a comment

I recently discovered Andrea Mowry of Drea Renee Knits and have become mildly obsessed with her patterns. I haven’t done anything in brioche yet but when I do, it’ll definitely be one of her designs. Since I’m committed to knitting for myself (and loving it!), I decided to try these slippers out. 

The main draw for me is that it’s knit on US8 needles and worsted weight yarn – and so interesting to look at. I would want to buy these if I saw them in the store. So, I got a skein of Malabrigo Rios in the natural colorway (CC) and other in azul profundo (MC). Honestly it has been quite a while since I’ve done colorwork so I was a bit intimidated. And, the afterthought heel is new territory for me so I’ll be sure to add an update if of how it goes. She’s added a really helpful video on her blog. 


After casting on I did what I usually do with socks on DPN’s and divided the stitches evenly between the four needles. Well…this happened in between the needles in the middle of the colorwork 😳. Notice the stretched stitch below  ⬇️

So, I decided to put all the stitches of the charted colorwork on needles one and three and the solid side stripes on needles two and four. This is working out well and I don’t mind as much if there’s a little gap on the sides, better than the main front and back. 


The second chart repeat went much faster and I’m feeling much more confident in this project 😅. 


Also, side note on my color technique that has been very clean and easy – I put the MC blue yarn to my left and hold it continental style as I usually knit with the yarn in my left hand. Then I keep the CC white on my right side and throw it English style. The two balls of yarn never tangle and things move along really smoothly. 💛

Traveling Cable Hat

Shepherd's HarvestLeave a comment

I recently completed the Traveling Cable Hat by Purl Soho. This is a free pattern from their website and the first PS patten I’ve done. I felt like the instructions were really clear and I was very excited to use this Frank Ochre colorway from Malabrigo Rios Yarn. 

This is the start of the 4″ 2×2 rib section

I used size US6 circular needles for the rib and US7 Addi circular needles for the main cable pattern. 
This is the first 12 round repeat of the pattern
I felt like this was a really great cable project because it has two different cables, a wide Celtic looking one and a narrow twist one which look really complicated, but they’re not 😅. Very tedious, and not something I could do around a lot of distractions at first. 
Ready for the decrease portion

Another slight modification I did was only repeated the pattern 3 times total instead of 4 as it was written. I wanted a more snug beanie than a slouchy one. Size turned out perfectly and I haven’t blocked it yet but have worn it a couple times. For me it was fun to briefly focus on cabling but I’m good for a while now! I would do this again for a gift for someone else as it does look pretty intricate and impressive 🤗.