Wool and Water

More Abalone

2009-08-05T10:05:00.002-04:00

Making progress, nothing much else to say - it seems on target, tension and everything. The pictures are a terrible color - way too bright!

Abalone

2009-07-23T10:35:00.003-04:00

I'm on my way, finished one repeat of the chart. It's a bit bumpy, but seems to be going ok. Why does my knitting always look so much better in photos than when it's not? Perhaps it's because I can not over focus on every little flaw ...

Pillow

2009-07-12T09:45:00.004-04:00

I find I am not very good at stuffing pillows ....

Need to find a good type of fastener for the top of the pillow, so I can stuff it with more stuffing stuff. Maybe some kind of large snaps? Right now it's just pinned, so it's rather messy. I need to squeeze some filling down more into the corners ...

I don't really like the pattern - it's nice to look at, but there are too many vertical lines, which seems to make it want to corrugate itself. I know the floats aren't too tight, so that can be the reason?

The Telemark from Knitpicks is ok, but it wouldn't be my first choice for fairisle. It seems fat to me. I also need to find a good way to keep the edges from curling. Ribbing will work, but I dunno if I want to do that on the Abalone - I think a bit of garter stitch would be more appropriate ...

Cast On, Cast off

2009-06-26T11:53:00.004-04:00

It must be something in the weather? Knitted up some dish towels - because I needed dish towels and I wanted to get rid of all that leftover cotton ... The lilac one was much quicker to knit, as it was done on size 10 needles and didn't hurt as much as the green one. But I like the green fabric better ...

Cast on the pillow - but didn't get any further because Michael was busy watching a movie and the pattern was on the computer ... It is a pattern from knitpicks, practice before I cast on the Abalone.

So, of course I cast on a sock so I wouldn't get bored - it's the yarn from Knitpicks - Felici Cochineal. It feels weird, much thinner than Regia, and knits much faster and looser - doing a 3x1 rib, with 68 cast on ( did 68 because I wasn't sure of the gauge, and figured it was a compromise and would fit someone ...

Abalone, Swatched

2009-06-18T13:17:00.005-04:00

Ok, all swatched, but I am still hesitant to proceed - the gauge is right on - row gauge may be a bit short, but that's ok ...

The colors in these pictures are too bright - crappy camera - they are much more rich and subtle, but it gives at least an impression of how it really looks. I think I'll do a pillow before I cast on - I need to get more fluid before I start. The tension seems to be all right, but I am very slow. You can see that the first rows are way too loose, and then in the middle I thought it was getting a bit tight, but overall it seems fine - at least to me ...

Abalone or Ahhh, Baloney!

2009-06-16T09:00:00.004-04:00

My arms are killing me from winding all this wool! Starting the swatch for Abalone by Alice Starmore - I must be crazy to do this as my first fair isle type sweater...

But I love it! All these wonderful colors, with fantastic names like Bogbean, Calluna, Lapwing, Pebble Beach, and Wild orchid ... it even smells good! The swatch is coming along - my tension started out a bit loose - but has settled in to be right on. I need to decide a few things before starting -

Do a different cast on to prevent curling? Or do a couple rows of 1x1 ribbing? Do a cheap fair isle project to practice on? Or jump right in and do it?

Kittiwake 58 grams
Pebble Beach, 80 grams
Wild Orchid, 118 grams
Erica, 38 grams
Selkie, 124 grams
Lapwing, 100 grams
Bog Bean, 116 grams
Summertide, 102 grams
Driftwood, 122, grams
Clover, 116 grams
Calluna, 128 grams

37 squares for bedspread

FO - Back to Bedspread

2009-06-10T23:10:00.003-04:00

Done with acrylic! It was hurting my fingers ...

I like the pattern, it was easy to knit, after all it is just a T shape. I should've done a 3 needle bind off, but I was being too lazy to stick in another circular needle - and I didn't have the right size dpns so I did the sleeves flat - two extra seams :(

I should've also decreased for the armholes - maybe about an inch. The neckline was too wide, I crocheted it into submission, though!

All in all, it turned out ok, I'll do the pattern again, maybe without the pattern, and with a few modifications, and in fingering wool, so it drapes better.

I'm back to the bedspread, while waiting for my Starmore kit - I've done a few more squares - it's going to be years ...

April Showers bring May Socks

2009-05-15T09:31:00.004-04:00

Ok, it's a dumb title - but they are finished. They haven't been blocked yet, but since they are late, I just took the picture. My plan of knitting a pair/month is getting behind ...

The next pair will be for me, something apricot - no more dark socks for a while, it's too hard to see the stitches - not that I really need to see sock stitches, but it's more annoying than when I can see them!

Now I can get back to the Tee and the bedspread - at least until I can get more sock yarn ...

The jasmine lives! I was about to give up and toss it yesterday, I had it half out of the pot when I noticed a tiny peek of green down at the base.

33 squares on the bedspread

Encouragement

2009-05-10T19:30:00.003-04:00

Thought I'd take a picture of the neverending bedspread to encourage myself a bit - it is getting larger ...

except that I've only done 33/500 - which is about 6.6% of the total, not even counting some edging. Well, it is meant to be a long term project - but doing one square/day is a bit unrealistic ...

Another Bag finished

2009-05-10T19:18:00.005-04:00

Another one done! This one was easier as I used an H/5mm hook. I don't like the color as well as Madeline's, but I had to do something with all that green ...

The handles are sewn on in this version - it looks much neater and really wasn't as bad as I anticipated - the sc around the edges really makes it sturdy.

I think when I do another one I'll do it in Tunisian, I can do four strips kinda broken up into squares and then embroider them - this will save me from all those ends I have to weave in. But I'm not doing any more bags soon, it's quite boring!

Acrylic Alert!!!

2009-05-06T10:18:00.005-04:00

Yes, I am knitting with this awful stuff - it's a Sport weight acrylic from Wal*Mart ...

I found a pattern for a plain, simple tee! So I am using this crap to get an idea of how it goes - using a 3.75mm 24 inch circular Addi, 6 stitches/inch. I plan to use it a template for future variations - novel idea - knitting stuff I actually need and use on a daily basis! (I do wear my socks, but this is different).

It's easy enough - except this crap is killing my wrist ...

Getting There

2009-05-06T09:13:00.006-04:00

I am feeling better about these infuriating little motifs. These are my latest attempts - they are done in size 20 thread with a 1.25 mm hook, the pc is size 10.

The Shamrock - now I know that the leaves need a wide base to look good and lie flat! I think skipping 2 dc around the central picots rather than one helps. I also stopped trying to do the 3 dc & picot every 4th dc - I was losing count and it was too annoying, so I just did a picot after every 3rd dc.

I first attempted the daisy in some long lingering thread I found in a drawer - it may be size 50? I realized it wasn't going to lie flat no matter what I did - so I made a few more petals - I think I ended up with 15! As I went along I discovered that I needed to pull the pc as tight as it would go and the petals looked much better and I could complete the circle. I attached the petals through the ring rather than in the individual stitches on the ring, in the vain hope that I could fiddle them into a circle ...

The second attempt was much better - not perfect - but at least I have the right idea. I was having terrible trouble trying to make the rings for the centers - the wraps were disintegrating when I took them off whatever I wound them on. Last night I had an epiphany - there was a reason the directions called for matches! I wrapped the thread around 3 Brittany Birch dpns I had lying around - and I was able to slide my hook down through the thread and secure it with a ss before slidingthe dpns off. It made the threads hold together and the whole process much easier!

The trefoil was much easier - although I noticed I have only 7 scallops around each section. I think after I get some more practice, I'll redo all of them in a smaller thread - I do like teeny tiny thread ...

Irish Crochet

2009-04-22T19:35:00.006-04:00

I've always wanted to do Irish crochet ... but I've never known anyone who knows how to do it - but now there's Ravelry! I've gotten myself involved in an Irish Crochet CAL, so perhaps I'll figure out all those little things I couldn't figure out from Irish Crochet Techniques and Projects.

The first motif is a shamrock, and while the pattern is fairly simply, the technique is a bit confusing. I think I'm crocheting too tightly, and I don't think I'm handling the padding cord the right way - it tends to hang behind the work. I'll try another one after I get some smaller thread tomorrow.

30 bedspread squares

Note to Self: "The highly skilled knitters turn out lovely work, but sometimes, with a true Irish touch of 'nothing really matters', their knitting shows mistakes, always found in the simple patterns, and a careless nonchalance in the crossing of their cables!" Gladys Thompson, Patterns for Guernseys, Jerseys & Arans. Maybe it's genetic? (reposted because I need to remember!)

Inga's Bag

2009-04-09T10:53:00.004-04:00

This would've been lots of fun to crochet if I had used a larger hook! Too many ends to darn in, but I can see lots of variations to this pattern. I thought it was going to be too large ( I only did 5 rounds per square), but it isn't, prolly because I used such a small hook.

It's the sort of pattern that you wished you had thought of, and of course never did ...

25 squares on bedspread

More Crochet?

2009-04-02T08:59:00.002-04:00

Another crochet project? It's going to be a bag! Who knows why I am crocheting a bag - it's all Ravelry's fault - too many new ideas have overloaded my brain.

I remember why I hate cotton - it's stiff! and worsted weight is like working with elephants ... I'm using Peaches and Cream and a 3.75mm hook. The pattern is Inga's Bag - a free download from Ravelry. The only saving grace is that I've completed 4 squares of 16 in one day - so it won't take very long to finish. I'm making the smaller version with 5 rounds per square, but it's still going to be much larger than I expected. I was planning to use it as an Easter Basket for my granddaughter - we'll have to see how large it is when it's all crocheted together - as long as it isn't bigger than she is ...

At least it's going quickly!

23 squares done on the bedspread

Socking On

2009-03-31T09:57:00.004-04:00

March socks are done! April socks are cast on!

I like the way the Storm socks look, when you where them and the ribbing stretches, it looks kind of plaid - which is nice ... Since these sock obviously wanted to be fraternal, I made them with two different heel stitches - one with the standard heel and the other in Eye of the Partridge.

The new April socks are going to be done like this:
Regia in Hunter Heather
72 stitches cast on
2x2 ribbing for cuff, k5, p1,k1,p1 for leg, and I'll do Eye of the Partridge for the heel flap.

22 squares done on bedspread!

March Storm Socks

2009-03-14T13:48:00.003-04:00

I love this color!(Kaffe Fassett Design Line, Landscape Storm) I also love Regia - no need to try all those other sock yarns! I'm doing these in my women's size, but I think I'll make the foot a bit longer - about 7.5 rather than 7 inches - to keep the heel in place better, still using the Addi dpns - 2.5mm, with a 2x2 ribbing and 6x2 leg and foot - the same as the grey ones I did last month ...

Bedspread

2009-03-14T13:37:00.002-04:00

I've been planning to do a bedspread for like 50 years - ever since I learned to crochet - it's about time I do one!

This time I plan to finish it - one square a day for about a year or so should finish it - it will take about 400 squares. I've decided on the Wild Irish Rose from Favorite Irish Crochet Designs by Rita Weiss. Using a 1.65mm hook and Aunt Lydia's size 10 in natural. I'm shortcutting the pattern on here because it's easier to read on the screen while I Netflix ...

Chain 15 make ring

Chain 1, 24 single in ring, sl in sc

Rnd 2 Chain 1, sc in same space as sl stitch, ch 5, sk 2 sc, sc in next sc

Rnd 3 sc, hdc, 5 dc, hdc, sc in each loop, sl to first sc

Rnd 4 Ch 5 , sc between next 2 petals

Rnd 5 sc, hdc, 7dc, hdc, sc

Rnd 6 ch 7, sc between petals

Rnd 7 sc, hdc, 9 dc, hdc, sc

Rnd 8 ch 5 - in petal center make dc, ch5, dc
ch 5, sc between petals,
picot, sc in center of next petal, picot, sc between petals

Rnd 9 sl to loop, sc, hdc, 9 dc, hdc, sc in loop, sc in next loop

picot, sc between next two picots, ch 7 sc in next loop between picots, picot sc in next loop

Crocheting Crap

2009-03-14T13:00:00.005-04:00

I haven't crocheted in a very long time - but it makes my fingers feel better to alternate with knitting - so I am doing a bit every day to keep myself in shape ...

Granny squares are so nice and mindless! I had forgotten how much fun they are - sometimes I do stuff that is really difficult, just because it is difficult, so it's nice to do easy stuff and not think - hence the granny squares made from all the sock scraps I've saved ... No color plan, I'll arrange them by color when I join all the squares together - just edge them with a dark navy or black - and figure out whether to sew them together ( I hate sewing) or crochet them.

Size B/2.25mm hook, ch 5 make ring, 3 dc in loop, ch2 in corner, ch1 between dc

Return to the Needles

2009-03-14T12:43:00.006-04:00

It has been a very long time, but I am back knitting and a bit of crocheting as well - I don't know why I stopped - maybe it was the christening robe ?

Anyhow, I've laid out a few projects for this year and finished up those Chalet socks that had been lingering about - a crocheted bedspread for me, an afghan for Liz and a pair of socks per month, and an afghan to use up all those sock leftovers!

The white socks are the Chalet Socks from Folk Socks by Nancy Bush - they were annoying, not because of the pattern, but the Paton's Kroy I used, it was too thick, and I should have used a men's sizing - as the cables pulled the sock in a bit and they are a bit tight!

The striped ones are for my father, in Regia Silk, and as always Regia makes me happy!

I also want to make a plain old cardigan - a long, classic one in plain knitting - and eventually get back to the WRS!

Almost finished?

2006-11-14T11:58:00.000-05:00

Well, it is almost done - it is semi dressed and temporarily basted. I am still worried that the neck is too small - I'll let Madeline have a fitting on Thanksgiving and then redo the top if necessary. I am knitting the lace edgings for the arm openings separately and I'll sew them on when I am sure it will fit properly.

The underdress shouldn't be a big problem - I'll know how to do the bodice by the time I get there.

Skirt Complete

2006-11-03T22:38:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd quickly take a photo of the skirt before I decrease and it gets all gathered - some of the pattern will be hard to see ...

It measures about 20 inches in length with minimum stretching and about 28 inches in width - so the waist should measure about 14 inches with no stretching ...

Stretching is a weird looking word ...

Row 155

2006-10-28T07:54:00.000-04:00

Nothing much to say - except I am a bit more than halfway done with the skirt!

Except for one sneaky knitted lace row I didn't anticipate everything seems to be going smoothly ...

...Row 115

2006-10-25T18:41:00.000-04:00

Not much to say - I just want to keep track of my progress - as meager as it may be - at least I am into the lace knitting part - and done with the knitted lace part!

Ok, someone wanted to know which is knitted lace and which is lace knitting - I never remember myself - so here it is - more to remind me than to inform, since I am often asked and never know the answer ...

True knitted lace has pattern stitches on both the right and wrong sides; knitting with pattern stitches on only one side of the fabric, so that holes are separated by at least two threads, is technically not lace, but often called "lacy knitting". (well, it's most often called "lace knitting" - at least in all the books I've read)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lace_knitting

Christening Robe goes on ... Row 80

2006-10-23T15:04:00.000-04:00

Not much to say - it does seem to get easier - after this chart I think there's less patterning and so I should speed up a bit ...

Since I have very little new to say I will wallow in conjecture ...

I was wondering if some cave person (no doubt a female cave person) while lying on the ground, looking up through the branches of a sugarberry tree in early spring or observing the bare branches of autumn against a clear sunset sky, first envisioned the possibility of Lace ..

At Row 45 and 3 weeks to go!

2006-10-20T14:28:00.000-04:00

It's coming along nicely, if slowly....

Since Madeline is due to arrive on November 10th, I am hoping a church will not be found and a christening not scheduled before Christmas. Only a little over 200 rows left on the skirt!!!

There are quite a few painfully thin spots - but I'm not over dressing this, so it should be fine - and I must begone to knit more ...

Christening Robe

2006-10-11T12:52:00.000-04:00

Moving along as quickly as is humanly possible - this is the Christening robe from HK - I'm using the cobweb again and crossing my fingers that it will not have many thin spots ...

Thankfully, I get to use Addis (2.0 mm) they make everything soo much easier! I'm on the 16th repeat out of 28 for the lace border. My tension has tightened up a bit since the start - as it usually does - and there is one spot around repeat 11 that has one odd looking spot - but for the most part I'm liking how it looks so far ...

If I can keep up the pace it should be done by Christmas!

Shorter Days

2006-10-04T14:08:00.000-04:00

As time runs out I knit faster and longer - a Master of Procrastination - if not of knitting ...

Sweet Child of Mine is finally done ... after I washed and blocked it - I hated everything about it - the lace edging, the knitted picots ( I should've crocheted them) - it was one of those times when every little mistake grew like a weed ...

But now I've changed my mind - I like it - so if you find smething about it you don't like - keep it to yourself!

The bonnet is almost done as well - I'll take a picture after it's washed and blocked - I did these picots in crochet and I like them much better - I'm just worried about making bows now. Although I doubt the booties will be done by the baby shower on Saturday, it's probably amazing I got this much done...

I used to think of Autumn in terms of falling leaves - but I've been in Texas too long - now Autumn means morning glories -

Rosebud is Finished too!

2006-09-19T08:34:00.000-04:00

Another project that dragged on and on and on ....

I'm not sure this is my favorite shawl - I was upset with the thick and thin quality of the cobweb - it got scarily thin in places (not to mention the bug attack). I was right to be upset - this is the first time I've ever had breaks when I dressed a shawl - 3 of them (Not to mention hours of crawling about on the floor to fix them). I doubt after the Christening robe I will ever use singles again.

I think I wasn't happen with the needle/yarn ratio either - it looks ok, but I don't like working with such a large needle with such thin yarn - it makes for a wobbly design.

Ofcourse, it may be that it's just post finishing depression - after miles and miles of interminable edging - I always feel as if I never, ever want to do anything faintly resembling a shawl again!

Madeline's Pants are finished!

2006-09-19T08:22:00.000-04:00

These are the pants that really weren't supposed to exist - I just did them because I was waiting for the pattern for the sweater to arrive and I had extra yarn - and they took way longer than they were supposed to - they should've taken about a week - but the fault lies within me, not the pants.

I think they came out nicely, Baby Ull is soft but I'm not very pleased with the straps and will avoid doing anything like them in the near future ...

I am still on track for the baby shower - but no doubt there will be a bit of last minute scrambling - I still don't have the ribbon for the bonnet and sweater ...

Madeline's Pants

2006-08-14T23:52:00.000-04:00

After all the knitting nonsense - the dps for the Leaf socks were eaten by my couch - I ran out of cobweb for the Rosebud with only 2 inches of edging to do - Finally I am back to making progress!

I now have a brand new set of 2.5mm dps (which are sock needles, mostly) a new ball of cobweb to finish the shawl and lots of pretty pink Baby Ull for baby clothes ...

This is the progress so far - with the Baby Ull and a Dale pattern in the same book with the pattern for Ryan's sweater - about 4 more decreases before the ribbing and then the straps and I'm done.

After these pants are done, and I've finished the socks and shawl, I'll start the Sweet Child of Mine pattern from Black Purl - a sweater, hat and booties to match.

I also have 10 more balls of white cobweb waiting to begin the Christening Robe from HK. There was some question about whether the neckline was large enough - but between my calculations, some measuring of one of Michael's baby sweaters, and reassurance from Sharon - I think it will be just right.

The poor WRS languishes - some day I'll get back to it ...

Leaf Socks

2006-07-26T22:41:00.000-04:00

I've finally completed something! Well. it's only one sock - but the second one is started ...

These are done in Regia Silk - I really, really love this stuff! I used the leaf pattern from HK on 65 stitches with the standard (for me) sock needles.

It seems as if it's been years since I've completed anything - so it seems worth celebrating. The Rosebud is on hold because I ran out of yarn with less than 20 repeats of the interminable edging ...

The WRS is on permanent hold because of the imminent (imminent in knitting terms - she won't born til November) arrival of a new grand daughter ( well, I suppose I have a tleast 18 years to finish it - she won't be getting married before then ).

The Baby Ull by Dale arrived today - it's a nice baby pink. The pattern hasn't arrived yet - Sweet Child of Mine from Patternworks - so I have time to rush the second leaf sock. I'm also waiting for an order from HK - the last (I hope) ball of cobweb for the Rosebud and 10 of white cobweb for the Christening Robe from the HK book ...

Will I have time to finish all this before my grand daughter's arrival? So much to knit and so little time ...

Carefulness

2006-05-04T13:10:00.000-04:00

Yesterday - while watering my begonias - I stepped on a roofing staple left by the roofers who so nicely reroofed only two weeks ago. It went right through my sneakers and my old (at least 5 year old, but still in really good shape) knitted grey socks and then into my foot. It was obviously too deep to pull out and besides just the thought was even more painful than its placement in my foot ...

After lots of hopping, begging a ride to the ER, where I sat for 4 hours with the staple hanging out of my shoe while other more grieviously injured and sick people were cared for - and then being told it would be a minimum of 2-4 hours more before I would be seen - I proceeded to scam another ride to the doctor's office (where I should have gone in the first place, except I thought the hospital might have better drugs to ease the pain, which after 4 hours of waiting was now in my head as well as my foot). Here I waited (all this time with no knitting to distract me!) for another 45 minutes until the doctor removed the staple with little damage to my shoe, none to the sock, and much pain to my foot - and received a tetenus shot and some antibiotics. I limped home to revel in my misery and hopefully to receive some sympathy ...

All I got was this - that I should be more "careful" - hmmm I pondered what that might mean - certainly if I was in need of being more "careful" I must have been careless in some way ...

What does it mean to be "careless"? I will consult the dictionary!

Careless:

Careless often implies negligence - was I negligent? Nope, I even wore shoes.

Marked by or resulting from lack of forethought or thoroughness - I might be guilty of this - after all, I didn't consider all the possible dangers lurking in the grass - there could've been poisonous snakes, or quicksand, or an IED planted by Illegal Aliens, or a three inch long, very sharp staple inadvertantly dropped by the roofers ...

Exhibiting a disposition that is free from cares; cheerful - I am guilty of this as well, I was cheerful, just going out to water my plants in anticipation of having a nice phone call with the very one who now believes I need to be more "careful".

But perhaps I should concentrate on what he meant by careful, and not assume he meant I was "careless", just that I need to be "careful" (I'll give him the benefit of the doubt because I am a very nice person and my foot doesn't hurt as badly as it did last night).

Careful:

Protective; solicitous: Be careful of his feelings.

Aha! This is what he really meant! I should've known that my getting sharp objects stuck into my foot and experiencing severe pain would cause his feelings to be upset :P

So in the future I will be more careful (protective, solicitous), so he will not have to be more careful (Full of cares or anxiety: “Thou art careful and troubled about many things”), and instead he can be always careless (Exhibiting a disposition that is free from cares).

To be fair, he is quick to realize when he's said the wrong thing (even if its a bit late, having said the wrong thing first) - he came back with - "since you won't be able to do much - well, at least you'll have more time for knitting!" And I will - the thought cheered me so much - I am now Carefree (cheerfully irresponsible) and will knit until my foot is better.

Note to HWSNBN: Next time I get sick or injured or in any other way imperil myself - skip the other stuff and just leap to : Well, at least you'll have more time to knit!

Easter Socks

2006-04-14T23:53:00.000-04:00

Well, they are done and right on time! The Opal wasn't as fun to knit with as I thought, but the socks are nice and do look like Easter eggs.

The WRS is on hold until I get further on the Rosebud - only a month left ...

I did pick up around the center of the Rosebud today - so at least I've made a bit of progress.

The next big question is when to start the Regia silk socks - but I'll think about that Monday ...

Note to Self: Try to look before you Blog stuff from Picasa, you keep posting things to the wrong Blog and it's getting really annoying

Errors

2006-04-10T09:40:00.000-04:00

How many errors are acceptable? Is there some sort of magic line you can't cross? At what point does a small mistake that is invisible to all but the creator become a glaring disruption indicating sloppy execution of a pattern? Does utility determine acceptability?

Some people are perfectionists - denying entry to even the most miniscule deviation - but usually more in some areas of their existence than others. Perhaps we are more willing to admit errors in those parts of us which are less competent to begin with, and strive for perfection in those areas in which we excel.

Of course, the idea presents itself that necessarily a creation will be in some way less perfect than its creator - which in turn presumes a certain randomness which inserts itself into any thing that is created. But this would only hold true if the primary creator was in fact truly perfect to begin with - any secondary creator might be inserting less perfection in its creative endeavors or merely passing along the quirks of its own imperfection ...

All this philosophizing aside - I suppose I can live with all the mistakes in the WRS - after all, there has to be a balance between its perfection and its completeness - if I never ignore some imperfections - it will never be complete ...

Better Photos

2006-04-07T11:51:00.000-04:00

Here's some better picutres of the WRS - so much for playing with collages ...you can't see them as well as single photos.

Conflict

2006-04-07T11:44:00.000-04:00

I had a major problem with the WRS about 10 rows ago - I've no idea what went wrong, but nothing seemed to want to line up and the more I fiddled with it the worse it got -

This is where I am so far - at row 81 - I've also noticed my gauge has decreased significantly since I've started and got more comfortable with the silk.

So .... do I start over (even though I know it would be a miracle to get through the whole WRS without some mistakes) or go on and convince myself it won't be noticed in the end?

Note to Self: Perhaps you should reread the note you wrote about those Irish knitters?

Blubonnets

2006-04-04T12:10:00.000-04:00

Ok, no knitting to show - so here's some flowers instead! Those to the left are our beloved bluebonnets - state flower of Texas.

These pink ones are all over the place as well - but I'll have to look them up later - I've no idea what you call them ... umm, they seem to be pink evening primroses, aka buttercups.
Honeysuckle is nice because you can smell it before you see it - and you can taste it after you see it:

I know these aren't wild, but they are mine - some little zinnias and my freesia is blooming! I didn't think the freesias would this year, and so it's a nice surprise. And they smell even better than they look ...

Actually, the zinnias look pretty crappy, and the other plant with stripes is a spider plant, and the green one on the right is Mexican oregano. I shoulda moved the old pot I just discarded out of the way, I'll do that now ...

Groggy mornings fuel desire to smoke

2006-04-01T16:14:00.000-05:00

Maybe this is why I smoke? maybe it's also why I'm so grouchy in the morning ...

PEOPLE who take up smoking may do so because they are getting up too early. That's just one symptom of a permanently misaligned body clock, a condition dubbed "social jetlag" that could affect more than half of us.

Halfway Points

2006-04-01T10:59:00.000-05:00

A new sock is born! Socks are so nice - they are a quick fix when you are doing projects that take half your lifetime to complete, and you can wear them at any time of the year and for any occasion. The only problem is that one sock is not very useful - I mean you can wear it and glory in its completeness, but it calls inexorably for its mate ...

I hope to finish the mate for this one by Easter (maybe by saying it, this will spur me on and let me avoid second-sock syndrome.) It's the Opal Petticoat and very Easterish - kind of like a striped Easter egg.

The center of the Rosebud is all done, I just need to wait for the arrival of the new yarn - while this is not technically a halfway point, it is a milestone of sorts. Since the soon-to-be born baby is now coming earlier than expected, I'll have to move on this one - I'll have about 6/8 weeks though, so it shouldn't be too bad, except it will take time away from the WRS ...

The WRS is also moving along - I have almost completed one whole repeat - at row 54. It isn't as difficult as I thought it would be, which continues to amaze me. I was wondering where I would go from here - there isn't any smaller yarn that exists as far as I know, but I shouldn't worry about that now, this will take so long to finish that I will prolly achieve senility in the process and not have to make any more decisons. (although HWSNBN suggested I would prolly advance to knitting socks for ants ...)
Whine/Rant to Self : Although I love to talk to the people I love, and will happily babble along for hours doing so - about nothing or everything, or anything in between - I don't love to hold 3-way conversations at 8 AM on Saturday mornings!

If any of those people happen to be reading this - as they prolly will eventually - I won't apologize - but I'll try to explain my expectations for Saturday mornings. I had planned to wake up whenever I wanted, get some coffee and read the news for as long as I wanted, and then take a walk - any kind of walk I wanted. Then I would come home and knit for as long as I wanted while mindlessly listening to music or watching CNN, while also unconsciously cleaing up any small mess that caught my eye ...

At this point I would prolly be ready to talk - in other words:

I am a Grouch in the mornings! It's just the way it is, life is unfair - so get over it!

Moving along .... slowly

2006-03-26T02:33:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I amaze myself - I've reached row 32 of the WRS and nothing horrible has happened - no dropped stitches, no cat atrocities, no major errors (see note to self from yesterday). Maybe the Knitting gods are waiting until there are at least 300 rows, and then they will let loose with four dropped stitches that run down all the way to the waste wool ...

These pictures prolly don't look like much yet, but they at least indicate that there is a pattern to this scrunched up bit of silk, and it is increasing somewhat in size - and this is progress!

I did a few rows on the Rosebud, but it seems dull - after working with the silk, the yarn feels hairy and thick, and the pattern too simple. The Opal socks and the Rosebud were supposed to projects to enjoy when I needed to rest from the intense concentration of the WRS and instead it's turning out I need to wrench myself away from the WRS to make any progress on the others.

More Old Things

2006-03-25T19:32:00.000-05:00

I'm getting tired of looking at so many pictures of this old, wrinkly sheet, so these will be the last of the old things I'll put here. I must have something better to use as a background
for shawls - I'll find something before the Rosebud is done.

This is the Irish Diamond Shawl from Cheryl Oberle's book - this is perhaps the only pattern I've ever done twice (I hate repeating myself), this is the second attempt. It is all mis-shapen because it is another very often used shawl, and really needs reblocking ...
It's knitted in New Enland Shetland Woodsmoke from Harrisville Designs, which is a very nice, dyed-in-the wool yarn, and has a nice depth to the color - which you prolly can't see in my crappy photos.

This next one is the Cobweb Crepe Shawl from Heirloom Knitting, the first real shetland type shawl I've attempted, and at that point the finest yarn I'd everknit with ( I suppose my lack of fear after knitting with this is what led to my attempting the WRS ... God only knows where I might go if I successfully complete that - it's not something I relish comtemplating). I really like the clematis edging on this, even though I really hate knitting edgings - they go on and on and on ....

I know there's a big "blob" in the center - it's caused by the shawl hanging over the back of the rocking chair, and is not a "feature" or error on my part - just taking pictures in a hurry so I can hide the shawl from the infamous enemy ...

Here is the last of the wrinkly, old pictures - Project 2 from Heirloom Knitting, in shetland 2 ply. It is basically the same pattern as the Cobweb crepe, done in a heavier yarn with a different edging. It is now my favorite shawl for everyday - it's kind of annoying that simple, easy to produce things are so practical and useful.

Note to Self: "The highly skilled knitters turn out lovely work, but sometimes, with a true Irish touch of 'nothing really matters', their knitting shows mistakes, always found in the simple patterns, and a careless nonchalance in the crossing of their cables!" Gladys Thompson, Patterns for Guernseys, Jerseys & Arans. Maybe it's genetic?

Old Things

2006-03-24T02:28:00.000-05:00

Up to row 22 on the WRS - but no point in taking any pictures yet, it doesn't look like much at this point. The silk is getting a bit easier to work with, the baby powder really helps move the stitches along, but dropping a stitch or making an error takes a great deal of time to fix, so I'll give those up as much as possible, adn go very slowly.

Since I don't have any pictures of new things, I'll use old stuff. This is the first shawl I ever made - I think it's called the Bell shawl and I found the pattern somewhere online ( actually I found it here: http://www.knitlist.com/96gift/giftbellshawl.htm). It's made of leftover yarn - Naturespun sport, I think. It's very well used - for curling up on the sofa, getting the mail, as a pillow, it pills a bit, but I still love it ...

This one is the Kerry Blue Shawl, my second attempt, in apricot Zephyr, that I made about 3 years ago for my son's wedding. The pattern is from Martha Waterman's Tradtional Knitted Lace Shawls. This is the project that made me fall in love with Zephyr.

I got tired of uploading shawls - so here's a sweater - done in Naturespun sport,the pattern is from Starmore's Fisherman Knits, Mystic. I love the pattern, but I wish I had done it in a better yarn, something that gave better stitch definition.

Enough old things for one night ... I'll go knit on the new socks.

New Beginnings: Part 2

2006-03-21T23:08:00.000-05:00

Here's a picture of the Wedding Ring Shawl at row 11. You can get some idea of how thin it is when compared to the yarn used for markers and waste wool - the waste wool is size 10 crochet cotten and the markers I'm using are little scraps of the lavender cobweb. And yes, I am insane ... but the silk is so shiny and silky ... The needles are 2.25 mm Inox.

So as not to hurt its feelings, this is the Opal Petticoat sock - this yarn seems so fat - I've never used Opal before - but it's prolly just going from the silk to sock yarn that makes it pale in comparison. The colors are pretty and very spring-like, which is what I need right now ( and they should go quickly so I can wear them and get to the Regia Silk). And they are just the right thing to knit while watching Boston Legal ... so I'll go do that right now!

New Beginnings

2006-03-21T10:28:00.000-05:00

It is Spring! I could write a bunch of mushy poetic things about that, but it's mostly been said and I don't do mushy very well - so here are some pictures instead. You can see I can even move pictures about now and put them where I want them to go ... well, at least sometimes I can. Now they seem to disappear just as I get them where I want them to go.

But this is more about knitting beginnings, although spring is a good time to begin things - I received the new sock wool in the mail, one ball of Opal Pettticoat, and two of Regia silk in denim - I really needed some spring socks, and I also needed something to knit in between the Rosebud and the Wedding Ring Shawl - they both need way too much concentration for telephone calls and such. The WRS, being knit of gossamer silk (prolly the same thread the Emperor's New Clothes were made from), is moving along - there's no doubt it will go slowly - but I may survive it - I've surprised myself by making it to row 11. It is sooo tiny it makes the sock yarn feel like bridge cables.

Fire

2006-03-20T14:22:00.000-05:00

Last night I was awoken out of a sound sleep by someone pounding on my front door - at first I thought it was just someone with the wrong apt, but when I realized it was barely 4 am, and had almost fallen asleep again - I thought perhaps I should check it out, and besides I heard voices outside, pounding on more doors, and someone shouting, Evacuate! (It's amazing I didn't just fall back to sleep;I could sleep through anything). As I peeked through the curtain, I saw a bright orange glow - the apartment complex down the street was on fire due to a lightening strike. It was a bit scary to watch how fast the fire spread along the rooftop, unimpeded by the efforts of the firefighters. It was even more frightening to see the wind change direction and start to blow toward us, dumping ashes and live cinders - but the firefighter quickly doused the two closest buildings of our complex with water, and it began to drizzle a bit, too. It was almost six hours later that the last fire truck left and it was finally over, leaving not much more than a shell of a building ...

Thankfully, no one was injured, and it was confined to only this one complex, but I feel so badly for all those people who lost everything ....

Rosebud

2006-03-16T13:06:00.000-05:00

Here is the Rosebud - the center is half finished - I have enough non-eaten yarn to finish the center - I'll have to wait for the reinforcement yarn to arrive to go any further, since the cobweb was destroyed.

It's on 3.25 mm Addis, with Sharon Miller's lavender 1 ply cobweb - so far (except for the damn beetles) it's been quite easy and fast and now that I've finally memorized the pattern, I can even talk and watch tv while knitting.

A Picture is worth ...

2006-03-16T08:46:00.000-05:00

HWSNBN has informed me blogs need Pictures - and I replied digital cameras need Batteries - having purchased the requisite batteries I will post pictures of all things knitted before they go into isolation. I thought I would start with HWSNBN's socks, so at least he can see what they look like since I've been so slow about getting to the post office (with my Gemini gift of distorting language or perhaps it is my Irish gift of Blarney, I think I've convinced him that wool socks have such remarkable insulating properties that they will cool your feet in summer as well as keeping them warm in winter - thus giving me more room for procrastination!)

These were such fun to knit - they are done in Regia Silk - the color is Prato. The colors don't show up well in the picture - they are richer than they appear. The color stripes actually pair up the same on both socks - this isn't due to compulsive fiddling on my part - I really don't have patience for that sort of thing - but it is nice that they look like I did ...

I'll post more historical pictures along with the Rosebud progress and the Wedding Ring swatch as soon as I figure out how to place pictures better ...

Invasion!

2006-03-14T19:39:00.000-05:00

The absolutely worst thing that can befall (is that a word?) a knitter, worse than simple things like dropped stitches, cats who play hockey with lace weight yarn, children who shout out random numbers when you're doing a 300 stitch cast on - that nameless terroristic event you believe will only happen to other knitters - well, it happened, and to me!

I was innocently knitting along on the Rosebud, which was going nicely, and quicker than I expected it would. Thinking I'd need it soon, I decided to wind another skein - and I found the skein had been neatly cut in several places, and checking the rest, found similar cuts on all but two of the remaining skeins - after much screaming, wailing and gnashing of teeth - I girded myself for battle - but the enemy had retreated and were no where in sight, so my visions of wielding flamethrowers or doing battle with a large sword faded quickly. I needed a better battle plan - I would need to fight the enemy in its lair - so some espionage was in order.

Being slightly more intelligent than the average carpet beetle ( believing this was my only hope at this point) I made a quick mental inventory of the location of all woolens in the house. A quick race upstairs confirmed it - the pair of Regina gringasco skeins living in a basket on the bookcase in my bedroom - were cut to shreds - they had been there for several years while I made up my mind what they wanted to be, except for a trip downstairs to share a basket for a few days with the lavender cobweb. But there was still no sign of the enemy - though their headquarters must be nearby. Some place dark and forbidding, a place I rarely go - the depths of the closet!

Sitting on the floor in the corner of the closet, I advanced slowly, both hoping this was the source, and yet dreading what I'd find - the decrepit old green suitcase. I couldn't even remember what it held, it had been so long since I'd peeked inside. There it was - the infamous kilt - all wool, made in Scotland kilt that I've been hoarding for lo these many years (what was I thinking? that a famine would overtake the land and I'd quickly need some size 2 clothing?) - it had several holes, as did the ugly green wool and silk sweater from my earliest knitting days. Fortunately, the baby sweaters were done in acrylic and survived the assault.

For once, I am thankful I don't keep a large stash - just some odds and ends of leftover sock yarn are left - everything woolen washed and isolated in its own plastic bag, mothballs and lavender soap will be set in place, the new gossamer silk encased in several layers of protection - this battle is over and I can only hope the war is as well ...

In the meantime there is nothing else to be done -

'Knit on with confidence and hope, through all crises'.
Elizabeth Zimmerman

Lenten Musings

2006-03-01T06:24:00.000-05:00

"Here we are in Lent. No one would expect me to give up knitting, so that’s all right." This is why Jean's Knitting is my favorite blog ... she often seems to echo things I'm thinking, but she says it much better than I do. Not that I was contemplating giving up knitting for Lent, I may think fuzzy in the early morning hours, but not that fuzzy.

I was thinking about chocolate doughnuts and the different perspectives taken towards Lent pre- and post Vatican II. In the all female Catholic high school I was so fortunate to attend (incarcerated in) during those years, we were encouraged pre Vatican II to "give up" things in order to discourage our vices, while post Vatican II we were encouraged to actually "do things" to promote the growth of some virtue. I think this was probably a positive development that prevented the Lenten season from declining into a sort of "Diet for Catholics" instituted to lower the average mass of the school by 5 lbs./student. But I do really miss those chocolate doughnuts sold in the cafeteria every morning (they constituted my breakfast for four years) and I would gladly give them up if I could get my hands on one today ...

But sadly they don't seem to exist any more, so I'll have to "do something" instead. I'll knit more!

Note to Self: this isn't really as decadently self-centered a proposal as it sounds .. you aren't knitting anything for yourself, so actually finishing things and packing them and sending them ... will promote the virtue of ... umm ... charity, diligence and clothing the naked!

I have discovered titles!

2006-02-27T11:55:00.000-05:00

I have reached the heel of the second Regia Silk sock I'm knitting for He-Who-Shall-Not- Be- Named (from hereon to be referred to as HWSNBN). This stuff is so much fun to knit with, it is actually distracting me from the beginnings of the Rosebud shawl from Heirloom Knitting, but it won't last long, the socks will be done too quickly after the heel is turned ...
Of course, I will get some more of this stuff and make more socks, having convinced myself I really, really need more socks, or someone somewhere in the world needs more socks or perhaps there will be a severe sock shortage in the next few years?

The Rosebud is coming along, despite the distracting socks, and I've gotten about 30 rows done, and it's fun to see how different the lavender cobweb looks when knitted on needles a whole mm larger than the ones I used on the cobweb crepe shawl .. this is more like a lavender cloud right now - all fluffy and airy.
I think I have some sort of perceptual problem though - I seem to have a different sort of thinking when it comes to where motifs are divided in lace patterns. After a few repeats I generally move my stitch markers to where I think they should be, instead of where the pattern designer thinks they should go. The center pattern seemed to agree with my disordered thinking, until I get to alternating the next set of repeats, then my markers are all in the way ... so I've been removing them all on the plain knit row and shifting them 4 stiches left and now I am able to go on as if nothing has happened. It's probably all do to my inability to remember more than five things at once (no comments from anyone who knows me as to the indisputable fact that I have great difficulty remembering even 1 thing at a time :P)

Note to Self: you are knitting the socks on 2.5 mm needles and casting on 64 stiches for women's socks and 72 for men's.

2006-02-27T01:25:00.000-05:00

I am way too tired to really write anything - so I'll just put this picture here - It's my Lyra. It doesn't look as good as it did when it was all pinned out, but you can get the general idea.