Annual Kid 'n Ewe Report

It's November again, and that means the Kid 'n Ewe festival is going on at the Kendall County Fairgrounds in Boerne, Texas. I would hate to miss the chance to buy yarn from local alpaca ranchers and other Texas vendors, so I was quite relieved to realize my tarot workshop was last weekend, not this weekend! Whew, no conflict.

The original plan this year was to go with friends Tina and Deana, but Tina had to stay home and watch her gall bladder surgery incision heal. So, Deana and I met up at the LYS, tossed a coin to decide who drove, and set off on our trip.

I would have been glad to drive, but was relieved that Deana had to, mainly because I am knitting an immense and not-too-exciting project. I agreed to help out my church friend Alyssa out with her Christmas knitting. I feel for her, because she has a toddler and is pregnant, and I remember being in that spot. She is knitting all sorts of dishcloths and such for gifts, and wanted to give one relative a Harry Potter scarf. Then she realized how much knitting that would be. So, I said I'd do it. Using Vanna's Choice 100% acrylic yarn (verdict: less awful than Red Heart). 6 skeins of it. I have to knit 11 stripes of 22 rows each, 70 stitches per round. All circular stockinette. At least changing colors keeps me awake. The 5 hours in the car yesterday helped a lot, and I am almost halfway through (the photo shows what it looked like Friday night, before the long car ride). I will be eternally grateful to Deana for driving!



We had a nice chat and enjoyed what passes for lovely fall scenery in Texas. It was nice that recent rains has actually put water in the lakes, rivers and streams, too. And of course we enjoyed the festival itself!

We enjoyed meeting lots of vendors. I told the Plain & Fancy Wool Co. people thank you personally for finding that additional yarn for finishing my Bridget sweater, and I also bought some more of their stuff, a variegated blue. I keep thinking I would like to make a cardigan like the rainbow one, only smaller and short-sleeved. And maybe in linen stitch instead of garter. MMM, I love linen stitch. We'll see. In any case I got FOUR skeins, so I'd have enough yarn!




I got some neat alpaca, just one skein, but I loved the colorway so I had to get it. It's from Windmill Crest Farms in Seguin, and they spun brown and gray alpaca together. The gray looks quite bluish next to the brown. I want to make a pair of warm gloves from it--there is a pattern in the new Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts magazine that I would like to use, if I can get gauge. (And may I interrupt to say I was shocked to find the magazine was $14.99!)



Another random thing I bought was two skeins of brushed suri alpaca that looks a lot like Kidsilk Haze. I just got an urge to make a white thing. A lacy white thing. We will see when that comes up. Must stop knitting for other people, first, and I have not mentioned that I got asked to make two more pairs of mitts for someone's grandkids. And of course I will, because the grandmother is a sweet old friend.



And a visit to Kid 'n Ewe would NOT be complete without drooling at the Brooks Farm booth. Goodness gracious, I love their yarn. I came very close to buying 6 skeins of Acero sock-weight yarn to make a mitered diamond jacket. But, i just got this one skein of sock yarn, which happens to coordinate with one that I already have...could make a shawl...well, it IS very pretty.



I also got four skeins of a yarn called Ellie, which is 50/50 silk and wool. It's labeled a DK weight, but is thick and thin. They had a vest sample that I really loved. So, I got the pattern and enough yarn to make it. And the yarn. You cannot tell how pretty this color is from the photo. It is green, but with brownish tinges. It looks like copper that has a nice patina on it. I just can't WAIT to work with this stuff. I am really excited by the prospect of making the nice vest. Drool.



Yow, I do get a lot of ideas every year at Kid 'n Ewe! I also saw friends, and that is good.

Oh yeah, while Deana was buying the prettiest batt of wool/silk/etc. I ever saw, I got a necklace. I have misplaced the card from the girl who made it, but she also had drop spindles painted with dragons and other celtic stuff. I really like how the clasp is part of the design on the necklace. And it will go with LOTS of stuff.

ADDED: I found the card for Sally Ball, who made the necklace. Her stuff can be found at www.yorkieslave.etsy.com and she has fiber, spindles, etc.

Textured Thumbless Mitts Pattern

As promised, here is the pattern for the mitts I made. I hope you enjoy them. If you make them, please link to the pattern on Ravelry, so it will look like someone knits my patterns.

Textured Thumbless Mitts

©2009 by Sue Ann Kendall
Soft and warm unisex mitts using a variety of interesting textures. A good beginning pattern for knit and purl patterns and knitting in the round.
Materials:
One skein worsted weight yarn (4 oz. skein will make two pairs). I used Malabrigo worsted in the colorway "Hummingbird," which has smaller skeins, and I still didn't use all the skein.

US size 6 straight needles, or size to get 6 stitches per inch.



Abbreviations:
k = knit
p = purl
st/sts = stitch/stitches
* repeat material between asterisks

Seed stitch (even number of stitches, worked in the round):
Row 1: *k1,p1*
Row 2: *p1,k1*

Stockinette stitch (worked in the round):
Row 1: knit across

Moss stitch (even number of stitches, worked in the round):
Row1-2: *k1,p1*
Row3-4: *p1,k1*

Linen Stitch (even number of stitches, worked back and forth):
Row 1 Slip 1, p across.
Row 2: Slip 1 (as if to purl), *Slip 1 with yarn in front, k1* until last two sts; k2.
Row 3: Slip 1, p across.
Row 4: Slip 1, *k1, slip 1 with yarn in front,* until last st, k1.


Mitts (make two!):
Cuff

Cast on 34 sts.(40 for larger size). join for knitting in the round, being careful to not twist stitches. (You can divide the yarn among 3 or 4 double points or use Magic Loop, which is how I do it.)
Work in Seed st for 7 rows.
Work in Stockinette st for 14 rows .
Start with Moss stitch, and repeat the pattern rows 4 times (16 rows), ending with row 4.
Purl one row.

Hand

Begin working back and forth. This creates the opening for the thumb.
Work 16 rows in linen stitch, ending on Row 3.
Rejoin for circular knitting and KNIT Row 4 from the front of the mitts.
Purl one row.
Work 4 rows in Stockinette st and then 4 more rows in Seed st.
Bind off loosely in Seed st. If you knit tightly, consider using a larger needle to bind off.

Finishing:
Weave in the ends, and you are done!

Mitts and More Mitts

Another week of not a lot of knitting due to that darn work. But, that pays for yarn, so no real complaints!

I did manage to finish those fingerless mitts I was working on last week. Here they are.


It is hard to believe they are made from the same two skeins of yarn, isn't it? At least on the second one you can see the fair isle pattern a lot better. I still haven't managed to block them, so they are a bit wrinkly.


There was a good bit of yarn left. Enough for at least one more using the same main and secondary color, probably enough for two if I switched. I may well try a third one and see if it blended with either lefty or righty, then decide to make it a left or right based on that. Or, I can give these to some eccentric friend or family member who likes to wear fraternal knitted items! These are quite pleasant to make, and would be nice in any bulky yarn combination, I'm sure.

I was surprised to see that I am the only person who has made this pattern on Ravelry! I guess I am a pioneer.

The next photo you see is what I worked on yesterday at the yarn shop and finished today. It's fingerless mitts with no thumb, just a slit. You could make these flat and sew them up (and I did make one pair like that a while back), but I did them in the round. I based these on a pattern I saw online, but I have changed the length, the stitch patterns and how it is constructed, so I think it would be safe to share the pattern when I am done with the second one.


The yarn is some yummy Malabrigo in the colorway "Hummingbird" that I got at Yarnorama in Paige a while back. I bought 4 skeins of it and 4 skeins of a dark color that I was thinking of making a two-color cardigan with, but I think I can spare this skein for a favorite teen who loved this color. The lovely hand model is Lee.

I just used a variety of my favorite knit and purl patterns, plus my favorite linen stitch on the hand portion. This would be a good project to familiarize a newish knitter with knitting in the round and doing simple patterning. It would also be a great stash buster for quick gifts!

After this project, I have some gifts to get moving on, which should be fun. I may have a lot more mitts in my future, too. Kids like them!

And finally, since I keep changing how I look, here's yet another photo of my head. I got most of my hair cut off, because it had been dyed so much that it was not happy, and the length was just not good for my fine hair. It's much happier now. We did our best to put a streak in the front, which will continue to grow out with my new gray streak in the front of my head. It's my hope that I can stop dyeing my hair and just enjoy how I actually look from now on. we will see how long that lasts, of course.

Starting and Finishing

Finally I had a bit more time to knit this week, even with 12-hour work days. I was thrilled to finish the Vilai socks. It was pretty nerve-wracking there for a while, because I could see holes in my skin of yarn toward the end. I had no idea if there would be enough yarn to finish them. But, as you can see, there was. I had I guess two yards left (I originally estimated three, but two is more like it).

You can see that these are really nice socks. They came out a bit large--I would suggest anyone using the Glam Grrl yarn consider a sock designed for sport weight, not fingering weight. I am happy with the shiny aspect, though!


I think these are worth another photo! If you can't see all the patterning, click to see the enlarged photo. You can see the silver shining on my legs. Oooh, ahhh. With these socks, I honestly don't care if I get a lot of wear out of them. They were just so much fun to knit. I really loved the pattern and the chart. It was just hard enough to be engaging but easy enough to enjoy working on while watching RV and stuff. I recommend this pattern highly! And you can bet that my next complex socks will be from the Sock Innovation Book. I actually think I am making the next pattern in the book, Angee. It's going to be in navy blue Pagewood Farms sock yarn--not so thick!


I also finished another sock, the first in the pair of plain socks that I work on when I am unable to concentrate. These just FEEL great. It's just merino sock yarn, but it sure feels good, and is incredibly easy to knit with. It's from Intention Yarns (made by Lime & Violet) and is called Simplicity. I like simple socks with a plain foot and a 2x2 rib top, so they fit with the name and intention of the yarn! I am having a dickens of a time with the second sock. First, I started the gusset (they are toe-up) and realized I had switched from doing the increases on one side to the other. So, I ribbed all that off and did it right. Then I started the heel and managed to get it quite off center. So, I get to re-do that, too. Good thing I am liking that yarn, huh.


And finally, I decided I wanted to so something fun. I think I already mentioned that I found this pattern in the Fall 2009 Knitter's Magazine that used yarn I already had. I decided to go ahead and make those, just for fun. The pattern is called Wave Gauntlets, and is quite simple. Kits up fast in the bulky yarn. When I only went down two sizes of needles, they still seemed pretty big, so I went down four sized. This way the end of the gauntlet is still fairly wide, but the part on my hand fits well.

Since it's a two-color pattern, I need to block it to see it in its best light, but the photo at least shows the waves. In person, it just looks like colorful globs. I guess the yarns don't contrast enough. And I was not real happy that the thumb ended up such a different color. I guess we will just have to see what colors happen to pop up in the second one. They certainly won't be identical twins. Looking at the yarn, I may be able to get a second pair out of the yarn, and make another pair to give away.



We had a fun Halloween at the yarn shop. Cindy did a lot of face painting, and lots of us (even me) ended up either very lovely or very scary, whichever we desired. She is quite an artist. Oh, what the heck, here's a photo of me. It is intended to go with my fortune teller outfit.



Everyone looked beautiful in their ensembles!

One thing that I regret about becoming so valuable at work is that I have to work long hours some days, so I miss out on Wednesday knitting. And next week I have to go to a work dinner, so I'll miss it again. I miss the camaraderie and the relaxing conversations! I have a tarot workshop next Saturday, so I may not be able to hit the yarn shop next Saturday, and I do believe the wonderful Kid-n-Ewe is the next Saturday after that. I hope I can round up someone willing to go with me (most of the group events these day's don't include me--my fault for not being around much, I am sure!)

Hmm, leaving my post on a whiny note--sorry 'bout that!It looks like I have another set of mitts for a teen to knit, then I think I want to make a scarf with the handspun Jody gave me a few weeks ago. Who knows what else.

Andromeda Unveiled

Finally I have had time to process my photos and show you how the Andromeda shawl came out. I have had a busy few days, but I am sure you've had plenty of other blogs to read, huh? So, here is the artsy shot of Andromeda resting on some ginger plants. I am relieved that I can see the patterning here! It's really different to see a shawl with such clear geometric patterns. I am grateful for the suggestion to make this one!


You can see from this photo that it is nto huge, but at least it does work as a shawl. In fact, I wore it yesterday to the yarn shop and today to church, and it manages to stay on, even though it's small. It looks great with a black or navy shirt.


Here you can not only see how I am doing in my project of growing out my hair, but also how it just barely manages to wrap around my arms. It does, though, add a bit of warmth to my shoulders, which are perfect for late autumn days in Texas! The snowflake on the shirt is definitely wishful thinking!


My son was very patient and kept taking photos as I tried out different ways of wearing the shawl. It does a good job as a very cheerful head-scarf, doesn't it? I was having such a bad hair day today that I almost tried this look while out shopping, but didn't want the Muslim women thinking I was making fun of them. (Our outlet mall always has lots of women in hijab, saris, and other colorful ethnic attire! I especially like the Indian families where the older women are dressed very traditionally, the middle-aged women have a few nods to tradition and the younger girls look like everyone else at their high school. I guess I am a big fan of honoring your heritage, whatever it is!)


Anyway, I am pleased with the way this came out, and equally pleased that I have a LOT of the yarn left. I will be able to make another very large shawl out of what I have left, so I will think about what that might be for a future project. I think next is a solid colored Shetland or Faroese one.

But to be honest, I don't have anything I am just dying to make right now. I guess I will just hope I can finish those lovely silver socks (I am on the heel of the second one) without running out of yarn, then make the arm warmers from the Rowan bulky yarn. I certainly have plenty of projects lined up, so I will just pick one when the socks are done.

I have been so busy the past week or so with evening activities and such, that I haven't gotten much blog reading in, so hi to those of you I usually greet on your blogs--I will catch up soon! And thanks to those of you who commented last time or sent me email. I am glad you are here.

I am a Video Blogger

In an effort to cheer myself up (oh has it been a hard day, plus I am worried about my dad, who's had a death in the family AND has a wife with a badly broken arm), I think I will post my first video blog, courtesy of my fun iPod Nano that Lee got me.

It's the locally famous Pilar showing her latest piece of knitting (in the background, Susan and John Francis provide their usual "commentary"):

I hope to show you some other projects by the people I run into, and I hope you enjoy the little vignettes! And doesn't Pilar look great in those stockings? She has a perky hat to go with it, too.

And here's one more little preview. This is Andromeda, blocking! It was teeny, weeny, tiny when it came off the needles. Like the size of a bandanna. Tomorrow I hope to show you the finished product, which is at least the size of a large scarf!



I hope someone is here reading--not a lot of comments lately, but then, I haven't been a sterling conversationalist, myself. But, at least I have a knitting problem to stew on, and those are less horrible than family issues: I have a feeling I do not have enough silver yarn to finish the Vilai socks. Oops. I will see if I can find more on Ravelry or something!

Peace and Quiet

I haven't gotten too much done this week. Lots of activities and even when I was at the yarn shop, I was so busy helping folks and doing other stuff, that not much knitting got done. That's OK. I really get a lot out of helping other people, and well, the chatting and laughing part is quite nice, too.

I am almost done with one of the plain ribbed socks I am working on. That comes from a lot of riding in buses with high school band kids! Speaking of which, since I have no knitting content, indulge me and look at the kids in their marching contest yesterday. See how many hearts, bows, presents and such you can spot. My son is one of the ones making the cymbal crashes, and playing the marimba in the front.




I have been really proud of these kids. A few weeks ago, this program totally stunk. You couldn't tell what they were doing, and they came in last at a competition. Last weekend they won a competition with the highest score of any school, and yesterday, what is in the video, they got a "1" (best you can) in the scholastic competition that is what they practice for all fall. People told the director it's the best band this school has had, which is amazing considering that some of the kids really could not figure out what they were doing not too many weeks ago.

Today I should have a lot of knitting time. I plan to FINISH that Andromeda shawl. By writing it down I am making it HAPPEN. I keep putting it off. So, look forward to seeing a small but pretty finished object in the next post!

The latest Vogue Knitting showed up today. I actually saw a couple of do-able projects, including one with lots of mitered squares that looked so fun. Who knows if it would look good on my petite round-ish frame, but it looks fun. There is also a cardigan that starts out with a cable in the back, then grows sideways on each side from that beginning. It looks like a me kind of project. I love unusual construction.

OK,off to really DO that knitting.

Stealth Project

I snuck a quick project in while taking a break between Vilai socks, the mitts for my son's friend. I really like how they came out:



I did it all mostly while talking or riding in buses to band events, so they aren't perfect. For example, I forgot to make a left and right mitt. All the cables are the same. But, they are very warm, and I should know, since I tested out the first one at a rather nippy band competition Saturday night.



Again, the yarn for this was GGH Magica, which is a 100% wool with two plys very loosely spun together. As you can see, it fits at least one teen's hand, so I hope the recipient isn't too much bigger!

Tonight I'll get back to the Silver Vilai and start the second sock!

It was a pretty good knitting weekend, cool and rainy. Plus, all the other things I had planned to do fell through, so I got in a lot of yarn shop time. It helped that Saturday's competition was quite late, so it wasn't an "all band all the time weekend." It is good to be back in the swing of things without so many other tasks interrupting my knitting friends. There was a yarn crawl going on this weekend, so the shop was open on a rare Sunday. A few of us regulars gathered and got quite tickled over some of our conversations. Most fun was trying to find balls of yarn that matched particular parts of human anatomy. You had to be there, I guess. I also enjoyed meeting some new folks who were yarn crawling--always a bonus!

Oh yeah, the other good thing about the cool weather is I get to wear all my fun knits. I trotted out the rainbow cardigan and Bridget!

Progress Report

How about me, I am posting a little more this week.I also did something I haven't done in a while--I bought yarn at the LYS! It's pretty impressive since I was only able to drop by for about 25 minutes due to an early evening meeting. The first thing I got was this, which had just come in on Wednesday. It is from a place called Handpainted Sock Yarns, and it's their Donegal Sock yarn. Look at the fun slubs and the very nice colors (I especially like the areas where one color blends into another. It's called Madama Butterfly. There's a lot of yarn on the skein, too. It would be neat to make socks and some little mitts out of it. Nice to have a new and different choice!



The other stuff is the Pagewood Farms Chugiak that the shop has suddenly started ordering in massive quantities, mainly because a couple of customers have gone nuts over it. I am happy to see new yarn, of course, and since I have decided I want to make a couple more things from the Cookie A book, I needed some semi-solid stuff. Theirs is very nice! This one is golden browns and is called Mississippi Mud. it has more colors in it than some, but I still think the complex patterns will show up OK on it. After looking at socks from the Cookie A book in multi-colored yarn, I grew pretty sure I didn't want to go that route, much as I love those yarns, so this is a good choice.

The other one is creatively named "Navy," and it is that color, too. I have NO dark blue hand-knit socks, so this will be perfect. I love the depth of this particular colorway.

But here's what you really blogged over to see. My first finished Silver Vilai sock. These two photos are done with my Blackberry, so it is NOT very representative or highly detailed. Even so, you can see that this s one spectacular piece of footware. This is the side, with the fan shapes.

And this is the front with the cool cables. This one is closer to the right color. Like the office carpet? Mmm, a classic. What you can't see are the silver sparkles. It looks kind of molten in person. The silver doesn't detract from the pattern at all; it's more of an enhancement. Anyhow, I am very pleased.

I got to the heel on my plain socks, too. I'll be working on them in school buses and such this weekend. I will also be starting the Dashing mitts, maybe today.

I did remember one other reason I was so happy with the Knitter's Magazine. It will enable me to do something with yet another two skeins of yarn that I bought on a whim. I got this Rowan Colourscape Chunky stuff at Fibers, too, and never did figure out what I wanted to do with it. But, there in that Knitter's is a pair of chunky mitts that calls for one skein each of two colorways of that yarn. Why I have two skeins of differing colorways! Woo! I can make those and either give them as a gift or use them myself! Boy, I feel virtuous shopping the yarn shop in my own house!

Well, I am tired of waiting on an email from the boss, so I am going to go home and enjoy a Texas High School Homecoming Football Game. It cooled off and I think the rain may be done, so it might be nice. And I get to see Tuba Boy!

Last Night

First, let me repeat that my silver Vilai socks with silver in them are incredibly pretty. Even dudes think so. I am really enjoying this pattern. Go Cookie A.

Last night a friend of my son's came over to pick yarn for some fingerless gloves. I thought he'd go for plain black or brown, but he chose a really pretty one that I'd bought with no real idea of what to do with it, the first time we went to the Fibers store in Brenham. That's it at right, GGH Magica. It makes long stripes and is worsted weight. It should be suitably "manly" but interesting. We chose the now-classic Dashing on Knitty. I think with just a few cables, the design will look good using this fun yarn. I'm real happy to get to use this yarn, and pleased that a teen actually ASKED for me to knit something for them. It's been a while since my kids asked, and besides, all they want is solid black (Ravelry link).

Actually, I gave away the set of mitts I'd made to test an easy pattern to share with the Mensa folks to the kid who works in the music shop we frequent, so that is two. The student who really took off from that course is churning those out now, for all her little high school friends. (The pattern was loosely based on one I found on the Internet, but now I have lost the original--I don't feel comfortable sharing the pattern online because it is just slightly modified from the original.) I guess I should make my own easy pattern and post it. These were knitted flat and seamed, and really are a good beginner pattern to practice knit and purl patterns on. Hmm. I am digressing again.

The other thing I wanted to mention was that last night I went through the latest Knitter's magazine before I went to sleep. I've probably mentioned before that the last couple of years I haven't found much I actually wanted to make in that magazine--they have items with interesting techniques, but that look either uncomfortable or unflattering, so I don't consider them (though I enjoy reading all the interesting articles). However, I found a couple of things that I quite liked in this one, especially some patterns using intarsia and self-striping yarns. Finally, something I actually LIKE using intarsia. There are afghans and pillows, plus a couple of nice sweaters--a brown textured cardigan that is really fun-looking, for example. Sigh, I wish I'd write these reviews WITH the magazine, so I could be more descriptive. But hey, at least I posted something!

New Socks,So I Have Content!

Sorry I've been blogless for a couple of weeks--it's nothing personal, but I really didn't have a lot of knitting to chit-chat about, and I have been really, really tired after work. Had a lot of eyestrain, too, which may have been why the knitting slowed down. However, a new set of glasses has helped with the eyestrain, and a bit more down time has enabled me to get some knitting to show you. Here are my retro glasses. I guess one will love them or hate them, but I think they are interesting, and I sure see better now!


So, I mentioned socks. I finished the secret Koi pair and hereby decree that following the directions correctly made a MUCH nicer sock. I may well re-do the first sock at some point. I wish I could show them to you, but they have to stay under wraps. I love the way the heel on them came out. It uses a linen stitch kind of pattern, and that really set off the Koi colorway well. I hope the sock pattern gets published soon so you can give the pattern a try!

I decided I had a real hankering to make something out of the Cookie A Sock Innovation book. So I just paged through it, realized that I liked nearly every pattern, and randomly picked out. I chose Vilai. Then I perused my (limited) selection of solid and semi-solid sock yarns (90% of what I have is of the multi-colored-and-doesn't-look-good-with-complex-patterns variety). I decided that my beautiful Tempted Hand Painted Glam Grrl yarn in Moonlight (a silvery gray) would be fun. This yarn has real silver in it, like the Dream in color Starry, and also some silk. I am down to the heel and this is how one side of it looks so far:

That is what will show on the sides of the legs. The pattern that goes in the front and back is a bit challenging to do (features a cable with stitches held in the front and back), but I think it is really pretty:

This pattern has a 28-row repeat, so I have to look at the graph all the time to do it. Of course my printer is messed up again, so I can't make a photocopy (and I worked from home all week, so can't even borrow the one at work yet!). For that reason, yesterday, I decided to start a simpler and more portable sock. I chose my newest acquisition, which is part of the Intention Yarn sock club (I forget its exact name). Lime and Violet make the yarn, though. This installment is called Simplicity, and I just loved the woodsy colors as soon as I saw it. The yarn reminds me of being deep in the woods, with lots of trees, plants and moss, but every once in a while a sudden glimpse of sky (there are random tiny blips of blue in the yarn).



I really, really like this yarn. It's that highly twisted merino base that I love so much. It feels so soft it's hard to believe it's 100% wool, but it is. I'll be keeping this in my bag for school bus and waiting in line knitting, but will work on the silvery one every chance I get. These are going to be really beautiful, elegant socks. The others I think I will rib the top of, and wear them all the time this winter. Nice, basic socks.

I am taking a wee break from finishing the Andromeda shawl, but figure I'll get back to it next week and finish that one right up.

I made it back to the yarn shop for the first time in a few weeks (I have had meetings, interviews, kid events and YOU NAME IT interrupting my prized knitting community time!), and people said the shawl was looking pretty good. I just hope it blocks out a bit bigger!

One more thing: I got that new reversible knitting book last night but haven't had enough of a chance to go over it yet to review it. At first glance it looks like there are some VERY interesting cables and double knitting techniques, and some really weird patterns, with a couple of very COOL patterns. I will try to write more about it later.

Hope you are all well. We have finally broken the drought pattern here, so there are a lot of cozy, rainy knitting opportunities and cooler weather that has let me break out my recently completed projects. All good!

Not Much Knitting, but Some Thinking of Knitting

It's a busy time of year, so I haven't gotten as much knitting time in as usual. I haven't been to the yarn shop, and I went on a mini-vacation over the weekend where I did more beach combing than knitting. Not a bad thing to do, of course!

I have knit a bit on my second mysterious Koi sock. I have new directions for the second one, so we'll see if this one comes out right! I have already received some lovely beaded stitch markers from the pattern designer as a thank you, so I do want to actually test the directions I helped with! It would be nice, huh?

I also got to the edging, finally, on my Andromeda shawl. Interestingly, it's the hardest part, and has a lot of symbols I have never seen before. Naturally, the rest of the shawl has written out instructions, but not the edging! (Unless I lost it when my printer got everything out of order due to not having a paper feed tray, which IS a possibility.) And I could not find a legend to explain some of the abbreviations (I figured out that one was K2tog in garter stitch and another was knit in front and back in garter stitch, but by trial and error). I had to figure out a few things and read a fairly complex chart, but persevered and now have half the edging done. I decided that the pattern is at least a "medium" in difficulty!

Because the shawl ends in points (see photo--sorry to steal the one off the pattern page, but you can't see it on mine yet 'cause it's not blocked and I sincerely doubt it will be that big when it IS blocked) you have to attach the yarn at various points, then bind off and reattach it. That leaves lots of little ends! Mostly I am proud that I got it all straightened out and arranged such that I think it will resemble the picture fairly closely, only much more colorful and with much thinner yarn.

One thing that helped, once I realized I'd have to be changing which end of the needle I'd be working on, was to put the second half of the shawl on a holder while I worked the first half of the edging. That made it a little easier to manipulate the stitches.

Speaking of Thinking, and Shawls...An Edging Question

One of the readers of this blog (which I originally typed as "blob"), landofmisfitknits, asked me on Ravelry for some ideas for other edgings to try out on Dianna, because she'd like to make one like mine, but doesn't have access to a copy of the Knitting on the Edge book. I suggested that her library might have the Barbara Walker treasury series or the Harmony Guides, and I found a website with links to knitted lace edgings. Hey I should share it with you so, go here to see if any of them are any good--I was working so I didn't check. But, if any of you have any ideas for online resources or other books she might check into, please share! I know that my books on Shetland lace and other shawl books have a few, too. That Heirloom Knitting book from England is wonderful, but expensive and takes a while to show up. What are your favorite edging sources?

I did notice that there are a LOT of pages on the Web about how to attach a knitted-on edging, so if you decide you want to do that to a shawl like mine, you will be able to find plenty of help by just searching for the right terms ("knitted edging" should do it). Remember, you can either attach an edging to live stitches OR directly to an edge--you just have to try to get the right number of rows so that you don't pucker the knitting or make a ruffle. Luckily, blocking can be quite forgiving!

OK, as rambly and imprecise as this is, you'd never peg me for an editor or technical writer, but let's just call this a creative writing exercise and forgive me. I'll try to write a bit more often in the next week or two--I think work may be less busy, but I have evening engagements for many, many days in a row now!

PS: If any of my old Bluebonnet friends are reading, I miss you and hope you keep in touch while I am not over there much!