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!

Perhaps Less Successful

But first, here are a couple more photos of the Dianna2 shawl, which John-Francis took at the yarn shop. I have a brighter one, but selected the wrong photo. I have to go cook, so no time to re-load. But doesn't it look nice?

And here it is artistically styled to look fashion-fresh! Ohh la la. Underneath it is a sweater I knitted one of in red back in 2006, but in black it's hard to see.

Here is my less successful item. This is Andromeda in Koi after almost two charts of the pattern. As you can see, even stretched out it's hard to find the pattern among the colors. I suspected this would happen. I also think the original pattern used two laceweight yarns held together, so it came out fairly large. I think this one won't be very big. But that's OK. I think it will make a cute shoulder shawl worn with a crisp white shirt, so I won't worry about the pattern. It's going fast, so I should have time to try something else with the remaining laceweight! Maybe a garter-stitch lace stole from Victorian Lace today with two strands held together. That might blend the colors even more. I'll give it a try.


And here's a bit of eye candy. Andrea from the yarn shop spent a month in Oregon and while there bought a lot of yarn, but none for herself. She brought it back and resold it to people here. That is a way to get stuff you can't find locally! I was the last person to get offered anything, so there wasn't much choice. Luckily I liked this one a lot. It is Royale Hare yarn in colorway Muirwoods Moss. Bright greens and subdued blue/green. It's merino and has that tight twist I enjoy in sock yarn. I also bought a pattern, Lacewing from KnitSpot. It has a horizontally knit border that looked fun.

Well, must go make dinner, since my lovely spouse is home. Yes, I DO sometimes do something other than knit and type!

Worth the Effort, I Think

I do think this project was well worth the time and effort involved in making it. Here's Dianna 2's "glamour" shot, waving in the breeze on the redbud tree in my front yard. The original photo of the shawl the pattern designer made (Ravelry link) was like this, so I kind of re-created it.
This shot shows the border a bit better. I sure like this little border pattern. The giant holes made by the quadruple YOs just look cool to me! And if you click on the photo below, you can see how the beads on the points shine in the light. The border really ties all the colors in the yarn together, so I am pleased as punch with it.

In this photo you can see that, not only am I growing out my hair, but I put a picot hem on the top edge. I tried the i-cord edging (which I really would have preferred) but it was too tight, even when I used a larger needle. So, instead I picked up 3 stitches per every two slip stitches on the top border, and knit 4 rows of stockinette, then did K3, YO, K2tog for a row, followed by 4 rows of stockinette. I folded the edge on the YO row, then sewed down the live stitches on the wrong side, so it is nice and stretchy, but looks finished
.
It's quite big, and I think even after the blocking "relaxes" a little, it will be long enough to actually keep my arms warm if I wear it in chilly rooms, etc. That is why I made it 18 repeats long. I wanted to be actually warm, and the other one I made was still a bit short for me. I sure enjoyed twirling around with this shawl. Whee.


I am still twirling here, which is why it is a little blurry. I wish I could have gotten images of it flashing in the light. It really looks cool in light.


I thought I'd also share a photo of the shawl blocking. I got a second set of blocking mats from KnitPicks, and it looks like they will handle most any shawl I'd make--this is about as big as I will ever go, I hope! I used pins at the top edge, giving a slight scalloping. On the sides I threaded blocking wires through each point, and that gave a nice, straight edge. This shot makes it clear that the edging covered exactly one repeat of the yarn, which is pretty neat!


Now that Dianna 2 is done, I am knitting something else. Still another shawl. I did start Andromeda with my Koi lace yarn. I started it on a long bus ride to a high school football game last night and as of today I am into chart 2 of the pattern. The yarn is quite colorful, but I think the patterning will come through. We will see. I hope to take some pictures tomorrow and share them with you.

I am resting this evening after that long ride with the high school band students, so more knitting will happen. I hope this post made some sense--I sure am tired! I even had to leave the yarn shop this afternoon because I felt like I was going to fall asleep in a room full of chatting, laughing, hard-knitting people. I'll have to share this week a photo of the yarn my friend Andrea brought back from Oregon that I bought from her (she brought a whole bunch of indie dyer and other unique yarns back from her trip and sold it, and some patterns, to her friends!).

In a couple of weeks there will be a fashion show at the shop, and everyone will share all their projects, mostly lace shawls. A couple of the people have REALLY done a lot of projects, so that will be fun. I hope to have photos! I should be more awake.

Some Fine Looking Knitting

You haven't heard from me in a long time, or perhaps just a week, which I am not sure whether it's a long time or not. I admit a lot of the reason is that I was busy with getting the college boy settled and working my little buns off, but another reason is that I was knitting away! And look, here is the result--Dianna2 with all its squares complete and over half of a lace border applied!

I debated what to do with the edges of this. I really don't like them unfinished. I decided a modest lace border would look good on the sides, but I think I will go with the i-cord edging on the flat side, because without it, the stockinette tries so hard to curl up. I will be able to block the points of the lace and the i-cord edging very nicely, I think.

The border you see before is from Epstein's Knitting on the Edge book. The illustration did not do this simple pattern justice at all! You could not see the lovely fagoting nor the very cool extra-large holes in the points. They are made with four yarn overs, so you know those are big holes! The little extra touch of beads in the points adds just enough sparkle to tie the edging in with the rest of the shawl.

I am pleased with this so far, and predict it will be pretty spectacular when blocked. I am also glad that I added the edging, since someone else made the Dianna shawl in the same darn yarn I did! Mine's a lot bigger. I hope it really gets bigger with blocking, though, because even with 17 rows, it isn't very big. I need it to cover my arms to keep me warm in air conditioned rooms, ya see.

So, what is this gorgeous thing? It's the sock that I finished today. I had a lot of time to knit at work this week, watching my little projects churn through their publishing process. I started to get excited when I saw how much fun the patterning was on the heel, then when I started on the foot I was totally thrilled with how the slip stitching turned consistent, and the black spiraled up.

See how it starts out gray, then ends up red? Cool. the foot looks fine (I will show it more when I do the other sock, no doubt), but the leg really shines. I sure hope the other sock ends up the same. I like how the slip stitching in the heel continues up the leg, and I also kept it going in the ribbing (there are 10 rows of K1P1 ribbing at the top, so the edge won't curl.

I have to say I love the yarn, though because it has cashmere in it, there isn't too much. I hope I didn't make the legs too long (they are just 5 inches, though). To remind you, the yarn is Handmaiden Casbah in Loopiefied, and the pattern is based on Wendy Johnson's basic toe-up slip-stitch heel sock, with a K1 P3 slip stitch pattern.

I'll try to post more this week, since I am thinking of all sorts of things, just haven't had time to type them. I may do a test knit for my friend Jodie, too, which will be fun. The only bad thing is I won't be able to show it to you! Wah!

All rightee, I need to go read other people's blogs now! Think of me as high school starts, which means knitting on the school bus will commence again on Friday (a LONG bus ride).

Clearly Koi!

I have two fine and fun things to show you today, both of which I am quite excited about. So excited that I am blogging even though I am really tired of typing today!

First, you see some very pretty yarn. This is my special, made just for me, yarn that Ray at Knitivity made for me. It's two skeins of his DuraLace yarn, and one skein of his Down Home Socks yarn. They were dyed at the same time, so they match perfectly. Do click on the close-up to see what it looks like. These are a weird combo of colors, but I just love them together!


Here is what inspired the colorway, a t-shirt that my husband got me from Threadless, our favorite shirt source. Isn't it a cool image? The colors are very saturated and smooshy. I love fish, especially Koi. Ray did a great job on this yarn, and I am not just saying it because he has become my friend over the past couple of years--this is very pretty yarn, not too intense, not too pastel. Delicious.

I know I am going to make some wonderful socks out of the sock yarn, but I am thinking hard about what lace project to make with the laceweight. I saw a fairly simple rectangular stole in Victorian Lace Today that someone made, that has a fancy edge. Maybe that will not get overwhelmed by all the colors...we'll see. Mostly I am just carrying the yarn around with me and swooning. Thanks, Ray!

Next you see where I currently am on the Dianna2 shawl. Check out those needles! I got some of the new KnitPicks clear ones! They are called Zephyr and the name fits. I must say that I have been pleasantly surprised at how much I like them. Why, you ask?

1. They are not too slippery, not too grippy. They will be great for lace, I predict.
2. They bend a little. It makes doing difficult stitches easier, somehow.
3. They are very pointy. I like pointy needles. Again, makes lace stuff easy.
4. I love this: they are SILENT. It makes NO noise to knit with them. It's eerie!
5. They are INVISIBLE. Clear, even. I love how the other side of the yarn looks through the needle, and how yarn looks through it. Just plain fun.

These don't go smaller than size 4, but that's fine. I really like the wooden ones for socks. If you can do it, get yourself a pair of these in your favorite size, and give them a try. You might like them, too. I honestly didn't think I'd be as fond of these needles as I am. Usually I don't like plastic much, but this is pretty and feels good.

I need to get a bit of knitting in this evening, so I will sign off. But, I just had to show you my new toys!

Beading Fun and A New Sock

Just so you will know that I always have my knitting with me, here's a photo of me and my husband, Lee, sitting on a couch waiting for a meeting at church. Note that I have Dianna2 in my lap. I've gotten a lot of it done today, thanks to a very long meeting!



I told you that I took a beading class yesterday, and here's the bracelet I made. I felt compelled to finish it last night, so I had to find decent light in the kitchen, and beaded away while listening to Beccano, Tuba Boy and friends playing Dungeons and Dragons. They were gracious about my parental presence.

The bracelet is a simple peyote stitch, using two beads at a time, except that the blue beads in the main part are larger triangular beads. They add a really neat sparkle. The border are silver-lined blue beads (size 15) and it was fun putting them on. I think I did a pretty good job for my first project. I learned how to start a new thread, how to put on the clasp, and how to securely end the beading project, so I think I can do another one. Maybe on Tuesday I will have time to start the yellow and black one for Southwestern University.

I got a bunch of beads and supplies, but not any more clasps, so hopefully I will be able to pick some up some one evening, though it's a busy week coming up. I have patterns for a couple of variants on these bracelets, so I can have fun with them. And now maybe I can move on and try more projects, when I am not knitting, which of course is MUCH more important.

Speaking of which, here's my newest sock:

The yarn is Handmaiden Casbah, which has some cashmere in it, and is a sort of thick fingering weight. The colorway is Loopiefied, which is a tribute to, I think, last year's Loopy Ewe anniversary (I didn't get this year's package, but happy third anniversary to them!). The pattern is one I used in a sock quite a few years ago. I have not put that one on Ravelry, but I do like it. It's 3 purls then a knit, which is slipped every other row. I like how it breaks up the patterning. There are only 375 yards in this yarn, so I will make the socks fairly short. and since they are toe up, it won't be too hard to adjust the ending if I have to.

I'm concentrating my knitting on the Dianna2 shawl, though. I am on row 15, and plan to make it 17 rows long, which should take me partially into my third skein. Then I will figure out whether I want to do the i-cord edging or the small pointed edging I found. I may try both.

There, two posts in two days! If you don't hear from me for a while, remember my work is busy and I have a bunch of other meetings this week, plus getting ready for Tuba Boy to go to college!

PS: I forgot to add that pretty soon my custom yarn from Ray at Knitivity will be arriving. So I will have to blog to show you that! It's sock and laceweight in colors to match my cool Koi t-shirt, and from the preview I saw before it was skeined up, it's going to be beautiful!

A Lull

It's been a little quiet here, because while I have stuff to say, I am too tired and sinus-y to type it. I am sure that will pass! Here's a photo of my pansy Tidy Tote that John-Francis made me. You'd never know it was a cat litter container at heart!

I'm getting in the groove for a much more intense work environment than I've had in a couple of years (other than the 3 month job from you know where). So I get too tired to type in the evenings.

And this weekend I knitted a lot, when I didn't have a major sinus issue. The shawl is to where it takes a day to do a row, but it's up to row 13! The colors are really balancing nicely. It will just be a while before it is done!

I have had to sit and wait while files are loading or compiling a bit lately, so my poor Hopscotch sock actually grew. I do need to finish that thing up! I'm halfway down the foot, so the end is in sight.

If you have not seen the fall 2009 issue of Interweave Knits and are a fan of cables, I encourage you to give it a look (here's the link to the preview). There are a couple of really nice cabled projects, as well as some rustic lace ones. I definitely want to make the one with the slanting cables, Slanting Gretel. I also enjoyed the articles on yarn making in the US and the features on American yarns. It's nice to know we still have some, while at the same time appreciating the yarns I can get from all over the world!

The fall Vogue Knitting also came, and while I didn't get overly excited, there were a couple of things I liked.

Nothing witty or funny to say today. My head hurts too much. Maybe I'll be more lively later!

Class with Cookie A

My classmate was finally able to send me the photo of me and Cookie A, but since I was waiting for a very slow process to finish at work, I figured I should take this time to write it up, before Saturday became a completely faded memory. So, this post was photo-less for a while. But, now here it is, all fixed. Look, it's me and her. I am labeled so you can tell it's me.

So, Cookie (aurhor of a recent knitting book, designer of some of the most popular socks ever, Monkey, and at one time a blogger, though I don't know if she still is doing that) taught a whole bunch of classes at Austin LYS Hill Country Weavers last week, and I wanted to meet her, but knew how to do all the stuff she was teaching (toe-up socks, etc.). Of course, I figured she would have tips and tidbits I'd find useful in all of the classes, just because she knows so much about socks and knitting in general. But I picked the class on Intuitive Chart Reading, because I'd hoped it would help me learn to make my own charts for things.

It did not help that I was late to the class, through no fault of my own, and I totally missed the part on reading lace charts. That's OK, I am already an intuitive lace chart reader--I am way more comfortable with charts than with written instructions, and I no longer think what I am doing, just do what the picture says (YO, K2tog, SKKP, etc.) without internally translating. All that slows me down, early on, is counting spaces. But once I am established, I don't do that too often, either. I just go to the right spot, relative to the previous row.

I did enjoy the part I heard all of, which was about reading cable charts. I haven't done as much of that, and still spend a lot of time translating each diagram into what I need to do before I knit it. After going over the various types of charts, and practicing interpreting them, I realize that I'll be much more natural next time I need to read a cable chart. So, the class was worth it for me.

Actually just the words, "Be Right Back," made the class worth it. This is how you remember that to do a right cable, you put the stitches on the holder in the back. I will never forget this, now! (The whole phrase she taught us was something about "I left it out front, and will be right back" but I'm paraphrasing.) Handy, handy mnemonic that is!

I met a few nice folks in the class, which is always half the fun, plus my friend Marcia was in it with me. Cookie A is pretty much exactly like I thought she'd be, and was great to talk to. She spent a lot of time coloring in my Dianna lace motif pattern to try to make it a little more sensible. I was really relieved when she took a look at it and said it sucked, because I was afraid I was just a bad chart interpreter when I had so much trouble with that one at first! We both grant that the chart works; it's just not intuitive. On the other hand, it is clear what the designer was intending to do with the chart, which is make it look like how it comes out, and that's commendable.

So, other than traffic issues, I had a nice time at the class, and I was relieved to get another skein of the yarn for Dianna #2! All's well in the knitting world!

What a Doof! I Forgot to Post Finished Photos!

Ha ha, I am sure one silly girl. I wrote the whole post about my second Dianna shawl, then went to look at the blog and realized I never posted the finished first item! Well, here are those photos, thanks to John-Francis, who took them for me on Wednesday.



I laugh every time I look at my face in this photo (shows up better if you click on it)! But, I like the picture all in all, the shawl with all the yarn around it. At least you can get the idea of what size the shawl ended up. It's not too small, but I think I'd like one a little larger (hence the third skein on the second version).

And below is what it looks like on, which isn't too bad at all. You can see that I blocked a little scallop in the edges.

Sigh, there sure are a lot of photos of my backside these days, with me modeling so many shawls.

I gave the completed shawl to Susan, the recipient, today. She seemed very happy, and the shawl got many compliments. I am really happy with the project, though the colors are more subdued than I'd hoped. They are perfect for Susan, though! I think everyone benefits here!

New Dianna and Things My Friends Make

I told you I was going to start another Dianna, and indeed I did. I like this extra perky colorway a lot more, and I have three skeins of the Noro Kureyon sock yarn now, thanks to another visit to Hill Country Weavers this weekend. That means I can make another row of squares, and I hope even do a bit of a border on this shawl. I think it would look good with one. The designer of the shawl made a border of the leaf motif, which I saw on the Ravelry group for stuff (MaweLucky Love, if you are interested). I think I'd do something less complex.
I'm so happy with these colors and really thrilled with the cool beads (which show up fairly well in the photo below). They are amber/gold with sky blue lining, which ends up looking sort of electric green. They are quite quirky, just like the yarn colorway. This thing is so darned perky that whatever I work on next will probably bore me to death! I guess I'll worry about that when I get to it--really need to finish those works in progress, don't you think?



Below is yet another colorway in this yarn. I am amused at how I keep buying this stuff, even though it is scratchy and has knots in it. I just like the colors. The one below is one of the new ones, S255. I got two so that I could make some kind of shawl out of it. I think, hope, believe, that I will not make yet another Dianna! Thinking a modular vest might be good...

So, the reason I went to the far-away yarn shop on Saturday was that Cookie A was doing workshops there, and I had signed up for one. I will post about that event tomorrow, I hope--I am waiting for one of my classmates to send me the photo she took of me and Cookie.

It was hard to drag myself away from Bluebonnet on Saturday, though, because there were all sorts of fun people there and I was really enjoying myself. There's just no substitute for all the friends I have at Ye Olde Yarn Shoppe! And they did have new sock yarn (which made listening to the devotees of that yarn scrap and bargain with each other quite an amusing spectator sport--both of them are reading this now and thinking, "I wasn't that bad, was I?"). I, of course, did something embarrassing--I picked out my yarn and forgot to pay for it. So I won't photograph it or put it up on Ravelry until I do so next time I'm there!

I gave John-Francis, the Dude of Chicks with Sticks, some fabric and a pail of cat litter. Why? Because he is making really handy knitting totes out of them! It's as fascinating as his Yarn Caddy 300, I assure you. I like how sturdy they are--your pointy objects won't poke through like they do on fabric or plastic totes. Plus I get my wonderful pansy fabric, and he gets a lot of free cat litter (I think his garage is rapidly filling with litter removed from pails that he has turned into totes.) Yeah, I'll have to keep him around, even though I did meet another dude knitter at a dinner with Lee's coworkers Friday night. I doubt this other dude is also trained in tailoring. That would be just too much!

Oh, and speaking of knitting containers, do check out the international knitting bag project that Shells and Umme (my blog friends!) are doing together. I do want to get one of the zippered bags for sock projects. I am awaiting my next big ole paycheck (I am now working more consistently--yay). Also, wow, that homespun on the Etsy site is yummy. I have only knit one thing on handspun yarn, my wedding shawl. I want to try some of that colorful stuff.

Well, see, I had plenty to talk about without going on about that Cookie A class, so it can wait until I get the photo!

Tantalizing Dianna Preview

I like looking at the leaves so much that I am subjecting you to yet another close-up of the Dianna shawl. Even unblocked, I think they look cool.


And here she is, finished but not blocked. It used up nearly all of two skeins of Noro Kureyon sock, so I could not do a border even if I'd wanted to. I may order a third skein of my other colorway to do a border on the second one. Thinking about it...

I like how the beads catch the light from the camera flash in the photo below, and I like how the television shines through the leaves. Obviously we didn't go crazy and try to take pictures anywhere nice. I don't seem to do that much lately.



Here, to make your eyes go "ouch," I posed Dianna on the quilt she is being traded for. Seems like a nice thing to do. (We will be hanging the quilt up as soon as we get a curtain rod). This is 15 repeats of the pattern, by the way. I am hoping it gets a big bigger in blocking, but maybe not by as much as the Lady Jane vest did!



My plan is to block it tonight, after I go to a potentially tedious meeting. That should bring more fun into a day that had a lot of hard work (but that's fine--everyone was in good spirits). I will show you some stuff I have in mind for a special project, if I get a chance to post tomorrow. We hope to have dinner with friends from graduate school tomorrow night, so I may not get to post!

Here's Lady Jane Plus a Lovely Quilt!

All rightee, here are the promised photos of the blocked Lady Jane vest. It still fits nicely, but is longer than I thought it would be.

This first picture, above, shows you what disappointed me in the project the most--the sleeves really have no clue what they are supposed to be doing. They don't act like cap sleeves, they don't act like "sleeveless," they don't act like anything other than floppy fabric. I can't figure out what the heck to do with the sleeves. The other part I don't like is that where the v-neck starts there are loose stitches, or it's pulled away from the cabling...I dunno. I am going to have to fix that somehow. I don't know what to do about the sleeves.

It's also a bit longer than I thought it would be. That is not the end of the world, though, and the length is not that bad. But, I am a bit disappointed in this project. Which brought me a dilemma. My friend at church wanted me to make her a vest in exchange for a quilt. I was going to make the second Lady Jane out of the yellowish KnitPicks yarn for her.

But I thought and thought about it. I don't think she'd actually LIKE the vest. Then, look, she finished my quilt:


It's very nice! She used a strip quilting technique, and did a great job on it. The colors will go very well in our media room, too. I am enjoying looking at it sitting right where it is in the photo. I didn't want to trade this nice quilt for a cruddy vest.


Here you see a close-up or the quilting, which is a nice spiral pattern, using a long-arm machine. That sure works better than my machine quilting on my regular ole sewing machine (yes, readers, I did make quilts in my distant past). She used gold thread, which looks very nice on the back, which is the indigo fabric.

So, I decided to offer the friend my Dianna shawl instead of a vest. I happened to have it with me and showed it to her. Hooray, she loved it! Yes, that means I will give up the Dianna shawl, but since I happen to own to more balls of the same yarn, I realize that I can make another one. And I think I will! I think for myself I'd like a more brightly colored version, to wear at the office to keep me warm. It wouldn't need to match anything.

So, Dianna will go live with my friend, and I'll make another one. And I won't have to make another Lady Jane. That's actually quite a relief for me. One of those is enough. I liked the yarn, and I liked the cable and lace patterns. But, one is fine. I'll single crochet around the neck and arms and that may help.

I am going to sign off now and finish the final half triangles on Dianna. I'll have pre-blocking and maybe blocking photos for you next!

Found Some Cute Socks

Just a quick check in. Not much knitting has been going on because I have been working in an office instead of at home. Slows ya down. I am almost done with the next-to-last row I am going to do on Dianna, so that's about 16 more squares and a bunch of half squares left. I do like doing this project. And I swear I will next finish my unfinished lace projects...before starting something new, which I also swear or affirm will be blue.

I did get a new inspiration. I was on Ravelry looking at new projects that came through, and there were some VERY interesting socks. They are called Boxcar Socks and are by Carissa Knits. Go look at them!

Now that you are back, aren't those cool? I love interesting shapes in socks. Of course I have loads of skeins of yarn that would make really cool hexagons, so I am itching to do this one!

I guess when Dianna is done I will quickly sit there and knit that last couple of hours on the languishing Hopscotches (which I have to fix an error in--not good trying to do slip stitch patterns in a darkened room, drinking wine).

That's it for me. I hope to finally get those finished photos of the purple vest done--it is sitting in my bathroom waiting for me to do so. Then I will post pix!

Dianna Grows

Well, I sat around all day today and most of yesterday waiting for some emergency work. Today's never arrived, so I got all but one square of tier 12 done on Dianna (I took the picture at this point because all the sqares are on one part of the needle and I can straighten it out.

It doesn't look very big in the picture, but the squares really stretch out, so I know it's going to be a lot bigger than it looks now. I am fairly happy with how the colors are coming along, and much happier with this second skein of Kureyon sock yarn. I am over halfway through and no knots so far. At this point, a knot would not be the end of the world anyway.

I am currently thinking of doing about 15 tiers of squares. I hope that will give me enough to do the half squares and perhaps a three-needle bind off, like Marcia at the yarn shop suggested. That might make an interesting and neat edge. A lot of people are making little points along the edges of each square, but I think I'd rather do some kind of edging.

This is just an extra close-up of the work in progress. It actually looks better on the reverse side, which is the back, in the unblocked state. You can see the green beads better in this one. Well, I think this will be pretty.

That's all the knitting I have done for the past few days, other than slowly working on Hopscotch socks when I am somewhere I can't do beads. I didn't get to spend as much time as usual at the yarn shop on Saturday, which is too bad, since all the fun kids were there. (Or at least a lot of them!)

Sigh, I don't have any wise words or interesting advice today. Just a bit irritated that I waited all day for work that still hasn't come in yet. I hope I am not expected to do it in my sleep.

Succumbed to New Yarn Yearning

Hmm, maybe New Yarn Yearning, or NYY, is a new diagnosis knitters may have. I seem to have succumbed to NYY badly with respect to the yarn I saw at Hill Country Weavers a week or two ago and could not stop thinking about.



So yesterday, since my work is on some interminable hold, Beccano and I journeyed to south Austin and I got some yarn. We had a nice trip, even though there was a huge delay due to an accident--we listened to music and he analyzed it for me (including telling me exactly what guitars members of various bands use, etc.).

Above is the one I really wanted. I ended up not getting my favorite color, which was a red, just because I already have a lot of red laceweight. This is a natural brown, so it has lots of bits of other colors in it. The brand is Isager Strik, from Denmark (well, I do have one reader who can read the website, but she probably already has). This yarn, Tvinni Tweed, is so lovely, though. Not sure what kind of wool it is, but it feels nothern, like Shetland stuff. I see another shawl from it, though it could be a nice cardigan, too. I have two skeins, so more than a thousand yards. I just have never seen yarn quite like this, so I had to get it. The photo shows a very realistic depiction of the color.
Beccano begged me to get the one above, too. He loves the color, which is also very accurate in the photo, for once. It is called Almond Green, but it is really a heather of a lot of subtle colors. I would like to make a lace stole from this. It is softer than the other, and is Højlandsgarn, whatever that means. It is made in Scotland, though, which hints it might be Shetland yarn, too. But I think it says merino on it (or the other one does--I am not at home so I can't check). I have three skeins of this, which is about 900 yards or so.
Finally, here is the Knit Picks yarn I kept forgetting to show you, for a second Lady Janevest. I will probably do a swatch to make sure it blocks, over the weekend. The colorway is Creme Brulee (with an accent mark I am too lazy to put in, but hey, didn't my Danish look good?). It looks pretty yellow to me.

Speaking of Lady Jane, the author contacted me on Ravelry and let me know that she put the binding off instructions in the pattern, so if you want to make Lady Jane, be sure you get the most current version of the pattern! I am going to be sure I have it for the second one! I promise to get a photo made of the final product on that one for you, maybe this evening.

My Dianna shawl is going great. I am on the 9th teir and it looks really, really cool. I am enjoying it greatly. It is complex enough to keep me on my toes, but easy enough I can mostly do it in public (unless there is WINE involved). I would like to do a KAL at the yarn shop on this, if they could get in some yarn with slow striping like a Noro sock yarn or JoJoland Melody. I guess you could make it in thicker yarn, but I am not sure how good it would look.

A Rumply Lady Jane

A long US holiday weekend meant lots of knitting time. So, even though I had a couple of ripping out episodes, I managed to finish Lady Jane yesterday. As you can see, it is very purple! You can also see that I didn't bother to fix my hair for the photos--I am as rumpled as the unblocked vest!

What we see here is before blocking. The arm area will look much better once it is all straightened out, and the bottom lace edge (inconveniently cut off by my kind photographer) really needed a good straightening out to look its best. I think it won't be quite as form fitting once the blocking is done.

As you can see, it's quite tunic length. Used a lot of yarn. I'd say I have about one of my ten skeins of yarn left, and the instructions called for 9, so they were right. I just always buy extra. That was helpful at the end when I was knitting the two sides of the front at the same time.

There were not too many challenges with this project, though the instructions sometimes left things to be desired, and I wish it were finished off a little more neatly. In fact, I may do a crochet edging around the neckline and sleeve edge, because it simply divides at the underarm, leaving an unattractive space at the bottom where a stitch stretches out. There is also a stretched-out spot where the cable divides for the neck. We'll see. I may decide it's OK the way it is.

I am not sure why the pattern called for a seed stitch (or moss stitch) shoulder edge. But, I put one on there. I also was not thrilled that the instructions called for knitting the back to a certain length (hard to measure on a vest with an irregular edge), then had you knit the front by stopping when you had a certain number of decreases. Sure enough, the fronts ended up an inch or more longer than the back, so I had to re-attach yarn and lengthen the back. This was fine, because I thought the back armholes looked too short.

A final odd thing about the pattern was that, at the end, the instructions tell you how to do a three-needle bind off on one shoulder. They never tell you to also do the other shoulder, nor what to do with the back of the neck stitches, which were waiting on holders along with the stitches for each side of the shoulder. I guess you are just supposed to figure it out. What I did was three-needle bind off the right shoulder, continue and bind off the neck edge in pattern, then keep going bringing in the second shoulder and three-needle binding it off. I hope that's what the author intended! (And before you suggest it, yes, I am going to contact her, and will let you know what she says--she has been very helpful so far. I actually think I may be the first person to finish the project.)

EDITED July 9: The author has kindly let me know that instructions for finishing are now in the newest version of the pattern, so make sure you get that version if you decide to do this pattern!

Here you can see how lumpy the bottom edging is. This is what I am going to have to knit a swatch of in the cotton blend I got for the second one of these, to be sure it will block out. It's a lovely pattern when straightened out, though!

I washed the garment right after these photos were taken, and the yarn bled a little, but not too much. I then just straightened it as well as I could and put pins along the bottom and arm edges, to try to get the cap sleeve effect that the straight shoulder edge is supposed to give. This morning the top half was dry, so I turned it over and hope the bottom dries in time to take it to the yarn shop this afternoon and show it to a friend who is going out of town.

And Now, a Word about Noro

When I finished Lady Jane, I worked a bit on the Dianna shawl. I am still having a little bit of entrelac confusion, but I got another tier done. Not without effort, however, because there I was knitting away on a blue section when, BAM, there was a knot in my Noro Kureyon Sock yarn and it suddenly turned BLACK. This did not make for a nice transition. I tried knitting along, but the motif where the color suddenly changed looked bad, and it made way too much dark stuff all together at what will be the bottom of the shawl. Ick. So, I ripped that out and wound through the skein of yarn until I hit another blue section. That was about 200 yards. Sigh. I just want the beginning to flow nicely. Dang that Noro and their knots! I know it is hand spun, but sheesh.

I figure as the shawl progresses, and there is more spacing between squares, I will be able to end one motif before a knot and start the next motif with another color and it won't look so wrong. I did notice that there is a lot more very dark stuff in this colorway than I thought--a lot of black and blackish green. I will try to not have them overlap too much, but we will have to see. I think this will be a darker shawl than I had imagined. Good thing I have two more much brighter skeins I could try again with if I wanted to.

Crochet Fun, and My New Favorite

I had a fun experience today at the yarn shoppe. When I got there, it was mostly just me and the owner, and we were looking at some old patterns and she spotted a crocheted scarf with ribbon wound through the rows of crochet. We decided to each make one, and had a lot of fun looking through all the Cotton Twist and Zen ribbon in the store. That's what the pattern called for. Then, I picked some other ribbon to make my brick red scarf, and she decided to use a different base yarn in black, but a nice pinky purple Zen ribbon as the weaving yarn.

I sat there and worked on mine all day, as I helped a lady with her knitting and talked to folks, while Pat went more slowly, since there were plenty of customers after noon. The fun part was that practically everyone who came in the store ended up buying yarn to make this scarf. We got a lot of yarn sold--enough for two white ones, a blue one and a green one that I can remember! It really shows how seeing a pattern being made can inspire sales. I finished mine this evening and will take it back to the shop for a sample, once I wear it tomorrow (it will be chilly enough to wear a scarf).

It was a lot of fun picking colors, and fun to make such a simple, yet effective project!

I've been working hard on Bridget, of course, and I am past the armhole shaping and last buttonhole, and moving toward the beginning of the collar! I am now hoping I have enough yarn to do the sleeves. At least the top of the front and back uses less yarn. As you can see, it most definitely is looking more and more like a cardigan.

The New Favorite

This picture shows a new pattern that popped up on Ravelry yesterday. It's called Dianna, and is by Jane Araujo, who has a blog in Portuguese. I even showed it to my old boss as the last thing I did on my work computer before I left! I think this is such a fun looking pattern--it's still not posted yet, but I am just dying to try this. It's like entrelac or mitered squares, but with lace. It looks perfect for a Jojoland, Noro or other yarn with slow color changes. I crack myself up when I fall in love with a pattern. It's such a fixation!

I'd type more, but I've been feeling a bit under the weather, so I am going to sleep. Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate. If you just got to enjoy Passover, I hope it was good, and if you are celebrating Ostara or something else, I hope it is a holiday with good food!