Exercises in Procrastination

Now here is an olllllllllllllllllld project.  I started this shawl in July 2011.  You may behold the cast on photo here.  It was just a diversion while I waited for more yarn to finish my Birthday Pi, so I abandoned it.  Then the next winter I picked it up while waiting on more yarn for Maplewing.  Then the next summer I picked it up after finishing my Aeolian and then dropped it to work on my Ravelympics project.

Sensing a theme?

Anyway, I finally took it up seriously last spring (that would be 2013, for those who have completely lost the plot) and knit until I got bored.  But this time I decided it was big enough and bound it off.  Yay.

PATTERN:  Dorothy, designed by my good friend Jane.  But I made it in laceweight instead of fingering because I am insane.

YARN: Jojoland Harmony (100% merino, 880 yds/50g skein) in the brilliantly-named colorway HC08.

NEEDLES: US 2/2.75mm

NOTES: I think I made eight repeats, but I'm really not sure.  Whatever.  It was big enough (about 60x32").  It has since gone to live with Aspen because orange is so not my color.

Land Speed Record

In just a week, I went from this:

to this:

YARN: Wollmeise Pure (100% superwash merino, 575 yds/150g skein), colorway WD Sabrina.  I used about 115g.

PATTERN: Golden Orchids by Aino Haikala.

NEEDLES: US 4/3.5mm (down from the US 6/4.0mm suggested by the pattern)

BEADS: Random ones given me by my friend Brittany.  Glass with foil lining, no idea about the size.

NOTES: An easy and straightforward knit.  I wouldn't recommend it for the absolute lace beginner, but otherwise have at it. This is going to live with my friend Wendy as thanks for making my wedding dress!

This and That

So I didn't end up finishing my third Camp Loopy project.  *sadface*  Which meant, of course, that come September first I dropped it like a rock in order to finish up the big version of Lapstrake.  (Which is live, now, by the way!  Go buy it!  50% off until September 30!)

Having finished Lapstrake, I immediately cast on for two NEW things, instead of working on one of my languishing WIPs.  Because that's how I roll.

The first is a Golden Orchids shawl for Wollmeise Withdrawal Madness Month, in my very oldest skein of Wollmeise.  (It's not that old.  I'm a late bloomer.)  Here, Gozer assists me by modeling for you (and looking very confused).

The second is a Plaid Jacket for a baby cousin of mine.  (I realize that the link is wholly useless, since it has no pictures and the only project listed is mine, but I will try to take good notes and pictures.)

And now, if you'll excuse me, it's back to Golden Orchids I go.

This, That, and the Other Thing

So you may or may not have been aware of this, but I'm getting married.  In, like, three weeks.  (WHY YES I AM PANICKING THANK YOU FOR ASKING)

My friend Wendy made me a dress, but of course I needed a shawl to go with it.  And Jane designed one for me!  Yay!

She kept coming up with designs and I was all "ooh I like that one," and then she sent me this one, saying "I think this could be THE ONE" and damned if she wasn't right.

This is a terrible photo taken at 2 AM because that's when I finished binding off.  Finished pictures later.  (I blocked it this afternoon, so I am actually ahead of the wedding-apparel game.  For now.)

In other news, I entered a few pieces in the county fair:

Why yes, that is my Maplewing that won Reserve Grand Champion.  (A friend of mine won Grand Champion, too.)  Go me.

And here are a few choice photos from our walk tonight--

The sunset reflecting off clouds to the south

For some reason this streetlight was on before all the others.  Neat effect.

Trumpet vine volunteer!

Whole Wheat Cardigan

And here it is, finally!  (I've been busy.  This "getting married" business is a lot of hassle.)

PATTERN: Whole Wheat Cardigan by Alexandra Charlotte Dafoe.  Size "46."  The quotation marks are because, well, there are some problematic aspects to the pattern.  There are numerous small errors, both in the form of mathematics and of typos, but that's not as bothersome as the fact that the 46" size, if knit to gauge and schematic, will give a sweater that is 49.75" around.  (This is without seam allowances, granted, but a three-inch seam allowance is a bit much.)  This in itself would not be problematic, but the pattern doesn't mention positive ease as a characteristic.  In fact, the pattern doesn't mention ease at all, so anyone knitting this would pick it up expecting zero ease.  Not almost four inches.

Here, this actually worked in my favor; I have a 48" bust (well, it's actually a little larger, but the standard 48" measurements fit my shoulders perfectly, so I just have negative ease in the bust or put in darts if I need them, but whatever), so making the 46" size as written gave me a perfect fit with about zero ease.  But you see how this could have unfortunate consequences for the knitter who does not check her measurements against the schematic.

YARN:  Shepherd's Wool DK (100% merino, 120yds/50g skein) in colorway "Lilac," approximately 6.5 skeins.

NEEDLES: US 7/4.5mm

MODIFICATIONS: To make the sweater hit at a more flattering point, I knit two inches of ribbing instead of the called-for four inches on the body.  I also shortened the sleeves because of my t-rex arms.  Otherwise knit as written.

Overall I am generally satisfied, but I doubt I'll be knitting a pattern from this designer again.  (I did message her with the errors I'd found and haven't heard anything back.  This was several weeks ago and no acknowledgement has been made, nor has the pattern been corrected.  Not impressed.)
 

Camp Loopy Mark Two

I'm a little discombobulated these days (planning a wedding will do that to you), so I'm not even telling you what I'm knitting for Camp Loopy until it's already done.  Whoops.

But anyway, the inspiration for project two was our favorite spot to vacation.  Mine is my hometown.  For example:

Just another day on the Palouse

(Follow the link for the photo credit and to see more beautiful pictures.)

There, much wheat is grown.  So naturally, I knit a Whole Wheat Cardigan.

Here is the left front, fetchingly posed with Gozer as a backdrop.

And here are both fronts and the back, on a pillow, as Gozer was unavailable.  (He must have been out eating yard mushrooms or something.)
 

As I mentioned above, the sweater is actually complete, but I'll leave all the details for a FO post.  I still need proper pictures.  I didn't even try with the Irishman; he always somehow makes me look deformed, as if I've hastily slapped my glass eye or prosthetic chin back on for the photo.

The Magic of Blocking

How this:

becomes this:

 So magical.

Lilaceous

Ravelry informs me that this, the Lilaceous Shawl by Derya Davenport, was my second finished object of 2013, which would make it the first object finished in our new home of New Mexico.  (In fact, I remember binding it off while we were still living in a hotel.  In the blocking photo below, you can see there are still unpacked boxes by the piano; I must have blocked it just before I went to visit my parents in Cyprus.  About which more later.)

Overall it was a quick and relatively easy knit. As I noted on my Ravelry page, some of the instructions weren't very clear.  Specifically, the construction is unusual (you begin with the central portion and then the three "wings" are knitted separately), and the way the designer oriented the pattern made no sense whatsoever to me.  The jury is out on whether the problem is hers or mine.

The yarn is Palouse Yarn Company Super Lace (75/25 wool/nylon, 1000yds/113g skein), with which I really enjoyed working.  (In fact, I have another two skeins still lurking in my stash.)  I don't know if it's the nylon or that it's on the tightly-spun side for laceweight, but the stitch definition is just beautiful.

It went off to live with my friend Brittany, because she deserves it.  And I went on to block more things.  (In fact, I blocked my Rose of New Mexico today.  But you won't get pictures of that one for a few more days.)

Happy Mothers' Day!

In honor of all the mothers, be they biological or spiritual, here is a picture of my own mom rocking out in her Mothers' Day present from last year:

Fir Cone Socks

When last we visited the Fir Cone socks, I was working on the leg of the first specimen, a gift for my boyfriend.

I have no memory whatsoever of finishing that sock or knitting the second, but I must have, see?

Ravelry informs me that I finished them November 9, 2012.  Good for me.

The yarn was Cherry Tree Hill "Sockittome" (which has apparently been discontinued?  A pity!) in "Java," a colorway chosen by the recipient himself.  It was nice, if a little splitty, but I think that was due to the needles I used.

It was my original intention to write up a pattern for these, but given the limitations of the medium (64 stitches gave me socks that fit a size 11 EEEEE foot), I never got around to it.  Maybe I will someday . . .

A Cautionary Tale

Never assume you know what the symbols mean.

On the other hand, at least it was twelve rows of mostly plain stockinette . . . 

I was knitting the whole time, I swear

It occurs to me that I haven't shown a lot of the things that I finished in my unanticipated hiatus, and that all two of you who read this might appreciate seeing how some of these things turned out.  (Especially given that I posted the starts but not the finishes.  I don't mean to be a tease.)

In that vein, I give to you the Aeolian wedding shawl I made for my friend Jennifer.

First, pre-blocking:

 A back view:

And then the full monty:

It came out beautifully, and Jen was very pleased.  (She wrote me the sweetest note.  I cried.)  As always, more details can be found on my Ravelry page.  (Hmmm, I should maybe link to that more often, huh?)

Round and Holey

So I belong to a Ravelry group that is hosting a "Round and Holey" KAL.  (I.e., knit a big old piece of lace in the round.)  Now, you know me and KALs, but in this case, I've wanted to knit a Rose of England for ages.  I had the pattern, I had the yarn, and, having finished Moyen Age and finally blocked that damn Maplewing, I had a hole in my schedule.  (Never mind the piece I'm designing for Heather.  I wasn't talking to that for a few days because I knew I needed to rip it out one final time.  But now I have the initial shaping finalized, so all I have to do is knit for a few inches.  It's good TV knitting.  It lives downstairs.)

So I cast on my Rose of England.  It is the white blobby thing you see in the sidebar.  Here are a few earlier iterations--

Chart A complete:

Chart B complete:

Chart C complete: 

And Chart D complete:

Gets blobbier by the minute!

Maplewing

Hey, remember my Maplewing?  Yeah, me neither.

I finished it more than two years ago, but life intervened in the way it does, and I didn't get around to blocking it until just the other day.

Want some pictures?  Oh I know you do.

Come here often?

You tease.

And the money shot:

And then off the pins:

 Yarn: Blue Ridge Yarn Silk Shimmer Lace (100% silk, 1000 yd/100g skein), 1.3 skeins, colorway "Dragon's Breath."  I really wish I could capture the colorway properly--it just glows in person.

Pattern: Maplewing, by Anne Hanson.  (Highly recommended.  Well-written and very easy.)

Needles: US 4/3.5mm

Notes: I could have done with a looser cast on (I used a regular knitted cast on), but it blocked out beautifully in the leaf pattern, so . . . eh, whatever.