Stash Toss!

Ever have the urge to go through your stash and just see what's IN there? I do!

And along the way, I decided to photograph some things that have hitherto escaped my lens. My stash page, it is enhanced.

A few years ago, I succumbed to a couple of KnitPicks lace samplers. I've knit with a few skeins and traded at least one away, but I still have quite a few kicking around. From the top: Shadow in Vineyard, Shimmer in Galaxy, Alpaca Cloud in Tide Pool. And this is far from all I have. I should get to knitting some more lace . . .




Also a few years ago, I was part of the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin' Sock Club. The yarns are lovely, I just never got around to knitting with (most of) them! Clubs just aren't for me; I work on too long and inflexible a timetable. They do, however, make for excellent eye candy. (Pictured: STR Lightweight Pepe Le Plume and Garden Daze.)


Then of course, there are the odds and ends of the stash--these next two were both gifts! Domy Heather and Diamond Yarn Lima:



Believe it or not, this isn't even everything I took pictures of today, but this post is long enough as it is. Perhaps I'll show off some more next time.

Big, Purple, and DONE

I finally blocked the Birthday Pi, and then finally got around to taking some pictures!

Here's a detail shot of the final motif and edging:


The center of the shawl:


And the full monty:


This thing is big--for perspective, that's a queen-size sheet it's blocked on.

And here are a few outside shots of the finished piece:

If I may confess, I've never seen much point in modeled lace photography. After all, what makes lace cool is the interplay between positive and negative space, the juxtaposition of light and dark:


Designers and magazines, of course, need clear shots of the finished product so that knitters know what they're getting. But those photos just aren't as interesting.



Granted, I'm no photographer, and the Irishman is terrible. (Why do you think I only have him take pictures when it's absolutely necessary?) But so often in modeled shots I find myself dwelling on the model rather than the knitting.


Not to mention that the best glimpse of the patterning and architecture of a lace piece comes from blocking photos--and magazines never print those!

This may be sour grapes, but nevertheless--aren't these pictures cool?

P.S. Anyone need a tablecloth?

Things on my Rav page

Things on my Rav page listed as WIPs despite being complete and just needing washing/blocking/photography: 2

Things on my Rav page listed as WIPs that, despite being active projects that I've worked on within the past week, have no photograph: 2

Things on my Rav page with pictures that reflect the status of the project approximately one year ago: 2

Things on my Rav page that are actually 100% complete except for a wash and yet have never had a photograph taken of them: 1

Conclusion: I would look like a much more productive knitter if I ever took a freakin' picture.

(Incidentally, I chose the sweater for TV knitting, and have finished a sleeve, the back, and one front. The other front is nearly done, which means that I have only to knit a sleeve and then I can start putting it together. Yay.)

The Manly Möbius

My friend Brandon and I were browsing a clothing store when he said—fondling a machine-made horror—“I should buy a scarf!” I said (the refrain of knitters everywhere), “Don't buy that; I can knit you one!” It had to be a möbius, since Brandon is a theoretical physicist, and it's snug and warm to keep his neck cozy while he bikes to and from campus.

YARN: For Brandon's möbius, I used Zhonghua Wool, a gift from a thoughtful friend who was living in China. Any heavy aran or light bulky-weight wool would do nicely for this pattern. (Or cast on more stitches to use worsted weight.) I suggest Mission Falls 1824, Lamb's Pride Bulky, or Malabrigo Twist.

SIZE: One size, approximately 6.5 inches long and 12.5 inches wide (doubled) when washed.

Thanks to Brandon, my möbius inspiration and model, and to SQ for the beautiful yarn!

This pattern is available for $4 USD through Ravelry.

Birthday Pi!

Jane of the Mawelucky Love Rav group is giving us all a treat--a surprise birthday pi shawl. The first clue was released on Pi Day (of course), the second on Tuesday, and the third is due today.

I'm using this beautiful Posh:


This photo is rather dark, but it's a mix of pretty purples with a grey/purple streak thrown in.

Here is a bad picture partway through Clue 1 (I'm slow):


I've never knit a circular shawl before, but I'm up for a challenge as always. You should come knit along with us!

Papyrus

I'm pleased to announce the release of a long-delayed but much loved pattern: Papyrus.

I can watch a pond for hours, fascinated by the ripples. There's always something surprising in living water, whether it be fish or flowers. This shawl was inspired by water and the things that dwell within—fishtails (do you see the koi?) dive below the stems of the lacy papyrus blossoms that trail away into nothing.

A top-down, triangle shawl knit in one piece, Papyrus is suitable for the advanced lace knitter and features patterned knitting on both sides. It is available via Ravelry for $6 (USD).

Papyrus requires approximately 600 yards of any laceweight or 950 yards of any fingering weight. The blue laceweight example shown used Knitpicks Shadow, colorways Jazz and Snorkel. The fingering weight example used Handmaiden Sea Silk, colorway Ivory.

Many thanks to Aspen, who not only took most of the pictures, but test-knit the pattern, creating the beautiful ivory shawl seen here.

Technical Stuffs

All my patterns are now linked in the sidebar (should you be filled with the burning desire to knit Mindless Socks. Or, come to think of it, just to read the patterns. Maybe I'm strange, but I like reading a well-written pattern, almost as much as I like knitting it. But anyway.)

(I use too many parentheses.)

For the present, I only offer automatic downloads via Ravelry, but if you'd like to purchase or obtain a pattern otherwise, just drop me an email at lanafactrix at gmail dot com. Each blog post contains info on pattern costs.

Herne is here

I'm proud to announce (finally!) the release of Herne!

Herne is named for a rabbit who belonged to dear friends--he probably wouldn’t have found much interest in the twiggy stems of the scarf, but he’d definitely have appreciated the leafy fronds that grow out of them.

Lacy, airy, and delicate, Herne is a quick and enjoyable knit. The pattern features both charts and written instructions. The scarf is worked in two halves and grafted. It is available for $5 (USD).

Thanks to the marvelous Nyx, I had way too many photos to include in the pattern. Some are up on Ravelry, and here are some of my favorites.

The Rav page linked above has the download link. Eeee!

Here There Be Dwagons

The baby sweater is finished! Here it is, blocking. (Complete with the Irishman's toes.)


And here is the finished product:

Yarn: Dale of Norway Baby Ull, about 1.5 skeins 8523 (green) and 0.5 skein 0090 (black). This color of green has been discontinued, unfortunately.

Pattern: "Baby's First Tattoo" from Stitch 'n Bitch Nation, size 3 months, 3/3.25mm needles.

Once again, I used intarsia for the motifs rather than embroidering them afterwards. Here's a closeup shot of the adorable dragon.

There was a moment of extreme panic when I realized I was going to run out of green halfway through the second front. (And I'd already finished the damn sleeves, too.) Fortunately, a Ravelry hunt came up a partial stashed skein, and the very nice owner traded it to me for some of my leftovers. Even better, although the dyelots were different, it's impossible to tell which is which.

Once again, I found the pattern frustrating--even more so than last time, honestly--and I'll definitely never knit it again. (Especially because I'm finally out of the black Baby Ull.)

Olympics, Day 4

Well, I got off to a blazing start by . . . forgetting the needles I needed to cast on and therefore not casting on until Saturday.

Whoops!

But Irtfa'a is safely on the needles now. The provisional cast-on gave me a bit of trouble, as I'd never done one before, but I think i figured it out . . . Anyway, I finished the opening edging section, and I'm now working on the shoulder shaping. I only have 15 rows of that knit, but it's been getting faster all the time. My hope is that I can really fly once the increases are finished!

Meanwhile, here's something I finished a while ago:


This is a plain scarf for the Red Scarf Project, which, basically, gives care packages to young people with no families. These kids (I say kids, but they're not much younger than I am) are making their way with virtually no support networks. My family has been very supportive of me, especially in the past year, financially, emotionally, spiritually, and in generally making my life easier, and I can't imagine living without them. So this is definitely a very, very worthy project, and I encourage any of you reading to check it out.

I'm part of a 2010 KAL for the Red Scarf Project running through the #1 Knitspot Fan group on Ravelry, so I hope to knit 12 scarves to donate this year. As well as being lots of fun, it's a good way to give back with my knitting.

Knitting Olympics!

*squeeeeeeeee*

I'm participating in the Lace Luge and the Short Track Shawls events with an Irtfa'a, and I am SO EXCITED!

I'm part of Team Mawelucky, and I made this to use as a ravatar during the games:


I am such a nerd. But I have fun doing it!

Merry Christmas!

I hope you are all spending it the same way I am. That is, at home in your pajama bottoms with nothing compelling you to go outside. Other celebratory details optional.

It's been quite the year for me on many fronts, but it's been eventful in terms of knitting, too. I was inspired to pick up the needles again about year and a half ago by the guy I was dating at the time. (I told him if he picked out the yarn I'd knit him a pair of socks.) What had been a pleasant hobby in college quickly grew into a consuming passion--especially when I got onto Ravelry.

Now, I'm living in a new place, pursuing a different career, dating a different fellow, and have actually published knitting patterns that people want to knit. Seems kind of crazy, but there you have it.

I have lots of thoughts on how knitting builds community and can make life more fulfilling and blah blah blah, but you know what? In lieu of a boring meta-post, I'm going to go knit.

Merry Christmas.

This Married to the Sea cartoon is for Jane. She knows why.

*squee*

So a few months back I designed a scarf for my brother's birthday. I wrote up the pattern all pretty-like, and today I put it up on Ravelry. Since I put a lot of effort into it, I decided to offer it for sale rather than for free.

And people have actually BOUGHT IT. Thrilling! I may never realize this whole yarn store/designing for a living thing, but this is one tiny step closer.

In case you're interested, the pattern is up on Rav as The Manly Scarf.

(Oh, just so you know--the pictures are of my long-suffering friend R3. He's a good egg.)

Will the sock madness never stop?

The answer is no.

Here are the latest Mindless Socks.


Yarn: Regia Silk (55/25/20 merino/polyamide/silk--unfortunately discontinued), colorways Nairobi and, um, plain white? The number is something boring like 0002.

Pattern is mindless socks, of course, done with 52 stitches on size 1/2.25mm needles. That creates a very fine, thin sock that could easily be worn with everyday shoes.

I really like this combination of yarns--it satisfies both my frugality and my aesthetics. You'll be seeing similar socks as I work through the remainders of previous projects. I'm also on a yarn diet, so I can't buy any new sock materials for the foreseeable future. *sadface*

A few new things

The cardigan is still on Sleeve Island--but at least progressing, however slowly. Maybe by next week I'll have the sleeves done so I can block everything and start putting it together? A girl can dream. (Note: sleeve one is not yet done. This is perhaps an unrealistic goal.)

Meanwhile, I've cast on some new stuff that will probably move at a snail's pace while I continue to focus on the sweater.

First, the beginning of a Dreams of Madeira scarf in JoJoLand Harmony. (I think it's colorway HC02; I don't have the ball band handy.)


Although the yarn is very, very fine and a little tricky to work with, it's absolutely gorgeous. Aspen knit a beautiful Gail from the same stuff in colorway HC08--go check it out.

That's going to be my knit night project for the near future--the lace pattern (thus far) isn't complicated, so it's a good choice for sitting around gossiping.

I also began (of course) a new pair of Mindless Socks with some Regia leftovers. (Oh, by the way, the pattern is now available as a Rav download.) My hope is to use up all the stripey stuff on heels, toes, and cuffs so I can get three or four pairs out of the white. We'll see.


Anyway, time's a-wastin'--and this sleeve won't knit itself.

Almost forgot!

I neglected to mention--I put up the pattern for this little scarf the other day. It can be found as a Ravelry download here. (Those without Ravelry accounts can email me if interested.)

Lots going on in my head

I finished the Swallowtail, blocked it Saturday, and wore it to church yesterday. It's reblocking today, however, for a couple reasons.

As you can see from this first blocking photo, I seriously underestimated the wingspan of the shawl. (And check out the contrast between the checkered sheets and the shawl color--I thought I would go blind.) Anyway, I couldn't stretch it horizontally nearly as much as it wanted to be stretched. And after a day of wear, I felt that the points weren't as pointy as they should be.

So today I washed it, soaked it, and pinned it out the other way 'round on the bed. See? Much better. (Crappy photos though, sorry.)


Points are pointier, stretch has been achieved, and I think this blocking is a keeper. So I'll have pictures of the finished product at some point this week.

In other knitting, at the urging of a Ravelry group (the Mawelucky Love crowd, hooligans that they are), I resurrected the unfinished Pi Sock. It's about a third of the way done, and I've noticed some interesting things about it, having come back after a year of neglect. I'll talk about them later, maybe.

The idea is that I get rid of all my WIPs (or at least the older ones). When I couldn't bear any more sock, I switched to the Endless Sweater. As you can see, I've been trying to work on things in progress in lieu of casting on something more interesting. As it is, I was on the verge of starting something new yesterday, but I managed to stop myself after the yarn was wound. (Some of the Chinese yarn--the purple stuff. I'm thinking a hat/scarf combo; there's probably something like 400 yards of a worsted weight here.)

To be honest, about the only thing keeping me knitting on the pi sock is that I have so MUCH I want to work on. This list is mostly for my own reference, but it'll give you an idea of what's swirling around. I'd like to:

~Finish the Endless Sweater.

~Knit that hat and scarf with the yarn I wound the other day.

~Knit a Carumboa scarf from Knitting New Scarves to use up some stuff in the stash.

~Knit a sample Orenburg shawl a la Gossamer Webs in preparation for . . .

~Design and knit an Orenburg shawl of my own.

~Knit a full-sized version of the Papyrus shawl .

And that's just what I've PLANNED. Better go knit . . .

Yarny Goodness

As promised, long ago, here are some of my souvenirs from my spring break.

This is Great Adirondack Yarn Company Silky Sock (70/20/10 merino/silk/nylon) in Hibiscus. These really aren't my usual colors, but I was very drawn to this skein regardless. I have to find the perfect pattern to showcase this yarn--I don't think it's quite suited for mindless socks. Any suggestions?


This is Artyarns Silk Rhapsody. I'm not sure of the exact fiber content--the website says 70/30 mohair/silk, the label on the skein says 50/50. Either way, it's beautiful stuff.


Another shot, because it's too beautiful to resist. This and the Silky Sock above were purchased at Knit and Stitch = Bliss in Bethesda. Of the yarn stores we visited, this was far and away our favorite. The women working there were absolutely wonderful, and we met a great fellow knitter we must have talked to for a half an hour. I highly recommend it if you're in the area.


This is Knitswithsticks Wullenstudio sock yarn (75/25 merino/nylon), in the delightfully named "Lipstick on Your Collar." Something for nice lacy socks, I think.


This is ZAUBERBALL (75/25 merino/nylon). I feel like it demands all-caps, no? It's this magical German stuff that knits up into the coolest socks. (If you're on Rav, check out Aspen's.)


If you can believe it, that's still not quite everything, but I think I'm done for now. Gotta go knit mitts . . .