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.

Wedding Shawl, Complete

PATTERN: Tru Wuv, designed by my friend Jane. 

© Kat Canfield

YARN: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Marine Silk Lace (51/29/20 silk/merino/tencel, 868 yds/100g skein), color "Branwen."  I used an entire skein with a comfortable several-gram margin.

© Kat Canfield

NEEDLES: US 4/3.5mm

It was absolutely perfect.  Thanks, Jane!  Thanks, Kat!  Thanks, everybody!  (More pictures here . . .)

© Kat Canfield

Daybreak

Done done done done done and I never have to look at the loathsome thing again.

Tomorrow I am mailing it to Australia.

YARN: Handmaiden Mini Maiden (50/50 wool/silk, 546 yds/100g skein), in colorways Peach Blossom and Jade.  I used all of the Jade and about 60% of the Peach Blossom, so about 850 yards total.

PATTERN: Daybreak by Stephen West.  With . . . modifications, shall we say?  I worked 27 stripes instead of the 20 called for in the pattern, only 5 garter ridges instead of 7, and worked the border in the main color instead of the contrast.

NEEDLES: US 1/2.25mm (pattern calls for US 4/3.5 mm).

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.

Lapstrake

I am pleased to announce that after months (and months and months) Lapstrake is finally available!

You'll remember the teaser shots from the contest I held to name the thing, and here it is in all its glory:

This design came about as a result of a Ravelry meeting--Heather posted about a potential blog swap, and I suggested that we collaborate on a project.  She dyed the yarn--in a custom colorway, no less!--and I designed this little shawl.  This project has been great fun from start to finish, and Heather is a great collaboratrix.  I hope we can work together again in the future!

If you'd like to use Heather's yarn to knit your own Lapstrake, go to her website and use coupon code LANA2014 for 20% off!  Even better, mention in your order that you are knitting a Lapstrake, and she will provide you with a coupon code to get a copy free.

If you're too impatient for that, it's available on Ravelry here for 4.50 USD, and until September 30, you can take 50% off with coupon code CLINKER.  Some details:

YARN: T&H Fiber Works Heather's Favorite Sock (80/20 merino/nylon, 400 yds/100g skein) in colorway “Lana” (small version) and Wollmeise Pure (100% superwash merino, 575 yds/150g) in colorway “Krauterbeet” (large version).   Any fingering weight yarn will work well for this pattern.

NEEDLES: 3.25/3.5mm needle or size to obtain gauge.

GAUGE: 20 stitches and 40 rows (20 garter ridges) = 4” in garter stitch, washed and blocked.

SIZE: Small (pink): Approximately 42.5” wingspan and 16.5” top to tip, washed and blocked.

Large (purple): Approximately 56” wingspan and 20” top to tip, washed and blocked.

Huge thanks to Heather for donating her yarn (and time) and to Allison for sending me the Wollmeise that became the large version as a wedding gift.  Thanks are due to my models, Aspen Davidoff, Mickey the cat, Biscuit the dog, and “Touch the Sky" the bronze sculpture.  Also to Pat Harding, who takes pictures for me even when he doesn't want to.  The name Lapstrake was suggested by Ravelry user Tianaeve.  Thanks, Tianaeve!

Drumroll, Please!

ETA: Karen, I don't have your contact info!  Please email me at lanafactrixATgmail.com.

And the winner is . . . Karen B, who wrote "I like "clinker" or "lapstrake" because the lines remind me of viking-style ships."

She was spot on in her comparison, don't you think?

Gokstadskipet, Vikingskipmuseet, Oslo, 2005, Karamell

Lapstrake it is!

Honorable mentions include:

Hotline from Terri D

Lines of Lloyd from Tivity

Take Offs and Landings from Kaitlin (perhaps she is also a Rilo Kiley fan?)

Matrix from Joy

Vector from OneTwistedStitch

Electrical Alternans from Wendy

Thank you all so much for your participation--I totally know where I'm coming the next time I'm stuck on a pattern name.

Wherein You Do My Work for Me

So here's the deal, my darlings.  I need to name this:

(The shawl, not the dog.  The dog has a name already.)

It's a fingering-weight shawl, made with one skein of Heather's Favorite Sock Yarn.

Here are some more pictures, for your reference:

I simply can't think of what to call it, which is where you come in.

Leave a comment with your naming suggestion on this post, and the person whose name I choose will receive a skein of Wollmeise.

Specifically this skein:

This is a skein of Wollmeise Pure (100% superwash merino, 150g), in the colorway "Gluckstag" ("Lucky Day.")  (Not incidentally, it would work wonderfully to knit the pattern above.)

HERE ARE SOME RULES:

1) Eligible comments must be submitted by no later than midnight PST Thursday, August 21.

2) Multiple entries are welcome, but only one skein of yarn will be awarded.

3) Anyone may enter, but an international winner will not permitted to bitch about how slow the mail is.

4) I like pithy names that suit the item in question.  No profanity or lewdness, please.  (Subtle innuendo is okay.)

Go ye forth and name!

And have one more gratuitous Gozer photo:

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!

What I See When I Walk the Dog

This is what passes for a weed in these parts:

Nice things happen in the desert when it rains.

And if you look very closely, you can just see a bird sitting on the wire in this one.  It's a hummingbird!  She (I think it's a she because she was quite large) had been more interested in the flowers below a moment before I took this, but flew up to safety when she saw Gozer and me.

On the knitting front, I've started a Daybreak for my third Camp Loopy project.  (Whoops, I never did post the second one, did I?  I'll do that tomorrow or the next day.) 

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.)

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?)

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.