All you do is lie to me, 'cos you're a liar, liar, liar

Hey, remember how I wasn't going to start anything new until I finished the pi sock?


Don't judge me.

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 . . .

Mindless, mindless

More mindless socks, destined for my aunt Joanne. (I offered her the choice of my sock-yarn stash, but she wanted these . . . and since the first one was almost finished already, I didn't object.)


Pattern: Mindless Socks. One of the things I like about these socks is how they relax out so beautifully after a first wash. The picture above was taken before washing, the other two after.


Yarn: Regia Silk Color, 55/25/20 wool/polyamide/silk, colorway 0187 "Siena." Size 1/2.25mm needles--I used a set of lovely ebony Lantern Moon needles given to me by a friend, and I highly recommend them.


The next pair of mindless socks is already on the needles--now to finish my swallowtail.

Of ships and nupps and sealing wax

Much knitting has been accomplished of late, but unfortunately nothing photogenic.

Last week, I went to my first knit night at my new LYS. And it was awesome. Everyone there was super-friendly, and I got to hear all about the various projects and events they had going. They also admired the swallowtail-in-progress, even though it's still extremely blobby. The store owner told me on the way out that "your cobweb thing is beautiful!" I laughed, but that's just about right.

The swallowtail is coming along--I'm almost done with the first edge chart and hope to finish it this week. Here, have a blob picture:


Look, you can see the nupps!


I've never made anything with nupps before; they're pretty easy. (Of course, I'm a very loose knitter . . . they'd be fiendishly difficult for a tight knitter, I think.)

In other news, the pattern for the Papyrus shawl is (finally) in the hands of the test knitters. Are you happy now?!

Moving (and shawl) complete

And here I sit in my new house, enjoying the air-conditioning--it's muggy and overcast today.

Anyway, I finished the prototype for my lace shawl about a week ago and managed to block it before moving. I only got the chance to take pictures today, though . . . so here they are!

First, a few blocking shots. I underestimated the wingspan a little . . .



And the finished product. (It's a little rumpled from being packed away, still.)


Yarn: KP Shadow, colorway "Jazz," approximately 30g, size 3/3.25mm needles. Also featured is my new deck.


The shape of the finished shawl won't be quite like this. This is a scaled-down version of half the complete shawl; it'll be a traditional triangle shape with a center stitch.


Pattern is coming, eventually.

Movin' right along

Bonus points if you can identify where the title comes from.

I am moving! My mother is coming to help me--a thousand blessings upon her head--and we'll be busy-busy packing all week. Come Saturday, with the U-Haul all full up, we'll venture south to my new underground lair home. Then of course comes the unloading.

Anyway, that's where I'll be for the next week or so. In the meantime, I leave you with this mysterious lace teaser:

Query

So you've gotten to the end of a row and realized there was a mistake. Which is worse: counting stitches and not finding until just before where you stopped . . . or finding it at the beginning of the row?

A patterned purl row, no less. *sigh*

Designing thoughts

I've launched an ambitious project (just in time to start moving . . . I really have the world's best sense of timing): I'm designing a lace shawl. It was inspired by the recent purchase of several KnitPicks Lace Samplers, which have lots of yummy laceweight.

I'm using Shadow (100% merino) in "Jazz." And here's what I have so far:


Bad photo is bad, but you can see the gist. I think it's going to be pretty . . . if I can work out all the math.

The concept is pretty simple--I wanted something watery (inspired by the "Atoll" colorway sampler), so I chose this fishtail pattern. Looks appropriately ripply, no?

This designing thing is interesting. This is not only my first real effort at designing lace, but it's my first time thinking about the flexibility and readibility of a pattern for other people. Nyx and Aspen have already demanded volunteered to be test knitters, so there's a guaranteed audience for this one. Just thinking about really formalizing the pattern makes me a little dizzy, though. I don't know how Anne does it. Speaking of which, I read a fair number of knitting blogs, but Anne's is the only one that really delves into her designing process. Anyone have a recommendation for another designer's blog that gets into the knitty(hee)-gritty?

Note

Whoever invented purl 3 together was a sadistic bastard.

Also purl 2 through the back loop.

The Endless Sweater, Part One

So I mentioned that I was knitting a sweater. The sweater in question is the Boyfriend Sweater from Hip to Knit.

I love this book. The patterns are very clear, and her instructions are excellent. Thus, I have only myself to blame for the rocky start I had. First, when I bought the yarn (Bemidji Woolen Mills Original Homespun), I didn't have the pattern on me, so I guessed on how much I'd need.

I guessed wrong. And when I ordered more online . . . I bought the wrong color. /facepalm.

No problem, I hadn't planned on using a contrast color, but it would still look nice. I soldiered on and swatched. Enter much swatching angst. We'll pass over that as both boring and aggravating. I was ready to cast on. But . . . I didn't really like where the cables on the sweater were placed.

This is why I shouldn't knit other people's patterns. I only mess with them anyway. Math complete, I finally cast on . . . and promptly made a mistake in the ribbing. Rip rip rip. Ribbing done! Hmmm, wasn't I supposed to switch needles after the ribbing? *sigh* Rip rip rip.

So you see before you the sum total of my progress. This thing is going to take forever.