Knitting the Blues

File This Post Under The Heading:I'd Rather Be Actually KNITTING!Day Eight

So a quick post showing off some knitting from the last few months. Drive-by posting. I hope.

Pattern:  Leaves Dancing Modell 118/9 by Junghans-Wolle
Yarn:  Yarn Chef Creme Brulee Lace in Sailing the Bay
Needles:  Size 5
Cast On:  May 12, 2011
Bound Off:  May 25, 2011
Blocked:  September 2, 2011 (seriously.)

This pattern was designed in German and I made some slight modifications to it, if you are interested in them and where I got tips to help read the chart, check out my ravelry project page.

Yes, it took me months to block this.  It is really unfortunate that it did because there were many occasions during the summer when this shawl would have been the perfect addition to a sundress on an evening out, but it was unblocked in a heap and I'd leave feeling like whatever other shawl I grabbed was just not doing it for me.

Photographing this and capturing the color just right was, for this inexperienced photographer, not easy. So not easy that I really didn't do it. On my monitor the photos of the yarn and the shawl in progress posted on my ravelry project page come pretty close. Your monitor mileage may vary.

I love the color of this yarn, I think Yarn Chef does a wonderful job at dyeing up yarns that are solid-ish with just enough variation to be interesting, but not so much that the yarn overwhelms the pattern. 

Lace is just so photogenic, isn't it?

I can't stop myself.

Okay, I'm done.

2011. Twenty-nine. $5.40. So much for quick posts. Nearly 90 minutes. I was distracted by television, but seriously.

I lied.

This Could Be A Project Spectrum Post

But it isn't.  At least not yet, but it might become one if I follow through with next month, I'm making no commitments or promises.

If you are headed to New Hampshire Sheep & Wool Festival this weekend make sure to stop by Heather's booth, formerly Sereknity Yarns and Fibers.  Heather is announcing her new shop name this weekend so when you stop by to see her you can find out what that is and see this shawl that I knit with her yarn!  A couple of photos now, details later, I'm on the go!

It's Project Spectrum Red!

2011. Fifteen. $12.27.  Have a great weekend!

Finally! A Shawl!

10 in 2010 unveiling.  This shawl is out of order, but I need to take photos for the post that unveils the next shawl and, well.  I keep forgetting.  Or it is too dark.  Or the camera battery is dead.  Or I'm knitting.  Or watching a football game.  Or I'm just too lazy.  Whichever it is, I don't have the one photo I need to complete my vision or the story I want to tell.  So, instead for Shawl # 7 of 10 in 2010 you are getting a look at Shawl #8 for 10 in 2010.  You have no idea how much this bothers me. 

First, some back story.  This shawl is a wedding shawl, knitted for the daughter of a good friend of mine.  As you might guess, if you know me, I totally obsessed over this.  I was worried about a lot of things.  First, that the shawl would have a 'not dressy enough' feel to it.  I mean, it is a Swallowtail Shawl, a pattern that I have knit before and it felt, in a way, too simple.  What I often forget is that most of the people seeing the shawl are not knitters and anything looks fabulous to them.  I also take for granted that this knitting thing is something that is second nature to me.  A little like breathing or walking to most people.  And knitting lace doesn't come easy to all knitters either.  After weeks of getting used to that idea that this shawl would be perfect I had a new thing to obsess over.

The color.  I collected a few different "ivory" lace yarns to compare to the actual dress.  I was so worried that the shawl would look too yellow or pink next to the dress.  I mean, there are so many shades of ivory!  So off to the dress shop I went with my yarns of all different shades and price points.  My smartest move that day was going with Cyndi (bride's mom).  In every way that I over think and obsess, she is laid back and relaxed.  While she was off ordering a flower girl's dress I was comparing and rejecting down to two yarns that I just couldn't decide between.  One was all merino and was a really good match, but the other was Zephyr, that wonderful wool and silk blend that I love to knit lace with.  The silk gives it a sheen that reflects light so beautifully and combined with the wool blocks out and holds the shape of the lace shawl so well.  After much internal debate (on my part), Cyndi walks over, takes two seconds looking and says that of course we should go with the Zephyr, that the color is of course "close enough" and the silk blend is the deal closer.  Oh!  The stress I could alleviate by embracing "close enough"!  I mean it, I envy those who are "close enoughers".  It is a quality that I need to cultivate.

You would think that I would be all ready to go, right?  Right. To be fair I should admit that I was totally copying zibor's shawl (ravelry link).  I saw it and read about the beading and thought that I would love to do that.  Zibor used Swarovski crystals and after pricing them (whoa! pricey!) decided that regular beads would do so I got some and cast on.  The thing about clear beads is that they look, unlike all the colored and pearlized beads, flat.  I kept showing it to people wondering if I should find other beads and people kept telling me that it looked beautiful.  So I kept knitting.  And doubting.  I really didn't like the beads and even the "close enoughers" couldn't convince me that they were good.  So I shopped for different beads only to have similar results.  And then I stopped knitting, letting the internal debate rage on and on.

I am FORTY-SEVEN YEARS OLD!  People!  When will I just KNOW MYSELF?!  Can you even guess the amount of time in my life that I have spent trying to make something work, not being happy with it and then after getting close to finishing or living in analysis paralysis I give in to what I knew all along would just make me happy or be the best in then end?  I splurged on the Swarovski crystals.  It was for a BRIDE!  Brides should SPARKLE!!!!

After all that (have you noticed that all my issues are internal?) the rest was easy.  Even though the Swarovski crystals do not have a hole large enough to use even the smallest crochet hook and I had to improvise a tool to get them on the yarn, the knitting finally started flying off the needles.  When things are right......

• Pattern: Swallotail Shawl by Evelyn Clark (free download here)
• Yarn: Jaggerspun Zephyr Wool-Silk in ivory
• Needles: size 4
• Swarovski Crystals: approximately 1000 placed in the center of the lozenges of the first chart, in place of nupps in the second and in the spines of the points on the border
• Cast On: July 29, 2010
• Bound Off: August 9, 2010
• Blocked: August 12, 2010
• Wedding: August 21, 2010 (I only point this out because LOOK! No last minute finishing!)

While the limitations of time and my talent with a camera made it impossible for me to capture the true sparkliness of the crystals, trust me.  They were fabulous.  The crystals reflected and refracted the light beautifully.  Fatigue kept me from getting any photos of the bride, I stole that one from facebook.  The fatigue is a story for another day, it also involves the whole knowing myself and making changes when I first think of them and not waiting until the last minute.  It also involves a Swallowtail Shawl.  I feel like I keep telling the same story over and over again.

2010. Seventy-five.  NaBloPoMo. 8/8.  I KNOW!  I am a day behind.  I promise that by the end of the week I will have caught up.  This posting every day is whipping my *ss.  I keep forgetting and spending the night knitting or fall asleep.  I'm working it out....

Just a Quick TeaserAgain

Shawl number ten.  Details to come.

2010. Seventy-four. NaBloPoMo. 7/7.  It's all shawls, all the time.  Or is it all shawls, all of the time.  These are the things that bug me.

A Quick Catch Up for Those Who Seem To Have Forgotten

Okay, in response to some comments on yesterday's post:  First, thanks for reading!  And for the comments on the shawls!  I'm not going to give too much away, but yes on Bee Fields and no, I did not knit Dovecote.  And yes, I have shared the first six shawls, let's take a walk down memory lane......

Number One

Number Two

Number Three

Number Four

Number Five

Number Six

There you have it.  The six that have been publicly revealed up to now.  You can click through the links which will take you to a blog post and most of the posts should allow you to see the ravelry project page for each.  You know, if you have any interest at all.  Another shawl left the blocking board and my house today and is in the hands of the US Postal service.  I really wanted it out of here, so the photos I took were maybe a little dodgy, we'll see. 

Funny thing about taking photos lately.  I can't seem to get them focused.  Between my contact lenses for distance which necessitate reading glasses (which I don't need if my distance isn't corrected) and that someone fiddled with that little vision adjustment thing on my camera (which I have no clue how to fix), things are just coming out a little blurry.  Not good.  I might just go back to my point and shoot until I figure things out, but that camera has its own limitations and with winter light bearing down on us, the whole photo thing gets really frustrating.  Hey, I've got a great idea!  Why not start blogging again and take photos in the dark!  And get frustrated over the whole deal!  Perfect timing.

There is a Ten On Tuesday going around.  Ten ways to simplify your life.  Well, I've got a few. 

1. Marry rich.  Very.
2. Don't have kids.
3. Already had them?  Okay, as soon as is socially and morally acceptable move and don't leave a forwarding address.
4. Give it all away, go to Tibet or someplace like that and meditate all day.  For the rest of your life.
5. Sell it all and move into a small studio.  Fewer things = more simple.
6. Stop looking at others' things as things you want or need and look at them as things you are sure glad you don't have.  It's all worry anyway.  And organization.  UGH!  I have palpitations just thinking of how to keep stuff in order. 
7. Get healthy.  Dealing with medical and insurance stuff is stressful and not easy.  Going for a walk and turning down dessert are.  And stress relieving.
8. So, you're stuck with the kids and the family and the holidays are coming up, nothing simple about that, is there?  I suggest going on vacation.  We did one Christmas and it was so great, it might not have been simple getting there, but it was perfect once we did.
9. So, too late to plan a trip to Maui?  Make a deal with your family about the gifts.  The fewer the better, both giving and getting.  How many of the gifts you give do you think are really used and appreciated.  How many of the gifts you get are really used and appreciated?  Not only do I not want the stress of organizing or finding a use for something, but I also don't want to add that to somebody else's.  Skipping the gifts altogether would be great, but finding a way to limit what is given and gotten is more realistic.  Then the time saved shopping can be better used to go caroling, watch holiday movies, sitt by the fire with spiked eggnog, volunteering and many other simple, low stress ways to enjoy the winter.
10. Avoid impulse purchases.  Leave the store and if you are still thinking about it or haven't convinced yourself that you really don't need it, then go back and get it.  With any luck it won't be there anymore.  This is especially important this time of year, I don't like to shop and it is only now that I hit the malls or shops and see all of the things I didn't know I needed.  I can very easily end up spending as much on myself as I do on gifts.  And have more stuff to organize.  UGH!
11. Decide on a couple of things that are really the most important to you and your loved ones and make every decision with those goals in mind.  While it is sometimes difficult to resist urges to do things or purchase stuff you think you really want, the actual decision making is easy.  Will this thing, whatever it might be, bring me closer to my goals or farther away?  Answer that question, make the choice and move on.

Okay, so eleven.  And OKAY!  I might not really do all of those things, I'm just saying. On any given day I just might do any of them.  They would work to simplify.  Remember, no forwarding address.

2010. Sixty-nine.  NaBloPoMo. 2/2.  How about a shack on the beach?  Technically a cabin in the mountains would be more remote and simple, but I like the beach better.  I'll just have to buy me an island.  That brings us back to marry rich.... I'd say work hard and make the money, but what is simple about that? 

NaBloPoMo

Thanks to everyone for their kind comments to my last post.  Most of us have connected to a pet at some point and while she isn't the first cat we've lost, and not the one I've been most connected to, I'm surprised that I have noticed the difference in our house without Princess.

So, I haven't made very many (only one) commitments to knitting or blogging this year.  I usually set myself up for one or two unachievable (by me) goals and then I either fail or make them, you never know which it will be.  I've thought about it all day and pretty much talked myself out of it until just five minutes ago.  If I make it, this will be the fourth year.  The second challenge for 2010 will be November NaBloPoMo.  No promises on content.  It is still a post if all I put up is a ;) isn't it?

It has been so long readers (the ten or so that are left) might have forgotten about 10 Shawls in 2010.  Am I going to make it?  Two months left, how many shawls do I have left to knit?  Or do I?  I'm not wasting that on this post.  Let's drag it out for a day or so.  Here is a preview:

 Seven

Eight

Nine.........

2010.  Sixty-eight.  NaBloPoMo.  One.  And once again, I left Typepad long enough for them to have made changes to the posting format.  I can't figure any of it.  I'm too old for this.

 

Blue MondayThe Next Blue Shawl Edition

What's new?  Nothing in my life.  If there was anything worth writing about, well, you'd think I would have written it by now.  Except that, maybe you know me and know that I am inconsistent, at best, at keeping up with the whole virtual life thing.  So much has been written about the virtual life taking time away from living a real life and I believe it is true.  That isn't what I want to talk about right now, not really.  I just find that I want to talk about things, like books and movies and kids and people and knitting and all of life and I really want to do it in person.  Truthfully, there are main three reasons.  First, I like the immediacy of human contact in conversation.  Waiting for an email or a comment or a facebook response, then getting back to read them and respond and then waiting again puts a serious drag on a conversation.  Second is the necessity for concise entry, especially on facebook, where only some of your "friends" will get what you are talking about in most cases.  A facebook update that reads, "UGH!  A quadruple cliff-hanger!?  What a let down!" will only be understood by some of my "friends" and only a couple will comment, a few more will "like" and where is the give and take in that?  (I'll admit to being a reader of facebook and, like blogs and emails, an infrequent commenter or liker.  I am at fault.)  Third, I am the worst typist EV.ER!  I mistype every other word and am constantly hitting the delete button to fix my errors.  This is a new thing.  I used to be a fast and reliable typist, my fingers hitting the correct keys more often than not.  Now it feels as if the connection between the muscle memory in my brain to the actual muscles in my fingers has been damaged in some way.  I think the words and the keys and the space bar, but my fingers are being controlled by something other than my mind and while I sometimes get it right, more often I get it nearly right.  And sometimes I get something that doesn't come close to resembling the word that formed in my brain.  It is frustrating even on my best days and on others I quit soon after I start.  So, while I do believe we are living in a time that change is happening faster than humans are able to really comprehend it, I am looking forward to the day when voice recognition is the norm and I can speak my blog posts and facebook updates and email responses. 

Until then, I knit.

• Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn Clark
  (free pattern pdf link)
• Yarn: Spirit Trail Fiberworks Clotho in Bluebells
• Needles: size 4
• Cast On: June 2, 2010
• Bound Off:  June 19, 2010
• Blocked: June 28, 2010

I've mentioned before that I signed on with a bunch of other nuts to knit 10 Shawls in 2010.  This little shawl is reveal number six of seven completed shawls.  Of the seven only two have been for me, which in itself it okay, I have a lot of shawls, but does not show me in an appropriate light.  The selfish me.  At the start I had planned to knit most of the shawls for me! me! me!  Maybe the second ten in 2010 will be for me! me! me!  We'll see.

I knit this shawl for a friend who did the alterations on Erin's prom dress.  I know, you are wondering why I didn't do them myself (so was Pete), but I would seriously be happier making a dress from scratch and then sending that to be hemmed (the hemming, it stresses me beyond reasonable belief).  There is a story about the dress and the alterations which will make a blog post all in itself, and might later this week, but this friend took a dress that looked pretty good to start and nipped, tucked and hemmed it to look fabulous.  She did things to the dress that I didn't even notice needed to be done.  And on top of all that, she hemmed it.  Wait until you see it.  The dress was entirely beaded and had a little train thing which was lopped off in the hemming and needed a ton of re-beading and I'm having a hot flash just thinking about it.  I'm not joking (about the hot flash, which may or may not be attributed to the thought of hemming, or the anxiety I feel just thinking about the hemming).  I love sewing and am a fair to good seamstress that can make a dress that fits well and looks better, but I cannot pin up a hem without tears.  Mine and the victim's.  Lots of tears.  Even I didn't know the depth of my hemming fear until I had a mini panic attack watching Norma (that's the friend-slash-alteration goddess) pin up the dress.  The room spun a little, there was some shortness of breath (mine) and I had to get up and get a breath of fresh air.  I am not exaggerating for dramatic emphasis, either.  It really happened.  So, while Norma did charge me an amount that most people would think was a lot, I also know that she didn't charge for all of her time spent hand sewing and re-beading that dress.  I'm a seamstress, so I know.  On top of that is the saving of my marriage, mother-daughter relationship and years of therapy.  The woman deserves a little gift, so I knit her a little shawl.  With beads, which seemed not only appropriate considering, also saved me the stress of wondering if I had enough yarn to work the nupps.  It would have been close.

Thanks to Smiling Sally for hosting Blue Monday!

2010. Sixty-two. Something seems to be up with the settings on my camera. These photos are kinda crappy, but I am not inclined to reset the camera and retake them. Too bad, the shawl is much purtier than my photography shows.

And The Shawls, They Just Keep On a-Coming Along....

I found out about the ravelry group, 10 Shawls in 2010 in March.  I signed up late.  So, I figured I'd at least just knit as many shawls as I could in 2010, if it isn't ten, I'm okay with that. 

So here it is, the end of June, the half-way mark.  How am I doing?  Well, this shawl marks shawl #5 that I am sharing of the seven that I have completed.  I will not jinx myself by saying that I think I might just make it.  Not one second of it has gone according to the plan I had set for myself at the start, but what ever does?  I've been knitting a lot more for other people, all by choice, mind.  Just surprising.

• Pattern: Gail (aka Nightsongs), a free pattern by Jane Araujo
• Yarn: Woolen Rabbit Kashmir in Flower Power
• Needles: size 5
• Cast On: May 19, 2010
• Bound Off: June 1, 2010
• Blocked: June 2, 2010

Warning:  This is where I rave about Kim's yarns once again.  Her ravelry group is called Rabbit Habit.  I have one.  Habit, that is.  An addiction, for sure.  There are two things to talk about regarding the Kashmir, a merino/cashmere/nylon blend.  First, the blend.  Lately, while I am a participant, the trend toward shawls in fingering or sock weight yarns designed to get a shawl out of one skein is disappointing to me.  I love lace-weight yarns and finely knit shawls.  I also, for the most part, dislike superwash wools.*  While I'll admit that some are better than others, I find them to lose all softness, drape and body after washing and blocking and get kind of limp, lifeless and icky.  And have you tried to find beautiful, fingering weight merino that isn't treated to be superwash?  Nearly impossible.  It seems that I am in the minority, people love their superwash yarns.  Well, if you like them to begin with, you will LOVE this yarn.  I was thrilled to find, after blocking, that this yarn was soft and cuddly and that the shawl hung gracefully over the shoulders.

This is where I go on about the color.  Keeping in mind that my photos don't come close to capturing the depth, at first glace you think, "pink."  Then looking closer there are shades of a purpley color that isn't quite magenta, salmon, mauve and every once in a while a splash of an orange-y color.  It is just beautiful knitted up.  I am usually pretty sure I will like something when I knit it, but I was surprised to like this one as much as I did.  I mean, it is pink after all.  I kept track of the details and the modifications to this shawl on my ravelry project page.  I'm not sure about this shawl pattern, it is a bit confusing and vaguely written, so a few people have made modifications to the pattern and I knit it using someone's mods, they are listed on the ravelry page.  Having said that, it is a fun pattern to knit and find those double yarn-overs in the center entrancing.

You may have guessed that this shawl was a gift for my friend who in the space of a few days found out that the tumor removed from her husband's brain was not benign, as they had been assured it probably was, but malignant and that her mother had cancer in most of her body.  She is a young woman with a young family, young husband and young mother and she is forced to be the strength for them all for now.  While a knitted shawl can't fix things, I hope the brightness of it can bring some light to her days when she wears it.

*About the superwash wools:  When knitted at a firm gauge, like for socks, I am fine with superwash yarns.  That is the one time I am fine with treated wool.  And I have used it for baby and child sweaters, more for convenience than for liking it.  It just seems that the trend in all yarns is to treat it and I know some are better than other, but still, I just don't get it.

2010.  Sixty-one.  On a totally different topic:  I had a dream last night.  You know those dreams where you are driving your car someplace out of the ordinary and then you are on a dock and your car is at the bottom of the bay or inlet or whatever and you can see it and there are boats coming in and, in my dream, there was another person whose car was right next to mine, and nobody is really noticing it because they are getting on and off their boats or whatever and there your car sits.  At the bottom of the sea.  And all I kept thinking was that my knitting was in there in a Woolen Rabbit Wee Bunny Bag and that I really wanted to swim down and get it.  Never mind my bag, wallet, cash, cards....  I wanted my bag and my knitting back!

Blue MondayThe "I Almost Forgot To Post" Edition or"Not ANOTHER BLUE SHAWL!"

Yes, another blue shawl.  It has to end sometime...... just not this time. 

Isn't it HUGE!? 

Hmmm, hard to tell.  That could be dollhouse furniture it is hanging on, with teensy tiny little leaves on the dollhouse grass.

How about on the blocking board?  That gives a better visual, unless of course the knitter living in the dollhouse has one, with teeny tiny little pins.

Speaking of blocking boards and pins, I spent about three hours pinning that thing out.  By the time I finished it was dry already and I had to spray it wet again.  Does it take other people that long?  I wonder things like that sometimes.  Like, is it just me?  Am I slow?  Are other people killing their backs pinning shawls out?

• Pattern: Aeolian Shawl by Elizabeth Freeman-this pattern is available for free at Knitty!  Get more details on my Ravelry project page!
• Yarn: Spirit Trail Fiberworks Clotho in Bluebells
• Needles: size 3
• Cast On: April 13, 2010
• Bound Off and Blocked: April 21, 2010

How about a little close-up of the nupps.  I didn't think they showed up so much in person, but if the camera adds ten pounds, must have done that to the nupps!  Did I mention...actually I know I didn't mention, that I knit this as a sample shawl for Jennifer of Spirit Trail Fiberworks and you might have seen it in person if you stopped by her booth at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival?  Well, I did and you might have.  I knit it super-fast so that she could have it in time, leaving out the beads to save time.  It would have been heavy, I think, but I am considering knitting a smaller version of this shawl for myself and I might put the beads on the outside charts.  This is a project that I cast on for, knit for a while and bound off with no issues apart from needing a little bit of a third skein to finish.  SERIOUSLY!!!!  It has been a while since that happened!  No major tinking or anything.  If only all of my knitting went that easily.  I loved this pattern and I love this yarn, I might have most of a skein left to do it with! 

Another close up just because lace is so fun to photograph.

Thanks Sally!  I love Blue Mondays!

2010.  Fifty-seven.  So, I have another shawl finished that isn't entirely blue, another about to be cast on for that isn't blue at.all and another one in progress that is blue, but probably will wait.  This makes three completed and shown toward 10 Shawls in 2010.  I'm on a roll, people!

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for, among a bajillion other things:

• Blue
• Wool
• Blue wool
• That I can knit
• And that knitting can give pleasure to others.  I like that part.
• And the knitting has brought so many people in to my life that I might not have met through any other thing.
• And the internet, which allows me to share that knitting with those people that get it, because as much as my family tries, they are just not that into it.

• Pattern: Hamamelis Shawl by Kristin Kapur of Through the Loops*
• Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino in Moody Blues
• Needles: size 5
• Cast On: March 29, 2010
• Bound Off: April 4, 2010.
• Blocked and finished: April 5, 2010
• AAAANNNNDDD Bound Off and Blocked Again: April 23, 2010

Blocked again?  What craziness is that?  I just love to block so much that I thought it would be fun to pull out the bind off, rework it and then block it again.  Truthfully, against my better judgement I worked the bind off that was written in the pattern on larger needles than the shawl was knitted and it was a hot mess.  It took me a couple of weeks to give in to that truth, but I finally faced the music and ripped it out to bind off again using my usual suspended bind off on the needles I knit the rest of the shawl on.  Much better.  It was all so curly and wavy, ick!

This is my pensive look.  I'm wondering what the heck else there is to say about this shawl.  The pattern is well written and would be a pretty easy beginner lace pattern.  You should go get the pattern and knit it.  It is on sale right now!  *All of the Through the Loops patterns are on sale until the 17th.  That gives you more reason than just my recommendation to hop on over and get it.  Acer is on sale, too!  I've wanted that pattern, now is the time to get it.  How about Ulmus?  There's another one I've been putting off getting.  Well, I'd better check my downloads to make sure I don't already have them.  I've made that mistake before!

This is my second finish for 10 Shawls in 2010.  I've finished a third and as I said earlier this week, I am currently working on shawls #4 and #5.  Some people are way finished for the year.  By double.  Some people have a lot of knitting time.....

This last photo is closest to the color.  But not perfect.  Oh well.

2010.  Fifty-Five.  55.  First a five then last a five.  With no fives in between. With no anythings in between.  Just Five.Five.  No fours.  I think I might be a little overtired.......

Blue MondayThe Blue Nails EditionAnd The Blue Sneak Preview....

I've missed a couple of Blue Mondays, but that would be me.  I am consistently inconsistent, on that you can depend.

We have had a surprising and uncommon stretch of warm, summer-like weather around here.  Thanks to a quick jaunt to Florida a couple of weeks ago, my feet were ready for sandals.

Taking photos on a bright sunny beach is not easy.  Those toenails were closer to blue than that photo shows.  But that was then and when Gillian mentioned a mani-pedi, I thought I'd join her on her last morning home.  Finding this nail polish over the weekend was also an incentive.

I'm into the designs, Gillian is not.  The pressure was on, but she didn't fold.

 

My fingers are all matchy-matchy, and (sorry no photo) they match my car.  How is that for matchy-matchy?

I have a lot more blue for your blue-viewing enjoyment, but for now a sneak preview. 

The blocking board has seen a bit of blue action lately.

As have the blocking pins.

Thanks to Sally, the creator and hostess of Blue Monday, and idea I wish I had come up with, but then I would have to do all the work.

2010.  Forty-four.  Why is it that no matter how many blocking pins I purchase, I never have enough?  Hmmm? 

A SMACK!down of a Different Sort

I present to you another finished project!  Never mind that it has been finished for months and I just never posted about it.  I have this thing that I won't mark a project as finished on Ravelry until I have posted about it, so while it may show as being 100% completed, I won't add the photos or details or mark it finished until I talk a little about it here. 

Brain deterioration being what it is, enough time has passed that I barely remember the knitting of this shawl. 

I do remember that this yarn had been relegated to the "for sale or trade" basket of my stash, but it kept whispering to me as I walked by.  It really wanted to be mine, I guess.  It was cast on or consider the insanity of trying to explain hearing yarn voices to the men in the white coats, so I went with the needles.  I mean really, only you all understand the yarn voices. 

You do, right?

I chose the Shetland Triangle because it is one of those shawls that you can easily knit until you come close to running out of yarn, work the border chart and finish it off.  I really wanted to use as much of this yarn as I could.  Two things about the yarn.  One, I had more of it than I thought I did and Two, it made for some scratchy knitting.  I kept betting on the shawl softening upon washing and getting used to the idea that I would have a good sized shawl in the end.  I was looking forward to that.  Couldn't wait.

So the other main thing I remember is how I wrecked that plan.  It was a good plan. The shawl was good and large when I finished knitting. All it needed was a good soak, maybe a little agitation to not really felt it, but well, you know, soften it up a little.  After a nice block I'd have the shawl I envisioned.

This is where it all falls apart.  Right up to the warm water soak and a little agitation.  Working perfectly. Purrrfectly.  Then I got distratcted and with my mind not so much in that present I took my nicely soaked and agitated shawl and rinsed it.  In cold water.  Hmmmm?  Didn't hear that?

IN COLD WATER!!!!  

Did you hear that?  And that thing that happens to wool when you take it from warm water and dump it into cold happened. 

It shrunk.

 

• Pattern: Shetland Triangle Lace Shawl by Evelyn Clark
• Yarn: A Touch of Twist Impressions
• Needles: Size 6, probably Addi Lace
• Cast On: June 14, 2009
• Bound Off: July 5, 2009
• Blocked: July 6, 2009

All was not lost, thanks to it being huge to begin with.  Now it is a perfectly reasonably sized shawl, and while not really soft, it is supremely wearable.  I kind of love it.  This shawl is a great shawl, but knitting it as large as I did bored the heck out of me. Of course I don't really remember that, exactly.  My ravelry notes reminded me.

And not because I am pining for warm weather (because I am actually wishing we were getting the same weather our nation's capitall is getting), but to show that I took these photos a while ago.  There are pictures like these taken on the same day.

 

2010.  Twenty-one.  I finished a pair of socks.  Go ahead.  Look at my ravelry project page.  No photos, not marked finished.  Until I take photos and post it here.......

Five On Friday

Since last Friday I have......

 

Gotten a blue pedicure.  My fingers were not blue, they got a french manicure with some blue and white on the ring fingers.  Tomorrow I will have my fingers re-painted, french and I'm toying with the idea of the ring fingers being blue with a white design.  Only because I know I can get another week out of the pedicure.  Next week I'll change colors.  Maybe. 

 

Driven out to Springdelle Farm to visit Barb Parry and the babies, which are not babies anymore.

 

They are still very cute, though.

 

The new Moorits were shy.

 

Spent more than two hours attempting to do what everyone else in the country was, get to Salisbury Beach.  After I aborted that mission I spent a lovely day in my backyard and managed to get a photo of a WIP.  What I haven't done until today is upload the photos and add this to my ravelry projects page.  One thing at a time.

 

Proven that putting a sign up advertising the excellent blueberry and raspberry picking can really work.  I abandoned all other plans on a chilly, dreary afternoon, took a quick turn and detour, and listening to the book on my iPod I spent nearly ninety minutes picking those fruits.  The farmer convinced me the golden raspberries are indeed ripe and I was surprised to find they tasted better than the red.  The fresh blueberries are a treat that I cannot even describe, but maybe confessing that I ate about two pounds of them on the day I picked will give you a clue.  The whites of my eyes are blue.  I'm almost out, I'll be picking again tomorrow.  Before I get my nails done.

 

Taken a couple of photos of a finished shawl that has been waiting its debut for weeks.  Maybe it will get it next week.

Eighty-one.  I also had an endoscopy!  Really, when it goes the way it is supposed to it is a harmless little exam.  It goes like this:  You starve yourself before the procedure, which in my case happened (late, surprise) at 4 pm.  No food after nine the night before.  I may have been a little cranky.  You have a drug injected into you causing you to fall asleep in the middle of a sentence (at least you think you fall asleep and there isn't anybody that is going to tell you otherwise), and the next thing you know somebody says, "Wake up, Teresa!" and you are in a different room where they have no gluten free snacks to get you going again.  It was the first cookie with wheat or sugar I have had in months.  I didn't like it.  Then you stumble to the car and go home to eat, which in my case did not happen thanks to really icky nausea, which also kept me from sleeping it off.  Fingers crossed that something comes of it.

Peak ExperienceFinishing Friday

What is that peaking out from behind my newest shawl?

I got myself a little present.  When something special comes along, you just have to go for it, right?  It remains to be seen if this will get me spinning all of that fiber I have.  The arrival of the really nice fleece I sent out for processing might help....

Now, the shawl.  I LOVE THIS SHAWL!

 

• Pattern:  Mountain Peaks Shawl by Miriam Felton of MimKnits. (ravelry link)
• Yarn:  Ball and Skein Hand-Dyed Zephyr in the very special and wonderful colorway, Manise.
• Needles:  Addi Lace size 5
• Cast On:  May 20, 2009
• Bound Off and Blocked:  June 22, 2009

This yarn came to me over a year ago at SPA and the second I saw it I knew exactly what shawl to knit with it.  Came to me in a flash of brilliant intuition and boy, was that intuition right.  I really wish I had been blogging it as I was knitting it.  I remember thinking along the way that I would be sure to mention 'this' when I blog or 'that', but can I remember it all?  I even went back and looked at the charts and tried to shake some of the memories out, but this is all I can come up with.  First, this shawl challenged me with a couple of new-to-me techniques that weren't difficult, but kept me on my toes.  The first is lace work on both sides of the work.  The first chart has yarn overs and decreases on both sides of the work which had me married to the chart (actually, I was attached to the charts the entire time).  This was not the knitting to take to parties and knitting in the car (or on a bus ride home from NYC that took all day) usually had me tinking out to find errors quite a bit.

 

If I am making the knitting sound like a chore, I really never felt that way.  I loved every second of knitting and most of the tinking.  The other thing I haven't done is knit a border onto a lace shawl, and that was a huge mental block for me.  Not really the concept, I totally get how that works and it went well.  The border chart is repeated twenty-four times and I never really got the hang of it, I'm blaming the lace work on the wrong side, it never felt intuitive to me and I'm not sure if that is me or the knitting.  To be sure, there are some definite patterns to the beginning and end of each of the rows, some of which clicked for me about half-way through and the rest in the final repeats.  That is unusual for me and I think maybe my mind was elsewhere over the last couple of weeks making it hard for me to see the obvious. 

 

The bottom corner is knit on using short rows and I probably should have knit that in a quiet room, free of all distractions because when I got to the end of it I had too many stitches, by one.  So I knit three together instead of two and went on my merry way, but the corner just looked, well.  Wonky.  I pulled it back and redid it, thank heavens, all went well the second time and it is lovely. 

 

What else.... Did I mention I adore this shawl?  It is difficult to photograph, but this shot shows the lace work, if not the color, pretty well.  Look at the mountains in the border!  This entire work just charms me to paralysis, I can't stop looking at it.  Can we talk about the color for a minute?  Judy outdid herself in my opinion.  I would knit this colorway forever, it is just that beautiful.  I don't see any on her website, but maybe she will put it back in the dye vat?

I'm not sure what took me so long to knit this shawl.  I did notice that the knitting went quite a bit faster on the second and third charts, which have plain purl rows on the wrong side, but even though the border chart has lace work on both right and wrong side rows, there aren't that many stitches.  I started the border on the weekend I was in NYC and it took two weeks for me to work (knit, knit, tink. Knit, knit, tink), which surprised me.  I had even brought another project with me on that little jaunt, delusional in the thought that I would need it.  There are long stretches on the second and third chart of only knit stitches.  My tip for you:  Count them ahead of time and write in the stitch count, saves a lot of time.  I also did it on the the border chart and with the number of repeats on that thing I can only imagine it saved me hours of counting, miscounting, tinking and reknitting.  Did I mention that I have a huge crush on this shawl? 

Hey!  Have you contributed to Claudia's MS Ride yet?  She is hasn't quite met, but is so close to her goal.  Can you spare another $10?  Look at what it might win you, there are some great prizes.  Your last chance is Sunday morning.  Go!  Donate!  Every little bit helps.

Seventy-six.  I'm feeling the need to knit a sweater or something.  It should come as no surprise that I have more lace shawl on the needles.  

Shawls, Shawls. Everywhere Shawls.

Have I told you all how great it is to read the comments you write after I post a finished project?  You know how to boost a girl's ego!  All I do is match up a pattern with some yarn and knit it.  LOTS of people do that and do it well.  The real credit goes to the designers and dyers and yarn people.  I'm doing the easiest part.  Case in point:

In case you haven't noticed I've been bitten by the lace bug and bitten deep.  It's an itchy bite and I keep scratching. 

• Pattern:  Forest Canopy Shawl by Susan Pierce Lawrence (ravelry link)
• Yarn:  Woolen Rabbit Whisper Merino Lace in Herb Roberts (recognize it?)
• Needles:  Addi Lace in size4
• Cast On:  May 19, 2009
• Bound Off:  May 28, 2009
• Blocked:  May 31, 2009

 

My head so firmly dreaming in the Forest Canopy of lace and having more than half the skein of yarn left from the Norwegian Woods Shawl, I cast on for this as soon as I finished it.  I had yarn and I was bound to use up as much of it as I possibly could.  If.It.Killed.Me.  And it just about did.  Using the Shawl Percentage Calculator at Rose-Kim Knits (thanks, Jessica!) and my postal scale I calculated as I went along, doggedly determined to knit every possible inch.  As enjoyable as this knit was (and it really is-if you knit it as written there are far fewer repeats of the lace pattern-not nearly enough to send a person to the insane asylum) , there was a race to see what would win out, my will to consume the yarn or my will to live.  You can probably guess at the internal battle.  At a certain point, when the shawl had grown to a generous size and there was still a hefty little ball of yarn left, I kept bargaining with myself.  Each repeat was to be the last.  It was all I could take.  And then I would do the math, weigh the yarn, knit another repeat.  The winner?

And then there was none some, but not enough for another repeat.

  

Did you figure this out yet?  I also had beads left from both the Spring Things Shawl and the Norwegian Woods Shawl.  What the hell, throw those in, too.  Why not?

As simple as this shawl is, one repeat until the border, it is deceptively elegant.  The yarn has a beautiful drape and the beads add that sparkle of blue sky glimpsed through the Forest Canopy.  Aren't beads and lace photogenic?

Don't you just want one?  Well, you could have one.  I'll be donating this shawl to Claudia's MS Ride raffle.  Each $10 donation provides a chance to win fabulous prizes and even better, help with research and treatment of people with Multiple Sclerosis.  Go.  Donate. 

Seventy-one.  Another finish.  Another Shawl.  Have I started another?

Another Week, Another Shawl

I'm definitely in the mood for lace in the shape of triangles lately, no?  This will be the fourth I've shared this year, and I have another to share (blocked and everything!) and another on the needles.  And dreams of future lace triangles are skipping through my imagination even as I am barely half-way through any one that I am working on. 

I had it in my head that I had to knit the Spring Things Shawl in the spring.  Just because I am weird like that.  Then I had to knit the Fountain Pen Shawl because I just had.to.have.one.  Wasting time Doing some serious research on Ravelry for my next shawl to knit I came across the Norwegian Woods Shawl/Scarf.  I love the story of the shawl, the names of the charts enchanted me and reading the description I visualized the perfect yarn for it.  Best part?  It was already in my stash.

Knowing the shawl was a story of a forest of trees progressing from winter through spring, I imagined the finished shawl to have a sense of the forest canopy on a hike, green leaves and buds with the breeze whispering through them and glints of the sky, bright, sparkly blue or a little bit hazy with that greyish lavendar look it can get, peaking from above the leaves.  A skein of Woolen Rabbit Merino Lace Weight in Herb Roberts seemed just the right yarn for the job.

It was made all the more perfect when the knitting was happening on my back porch and everything matched so well!  Knitting synchronicity.

 

• Pattern:  Norwegian Woods Shawl by Sivia Harding. (ravelry link)
• Yarn:  Woolen Rabbit Whisper Merino Lace in Herb Robert.
• Needles:  Addi Lace size US 2.5, 3mm.
• Cast On:  May 9, 2009
• Bound Off:  May 19, 2009
• Blocked:  May 20, 2009

With charming lace patterns named (from top to bottom) Winter Branches, Budding Twigs, Emerging Leaves and Leaf and Bower, I felt I was knitting the tale of spring even as I was living it.  I feel I created a version of a bower, a shady place among leaves. 

Sivia Harding loves her beads, so beading was a part of the pattern.  I almost went and got some green beads, but I had these left over from my Spring Things Shawl and thought they were the perfect thing to add the sparkle of a sunny blue sky to the shawl.

The Knitty Gritty:  Having a hefty hank of yarn my plan was to knit the large size of this shawl, but then I really thought about the dimensions and realized that was crazy knitting for a shorty like me.  I changed my mind and proceeded to make the scarf size which, if a teensy bit small, a more appropriate size for me to throw over my shoulders.  I do think another repeat of the second or third charts would have been a good idea, but after all of the beads were on there....  Well, you know.  I was done.  The knitting of this scarf was absolute pleasure.  I loved every second watching it grow into my vision.  The blocking, there is no easy way to say it, SUCKED!  I spent two hours one night, only to pull the pins out and leave it to the morning.  I was trying to avoid pinning out each scallop, and that was a mistake.  The next morning I put in another two and a half hours or so, making it necessary to re-wet the shawl so it could block.  Had I not changed the bind off rows a little bit (I was afraid they wouldn't be stretchy enough), the scallops might have looked more uniform.  I think I added too much into them by working extra yarnovers on the row before the bind off.  A mistake I am willing to live with.  (I think I am getting a little more tolerant in my old age.  Who knew?)

I wish I could say that even one of these photos captures the color and the fantastic pairing of yarn and pattern, my vision come to life.  The only downside was the amount of yarn I had leftover.  UGH.  I hate leftover yarn, and this shawl used up less than half the skein.  Having my head in the Forest Canopy through the knitting of this shawl made it easy to immediately cast on for another.

Seventy.  How long can this shawl madness last?

Blocking With Lots of Pins and Ten On Tuesday

I finished a shawl last week and had enough yarn leftover that I almost cast on to make another just like it.

But then I blocked it.

Twice.  And that was just about enough of that for me.  Why is it that there are never enough pins?  And remember, these photos show only half of the blocking.  And pinning.

Ten On Tuesday.  Ten Celebrities I Am Tired Of.  Only Ten?

1. The Hiltons.  Paris, Perez.  All of 'em.
2. John and Kate.  But the 8?  So.Cute.
3. Are the kids on The Hills celebs?
4. The Cruises
5. Mel Gibson
6. Miley Cyrus
7. The Kardashians
8. Dr. Phil
9. Lindsay Lohan
10. Manny Ramirez

Sixty-eight.  That was a harder to list to narrow down than I thought I would be.  Really, I'm just sick of all of it.

Some Days It Just All Comes TogetherAnd a Ten on Tuesday List

Great, pleasurable knitting.


My favorite spot.
(click so you can see the colors of the plant)


And you realize that the yarn, the setting, the flowers and nature all go together.

Ten Favorite Cities.  I'm not sure I have been to ten cities that I would categorize as favorites, but here you go:

1. I love that dirty water!  OH Boston you're my home!
2. Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
3. NYC!
4. Atlantic City (I was born there and it was way different when I was growing up and visiting it).
5. London.
6. Paris.
7. Washington D.C.
8. Salt Lake City (for the friends)
9. I'd love to go to Sydney.
10. And Vienna.  Among others.

Sixty-seven.  And did you notice? They weren't just blue.

Finishing Friday! w00t!

Pattern:  Fountain Pen Shawl (ravelry link) by Susan Pierce Lawrence, IK Spring 2009
Yarn:  Hand Maiden Mini Maiden in Glacier Bay
Needles:  Addi Lace in size 7
Cast On:  May 3, 2009
Bound Off and Blocked:  May 8, 2009

The pictures (thanks to my personal photographer, Cheryl) tell the story better than I ever could.

As usual, a brilliant Susan Pierce Lawrence shawl, very well written and beautiful to knit.  I knit this shawl as per the modifications Susan made when knitting her own shawl out of this yarn.  I thought I would knit it after seeing that one online, but then got to see Margene's shawl knit in the same yarn in real live person and was sold.  Trust me, just gorgeous.

That is the second SPL shawl for me in the last two shawls I've knitted.  Did you know there is a ravelry group for knitters of Susan's pattern?  Well, there is and you should join.  Even if you haven't yet knit one of her patterns, this group will provide the motivation.  Or maybe the little raffling off of Susan's new pattern will spur you on.  When the group hits 200 member mark, Susan will be sharing her newest pattern with a lucky winner.  In case you haven't guessed, it is totally in my queue.

The yarn is so soft and wonderful to work with and even after a soaking and blocking retains the silk aroma that I love.

 

So, the Forest Canopy Shawl is next in my list of to-dos.  I'm on a roll with lace and Susan, although my current WIP is not a SPL pattern.  Five more rows, a bind off and a blocking......

 

I should have gotten a photo with my Spring Things Shawl, the beads on that complement this shawl nicely.  I love wearing them together.

Sixty-five.  I don't know how she does it!  I feel so awkward in these photo shoots and Cheryl it looks like I am as calm and relaxed and used to being a model as Twiggy!

In Time For Spring

Pattern:  Spring Things Shawl designed by Susan Pierce Lawrence
Yarn:  Zephyr Wool/Silk in indigo
Needles:  Addi Lace size 5
Cast on:  April 18, 2009
Bound off:  May 3, 2009

This shawl was knit on some really warm days while basking in the sun.  I know I knit some golden hot rays right into it. 

My lace knitting fingers must have needed some warming up.  My fingers just could not get the hang of the first chart, so of course I knit two more repeats of it.  Two extra repeats feeling clumsy and not much like a lace knitter at all.  Two extra repeats of a lace chart that is essentially the same knitting on every row.  And I just could not burn it into my brain.

My hands settled in for the second and third charts and the rhythm of yarn overs and slip, slip, knits again worked their meditative and soothing spell over me.

 

The only other modifications I made were a suspended bind off and to replace the nupps with beads.  I was just in a beady mood and I'm glad I went for it.  Surprising, because I love nupps.  I think I may be making up for it now though. 

This is my fourth shawl knit with Zephyr and I love it.  It blocks out perfectly, crisply and with great stitch definition.  I can knit with it a lot, they dye the stuff in a great range of blues.  This is also a stash-busting project, this yarn has been in the stash for a while.  It is great to finally transform it into what it was meant to be.

Susan's pattern is excellent, very well written and beautiful.  I am so in love with it that, in a very uncharacteristic move for me, it was blocking within minutes of the binding off.  That is something for me.

 

There is one really big problem with this shawl.

I can't stop taking photos of it.

Sixty-two.  Seriously, over one hundred photos.  When I could be knitting the next lace shawl.

If I Had Posted To This Blog Last Week.....

I might have made you all jealous.  Beautiful blue knitting on a beautiful blue day in beautiful 90 degree heat.

This week however, there is still beautiful blue knitting, some of it on beautiful blue days, none of it in beautiful blue 90 degree heat. 

At least the tea was hot.

Fifty-nine.  I have started the transition to iced tea, though. 

Finishing Friday

Knitting can fix almost anything, right?  You would think that to be the truth, the way knitters immediately search the stash and start knitting for almost every occasion.  It nearly always the first thing I think of, and while it may not cure cancer or take away the sorrow of a loss, those stitches, with prayers and good intentions worked in, surely bring warmth and consolation to a hurting heart, mind or body.  So we knitters, we knit.  I knit a prayer shawl for my mom.

• Pattern:  Wool Peddler's Shawl, Folk Shawls, Cheryl Oberle.
• Yarn:  Woolen Rabbit Opulence in Chiquitita.
• Needles:  Addi Lace size 6.
• Cast On:  March 15, 2009
• Bound Off:  March 28, 2009.  (And yes Margene, it was blocked the day before Easter, just as I predicted.)

 

Lace is photogenic, is it not? 

The good news is that my mom is a few weeks post radiation and chemo, and while she is currently suffering a bout of bronchitis, her recent PET scans show that the treatments have done their jobs and she is free of cancer.  Yay!  Now we prepare for her surgery.  One foot in front of the other...

Speaking of knitting for loving care, it is tempting to cast on for any number of afghan blocks and shawls and things for Kay Gardiner after the loss of her husband, Pete.  We just want to do that, don't we?  Afghans for Afghans is a group that was mentioned in the post about Pete, so I went over to see what they needed, dug into my stash of scraps and single skeins and got to work.  I'm not doing a lot, but a couple of pairs of baby socks and some childrens' mittens are short work and I'm knitting my prayers and intentions for the Gardiner family into them.  Won't you join me and make a pair or two?

Fifty-six. 

So.Much.Stuff.

But I'll be doling it out in little bits.  I missed a Ten On Tuesday, although I did write the post, but was boring the heck out of myself and decided not to spread the wealth of boredom on that one.  The highlights of foods I don't like?  Twinkies.  And some people actually deep fry them and then eat them.  As if they aren't disgusting enough on their own.  I just broke a rule that I have tried to teach my kids, never to say that something other people like is disgusting or put it down.  You must just say, "I don't prefer that."  Much nicer.  And then there is this little story:

Soda. Okay, I really hate soda.  As a kid I would drink birch beer on the Atlantic City Boardwalk while vacationing (my mom's family lived down there and I was born there), and root beer the few times we would fast food, which was confined to the rare occasions of travel and a couple of times per year when my parents would go out.  My father would either go for the pick up or if we were in the car with him, we would have to wait (pre-drive-thru) and then we would eat in the car.  He didn't like special orders so even though I wanted a cheeseburger and root beer, he would only order four hamburgers, four small fries and four cokes.  I hated coke.  I never drink soda now.  Or anything fizzy actually.  I just cannot stand that bubbly feeling in my chest.

See?  BOring.

After that I planned on posting every day.  I have socks, a shawl, a sweater (don't get too excited, it's a toddler sweater) all finished and a serious case of startitis.  I don't feel like writing any of those posts now so this is what you get.

Did you have a nice Easter?  Or Sunday?  Whichever it was for you?  We did.  I went to church, which I had no intention of doing, but Meg was here and getting ready which was just the nudge I needed.  I'm so glad I didn't miss church, Easter isn't the same unless I go.  We sang the standard Easter fare, but not the most fun hymn and we were bummed.  So we sang it around the house all morning and we rock it out with more dramatic effect than those people.  We were not as cute as these three though:

YouTube Sunday.

Among others, we did sing this one, as did almost every church-going Christian in America.  I have to say, we sounded a lot better.  In our own minds.

Alrighty then. I know what you are all really wondering. "What the heck did she wear to Easter Sunday Service?!" That is the important thing on Easter right? Clothing is one of the things that was keeping me from going. I had nothing I felt like wearing and really wanted to wear jeans. I compromised and wore my Indigo Ripples Skirt, out of denim yarn and digging around for a shawl to throw over my white blouse I rediscoverd a long ago knitted Shapely Shawlette. Just the ticket!

The perfect size and shape for the day. I made this shawl a lot of years ago, maybe eight or nine, something like that. I kinda love it and can't figure out why I haven't worn it in years. I love the pin I have holding it together:

Cute, right? This is me trying to take a picture of myself:

Never the best idea, but we bloggers persist in doing it, don't we?

Fifty-two.  Even Meagan is complaining about the absence of a new post around here.  Happy Meg?