flyinmysoup

i am building up quite the little stash of shawls here! and i still have two on the needles (the Garden Stole from fiddlesticks and the Fir Cone Shawl from Folk Shawls). plus, yarn for at least 4 more. what a tough life....

here is the shawlette in its unblocked, blob state. but then, the magical lace blocking took place. ps--this was the first big project that i used my new blocking wires on. OH MY GOD!!!! this thing would have been evil to block with just pins and thread (it's sorta strangly shaped). i can't believe how long i put off buying blocking wires!!

here she is on me after blocking. i know that i tend to go on and on (and on just a bit more) about how utterly amazing the change in lace after blocking, but really. it's just so freakin' cool. i mean, this came to the bottom of my shoulder blades pre-blocking, and now, it's just at the top of my ass.

here's the mandatory "xavier with shawl" shot. he's such a trooper, that pup o' mine. now, for some states about the project:
Pattern: Beaded Swirled Pearl Shawlette by Jade Sapphire
Start/Finish: 13 november/ 3 december 2006
Yarn: Lacey Lamb, color #223; two 825 yd balls (yarn doubled)
Needles: 4.5mm bryspun circs
Notes & Comments: i also used 882 size 6 silver-lined red beads--i had to buy more beads not once but twice. that was fun. i really like this pattern, and i can envision using the basic construction of the shawlette to expand upon, adding more complex lace patterns and what not. i love the shape of the finished wrap--it's not quite 3/4 of a circle, but it's more that 1/2 of one. this lets the shawl hug the shoulders and stay in place with out a lot of fuss. i give this project an A+. it would be great as an introduction to lacework.

a couple of years ago, my parents forgot my birthday. after that happened, i decided that i would celebrate the 15 days of kate's birth so that, should they forget again, i would not be as upset about it. plus, birthdays rock. anywho, the celebration starts on 1 december and goes until my birthday proper (the 15th). i enjoy it, and gearl seems to think it's rather silly and fun.
this year, on the first day of my birthday, i also picked up my first paycheck in about four years. (what a great feeling!) and decided that it was a day for celebration indeed. g and i headed over to Stitches and Scones, and i picked up Barbara Walker's Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns. i love it. just browsing through it makes me feel insanely creative. in fact, i am using a stitch pattern out of it for some socks that i'm making in this lovely yarn that i picked up at Mass Ave on the fourth day of my birthday. it's Soxie from the Great Adirondack Yarn Company. the colorway is "Cancun" but i've taken to calling it Parrot yarn. i'll post progress shots of the socks when they are more than some ribbing! something not so wonderful happened last night when i was working on the Parrot Socks--one of my 2.25mm Brittany DPNs broke right in half! i sent out an email to them today so that i can take advantage of their 5yr replacement gaurentee. anyone have any experiance with that?

days three and four were spent at work, so not too excitting, but i did pick up a new orchid at Trader joe's last night (i'd put off adding a new one to the collection, but it's my birthday celebration and i couldn't withstand any longer) isn't it lovely?? and tiny???

it's finally getting reliably chilly here in indiana. (for those who don't know about indiana weather, here's the best description of it i've ever heard--if you don't like the weather, wait a day...it'll change)
anyhow, my head was freezing the other night when i took xavier out, so i decide that i would whip up a hat. i hate wearing hats, but they do help an awful lot with the whole retention of body heat thing, so i used some of the Malabrigo that i'd been hoarding (1.75 oz of it), 5mm needles, and the Simple Roll Brim Hat pattern out of Last-Minute Knitted Gifts and made this pretty hat to keep myself toasty. i still think i look terribly goonie in it, but at least it's a pretty colorway!

after all the lace knitting that i've been up to, i decided that i'd been neglecting my poor little feet. that and the fact that i prefer wearing hand-made socks to work (i stand for hours and hours) led to an outbreak of socks here. this is the Entrelac Sock from the Socks Socks Socks book, made with the parrot yarn i picked up the other day (the toe is Baby Ull from Dale). i have to admit, i'm lovin' the entrelac. it's interesting enough that i don't want to stab my eyes out with the needles, but it's intuitive enough that i can work on these socks whilst i watch a DVD. i started out on DPN's and switched to the Magic Loop, which made a hell of a difference in the ease of working the pattern. i'm interested in trying the technique out with a yarn that has longer color repeats so it'll make the different blocks all one solid color. this first sock is working up suprisingly fast--i just hope that i can keep momentum through the end of the second one!

this second sock represents a milestone for me. it's my first sock pattern that i designed that wasn't just stockinette. in the past, i've sort of been a jerk about different sock designs. (maybe not out loud or in writing, but definetly in my head). socks have such an easy, basic pattern, it doesn't seem like much goes into making up a sock that uses a stitch pattern instead of stockinette. now, i don't think these guys are going to be anything close to a fabulous work of genius, but i did figure out the math for the pattern repeat! the stitch pattern is from Barbara Walker's second stitch treasury, and i like how it's looking so far. it's a twisted traveling stitch, so i think that it looks pretty nice with the hand painted yarn (Artyarns Super Merino). the sock so far is a great in the car pattern.

i've made an executive decision to not kill myself with the knitting of yuletime presents this year. i'm still going to try and get the sweater i'm working on for my sister done, but i think that's going to be that. i just get so frustrated with it all in the end.

remember my broken 2.25mm Britany needle? i got the replacement. let me say, the people at Britany rock cause they sent me not one but FOUR needles! how freakin' cool is that? i could knit with four, save back two others, and still have two left for pokin' things with. RULE!
i've been seized with the need to make the Venezia Pullover from the Winter 06 IK. now, i rarely use the called for yarn in a pattern--mostly cause it always seems that i can find a substitute that is cheaper. i don't want to try and swing the $100 or so to use the Jamieson's Spindrift yarn Eunny used, so i'm thinking of Knitpick's palette. the problem is that, for a yarn named "palette," this stuff doesn't have the range of colors that the Spindrift does. i played with the photoshop and available colors, and came up with a couple of possibilities:

here's number one. it is quite similar to number two (the greens are switched around is all).

i like both of these, but between the two, i'm leaning toward the second choice. and here's yet another choice..same colors for the scrolly parts...

so, now it's your turn to give your feed back. what do you, dear blog reader, think of these combos? would you do something different? let me know.

my day of birth celebration was great. i received my Knitpicks order for the Venezia pullover yarn--which was really cool AND super fast...it only took two days. i also picked up a couple of their circular needles just to try them out. i know you've probably read about 3275 reviews on these babies, so i won't write up another. i'll just tell you that i'm in love and they are a complete steal. i decided on colorway combo #2. here's a swatch so you can see how the actual knitpick's yarn behaves: i have so little experiance (ie. absolutly none) working with multiple colors that i couldn't decide what i thought about this little guy. so, after having cut the steek i worked into the swatch, i seamed it back up and used it as a coffee sleeve for a couple days, and carried it in my pocket when it wasn't keeping my hand from being scalded. i asked the ladies in one of the yarn stores what they thought. i asked G his opinion. my artist friend (Ms. Skull Vest) was hit up. and everyone said they liked it. so i guess that i should settle down.
since the Venezia sweater uses 8 different colors (my version, anyway) i decided to get myself a Knitting Nest for my birthday. just after knitting the swatch up, i'm certain that this was an excellent present.
wanna see the rest?
Cashmere/ silk yarn from JadeSapphire in a gorgeous pewter color. i'm not sure what lacey, delicious creation i'll come up with for this, but i'm pretty content just to pet it so i'm in no hurry!
While browsing through the latest IK, i saw a sweater that made me gasp a little. i went to the Stitchdiva website an imediately bought the pattern for Sahara. it uses Tilli Thomas yarn, and though i could afford it, i don't think that my brain could have handled the $100 odd dollar price tag. so i picked up this Berroco Softwist for it. at 20% off, the sweater will cost an amount that won't cause an aneurysm.
Birthday Books!!! i love books. love love love. my brother and sister in law sent me the The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists. Ms. Skull Vest got me the copy of Victorian Lace Today. if you haven't seen this book, check it out--especially if you knit lace. it's beautiful. another very dear friend sent me The Knitting Way: A Guide to Spiritual Self Discovery. i find spirituality endlessly interesting, and the spirituality of knitting is just a bit more so.
see? a great birthday. add in the IK subscription my parents got me, and i should be good set for a while!
it's really a shame that the LYS's 30%-40%-50% off sale starts the 26th....i guess that i can justify any purchases as late yule gifts...right?

christmas didn't bring with it the huge wave of freak-out followed by the lull of every gift finished and given cause i didn't give one knitted gift this year. while this was quite a load off for me, i sort of like the feeling of "whew! finally i can knit something for myself!" so, i've been slogging away at a couple of pairs of previously blogged-about socks. the entrelac socks are coming along okay. i still love the parrot yarn, the actual technique is pretty jazzy (i never thought i would be so proficient at knitting backwards), and they fit (so far) reasonably well--can you hear the "but" coming? BUT thet heel used is just sorta...well, strange. i've never worked a heel like it, and that's the entire reason i went ahead with it. ya know, for the sake of a new technique. see what i mean? the way it's constructed, you are left making an almost i-cord like run of stitches across the opening. see, it's so strange that i can't even give a good description. i can't yet tell if it's going to cause a problem with the fit or not, so i guess that i'll keep on keeping on til the end of sock 1.

in closer warmer better sock news, the Twisted Traveling sock (the one i'm designing myself) is shaping up just as i had pictured it in my head. can you tell that i used the Eye of Partridge stitch for the heel? cause i can, and this is the first time that i've ever gotten it to look right. i am, consequently, ultra-jazzed. on the heel, i also used a 3 st garter selvage, something i've never tried before. and let me tell you, it's just brilliant! unlike the chain stitch selvage i normally use, with this one, there is no gappines when you pick up the gusset stitches. everything is so tight and uniform. i love it when i try new things and they end up well!

the LYS currently has their after christmas yarn sale running...everything is 30%-50% off. since it is after the gift giving holiday time, i don't have a lot of moola to throw at new yarn, no matter how cheap it is, so i exercised restraint and logic and only picked up a couple of things that i have been lusting after for a good while. two skeins of Supermerino4 in a colorway that i'm drawn to, no matter how illogical it seems (i'm not terribly wild about the blues...they're okay). these where 40% off! i also grabbed up a single skein of Rowan 4-ply Soft. i'm currently making myself a Shedir out of it, so pics in a couple of days.

in other news, last night, i brought this sexy guy home from work.

i've seen tons and tons of betas in all my stints as Pet Shop Girl (this is the second one i've worked at) but i've never seen a blue and orange beta. i've named him Mordecai and he was sort of a sign on what type of fish tank will be the first when i get room to set a couple up: a Southeast Asian Blackwater biotope! (i'm a big ol' geek all around, not just for the knitting!)