flyinmysoup

so, after finishing up my final paper for this semester, i had absolutly no desire whatsoever to come near a computer for a couple of weeks.  this brief techno-allergy was hell for the blogging but alright for the knitting.  (ps.  i ended up with a 4.0!  my yoga paper got a 95%!!!  whoot!)  First, some sock (suprise, frickin' suprise):

here is my almost finished sock based on the Curusoe pattern from knitty.  i am absolutely in love with how this yarn (hand dyed by moi) looks in the slip stitch pattern. 

and now for some lace (cause apparently i've got a thing for really fine yarn):

this is a Flower Basket Shawl from IK.  i'm making it in the Knitpicks color your own lace weight (i dyed it this strange tan...it's alright).  a good friend of mine will be receiving this as a gift (she's great to give hand made gifts to--she's always sooo appreciative).  i'm tweaking the pattern a bit (i think) by adding on a knitted on border.  i don't really like the border as written, so we'll see.

final pick of the day, the start of my Fir Cone shawl from the Folk Shawl book.  it's not much too look at yet, but the yarn, oh holy mary mother of god, the yarn.  this is Lacey Lamb and it is the softest shit i've ever worked with.  it makes the Knitpicks Merino that i'm working with feel like steel wool.  it's freakin' brilliant.

i've also nearly finished the Lily stole (pics of it would serve almost no purpose so why waste the bandwidth?).  i've got 5 more repeats and the edging then it's done.  it soooooooooo boring now, though!  and it sucks cause it's not utterly mindless, as i have to pay attention to all the damned nupps (I HATE THEM).  gah.  the sooner i get crackin' on it the sooner it'll be OFF my freakin' size 4 bryspuns and i can move on to other lacey things.

i love knitting lace.  the process of having a icky-poo wad of yarn like this:
add some water, a little wool wash (cause really, who wants all that xavier fur wrapped about their shoulders?!?), some string and an metric tonne of pins and you end up with something that looks like this.  holy crap it's magically delicious! 

Details
Pattern: Flower Basket Shawl from IK fall 04 issue
Yarn:  Knitpicks Dye Your Own lace-weight Merino, dyed by moi
Needles:  Bryspun circs (love love love for lace), size 7
Start/Finish:  24 May/ 6 June 2006
Notes:  i added two repeats to the main pattern to make less of shawlette.  i also added a couple of rows of gater stitch to the edges instead of leaving it in stockinette.  i like the addition and will use it on future Flower Basket Shawls (and there will be more--this is such an easy-peasy pattern and it produces such a lovely shawl)

in WIP news, i started a second Via Diagonale bag.  dig the bright, happy colors.  aren't they great?  this is fun tv watching knitting (which is good because i think the fella and i are going to have to have a Lost marathon pretty soon).

so, after almost a year, i have finished the Lily of the Valley Stole from Fiddlesticks knitting.  whoo freakin' hoo!!!  now some pictures

on the top is the stole before blocking.  the right is after a vigorous stretch-and-pin session.  i attempted to use the blocks on my bedspread to show the difference in size, but i don't know if it's helpful in the least. 

Here's a close-up shot so that you can see just what a difference blocking made in opening up the pattern.  i know that i've gone off about it many times previously, but i really adore the change that takes place when you block lace!
Details
Pattern:  Lily of the Valley Stole
Yarn:  Knitpicks Shadow, vineyard; 3.25 skiens
Needles:  Bryspun circs, 3.5mm
Start/Finish:  3 sept 2005/15 june 2006
Notes:  i will never make this stole again.  don't get me wrong--the pattern is fabulously written and i love the finished project, but it really almost killed me to finish this.  the pattern is not complicated enough to demand very much attention, but it can not be completely ignored either.  i would almost prefer miles of stockinette to this. 

is there a prize available for being a bad blogger?  if so, someone needs to nominate me, i think!  to anyone who still checks out my little blog with any regularity, i appologize for the hiatus.  i've been knitting a lot of lace, and i am of the opinion that most lace project updates are 1)very very boring, and  2) a pain in the behind to photograph since i have to pin out the project so that it doesn't just look like a wad of yarn.  that said, here are updates on 2 of the 3 lace projects i'm working on.  i've not pictured the Garden Shawl that's on the needles.  getting it all pinned out would have driven me to drinking.  when i'm feeling braver, i'll get a picture!
this is the almost half-way done center of the Fir-cone Shawl.  i am still in deep deep love with the Lacey Lamb.  i spoke with my LYS owner, and she said that she may pick some more up at Stitches.  (and that would be nice since there is exactly 1 ball of laceweight left in the store...in a color that i'm not fond of or i would have snagged it.  i'm hoping for some aubergine, but i digress...)  to save my sanity, i don't plan on taking another pic of this until i'm onto the edging.

here is lace project 2--the Mystery Stole 2006.  i'm almost done with the first half of clue 1.  i got a late start on this since my internet went down the Friday the first clue came out and didn't get going again until the next Friday. i'm using the navy merino laceweight i picked up at the going-out-of-business sale.  i'm actually glad that i took a (blurry--sorry) photo of this.  i wasn't sure if i was digging the combonation of a cobweb weight and 3.5 mm needles was to my liking or not, and they quite are.  it's wierd the little bit of perspective that a photo can bring....

between knitting on the shawls (it's sort of a round robing process i've been using--a row here, a round there.  it keeps me on my toes), i've decided to repot all of my plants.  i snagged some beautiful pots that didn't have any drainage holes in them and today, that all is getting fixed.  if there's something i love almost as much as knitting, it's power tools.  and see the safety glasses?  i'm so proud of me!  i would like to add that the drill is not mine, it's the Fella's and i think that i may just hate it.  it's pretty weeny.  i've been drilling for, oh, 30 seconds and then i have to let the damnedable thing charge up.  i need to get another drill....anyhow, my pothos is crying out for his new home, so i better get back to playing in the dirt!!!!

oh dear god.  i have been initiated into the world of knitting with beads.  for so long, i had held out against the siren call of beads, glittery, sparkledy bits of happiness that they were.  sure, i picked up the odd bag of beads here in there, ya know, for making cutie stitch markers and the like, but it was all just innocent, i swear.  cause i knew what would happen if i gave in.  that brings me to the pattern that tempted me to the darkside--Perdita from the 06 summer Knitty.  oh, foul temptress.  i didn't succumb to any of the other beaded patterns i oohed over cause, well, they're all major investments of time and money.  but these cuffs are just the opposite.  cheap?  yeah, less than $3--and that's if i bought new beads every time.  quick?  i've completed 2 since yesterday, and i'm on my third.  and look what i picked up tonight: see all the Perle cotton?  i found it on clearance, 3 for $1.  and i've heard rumors that another big chain craft store has 'em for 50 cents. 
i've chosen beads in a smokey color and silver ones.  here are the two that i've finished so far:  i felt like a fancy Wonder Woman when i had them both on.  the steel colored one is the Blue bell pattern done in the called for thread/yarn, and it is now in the possesion of a dear friend.  the purple one is made out of Knitpicks Shadow in Vineyard (left over from the Lily stole) and it's the Lilac pattern.  it will also be going to a friend.   i love this pattern.  ah, lace--if you've ever read this blog, you know how i feel about lace. 
oh, this is a slippery slope, i can tell.  after i finished the first one, i chatted ceaselessly to the fellow for about 15 minutes about all the things i could do with beads in my knitting....save us all.

just for you, dear reader of my little slice o' blogland, a WIP pic of the Garden Shawl: 
yeah, and i appologize for taking a picture of lace on my insanly stripey sheets, but you get the idea.  and by the by, this thing is going to be huge.  this is just the pattern through round 55 (i think) and it's already about 16" across.  i think that it won't be so much a shawl on me as a really pretty blanket.

have you seen the new yarns at knitpicks?  they've added 9 that are shown.  they have also, however, added to their Dye-your-own line (now called "Bare"). this could be dangerous!

speaking of ease, a new Perdita for your viewing pleasure.  i used silver beads this time, and i sure do like how they look.  OH!  and the .50 three packs of the Pearl Cotton are not, i repeat, ARE NOT a myth!  if you have a Michael's near you, go and check it out.  not all the 3 pks are that cheap, some are $1 and a couple are $2.  but, wow!  i'm going to have yarn for 2227 of these babies!

i've started the Myster Stole 2 over.  i screwed up clue 3 somewhere along the line and, since i was already on the fence about whether or not i liked the effect the 3.5mm needles and the Skacel Merino Lace made, i ripped it out.  My LYS was lovely about exchanging the needles for 3.25 mm ones (admitedly, they would've been crazy not to--Bryspun circs to Addi's equals about $8).  i'm not very far in yet (no pics for a day or two) and i'm really pleased with how all the stockinette looks now--still open, but not crazily so. 
i thought that i would share two of my most favorite new knitting hints and tricks.  i came acrossed these in my browsing of the web, so someone else thought of them before me;  i'm just passing on the goodness!  First, if you use any of the interchangable needle sets that tighten up with the little "key" thing (i know of the KnitPicks Options set and the Boye Needlemaster set), it is super easy to add a life-line to your work.  just thread your life-line yarn through the little key hole as shown, and then work a row.  there you go!  all safe and secure now. of course, it does snag stitch markers, too.  i would put the life line in on a plain (or at least the closest thing to plain) row and then just add the markers back on the next row. 

Next tip, and this one is good for knitters AND spinners.  if you're working with a really fine yarn/ fiber, ya know, one that catches on every little minute piece of loose skin, exfoliate your hands first with this:  mix together some salt or sugar and olive oil in your hand and scrub scrub scrub.  rinse the goo off, and your hands are as soft and smooth as a baby's butt.  i have eczema on my hands, and that can make laceweights a pain in the ass.  this helps soooo much!

driven by the desire to work on something that wasn't the Ribby Cardi (there was a dyelot thing, but that's another post) plus the fact that i joined Lacevember i picked the Heere Be Dragon Shawl back up. oh, and the second season of Lost might have had a bit to do with it also. anyhow. after tinking back the same damned two rows about nine times, counting and recounting, and then counting again, i finally found where my mistake was (i think). even if i didn't find the actual mistake, i figured out something to fix it up enough that i could move on, so at this point, i couldn't give a shit if what i did was actually "fixing". but i digress. here's a pic of the progress through the second set of charts:

there was a bit of a hitch in my giddyup around rows 150-151. in these rows, the pattern uses a combination of floating twisted, traveling stitches and what is called the "wing stitch". a tip to anyone attempting the HBDS: when you get to theses rows, remember to always work the floating twists on the same two stitches. i found that it was helpful to move all the stitches that need to be worked out of order BEFORE i actually worked them; just moving them from the left hand needle to the right hand needle, switching the order as called for, and then moving them all back to the LH needle to actually work them. after i started doing this, the rows with traveling floating twists were much less a pain in the butt.

in terms of percent finished on the HBDS, i made a little chart up. this is where i'm at so far:
the next two sets of charts are going to be very interesting to work, not because they're going to be terribly difficult of anything, but because the actual charts are going to take up so much room. each of the rectangles is an 8" by 11" piece of paper printed the long way, of course. i haven't come up with a really great idea on how to handle this. we'll just have to see, i suppose!

more progress shots of the Heere be Dragone Shawl! what fun, eh? the shawl has gotten big enough that i now have to take it off the needle and put it onto a bit of waste yarn to spread it out. and it's too big for my weeny little blocking board, so it has to be pinned out on the bed.

Clicky for bigger pic

there were really no big problems encountered with this set of charts. it all went pretty smoothly. i was a bit confused on some of the symbols used, however. the part of the chart that shows the dragon's head spike thingies (this is a technical term, i assure you) the symbols are done in blue. on the key, they are not in blue. i did a bit of searching on the web, came up with nothing, and decided to just work the symbols as if they were exactly like those in the key and call it good. so far, i don't really notice them looking glaringly wrong, so hopefully it was the right decision!

i finished up the fouth set of charts on the Heere Be Dragone Shawl tonight!!!! whooo HOOOO! here she is:
Clicky for the big picture (in a new window)

i'm thrilled with how the HBDS looks so far. fyi--the measurements of the shawl as it's pictured are 46" across the top (wingspan) and 32" from the middle top to the bottom point. this is without actual blocking, of course...i just pinned it out a bit. so now i'm off to start the border...i'm not looking forward to all the stitches that i have to pick up!

non-wrinkly clothing is important to the HBDS...here, it can be seen at the ironing board, ready to smooth out some khakis. maybe this isn't the type of "action" shot you had in mind? well, what about.....

the HBDS drapes Xavier with dragon-y, lacey goodness...hmm, still not quite right?

HBDS, it loves to dance and spin (i, however, almost made close, personal, face-plant-type friends with the wire shelving)

alright, alright. i give up. how do these strike you? the HBDS's "wing span" on a five footish tall girl. it's not as wide as it could be (remember the less-than-perfect blocking). another go around with a more severe blocking is going to add some width, i think.

same shorty girl with the shawl as it will look when worn (actually, the spinning one is probably more accurate, but anywho...)

so, there you are, action shots as promised!

so, i'm finally getting back into the swing of living by someone else's schedule. for close to four years, i've focused on school and things NOT of an employment nature, and, even though i'm not working full time right now, adjusting has been interesting. i've gone to being able to knit pretty much whenever i felt like it to having to decided if i'll be able to finish a row before i have to breeze out the door. overall, however, i am loving the new job. but seriously, i work in a pet store--what's not to love? plus, the added paycheck will eventually mean....you guess it YARN!!! (for a bit, it'll mean a boost to bills and the like, but eventually--mwha hahhahaha)
in knitting news, i've been working on the Beaded Swirled Pearl Shawlette. i ran out of beads and had to madly drive about to find some more. and then, the store only had one tube left. i hope that it's going to sufice, but we'll see. this pic was taken a few repeats back--i'm only one repeat away from finishing, and the shawl is bunchy on the needles so not good for photographing. i'm absolutly loving how this is looking so far. it's such a dead-simple knit (good for knitting while catching up on Grey's Anatomy and such) and the yarn--my fav. i'm using beads the same tone as the yarn, and i love that they add just a subtle little bit of sparkle and flair. i think this baby's gonna be a great to wear for the holidays!
and guess what i get to break in when it's time to block it???? that's right! blocking wires!! i picked them up at one of the LYS yesterday in lue of some really fabulous sock yarn (that will be mine so that i can make parrot socks, but all in good time). the set was cheaper than the Knitpicks set, and i got to take it home right NOW. it took all of my willpower not to go nuts and reblock everything that i've knit in the past year or so. i love tools, and i love knitting, and knitting tools are just about the best thing ever!

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.

so, i haven't posted in a while. between work, getting settled into the new place, and, well, just life in general, really, i haven't been in a very "bloggy" mood as of late. i've still been knitting, not like wildfire or anything, but at a slow and steady type o' pace.
i've been progressing nicely on the Weekend Pullover from the Fall 06 IK. got both of the sleeves all knit up with ends woven in and everything (i like to do the ends as i go along, that way, when an item is done, it's done) here's a shot of the front body panel:

isn't it lovely? i confess that my progress on this particular project has been stalled in the last week or so.

because of lace.
actually, more because of the new Addi Lace needles. i'm freakin' in love with these babies.

here's a picture of (from top to bottom) regular Addi turbos (size 5), the new lace Addi's (3's), and Knitpicks Options circulars (also 3's). the new Addi's are every bit as sharp as the Knitpicks needles, they have beautifully wonderfully completely smooth Addi joins, and--the best part--some nifty coating that slows down the action of the yarn on needle just enough to make lace knitting a complete and utter pleasure.
when i used the KP needles for lace, my hands cramped up from how i had to hold the work to control the yarn (cause those are some DAMN slick needles!). this speed works great for non-lace projects--i adore the KP needles for socks--but it hindered my lace knitting. i didn't realize how much until it tried out the Addi Lace needles.
i switched the Fir cone shawl (which i started, oh, a freakin' year ago) to the Addi's and i'm almost ready to pick up the stitch for the border. that's, by the way, is going to be about as fun as spending 3 months knitting a really complex steeked fair-isle sweater, cutting it, blocking it, and then finding out that it's too small by an inch. i can not wait.

i have a tendency to fixate on things--things like food:

now, i think that i have mentioned before in my little corner of the web that i also have quite a thing with my food being pretty. and these are just gorgeous, imho. and abso-freakin-lutely delicious. anytime that G and i go out for thai, i order the fresh spring rolls. now that i've found how easily i can make them at home, i have a feeling i will be subsisting on 'em for a bit (i made them last night and tonight). plus, there is a wicked-cool international ethnic grocery right near us, and i can get the rice paper wrappers (banh trang) killer cheap.

they are crazy thin and soften up in hot water.

there are other things that i'll fixate on--things like a knitting project:

i finished up the center of the Fir Cone Shawl. my excitement was short lived, however, when i realized that the next step was picking up and knitting.....621 stitches. holy freakin' cow. that totally sucked. a lot. it is better that having to graft that many stitches though. right?
now, the shawl looks like this

like a shapeless, lumpy sack. awesome.

so, it's been over five months since i posted on my little blog. (i have been messing about on Ravelry a bit, but anyhow) and i promise that i have some really good reasons for the hiatus:

Excuse #1

LOOK!!!! this is G's and my new house! that's right, folks--we are home owners. whoot! it's a swell little 3 bedroom ranch in a much nicer area of town (in the two months we've been here, i've not heard one gunshot!) we've moved so many times in the past four years that the prospect of having a place to put down roots is kinda strange. i've been taking a long time getting settled in--not having to rush is so nice. the best part of having a house?

my own room for my yarn and what not. (i'm still moving everything in)
Excuse #2
on the 30th of November, i got married!

see, i think those are pretty decent reasons to not keep up with the blogging! i was knitting during this time. want to see a FO?

Pattern: Lady Eleanor Enrelac Stole from Scarf Style
Yarn: Paton's SWS, Natural Plum colorway; 8.5 sks
Needles: 6mm clover bamboo
Notes: i love this finished object! it's the best kind of project--super simple, and completely fabulous looking.

ah spring. it's one of my favorite seasons (right behind fall), and i'm so glad it's finally here after the terribly dreary winter we just had in Indiana. i can take a snowy, cold winter--that's just lovely--but rainy, just yucky ones get me down. so, here it is, just into the first strains of spring. too early to start on the gardening i'm itching to do now that we have an actual, honest-to-goodness house and yard, but the switch to Daylight Savings Time means it's now not getting dark until 8 or so. what's a girl to do? knit lace. that's the answer. the knitting project that spans this sloppy, still slightly frosty gap. whoot!
i am still diligently slaving away on the Fir Cone shawl that i started, oh, two or so years ago. really, i'm beginning to suspect that it shall be never ending. as guilty as i feel about it, i had to start a new project.
enter the Peacock Feathers Shawl. after browsing on Ravelry one night and seeing many lovely examples of this shawl, i picked up the pattern at my friendly LYS Stitches & Scones. JOY!!! though i have the most perfect color of the called for yarn (Jaggerspun Zephyr in a delicious teal-y blue) i decided to use some Skacel Merino Lace in colorway 669 (another lovely teal). i also downsized from 3.5 mm needles to 2.25's. i'm hoping that these two changes will leave me with a shawl that is itself downsized from the 88" monstrosity it is written as.
anywho, i've gotten through the first chart.

there's been lots of lace knitting here in the land of kate. in fact, the only projects i've been working on are lace. so, would you like some updates? and pretty pictures? pleased to oblige ya!

The Peacock stole is, i believe, on hold until i can suss out whether or not i'm frogging it and starting all over. i don't normally completely frog lace if i screw it up a bit--i can usually figure out (at least close enough) where i went wrong and drop things back to that point. but this time, i fear the worst. i can't seem to get the stitch count to be correct, and i feel it may be a lost cause. i'm not too terribly upset, though, cause i think that it was going to end up too small anywho. more of of scarf than a shawl. so, frogging it will be alright cause i can start it over with some slightly larger needles. it's all a learning process!

When i started to suspect that the Peacock shawl was heading strait for the crapper, i cast on for the Juno stole from Knitty. the utter simplicity of the bulk of the pattern (stockinette columns separated by eyelet columns) appealed to me greatly. and, it seemed like just the thing to use up some of the Malabrigo lace i had in the stash. so i cast on, and it seems to be going swimmingly thus far. here is a shot:

Clicky for Bigness
so far, i'm quite liking the pattern...it's pretty great television knitting (too bad Torchwood has ended for this season).
i've signed up for the Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery Shawl knit-a-long. it officially starts June 14th. the format is different from any mystery shawl i've ever been apart of: it reminds me of the Choose Your Own Adventure books from when i was a kid. for each section, you get to pick from several different options--how cool is that? According to the designer, the pattern is based on the Mandala. While looking on Ravelry for inspiration for yarn choices, i stumbled upon a yarn that made me stop in my tracks.
HAVE YOU SEEN THIS YARN?!?!

Kanui Effektgarn 8/2 is freaking amazing. i love love love the looooooonnnggg gradual color changes. (just perfect for the whole mandala idea.) My LYS just happened to have a couple of different colorways, so i decided to pick up a small one to try out before jumping buying enough for the Mystery shawl. I snagged up some of the EG colorway, and then started looking for a pattern.
I've settled on the Sagittaria Shawl. here's what i've got so far:

Click it for more detail
see how gorgeously the yarn flows from one color to the next??? it's just lovely. it's not all lovely goodness, though, at least not yet. right off the skein, this yarn is SCRATCHY. like Shetland scratchy and rough. it also seems to have some oil on it. i can barely wait to wash the FO to see if it makes a difference. and i hope that it does, cause i would really like to use this yarn on other projects, but i don't think my skin will let me if it doesn't soften up!

the Sagittaria Shawl is off the needles, blocked, and finished! here are the requisite photos and information.

Pattern: Sagittaria Shawl by Vilma
Needles: Addi Turbo Lace circs, size 9 US
Yarn: Kauni Effektgarn 8/2, colorway EG
Start: 15 May 2008
Finished: 26 May 2008
Notes: i love how this yarn looks knit up. it's just freakin' gorgeous. it is however, super duper scratchy. the pattern is super simple and quite pretty. i love the shawl's name and inspiration--i myself am a sagittarius. this shawl is garter stitch based, which makes it extremely stretchy. here's a before blocking photo:

Ready fro the close up

and then after blocking:

Wanna see it more clearly?

the shawl ended up being about 6' across the wingspan, and 3' from center top to the center bottom point. pretty big, actually.

i won't be getting more of this yarn for the Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery Shawl--i have some other yarn that will work lovely and isn't nearly as scratchy. don't misunderstand me; i will knit other shawls (and perhaps a cardigan or something) with the Kauni, even with it's harshness. you know, cause even though i'm not so much of the slave-to-fashion-type, i will wear scratchy ass wools if they are pretty enough ;)

and now, a couple more pics. some people take pictures of their completed shawls draped artfully over bushes, in tree branches, and what not. but not this knitter. nope. i like the dog-wearing-shawl shot:

and let us not forget the shawl-in-action shot:

bushes? we don't need no stinkin' bushes!