Saturday, October 20, 2007

Frosted Fern AKA "Oakie Dokie" Blocked (Is it my imagination or are the doilies getting bigger?)
































Here it is. Frosted Fern (AKA "Oakie Dokie" for the Niebling Yahoo Group knit-along) is finished and I decided to give it a picot edge because my sister said that the original edge on the free pattern looked too much like "Rick-Rack". Center knit with US 00 and the rest on US 0 in Cebelia # 30 in a pretty shade of blue. It is a little dark pinned out because it's still wet. This 121 row doily is free on the internet and I have a link listed in my left side-bar under the "Stuff" section. Now I can concentrate on finishing the edge for the Sampler Stole, finish the Legends of the Shetland Seas and work more on the WRS. I did find US 00 needles at The Knitting Zone thanks to Fleegle and missalicefaye. They do have nicer joins so I bought some to transfer my WRS to and the stitches slide much easier on this. They should make working on it much nicer so now I think I could actually finish this shawl. I plan to work mostly on existing projects to try to finish them rather than start new ones. This is due to the fact that I tend to be so busy during the holidays that knitting tends to slow down what with baking etc. Of course, this assumes I don't get a florid case of "startitis"or something. Of course, I will be buying my copy of the "Princess Shawl" when it comes out next month but I think that this would be a great shawl to start the new year with. I did pick up a few more colorful shawl pins on E-Bay as you can see above.. I'm afraid I have a weakness for them though that green one starts to remind me of "Knit Picks" needles a little bit. Still, it looks good stuck into the "Boundary Waters" shawl and that's what counts!



One last comment about the Boundary Waters Shawl and Mountain Pines Shawl. The Two Old Bags have re-issued both patterns for those out there who wanted to have a copy. If you click on the hyper-link on their name, you will go there. Finis! Have a great evening!

28 comments:

z's momma said...

Your new shawl pins are gorgeous. And your Frosted Fern turned out lovely.

Opal said...

The doily is drop. dead. gorgeous. My only disappointment is that the pattern has no chart. The written directions are rather intimidating to a chart addict such as myself. I might take a gander at it anyway though. :)

What great news about the Boundary Waters Shawl! Thanks so much for letting us know.

LittleBerry said...

love this doily... I like the way the 'holes' set off the solid leaves.... think it looks stunning

Soo said...

I love it! You do beautiful Niebling Lacefreak. Herbie is smiling from wherever it is lace designers go to when they die.

fleegle said...

So, how big is is? Drop-dead gorgeous doesn't really do it justice. Mouth-watering? Fantabulous? Exquisite? Littleberry already used up stunning and Opal grabbed gorgeous, so I am stuck for a superlative. Fish looks like he's having a good time, though!

You haven't finished that border yet? Shame on you :)

Pretty shawl pins too!

Nurhanne said...

Beautiful, and I love that you did it in blue.

Laritza said...

Beautiful job! I wish I could find the pattern for the Oak leaves table cloth! that is the one that has always caught my attention. Any ideas?

missalicefaye said...

oh, it's so beautiful, Jane--especially in that lovely dark blue! you're well on your way to convincing me to explore the world of Mr. Niebling.

And I'm glad to hear you like the needles, too. I just ordered some 000 000s from them, just for fun. :)

Carol said...

Pretty doilies! Glad you found the needles you nededed. It's always frustrating when you know something surely exists...and yet you can't find it!

Colette said...

Well I hope "Beautiful" does justice to your doily because it really is beautiful. Are you going to keep this one? I got my HiyaHiya US000 and US00 needles from Red Bird Knits. I'm trying to convince my LYS to start stocking these needles. Also the Princess is now available. I've already place my order.

Lacefreak said...

Dear z's momma,


Thanks! I have a weakness for shawl pins now that I actually have kept a few shawls :-) and the doily did come out nicely in the Cebelia #30. You can't beat a free pattern!

Lacefreak said...

Dear Opal,

If you want to join the Niebling Yahoo group (there are 2 so it's the one that actually knits the patterns not the one that is advocating his patterns be re-published) they created a chart for doing this pattern tnat I used along with the written instructions. It gives an alternate border that I did not use but which is very pretty. I'm really happy they re-printed Boundary Waters and Mountain Pines since a few people have wanted to knit this after seeing a picture of it knit up. Now everyone can enjoy knitting them if they want and it can go onto their "to do" list. Of course, your list and my list is so long we will never finish but that's the way the lace goes :-)

Lacefreak said...

Dear littleberry,

I'm glad you like it! I think the mesh that holds the pattern motifs does a great job too, but if you have to knit that mesh it can be a little tedious at times. Still, no one held a gun to my head and said "You must knit lace!" so I guess I won't complain about the mesh anymore :-)

Lacefreak said...

Dear Soo,

That's the beauty of it. Niebling patterns make me look really good :-) I'm likely too optomistic that there will be a renaissance in knitting Niebling patterns and that his known works might get re-printed. Still, one can only hope. Maybe the more of his lace we knit, the more likely it will happen. I bet he's looking down at my doily and can see the mistake I made! LOL

Lacefreak said...

Dear fleegle,

Thank you! It is a pretty one. The doily is 24" across. That's big compaired to other small doilys I've knit and Miss Fish loves her Neibling pond. I belive all of the Nieblings belong to her and it matches her coloration and sets off her eyes so well! I don't know what it is about edging, but I hate to knit it so it is typical that I have made very little progress on the Sampler Stole edge. Now the doily is done and I am forcing myself not to start new projects, I belive I will be back at it. The Fun part is always the center anyway as you well know :-) I will have to get my kicks from watching you knit. Vicarious thrills. I love them!

Lacefreak said...

Dear Nurhanne,

I love knitting the doilys in color though I should try to do a few in whie or ecru or cream. It's just more fun to knit them in color and the work just seems to go much faster as a result. Thank you for your encouragement!

Lacefreak said...

Dear laritiza,

Do you know I have still never seen the full pattern for the Oak pattern? I check E-bay and so many of them are referred to as "Oak" but they have all just been the various leaves of oak and not the one with the acorns. If I ever see one I will let you know immediately but so far, no dice. Still, it's fun to knit this one if that's all there is for now and it really was fun.

Lacefreak said...

Dear missalicefaye,

Thank you! I really like to knit the Nieblings in color though I have seen many of his patterns knit in more traditional white/cream/ecru since they have loads of them hanging up on display at Lacis. I'd love to see how you like knitting a Niebling pattern. Only half the rows are pattern rows so it goes quick. The needles are great and I'd buy them in US 000 if I didn't already have tons of Addi Turbos in that size. They really are nice as well as very reasonable.

Lacefreak said...

Dear Carol,

Yes, me and frustration don't get along very well so It's great to finally have needles that work. The doily is pretty though they are not very practical in this day and age. But who said I was practical?

Lacefreak said...

Dear knitsanity,

I just had to pause and order my Princes Shawl pattern. I had no idea it was availble yet! Thank you for mentioning it. I'm happy you are enjoying the doilies. I kept the red doily and will keep this one too unless one of my friends decide they want it. It would be kind of nice to have a collection of Nieblings I've knit :-)

Diana said...

Lacefreak is an understatement meant in the most complimental way!! You are just one fabulous knitter!
I have added you to my google reader so I can keep up and be encouraged that maybe one day I can follow suit!

Kathy said...

Absolutely stunning Jane, your knocking the master pieces out now too aren't you!!!

That blue is fabulous and really sets off the pattern. Another wonderful job.

K

OceanKnitter said...

This one is one of my favorites -- and a beauty in blue! Thanks for posting such wonderful photos.

Sandy

Anonymous said...

Thank you, thank you for checking out about the shawl pattern.
I am looking forward to watching your 'Princess Shawl' knitting.

Lacefreak said...

Dear Diana,

Happy to provide eye candy! I know I take advantage of all the terrific things on everyone elses blogs for inspiration so if my knitting makes you happy then I'm really glad! Thanks for checking in on me :-)

Lacefreak said...

Dear esther,

I figure anyone who would look at a blog called "lacefreak" is going to want to know when the Princess Shawl is re-issued :-) Though I keep thinking I won't start it until next year, I keep on swatching for it. Maybe I won't be able to help myself but I still think I need to finish WRS and other shawls before I reward myself with the Princess. Good to hear from you!

BadCatDesigns said...

You are pulling me into the doily vortex. Amazing knitting.

Lacefreak said...

Dear BadCatDesigns,

Glad you are enjoying my new abberation! If someone had told me I'd be knitting doillies and loving it I'd have called them a liar, but they really can be very addicting as "small" projects go. Maybe you could knit one as a shawl instead as there is more use for one of those than a doily :-)