Sunday, February 17, 2008

Itching to Start (Did I finish some things recently?)










Maybe it's the recent spate of sunny days we have had out here but I suddenly realized that I've finished a few things and can now start a few new ones. Yeah, I know. There are still projects that are old that are not yet done, but I have to admit I'm not feeling the love from those hibernating projects (WRS, Spider Mutant & Shetland Tea Shawl). I'm making some headway on Princess, on the International Shawl and Salmon Queen, but I wanted to have more projects for variety that will be active knitting. See above the center for a Niebling Tablecloth pattern I bought. It has no name in the magazine but i've heard that it might be called "Peony". If anyone knows for sure, let me know. Since I don't want to run around calling it "Tablecloth", I'm going to call it Peony for laughs. I'm knitting it on 2.5 mm needles using 2/28 NM silk from ColourMart in "Candy". I may go up another half size in needle diameter now that I'm past the first round of petals. Under that you can see that the start of Hyrna from the book "Three-Cornered and Long Shawls" using US 4 needles and the Polworth laceweight that I spun from the roving from Deep Color Studios. None of these new projects is too difficult or too long to knit so they will give me a nice feeling of accomplishment as I slog along on more long term projects like the Princess. Lastly,what is that stuff on the bottom? Well, it's not yarn. I guess you would have to call it proto-yarn. I could not resist getting some fiber from Black Bunny in spite of the fact that Stitches West is just around the corner. Curiosity about spinning something with a little mohair in it got the better of me. Besides, these colors might be nice to knit in the Summer :-) So much lace, so little time!

22 comments:

Laritza said...

That is a beautiful Niebling! Great plans.

Dave said...

Whoa, that tablecloth aka Peony is going to be gorgeous, and also whoa, that green roving -- scrumptious!

Opal said...

What beautiful choices! I can't wait to see how your Hyrna turns out.

Beautiful roving. I'm just itching to spin.

fleegle said...

That's funny! The Peony is next on my list--I am recycling the yarn from the Princess shawl for it. You have great taste in lace, my dear :)

Anonymous said...

I like your fiber - very nice! Black Bunny is in the process of putting up their own online store any day now. And Capistrano Fiber Arts has a spot on Etsy now too - lovely deep colors in a mohair and silk blend. You'll show us your "finds" from Stitches right? Terry

missalicefaye said...

Hyrna Hergobar has been inching its way up my to-do list, too. Maybe I should add some variety to my knitting line up like you... :)

Anonymous said...

So much lace, so little time... That seems to be my philosophy lately, though I don't have access to nearly as many lace yarns or patterns as you seem to! Nor am I anywhere near your skill level! But still, lace is lace, and I myself have been knitting quite a lot of it lately too.

Carol said...

What cheerful fibre!

Knit Picking said...

You have been given the "you make my day" award. Please check my blog for details :) I know you've already received one, but this one is more like the "People's Choice" award LOL

Lacefreak said...

Dear Laritza,

These are nice patterns that are short enough to be able to finish without a lot of torture. Just what I need to gear up :-) I've always admired this particular Niebling pattern because I saw one knit up and displayed over at Lacis. I hope this shade of pink doesn't put everyone off. It's a little bit on the girlie side.

Lacefreak said...

Dear Dave,

I love these rovings from Black Bunny but I have this bad habit of buying fiber before I try to actually imagine it knit up into something. It's going to be interesting trying to figure out what to knit with them once te are done. :-)

Lacefreak said...

Dear Opal,

That's really the challenge for me you know. Picking the project to go with the yarn. So often in the past I've picked wrong. I'm a little better these days so I hope the lace meets everyone expectations! As for spinning, I do understand the urge. I just spin so slow that it's a major feat to get one lace project done a year in hand spun yarn. I'm hoping this year my track rechord will be better!

Lacefreak said...

Dear fleegle,

We both have wonderful taste in lace and in yarn :-) I think that the pattern will look beautiful in the yarn you have in mind since Princess just wasn't in the cards for you right now.

Lacefreak said...

Dear Terry,

I heard that she was going to have an on-line store so I'm looking forward to her grand opening :-) I'm going to try not to buy yarn at Stitches and heaven knows I already have plenty of fiber to spin. Still, if I see something I can't live without you know I will be showing it here on the blog LOL. What can I say? I'm weak. Very very weak!

Lacefreak said...

Dear missalicefaye,

I wanted something a little different to try. Something that would work with the yarn I spun but also something I had not tried before. It's not a difficult pattern, just a little bit odd with those hand written patterns. it was this on an Eric Englen pattern, but heck, that may be a future project With as fast as you work, I imagine this would take almost no time at all!

Lacefreak said...

Dear Ria,

It does take time to collect some of these patterns and books. Some date back to when lace was just an ambition and not something I understood or did well. I just knew I'd like to give it a try "some day". It's nice that I finally got to knit from them and it's great that you are interested too!

Lacefreak said...

Dear Carol,

You are a dear and tactful person you know that? My family knows I love loud color. The louder the better. My socks are a circus on my feet most of the time and occasionally I forget myself and buy fiber that I may never figure out what to do with once it's spun up LOL But I appreciate your support :-)

Lacefreak said...

Dear knitpicking,

Well Thank You! How kind :-)I will go over and take a peek.

LittleBerry said...

Peony looks great and you desrve something new after all the border knitting.... It does look a bit like a Peony but reminds me more of a Dahlia....

The Black Bunny fibres look lovely and unusually for me I prefer the reddy one... I've read people say her fibres are lovely but have never really senn good photos until now....

Anonymous said...

I absolutely love your choice of new project!!! Peony is just lovely! where on earth did you find the pattern???? I've looked and it's out of print everywhere I look :( Love love love the pink too :)

Lacefreak said...

Dear littleberry,

This the first time I've bought fiber from Black Bunny and it has some Mohair in it so it will be interesting to try. I also really like the red one :-)

Lacefreak said...

Dear Carissa,

It was difficult to track down a copy of a magainze with this pattern in it but I got lucky over the week leading into Christmas. I think people don't go onto E-Bay as much in that week. Too busy. The pattern does come up from time to time but not very often. I just got very very lucky!