Herbert Niebling's "Lyra" (Who is that headless knitter?)

Pattern by Herbert Niebling, it's called "Lyra" and was obtained by buying a 20 year old Anna magazine on E-Bay. This is an English language publication originally printed for the market in the UK though you can also find publications in German as well. I started knitting my round shawl version of this doily pattern on 8/6/07 and finished 10/2/07 using 2.5 mm needles for the center and 2.75 mm for the outer leaves. I used 2/36 NM Cashmere/Silk from Colourmart in color "Polka Dot". This is a "mill-end" yarn on a cone with the manufacturing oil still on the yarn. I knit it that way and washed it out after the shawl was done. I did swatch and wash the sample to be sure of what needle I would use and what it would look like when it was done. Lots and lots of fun. I'm off to do more of the border for the Boundary Waters Shawl and for the Sampler Stole. I need to finish things before I start a big project, but I am knitting "Frosted Ferns" with the Niebling knit-a-long which appears to be a variation of a Niebling pattern called "Oak". It doesn't look remotely like "ferns" to me :-) I hope to post the finished Boundary Waters next and will give the shawl frame a try! Good Evening!

Lyra (Blocking)

Just a few shots of Lyra blocked and drying. I didn't want to make you all wait until it was dry to get a look. I think I have to go out and buy another box of pins! I will try to get shots in day light once it's dry. It fluffed a bit, has a little shine now the oil is washed off. I used very hot water and Synthrapol to remove the oil. It is approx. 46 inches across at the widest point. I'll re-cap all the stats with the final pictures. Good Night To All.

Lyra (Row 129) WTF does this mean in English?

Ahhh. The hazards of buying old lace knitting magazines in German. Yeah, they give you the English translation of the symbols in general but that doesn't help you when the center graph pages have special little comments for the pattern you want to make in GERMAN with symbols you don't have on the key. The two magazines you see there are ones that I got on E-Bay and they are in German. The third one is a magazine I bought in 1992 in English though it was also published in German as was the Anna Magazine that contains my copy of the Lyra pattern. I made a close-up shot of the instructions that I do not understand and the symbols that I don't understand. I'm thinking they are asking me to do a cable cross but I'm not sure. Those are from the older Burda magazine so I think it may have been before they came up with a more standard version of cable icons. I'm just guessing here. If anyone has a clue, let me know. It's for a doily I'd like to knit. These two magazines in German have quite a few patterns I'd like to try so I will work on these as well as the patterns I have in the Japanese books for awhile. Not all Nieblings are appealing to me. I favor the ones that have flower/leaves etc. Not so much a fan of the ones that are straight traditional doilys. I have to say that being on vacation for 12 days has made me realize how little time I have had to really knit. Most of my time is taken up with the commute to work but since I've been off I have knit for hours at a time. I can knit late at night without being concerned that I have to get up at 5:30 AM to get to work. It has been really nice and I just have to find more time to knit once I have to go back to work. Anyway, here are a few shots of things I'm making progress on. Boundary Waters I'm on side #3 and it's very dull to do the edging but I'm trying to make myself finish this so I can do the edging for the Sampler Stole. Also, I'm enjoying the Lyra pattern so I'm having trouble making myself finish the edging I know I need to do on the other projects. The flower center consists of small single cables that cross each other and look a little bit like a rope spiral. You don't get great definition with yarn but I bet this is a knock out with crochet or tatting cotton and I plan to find out by knitting Lyra again with Flora 50 or Cordonet 50 cotton later on. No progress on the Wedding Ring Shawl. It has been very warm here so I'm not at all tempted. Still, if it cools down I will try to knock off a few more rows but it lacks the appeal or ease of Lyra so I won't hold my breath. Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Lyra, Row 111 (Vacation Knitting)

Back from Tahoe where the water is so blue I wish I had some lace weight yarn the same beautiful color. When I wasn't sitting by watching my friend Louise gamble, I did a little knitting. Louise spent 3 straight hours playing roulette one day, I spent the same amount of time knitting on Lyra. I had fun in my own way though I think the staff cleaning the rooms thought I was nuts. I stopped at row 111 because it was time to come home and I need the next size needle once I get to row 113. The pattern as well as people who have knit this lace before me suggest that a larger needle is needed or this work will not lie the way it should once blocked. I'm on US 2 now and will go up a size. I'm loving how it looks and now I will get to work on the "flower" as well as the outer leaves for the shawl. I plan to make it round rather than the square shown in the magazine since that is one of the options. It won't be a huge shawl. Maybe 48 inches across if I'm lucky. It ends with a crochet cast-off. Oh joy. You all know how much I loath crochet. Still, it is turning out pretty so I guess it is worth it. :-)

Lyra, Row 72 (Nieblings Are Addictive)

Yeah, I know. It's a bunch of leaves, but they are pretty leaves! This is up to row 72 of Lyra and I'm really enjoying this pattern. I've received quite a few really helpful e-mails from people who have already made Lyra as well as from people who will be making her too! I stuck this on a longer needle so I could get a picture but as I go on it may not be so easy to get a shot. Interestingly I heard from the lady who sold me the pattern and she felt kind of bad about what I paid for it. Let me just say for the record I am GRATEFUL to have this pattern and I feel fortunate to be able to knit this lace. I have no problem with what I pay for my pastimes. I'm afraid I have neglected other lace projects in favor of this one. I just can't stop knitting it for some reason. I love how each row is different from the next, I love how I can see the pattern emerge and I really like that I get a break with a plain knit row in between pattern rows because I can check my knitting during that row and correct my mistakes before they get out of hand! I am still knitting the edging for Boundary Waters and have 2 sides left to go. I will be gone to Tahoe for 5 days with my friend, Louise so Lyra and Boundary Waters will go with me. WRS will not be going with me. I feel a little guilty I'm not working on it right now but I just don't feel like knitting that one in this heat. Maybe a little later. Good Evening!

Edging Alone Is Not Enough (Relief From Tedium)

I have rounded one corner of the Boundary Waters Shawl, I have picked up three sides of the Sampler Stole and will begin that edging this weekend as well. I'm 8 rows away from finishing that doily even though I ran out of that color of tatting thread (I'm using white now) and I have no idea how to crochet so finishing that will be such fun and I break out into hives when I even think about picking up the Wedding Ring Shawl. How do you relive tedium? So many different ways. As long as it's fun because believe me, edging is not fun. Legends Shawl is on hold until I finish knitting edging but that does not stop me from blocking my sister-in-law's sisters first lace shawl. Millie bought beautiful yarn from "Toots LeBlanc & Co. at Stitches West. Its a Jacob/Alpaca/Mohair Fingering Weight yarn in a lovely dark grey and she knit it into this lovely shawl. The pattern is Field of Flowers by Evelyn Clark and I think she could have gone up several needle sizes because it turned out to be a really warm and sturdy shawl that took some muscle to block wet. Still, she said this was what she was after and who am I to second guess someone when what they knit comes out the way they want? And no, I did not use my shawl frame. I didn't want to risk pulling out any of the nails with this relatively "heavy in weight "shawl. It was worth all the effort though because it's really beautiful and she wants it to keep her shoulders warm this winter which it will do magnificently. Bravo to Millie on her first bit of lace!

And now to confess my sins. I bought a 20 year old magazine on E-Bay just to get this one pattern. It's called "Lyra" and quite a few people have knit this in a variety of yarns/threads/needle sizes. It's beautiful in all it's incarnations. This would be my first Niebling pattern and thank the Lord I got a magazine that is in English . Yes, I paid a lot for it. No I don't regret it. I'm way too old to wait for someone to publish the complete works of Herbert Niebling. Maybe I'm paranoid, but after I hit 50, I realized I don't have forever to indulge my passions and pursuits. My eyes, my hands, my brain, something is going to give out and I will be pissed that I never got to knit this bit of lace. The lovely woman I bought the magazine from even threw in a freebie. Another pattern for a Niebling tablecloth that I don't have. I am using a Cashmere/Silk yarn from ColourMartUK that will fluff a little and become a little bit more shiny once it is washed so the lace won't be as stringy as it looks right now. I'm using US 2 needles and this such an enjoyable pattern to knit that it actually makes me want to cry. It's heavenly to knit. I'm up to row 40 of a 170 row pattern and thank you Laritza, you were right. It's not nearly so difficult as knitting a Sharon Miller Pattern because every other row is a plain knit row. Apparantly, according to this magazine, the original was knit using ANCHOR-Coats Mercer Crochet Cotton no. 100 using 1.5 mm needles and was 60 x 60 cm or 23.5 x 23.5 inches. Mine, of course, will be larger. In addition to this, I decided that spinning is not the same as knitting and that I can spin with impunity without breaking my resolve not to start another knitting project. Yeah, right. Anyway, I have started spinning the lovely dark roving I bought at Lambtown in Dixon. I believe it is from a Shetland ewe and it almost spins itself it's so easy. It does not want to be a thin yarn but it will be a lace weight for a more substantial shawl. I actually have something in mind for it but I might re-consider once this is spun, plied and washed. This is a very clean batch with very little vegetable matter in it and what there is just falls away while I'm spinning. Really a pleasure. I will now do my penance and go knit more edging with the memory of knitting Lyra to sustain me :-) To all of you out there, have fun. that's what makes it worth while.