Friday, August 10, 2007

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.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh dear lady! Here you go again! Another breathtakingly beautiful project. How do you do it? :-) I am always learning something new from you. Off to find info on Herbert Niebling now.

Anonymous said...

Oh my God, I just about killed myself when I saw that pattern! Must start haunting places were I may find old Anna's. (drool, drool).

fluffbuff said...

That Niebling pattern is stunning. You have so many beautiful projects under way!

LittleBerry said...

your SIL's shawl is beautiful and for a first attempt too excellent...

I love the doiley you're doing it looks complicated and I was surprised when you said it had a rest row every other row......

fleegle said...

Your SIL's knitting is a treat for the eyes. But yours is a supertreat :)

I have that issue of Anna somewhere in my giant Anna pile. I need to find it. That is truly a stunning piece of work! I haven't opened them in years, so it's lovely to know there are hidden gems inside that wad of Truly Awful sweaters.

As someone who is laboring over the edging of BWSK, I can tell you that I find it pure torture. In fact, I am off to grit my teeth through three more repeats. When I finish those, I can start something else, because I finished the Icelandic shawl yesterday.

Thanks for the head's up about the Annas.

Laritza said...

Your work is so lovely!
Welcome to Lyra knitting. we did a Lyra study group in the Knitted-Lace list. It was a lot of fun. If you run into problems with it, let me know. Just be very careful when it comes time to decide between round and square it might get tricky there. But just for a row or two. I was a bad girl and went and got the Lacis lace book. I do have lots of the patterns in it, but it is so beautiful I just could not resist.
I might to have to cast on another Lyra since I gave mine away!

Carol said...

Here's hoping the edging goes quickly and smoothly! Beautiful lace. Shawl, doily, all of it, gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

You have wonderful taste in lace! That is a gorgeous doily and I'm happy you treated yourself, although some may think a 20 yr. old magazine is not such a treat :) Hope doing your "penance" comes out well - look forward to seeing it! :) Terry

Lacefreak said...

Dear Jason,

I think you will like his work. I know I do! The two books in Japanese that I have in my blog posts are attributed to him as well and Lacis has published a "key" to the stitches in those volumes so you may want to consider those if you have your heart set on knitting his patterns. Otherwise, you have to go out and collect the old patterns which is why I had to go on e-bay to get mine. It's not one of the ones in the books. Yeah, I know I'm evil. Yet you still love me don't you? Snark!

Lacefreak said...

Dear leslie,

Everything old is new again! This pattern was also published in German but my copy was for the british market so I'm very fortunate. If you know of any elderly crafters like my friend, Louise, they sometimes have a wealth of magazines they saved. Good luck!

Lacefreak said...

Dear fluffbuff,

It really is looking just beautiful on the needles. I hope I don't screw it up! I do have quite a few things on the needles but at least two of them are in "hibernation". The Shetland Tea Shawl and Peacock Feathers (sigh), my unloved child so I almost don't count them. Can you tell I get bored and have to switch alot? Still, I'm close to finishing two projects and the doily so I don't feel too bad about them. WRS will come with me on vacation for 4 days at the end of the month so I hope I will kick start myself since I'm so close to the finsih line with that and I have to get it done so I can do Princess in November! Thank you for checking in on me:-)

Lacefreak said...

Dear littleberry,

Thank you! The doily is actually a lot of fun to knit since tatting thread does not split easily so it's perfect for those small needles. A great many lace designs are pattern only on one side. Not everything that is pretty will kick-your-butt so to speak. Herbert Niebling has so many beautiful patterns and I just had not paid any attention to that whole type of lace knitting because I could not take the time or trouble to try to learn to read the charts/symbols. It was too much for me at that time. However, now I have a whole new type of lace to enjoy. Heaven!

Lacefreak said...

Dear fleegle,

Knitting edging is like a "death march" to me too so I feel your pain as I have my own edging to knit. I try to fool myself into thinking its medatative to do it but I know its a big fat LIE! As for those Anna magazines, just go on E-bay and check out what those go for because I had to pay A LOT for this magazine just to knit this one pattern. Of course, it appears to be a pattern that is difficult for many to get so if you have it then you really should give it a try. It is so much fun to knit it and it looks fantastic. "Knit 'em if you've got 'em" is all I can say! I look forward to seeing your shawl when it's done and you already know I love looking at all your beautiful work. I have to go now and see if you posted the icelandic. I think the yarn you used was delicious for that one!

Lacefreak said...

Dear laritiza,

You gave yours away? You must have loved them very much! Make another one.I'd love to see someone else doing one now too. I went and looked at the Lyra group notes and how beautiful can you get? Great information too. I have to go look at the area where everyone says the leaves "bind" which I guess means that there are too many increases in one spot for comfort.Is that why the leaves there look a little squished? Anyone find a cure for that? I will shout out if I run into problems. I have yet decided if I want it square or round. I may have to just knit it twice myself so I have one in each :-)Thanks for the inspiration!

Lacefreak said...

Dear Carol,

Thank you for your kind words! I always appreciate it when someone else who knits likes what I'm doing. I enjoy looking at all the wonderful projects you and everyone else are working on as well.

Lacefreak said...

Dear Terry,

I was really happy to get this magazine even though there is very little else in it to interest me. Response to this pattern in my family and friends has ranged from "You are crazy" to "Can you actually read that?" I'm having a lot of fun however and it makes doing the edging less horrid since I reward myself for every three edge repeats with getting to knit on Lyra :-) Hope to have something to show for my sins soon!

Kathy said...

Dear Jane, I feel a serious bout of edging coming on too, I don't look forward to it, edging can either fly (in my dreams) or tie you down. I have decided that before I end up with two huge projects just needing edging I am going to try and combat the one that has been started (Unst stole) while I approach edging on the other (Princess), that way I may even be past one when the other gets there. Either way I have said I won't start WRS until one of these two is off the needle.

However I don't feel that that means I can't buy the yarn. I didn't like the silk I had thought I might use so took that off the needle, that and the thought of having an Unst, the Princess and the WRS all on the needle at the same time was making me giddy.
Never mind the pile of lace waiting in the wings.....


Your work is fantastic as always, I would love to get my hands on Neibling patterns, I guess I do have to wait!

Kathy

Lacefreak said...

Dear Kathy,

I know what you mean about not wanting to have too many of those projects that melt your brain and strain your patience. That is why I have to finish the WRS before I can do the Princess. Lyra and Legends are recreational enough as to be a break from the really tough projects. I barely count the doily it's such a short project. I have that bad habit of working a project up to the edging and then moving on to another project up to that point leaving me with multipal edging projects too. I'm glad I'm not the only one to do that. Occupational hazard I guess. Sorry the silk did not work out for you but I love to shop for yarn so I hope it's not a hardship for you to start looking for that replacement! As for the Niebling patterns, you can buy those two Japanese books from Lacis and try those. I'm going to be making some of them once Lyra is done but I will have to enlarge the charts. They are really very pretty. I love your knitting as well and it is always a pleasure for me to see everyone elses blogs and what they are working on. Very inspirational as well as infecting :-)

miyamojo said...

Lyra is really beautiful!
I'm so glad it's a joy to make!
I feel the same way as you about 'limited time' and try to be picky about what I'm spending my time on.
I got through Unst's first border!
Come see! www.miyamojo.blogspot.com
m :)

Lacefreak said...

Dear miyamojo,

I am cheering you on to do that Unst border. Edging really is a trial. I'm still enjoying Lyra and I am looking at other Niebling patterns that I have for another project as well. They are so pretty that I feel they are worth my time. Besides. They really are fun!

Soo said...

I've very envious of your English(!) copy of the Lyra pattern. Although I keep telling myself that it's the chart that matters - having only a German copy of the magazine makes me nervous.

I'm so pleased to find someone else starting out on this path. Expect a frantic question every now and then!

Karla (ThreadBndr) said...

Burda should really republish just the lace as a collection. I would love to knit Lyra.

I shouldn't wince when I see the prices though, I just ordered Unst from Sharon - ouch to pocketbook. It's the front runner for my future DIL's wedding veil. This is my first one of her patterns (though NOT my first lace by any means). Any advice on her patterns?

Lacefreak said...

Dear karla,

We can only hope they will republish but I will go ahead and knit what I can actually get my hands on for now! Funny you should mention the Sharon Miller patterns. I have to admit that once you start paying those prices for a single pattern, it does not feel so odd to pay for a Niebling on E-Bay. As for Sharons patterns I enlarge them, I use highliter tape to mark my place I suggest swatching with the yarns you are considering to be sure you don't make yourself crazy which is what I'm doing with the WRS. The next shawl of hers I make of hers will be with something easier to knit with. Make sure it is a pleasure to work with, not torture like mine LOL Good Luck