My Sisters Lace Project (Stitches West Lace Infection)

My sister knits socks as a rule. It's not that she can't knit anything else. It's just fun to knit socks. I imagine the allure of a short but satisfying project in many unique and colorful yarns that provides immediate gratification must appeal to lots of people. Not everyone is as masochistic as those who knit interminable lace projects. However, there is always the odd infection of lace that happens. This one was not due to my knitting of lace but due to our recent trip to Stitches West where my sister picked a pattern for a lace shrug. The pattern is from Ellen's 1/2 Pint Farms. The Illuminated Oriels Shrug. Designed by Zuzanna Woods and purchased at Stitches West from Ellen's 1/2 Pint Farms. If you link out to the site however, you won't find that pattern. They do have nice yarns and colorways but we did not buy yarn there for this shrug. Instead, this is knit by my sister out of yarn I spun last year. Fiber was "Tiger Eye" from Three Bags Full purchased at Carolina Homespun. Spun on my single treadle Schacht wheel at 19-20 WPI in a color I usually don't gravitate to. I think I was bored with my usual colors and broke out with this. There are nice yellow slubs in the yarn that you really can't see in these pictures. This section is the back of the shrug. Stitches are picked up along both sides and knit outwards so that the design is at a 90 degree angle to the back for the sleeves. It's turning out nicely so far. I'll keep you posted on the progress.

Pick-up Stitches (Round and Round We Go)

Well, I caught a little natural light at the tail end of the day today since I didn't get caught too badly in the commute so I was able to pick-up the stitches for The Wedding Ring Shawl. As you can see, it will require me to do the limbo to show you border shots because it now looks like a cheesecloth bag for straining jelly. I did manage to transfer it to longer circular needles (Inox once again). I've actually gotten used to using the Inox and if I buy those Knit Picks needles or the new Addi Lace needles, I will try them out on something else in gossamer weight first. I also gave you a shot of the work on top of the enlarged version of the border chart that I made. I obscured the pattern on purpose because I don't think I'm allowed to show the pattern on my blog. Color me fearful of copy write infringement. Anyway, did I mention my vision has never been great? Do the words "coke bottle bottom lenses" mean anything to you? These days I pay many many dollars for high-tech super thin lenses so they are not as heavy to wear and look a lot less unattractive, but that doesn't make my eye-sight any better. I attached the blown-up pattern to cardboard and then covered the pattern with SelfSeal Repositionable laminating sheets of plastic so I can use my very large post-it notes under each line without having the print come off. Now for phase 2 for The Wedding Ring Shawl, the border. I'm actually looking forward to it but there are no mistakes allowed because having to pick back thousands of stitches to fix it is just not an option. This is going to be slow and I can only knit it when fully awake. That may mean less week-night knitting and more weekend knitting after a good nights sleep. We shall see. Also above I have some photos of my Flower Basket Shawl which I transferred to my very pretty and lovely to use glass knitting needles from Sheila & Michael Ernst. I have 4 more pattern repeats before I can start the edge for that shawl and I'm really enjoying these needles. At first, I was a little concerned I would snap them since I am a little up-tight with knitting at times, but I managed to lighten-up on my strangle-hold on my knitting and now they work really well. The join between the needle and the clear plastic tubing they use for the cable section has the same issue as the Inox needles. For both, you have to ease the stitches over the slight bump, but in the weight of yarn I'm using, it's not really an issue (Koigu). The pointy needle tips more than make up for any slight inconvenience I may have experienced with the join.

Good Knitting!

Boundary Waters Shawl (A Short Intermission)

Just a quick post so you can see what I knit when I need a break from the Wedding Ring Shawl. US 6 needles. Even with the variegated yarn I really can't complain. Up to row 115 (464 stitches so far). Someone mentioned that they had not seen this or Mountain Pines knit up. I think it's because it's a pretty old pattern. There is one site from 2003 "Color Joy" that shows a finished Boundary Waters shawl. But that's the only example I've found so far. I looked at the edge of the WRS so I can figure out how hard it will be to pick up all those stitches and I think I will need an afternoon of uninterrupted peace and quiet to manage it. We shall see! I have been remiss in checking or posting at the Heirloom Knitting site or Shawl Knitters site so I did short posts there. Just not enough time to do it all I fear. I hope I won't make you all wait for posts as long as the last time. Good Evening !

Cheesecloth or Shawl? It's your call. (The Wedding Ring Shawl Center)

Actually, the cheesecloth is cleaner than the center of The Wedding Ring Shawl at the moment. It's amazing how dirty your hands get the yarn over months of handling it. Finally, the center is done. I'm not much with the digital camera so these are not the best pictures but here it is at last. Over-all I'm pleased with the center. Yes, it's not perfect. That makes it an accurate reflection of it's maker :-) I didn't want to over-stretch this so it only measures about 30 inches across at this time. I have no idea what it will block to. Knit on US 0 needles with cobweb weight Shetland singles from Lacis in Berkeley this shawl will definitely be "For show, not for blow" as my friend Louise would say. Unlike Mountain Pines, this is not a shawl I will be wearing to next years Stitches West even if I do finish it. I'm too frightened to catch it on something. This is the best it will look for awhile because once I pick up and start knitting the boarder, you will not be able to see much though I may be able to post sections like missalicefaye has done with her own Wedding Ring Shawl (you really have to go and look if you haven't been keeping up with her progress!)

Once again, I want to thank missalicefaye for knitting the Wedding Ring Shawl or I would never have picked mine back up after I stalled. You are a terrific inspiration! I also want to take this opportunity to thank all of the people who have been taking the time to blog about their own knitting experience and for everyone who has checked in with me and given me such wonderful encouragement and support. I love looking at all the beautiful work that you share and I've learned a great deal from everyone elses knitting. Now to pick up the edge stitches. I have enlarged the first chart for the border so I can see it well. I think I will go knit on Boundary Waters for a bit before I get back down to business with the WRS. It's coming out pretty too!

Bitch and Moan (Progress Report)

Actually, it's not all bad. Earlier in the week, I said to my sister, "I'm afraid to say that I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel."I was close to fixing the rip in The Wedding Ring Shawl that I made on the weekend but didn't want to jinx it. "Yeah," she answered in her dry fashion."Because sometimes it's the light from an on-coming train!" Luckily, optimism won out. I have tinked back to row 27 of the center panel pattern and can now knit onward. Whew. While I picked back a few rows every night, I have to say that it was a relief to knit on some of the less taxing shawls. So, for a progress report.

1. Peacock Feathers Shawl- No progress at all. I picked back to row 179 but it has sat there as an un-loved child all winter. I fear I resent it still and I am not as happy with the variegated yarn with this pattern as I had hoped. Maybe later.
2. Shetland Tea Shawl- After frogging out the Madeira Lace (pattern was wrong) I am now slowly knitting a few rows when I get a chance. I'm at 574 stitches to get around the shawl and increasing. Much more fun when the pattern is correct!
3. Flower Basket Shawl- I've done 12 repeats of the pattern and I could stop now and do the edge if I wanted a small shawl, but I have all those lovely balls of Koigu KPPM yarn and I will knit on to make the large version (17 repeats).
4. The Wedding Ring Shawl- Once I finish this repeat (62 row repeat) I have to knit rows 1-40 then I can pick-up all around and start the border. I'm hoping to have some time this weekend to do a little work on it. It's fun to knit again now that the agony of picking back is through. I will try to post a picture of the center one last time before I start the border. I have no idea how big this shawl will be but I hope it's not too enormous. My niece is not all that big!
5. Boundary Waters Shawl (see picture above). Up to row 98 and the beginning of the trees. There are currently 392 stitches on the needles and increasing. It's not bad even if I did the dye-job on the yarn myself. I hope the variegated colors are not too busy for this shawl. I think this is coming out better than the colors for Peacock Feathers.

That's all for the report for now. My only real bitching was all of the ripping I've had to do. However, Sheila E. remarked in my last post that the venerable Eugene Bugler told her "if you aren't ready to go back and repair your mistakes...don't knit lace." Who am I to argue?

Much Later!

Please Shoot Me Now (The Wedding Ring Shawl)

Sharon Miller advises you keep your WRS in a pillowcase to protect it while you are not working on it. I have done this every single time I have finished working on my shawl. Every time except last night when I put the work down to fetch something. I did not notice that my crochet hook had caught on part of the work. I picked it up to put it away and I heard a snap. Did you know it takes twice as long to pick back as it is to knit a row? I have to pick back 10 rows to get to the rip. You will not be hearing from me for awhile while I do penance for not following the rules. Did I try to do a Homer Simpson fix? Do bears pee in the woods? It only made a bad situation much much worse. Did I mention that picking back areas of work where you have screwed around trying to fix it takes three times as long? I really really love my little nieces. I cannot give one of them a shawl with a huge mistake in it. I just can't. Why not? Because they are worth the blood sweat and swearing that is now going on to fix this shawl. Besides. The lace, the yarn, the process of knitting. It's a little bit of who I am. If the shawl was for me, I'm not sure I'd fix it. I'm not sure I'd have knit it at all. But it's going to be around long after I'm gone. Something my nieces have to drag around to remind them of their crazy Aunt Jane. I look forward to getting back to you when I fix the error and make it to the end of the center panel. My reward will be to buy another Sharon Miller project pattern :-)

Stitches West 2007, Waited All Year (Part 2)

I have to admit that I went to stitches to buy specific things. Everything was wonderful to look at but much as I admire good eye-candy, I had goals in mind. I was out for laceweight yarn and not just any laceweight yarn. I wanted primarily to get to Skaska Designs. You really can't buy on the net from them. You have go to a show where they are at. You have to touch, see, smell and appreciate the beautiful and unique yarn. I got to the booth and went hog-wild. I bought enough to make me happy and that is saying something. Still, their yarn was not the only thing I bought. The red/orange cashmere is by Just our Yarn (500 yards 2/26, colorway Myne). Beautiful Merino/Silk fiber 50%/50% from Blue Moon Fiber Arts (see side-bar for link), Four skeins of cream colored 65% wool 35% silk (50 g/1,300 yds/skein) from Skaska Designs (see side-bar for link)Lavender/green hand-dyed merino from Skaska Designs (100% merino, 100 gms. 1,375 yds 25/2) Gray silk/yak (55/45)also from Skaska Designs (100 grams, 1,675 yds/skein 32/2). I picked up some dye in pinks/violets, point protectors and my sister bought me a yarn counter so I can figure out how many yards of yarn I spun. The lone white skein of yarn is tencel and merino wool called HEAVEN by Yarn Place (4.2 ounces 3,100 yds)Beautiful Baby Alpaca Lace from Lisa Souza (colorway Sun bleached Mahogany, 6 ounces/1,500 yds 100% baby alpaca). Last, but not least, glass circular needles from Sheila & Michael Ernst. They put on cables so I could have 40 inch circulars in US 3-4. They are so beautiful I can't do them justice in these photographs. They are light, slick and wonderful to work with. This should hold me for awhile:-)

For those who wonder, yes I wore Mountain Pines to Stitches. I don't look great in a shawl but it was all about showing off the work. I did get stopped several times. The questions were about the same. What pattern was it. Where could they get it. What yarn did I use. How long did it take. You could tell the new knitters from the old-timers. When I told the new knitters that I spun the yarn for it they all were shocked. Old-timers took it in stride but usually said I did a good job on the spinning. What can I say? It was Stitches for goodness sake. Ya gotta show-off. I don't have pictures from Stitches. They don't allow photographs. I also don't have pictures of the stuff Mo, Millie or Marlene bought but they did a lot of damage to their pocketbooks, believe me.

Now to actually do these beautiful products justice!

Life is GOOD!

Stitches West 2007 Feed the Muse (Part 1)

They gathered together at the crack of dawn (OK, so more like 8:30 AM). A hardened band of knitting fanatics each with their own secret agenda but with one motto tattooed on their souls. "Swatches? We don't need no stinkin' swatches!" They were the Magnificent Five (Hey. That's what would fit in the SUV).

Mo, the instigator, the one with the plan. She could multi-task a precision strike into the heart of Stitches West without batting an eye. She didn't call herself the boss but everyone took her orders and liked it. She didn't have to force her sisters into a life of knitting. The more they watched her knit, the more inevitable the outcome was. They fell like domino's and knitting became a family affair, a little like the Mafia.

Marlene, one of Mo's sisters and the newest to the group. Always saying she didn't really knit that much, had little experience but with a number of scarves and sweaters notched on her needles. She looked shy and retiring but you'd be a fool to take her at face value. She scored the luxury yarns for the lowest prices with that sweet smile still on her face.

Millie, another sister. Always friendly and pleasant but with that competitive edge. If you could do it, she could do it too but faster and eventually better than you could. You only had to show her a thing once and it was over. She liked the expensive stuff and always made sure she had the best tools.

Jane, the obsessive-compulsive one with the loud squeeing, darting from booth to booth, hands trembling over laceweight yarns like the fiber junkie she was. The embarrassment of the group. They might have gone without her but she was good with lace. Yeah, real good. Besides, she had the shawl, so they had to bring her.

May, better known to some as the "Knitting Wizard" or "Knitting 911". The calls came in at all hours of the day and night pleading, demanding, screaming for answers, "What the Hell does this instruction mean?" With a mind filled with knitting knowledge but the attention span of a monkey with ADD, her answers could be clear, they could be cryptic or they could spell the death knell for your knitting project with the words "To knit is to rip. If you cannot rip, you cannot knit!" She had infected more people with the knitting virus than Typhoid Mary. Even her own sister, Jane.

They all descended onto the Santa Clara Convention Center on Saturday to feed their creative hunger, to feed the Muse.

What can I say? We had a Blast!

When you look at these pictures, the first ones you'll see are things my sister, May purchased. She's been knitting a long time and her shopping at Stitches is much more specific than the new knitters. She updated her Elizabeth Zimmerman library purchasing DVD's so she can give away our VHS versions to our friend, Louise. She bought only good sock yarn. She got some Blue Moon yarn and some of the beautiful Lisa Souza. A few pretty patterns for some shrugs and new yarn swift (Now we have three of them). There is always something else, something special that we have in our heart-of-hearts that we really want to get when we are at Stitches. For May, that was to satisfy her lust for the beautiful glassware of Sheila & Michael Ernst. We have bought their glass pens, their glass orifice hooks for spinning, and now my sister is the ecstatic owner of beautiful double point needles. See them and weep. I know I did! I think that the pretty pastel double points are the "Lime and Violet" needles.

You will have to wait for my second post for a look at my loot!

Dream of Yarn

I used to collect a type of restaurant ware called "Tepco" manufactured by a company that is now defunct. I came into it via my friend, Louise who had been hunting this hefty form of china along with JS, in her pattern for some time. There is a whole group devoted to this type of china and everyone would scour the antique shows and secondhand stores searching for different collectible patterns. I mainly searched for a pattern with pine cones and needles on it. I used to have this dream of finding a huge untouched stash of "Needles & Pine" in a second hand store and it was mine, all mine. I have enough china now. I no longer dream of Tepco. I dream of yarn. Most of the time, I'm dreaming that I'm in a huge auditorium looking at beautiful and unique yarns and notions with hundreds of other people who feel the same as I do. You got it. Stitches West is next week and my dream is going to be a reality. A flotilla of my extended family and the people they have also taught to knit, will be gathering at my sister-in-laws house in Sunnyvale to consolidate a plan of attack that is rivaled only by the invasion of Normandy. Armed with wish lists and cell phones, backpacks and bottles of water, cups of Pete's coffee and bags of trail mix or candy (pick your poison) we will saddle up the mini-vans and Highlanders and descend on the Santa Clara Convention center where we will proceed to sack and pillage. Ahhh. Life is GOOD!

Please see above a picture of a very small part of my Tepco collection. I also tried out a little more dyeing with some laceweight yarn that I think may be silk (I lost the tag) I have no idea how much of it I just dyed and it reminds me very much of the 60's and tie dyed things. I was trying to keep the yellow seperated from the rest of the colors this time and was able to managed it. I'm not sure that I'm glad I did however. I'm using the cold-dye method again. I lay plastic wrap on a plastic tablecloth, put down yarn that has already been soaked in water and squeezed out until just damp. I used foam disposable paint brushes that you can buy at the hardware store and diluted a lot of the colors I already made up for the last time I dyed. You paint the areas of the yarn different colors and use vinegar in a spray bottle as a setting agent so the dye will "strike" and hold fast onto the yarn. When I did the yellow section (I did it last rather than the suggestion to do it first) I immediately hit the yellow section with the vinegar spray. I think this helped to get the fibers to soak up the color better. At least I like to think that. I also did not saturate the entire work area with dye this time and so there was less waste and less blotting up to do. Cooked 3 hours in plastic in the old used crockpot and you have what I like to think of as "The Summer Of Love" colorway :-) You can also see my progress on Boundary Waters (Row 84). I have continued to have problems casting on the center for circular shawls. I tried with the Emily Ocker's Cast-On method but crochet hooks and I just do not get along. Instead, I did what I know how to do. I used a tatted cast-on method with picot's for the number of stitches needed. Worked like a charm! I also do something they don't tell you to do. I always do the first few rounds at the center in much smaller diameter glove needles than what is requested in the pattern. Easier to manipulate and once you have a few rows on, you go up gradually in size until you reach your desired needle size. Tough if they don't like it. It's my lace, not theirs! I'm still working on WRS but you don't get to see it until the center is all done. If you need a fix, go to missalicefaye and look at her progress on her shawl.

That's all for now. I hope to post pictures of the loot and booty we score from Stiches West!

Sometimes it's not you (knitting truths)

My sister taught me to knit. She's one year older and much more patient than my mother ever was. Mom used to knit my father a vest that could, swear to God, stand up in the middle of the floor without anyone in it. That's how tight she used to knit. An actual reflection of the woman if you catch my drift. When my sister taught me to knit, there were a number of knitting "truths" that she explained to me. When I teach someone to knit, I find myself quoting her often.

1. When you are learning to knit and you make a "mistake", it is not a mistake if you do it over and over again. It is a design element.


2. If you have a hole in your knitting, it's not a hole, it's lace.
3. To knit is to rip. If you cannot rip, you cannot knit.
4. Illiterate women have learned how to knit. Don't be afraid that you can't
5. Knitting patterns are not perfect. There is almost always a mistake in there somewhere so sometimes it's not you.

There are many more of these truths. I bet you can contribute some to this list for me. My point is, even knowing these truths and teaching them to others. I sometimes forget them. A good example would be # 5. I had tried to knit the Shetland Tea Shawl from "A Gathering of Lace". I kept getting hung up on the Madeira Lace section in this circular shawl. I could not get it right. I thought I just stank at lace and gave up in disgust for a very long time. I stopped doing any lace at all and went back to cable knitting. The shawl sat mouldering away in a bag, mute witness to my lack of knitting skill. I couldn't rip it, I couldn't knit it. To rip it under these conditions was to admit defeat. Very different from ripping because it's not a pattern you like or a color you fancy or you are bored. I couldn't knit it because it kept coming out wrong. Because I forgot about truth # 5, I never checked to see if there was a correction to the pattern. Until, that is, someone mentioned it on the Yahoo shawl knitting group. See above, there are corrections to the patterns from that book.

For any knitters new to lace. Welcome. Thank you to everyone who posted suggestions for new lace knitters that they could try. It was very very thoughtful and helpful of you all to contribute to a little list I have now put on this blog.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE any new lace knitters. Check to see if there are corrections to any lace pattern you are going to try for the very first time. Remember. Sometimes it's not you if it doesn't come out right!

Good night to all! and Good Knitting!

Boundary Waters Shawl (So I didn't spin the yarn for it. So sue me.)

Since I dyed that Crystal Palace Laceweight Yarn last weekend, I decided to try it out for the Boundary Waters Shawl rather than to try to spin something. True, it's more green than blue, but it's interesting knit up. I have a thing about wanting to do both of the shawls from the pattern book I had been carrying around for so long. I understand these patterns may be re-issued in the Fall of this year so others won't have such a tough time finding them. I didn't pin this section out very tightly as it's on a small circular needle and I didn't want to have to go to a longer cable yet.

I'm half way through the 4th pattern repeat for the Wedding Ring Shawl so Boundary Waters is a nice break for me. I suppose I could work on the Peacock Feathers Shawl but for some reason I'm not really interested in it at the moment. You know how you start a project and just loose interest sometimes? Well this shawl gave me trouble for awhile and I had to pick back 4 rows of work. That's enough to leave a bad taste in your mouth believe me. They were really long rows too. Besides, when I have time I knit on the Flower Basket Shawl and the Shetland Tea Shawl. They are much more satisfying and I can even knit them when I'm not 100% awake and still not screw them up too bad.I know I am breaking my own rule "Never knit when on drugs or stupid." but sometimes you get so bored that you just go ahead and break the rules. What can I say? Bad knitter, no chocolate!

This leads me to a question. One of the persons responding to this blog asked about a easy lace to knit as a beginner. "Anonymous" wanted a suggestion. It's been a long time since I knit something a beginner might consider easy so I was wondering if anyone else has a suggestion they want to post here for possible easy projects? Can anyone suggest their favorite lace-related book a beginner might like to use? It might help this newbie out.

Also see above a picture of the WRS on my Inox needles. One of the things I've disliked about knitting on gossamer weight yarns is the problem of getting the stitches over the transition point between where the cable is connected to the needle. The yarn's tend to get "hung up" at the join. In order to mitigate this problem I've knit looser, I've tested a bunch of different needles and I have decided to keep the yarn bunched up on the needles as much as possible so that as little of the work ends up on the cable as possible. This will work for the center at least. It won't work once I pick up all the way around the center to do the boarder but I will just have to put up with the irritation once I get to that stage.

Also see above a really pretty colorway in "Andrea" by Schaefer Yarn. Same yarn as for the Peacock Feathers Shawl, it's 100% silk, Approx. Wt:3.5 oz/1093 yds. It's from the "Memorable Women" color concept and this one is "Margaet Mead", the famous anthropologist. It says the gauge is 8st/in and they want you to dry clean it. Ha Ha Ha to that. It's going to be a shawl and it will be hand-washed and like it!

I will not buy more yarn before Stitches West, I will not buy more yarn before Stitches west, I will not..... you get the idea.

Until much later! Good Knitting!