Joined a KAL for Peacock Feathers Shawl (maybe this will give me incentive!)

Sometimes it's nice to be able to knit along with others, but not really have to "get together". I just don't have time to get in a car and go somewhere to knit with others. I commute during the week so I thought I'd give the KAL at Yahool for the Peacock Feathers Shawl a try. I've never participated in a KAL before. The Wedding Ring Shawl can hardly count as it will take a year to finish (I'm half-way through the second repeat of the center panel). What I found is a nice group of people who are all interested in at least this one thing we share. I'm afraid no men have yet joined this group but I bet there will be some eventually. Of course, I had already started my shawl, many on the group have not yet begun, but it is actually encouraging me to keep up the knitting on it and not lose interest. I am now up to row 150 of the pattern. See above a pin-out of the work in progress. I had to transfer the work to longer circulars to pin this out but it was worth it for you to see it. Of course, I have at least one or two "Homer Simpson" fixes ie not perfectly done but, "Good Enough!" Since I'm using US 3 needles rather than US 4, it may be somewhat smaller but that's alright by me. I'm still working away on other projects and shawls but I will post those later. "Mountain Pine's" is still closer to completion than "The Peacock Feathers Shawl", but it also has a Vandyke edge that must be added at the end, and that always feels like an eternity to do. I may change the edging to something else of course, just so my shawl will not be exactly like everyone else's who has made this pattern.

Just so we are clear that I'm nuts. I have sent away for a new pattern that I saw on Criminy Jickets blog (http://criminyjickets.blogspot.com/) . It's called the "Heere Be Dragone" pattern. Yes, it is a triangle shawl with a dragon knit into it. I have a neice who loves dragons. You know where this is going of course. The only question now is what yarn to use so the dragon will show up nicely, and will this cause me to finally lose all of my remaining hair? Oh well. This means I must finish at least TWO shawls. One so I can do the Spider Queen and another so I can do the Dragone. Very little spinning will be happening because I must use every spare moment to knit!

Until I have more to show or more to say, Good Evening Friends!

3 Day Weekends (where did the time go?)

I didn't really knit that much this weekend in spite of the 3 day holiday. I spent part of it with the family and I just can't knit well when I'm around others. It's too distracting. I've been making an effort to work on the "Mountain Pines" shawl however. I really want to finish it so I can work on "The Spider Queen". I know, I know. The deals knitter/spinners make with themselves are often baroque and without real meaning to anyone but ourselves. I really must finish a shawl so I can start another shawl? What kind of whacked logic is that? Still that's the deal. I can swatch "Spider Queen" but not really knit it until I finish something. The yarn I spun for MP does not show to advantage in these flash shots. When It's done, I'll try to get an outdoors shot that shows the subtle nature of the colors. While I look at this shawl with a critical eye, I can see some parts of the yarn that are thinner than they should be, fatter than they should be in some locations. When I was younger this would have driven me crazy but now that I've exceeded the "half century" mark, I think I can live with the irregularity. I'm up to row 47 of the border (it's 99 rows total, then you knit on an edge) and I'm about to start the "Pine Trees" that are in the border of this pattern. It's silly to get off on that aspect of the knitting I know, but I get a kick out of seeing the motifs take shape.

I'm working on the second repeat of the WRS center panel and it's still something I can knit for only 1-4 rows before having to stop and do something else. It may be the fact that the row of stitches is quite long and each row of pattern itself is also quite long. This pattern differentiates between decreases that are left and right leaning decreases (darned dyslexia) so it takes me more time to read/knit each decrease stitch. In contrast I was swatching "Spider Queen" and it does a standard K2 tog for all decreases. Knitting this is very easy as a result. If anyone is considering making a Shetland Shawl, I'd suggest doing Hazel Carter's patterns first before trying Sharon Millers as a starting point because of this aspect of the knitting. Just my opinion of course! I check in on the Yahoo Group for knitters making Sharon Miller patterns and some of the others on that group suggested I just do K2 tog for all the decreases if it's that big a deal for me. Since the yarn I'm using is so fine, it might not be very noticeable that I'm doing left or right slanting decreases but it's hard to change what I'm doing now that I've started out one way.

Just a mention here about perspective. Once you start knitting with Gossamer weight yarn, all the other laceweight looks and feels like you are knitting with rope. I Swatched Spider Queen with some Zepher I had around the house using a US 3 needle. I just couldn't get into it at that weight. "Spider Queen" implies use of a pretty darned fine yarn. I will go through the stash and examine what I have for candidates.

Circular Shawl from Doily Pattern Part Deux (Are we channeling someone?)

For those still interested in making a circular shawl from a doily pattern I have a couple more suggestions. You can, of course, do what Meg Swanson did for that circular shawl she made in "A Gathering of Lace" . That would be the "Spanish Peacock Shawl". She made it on really big needles, about size US 10, added additional repeats of the pattern and finished with a lace edge from Barbara Abbey's "Knitted Lace". If you got the most recent Knit Picks Catalogue (Fall 2006) which I got today, the one with the black and white sweater and portable magnetic board on the front, you will see on page 44 that there are several circular shawls that were adapted from patterns published by Gloria Penning. I pulled out my copies and found the "Rona" pattern in my copy of "Danish Lace Treasures" which featured the work of Anna Marie Jensen and was published by Gloria Penning. The original was done with # 30 cotton and with US 0 needles and ended up 33 inches in diam. The doily had 153 rows ending with a crochet edge. The version in Knit Picks looks very much like the original but, according to the ad, is now knit on size US 5 and ends up 52" in diam using "Alpaca Cloud".

These shawls are circular, not more than 360 degrees, so block out flat. Very pretty. Check out that Knit Picks catalogue!

Circular Shawl from Doily Pattern (Actually, more than 360 degrees)

There has been interest in how to make a circular shawl from a doily pattern. There is an article from the Spring '95 Knitter's Magazine on how to do this if you want to go to the source material. The article is by JoAnne Besold and is titled "More than Circular". She took a doily pattern and used larger and larger diameter needles to make the shawl bigger. The result is a nice circular shawl that ends up being more than 360 degrees in circumference. As a result, it actually stays put on your shoulders. I've made several in the past and they really did stay on my friends shoulders without always falling off. Especially if made in a cotton or linen.



How To


Select a doily pattern that is at least 75 rows long (90 rows is better) or one that was originally 18" to 20" in diameter. You will need about 1,000 yards of laceweight yarn for an elbow length shawl and aprox. 1,500 yards for a 62" diameter shawl. (She showed examples of "Snowflake" from Gloria Penning's Knitted Heirloom Lace II to which she added an additional lace edging, also knit "Snow-on-the-Mountain, a Coats and Clark pattern and added beads to the points at the ends)

Cast on with a size US 5 needle. Work a 3 inch radius in the pattern.
Change to US 6 needle. Work until 1/3 of the doily pattern is done.
Change to US 8 needle. Work another 1/3 of the doily pattern.
Change to size US 10 or 10.5 needle and finish the pattern.

If your pattern will allow it, and if you want the shawl longer, add a knit lace edging to the shawl either with the US 10 or larger needle.

Wash/block (I actually did not block flat because mine was more than 360 degrees. I folded the shawl in half and then blocked it more like in a crescent shape).

If you have a pattern you like, but it is not enough rows, it is suggested that you might knit "relief" rounds into the pattern to lengthen the pattern
ie:
Purl one round, Knit 3 rounds, (YO K2tog) for 1 round, Knit 3 rounds, Purl 1 round, Knit one round.


That is essentially it. If you don't already have any doily patterns, there are a lot of nice ones available. Gloria Penning has some very pretty one's at her site at (http://www.knitlacepatterns.com/) You could also check out some of the free pattern sites as well.

That's it for now. Good Luck with it if you decide to give it a try! Let me know how it works out.

Not bad for a Mill End (Cashmere/Silk from ColourMart)

Not bad. Not bad at all. See above the Cashmere/Silk I purchased from ColourMart on E-Bay. (see sidebar for link). If you go to the site and click the Cashmere/Silk, you will see that there are still 4 colors left (White sold out). There is about 5,000 yards of yarn on each cone and it's very reasonable considering the cost at other retail shops for something comparable. This was knit on US 1 needles then washed/blocked. It holds it's shape well and once the "oil" was washed off, it still had a shine with a nice "halo" of cashmere. You can look above and compare it to the previous swatches of Cordonet crochet cotton, Shetland Cobweb and Silk I knit before and see that it's soft like the Shetland Cobweb but , in natural light, still has the sheen of the silk without that "crispy" quality that I was not fond of in the 100% silk. What did I wash it in you ask. You already know. I used shampoo because it's what I had around. This is not expensive stuff but I promise to use something better to wash it with if I knit a shawl with it.

I finished a baby sweater. Still have to sew buttons onto it before I can post it to "Janes Reality". Why even tell you I finished this since it's not lace? Because, I promised not to start another lace shawl until I finished something. Well, I finished something! Actually, I have to finish a shawl before I can start another shawl, but it makes for less clutter to have completed something. I've got this thing where I am loath to finish a project. I get real close then sometimes I stop knitting. If anyone else has this problem let me know. What do you do to give yourself incentive? Now that the baby sweater is done, I just have to finish the Mountain Pines shawl (it's the closest to being finished of the shawls.) My reward for finishing that shawl and this baby sweater is that I get to make "The Spider Queen" shawl! I must ask missalicefay what type of yarn she used on her's. It asks for US 3 needles. I tried swatching a gossamer yarn with the US 3 and it did not look good to me. It looked too spindly. I have some 2 ply cashmere, I have some cream colored Zepher. Heck, if it comes to that I have stuff from all over I could be using.(see past post for examples of "stash" of laceweight I have stock piled) Anyone have any suggestions? My own hand-spun yarn is not ready yet. I have a heck of a lot of spinning to do before I can use that for anything.

Now, my birthday is in the fall and my sister is willing to buy me whatever I might like to have in the way of knitting/spinning stuff. I will not have her buy me yarn or fiber because I have tons of that already so I'm looking at patterns, knitting software and knitting books. Now this is not to say that I don't have a lot of patterns and books. I do, but since I have so much darned yarn it is not unreasonable to want a few more patterns. I'm eyeing that "Victorian Lace" book but I really need to see it first to see if it is worth the money. There are two very nice patterns at Sharon Millers Heirloom Knitting site (see side bar) # 1 the "Unst Bridal Shawl" and #12 the "Spring Shawl" that I will ask for. I'd love to make them and since the "Princess Shawl" pattern will not be re-issued until possibly next year, these would be nice to do in the mean time. So many patterns, so little time! I just picked up "Legends of the Shetland Seas" from Blackberry Ridge by Hazel Carter ,as well as "Shetland Garden Faroese Shawl" by Sivia Harding Knit Design and the 'Shetland Lace Patterned Faroses Shawl" from Heartstrings (see sidebar for link). These are not as massive as the "Wedding Ring Shawl" and will be nice to knit as relief. If anyone has any patterns to suggest (I may be buying "Violets by the Sea" as well), let me know.

Hello I must be Going!

I'm not always Sisyphus (progress does get made from time to time)

The Circular Shetland Shawl from "A Gathering of Lace" has forced me to become a clone of Sisyphus. I have to re-knit the "Madeira Lace" section over again. Sigh! Still, a lot of my other projects have been coming along better. The Peacock Shawl is up to row 127 but is too crunched up on the needles to take a picture of right now. The Mountain Pines is up to row 35 of the boarder pattern and is looking pretty good. Last, but not least, I have finally completed one full repeat of the WRS! Now to do it 5 more times and then end with rows 1-40 for the center. I've been checking out different sites and there are a number of people working with this pattern. Some of this knitters are really going flat out and knitting up a storm while some others are more my speed. Quite a few are using the Silk which I could not manage to knit well with. I'm not giving up on that silk, just not using it for the WRS. I tested my merino singles that I was spinning to see if they would hold up to knitting by themselves. Nix, Nope, Nein. It's not bad, but not strong enough to knit on it's own. I will end up plying it into a nice lace weight yarn. So will I give it up? Hah! I have been checking out sites to buy shetland wool:)

I did take a break in order to catch up on some reading. I'm savoring the latest book by one of my very favorite authors, Lilith Saintcrow. It's the second book in her urban fantasy series with Necromancer, Dante Valentine, "Dead Man Rising". Dante is not just armed on the cover, she has a whip,gun and a sword and she knows how to use them darn it! Don't piss her off! Just love it! I also picked up a nice new edition of selected poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay. It's part of the "American Poets Project". I love her work, always have. I even have a few very lovely first editions of her published poetry. This way I feed both my violent and gentle sides!

Have a wonderful evening!

The "Old Yeller" option (my sisters cure for big mistakes)

There are times where a piece of knitting must be extensively frogged back or ditched entirely because of terminal FUBAR. My sister recently referred to this as the "Old Yeller" option or her less politically correct comment of "Sometimes you just have to shoot the horse." Yes, we are mixing metaphors, but what the heck, it's my blog! I had started the Shetland Circular Shawl from "A Gathering of Lace" months ago and stopped. Why? Because there was his honking huge error that I found about 1/3 of the way down the almost finished shawl. Usually I just bite the bullet and rip, but I was trying to do the limbo and "fix" it. Needless to say, I couldn't repair it. So there it sat on the needles, moldering away until a midnight hot-flash had me up and ripping it. Sorry Old Yeller. These comments may be too harsh for all of the lace knitters out there, but this is a part of knitting. Some Homer Simpson mistakes may stay, the rest must go.

Sleep Deprived but Happier!

The Turtle and the Hare (slow and steady goes The Wedding Ring Shawl)

Yeah yeah. So I'm slow. Blah Blah Blah. I'll still have a shawl at the end! Now let me be totally, brutally honest. This shawl has mistakes in it. Of course, I didn't show any of those in the photograph :) These mistakes are "Homer Simpson" mistakes. "Good Enough!" As my friend Louise would say "A man on horseback's not gonna see them!" The person who will receive this shawl will not only not care that there are mistakes, she will not even know they are there. I will know where they are and will point out every last one of them to her when the time comes but she, bless her soul, will not care one whit. In fact, she will cherish the mistakes because I made them. Go figure. Since this is the very first Sharon Miller pattern I will ever have made, I don't really mind a few mistakes. And it's the first piece of "knitted lace" (ie. pattern every row) I've ever made as well , so there has been a learning curve. Now these are not huge mistakes. Those types of mistakes I made early on and I threw out those first efforts. These I can live with. I hope by the time I finish this one, I will be able to buy the pattern for the "Princess Shawl" which should, I believe, be re-issued in 2007, and do it justice. That's another one I really want to make!

Has anyone out there used a knitting software program called "Stitch & Motif Maker"? I've been looking at it because I want to mess around with lace pattern combinations. If anyone has had experience with that program please do tell! Inquiring minds want to know! It would be nice to be able to make up a few things on my own and then post them if they turn out. If anyone knows of a better design program, let me know!

Must go read now. Yeah I know I should be knitting ,but a change of pace every once in awhile is refreshing and I usually knit better after a little break!

Good Evening all!

Catch-Up (knitting lull)

When I was on vacation I did not knit. That is not to say I did not buy yarn however. Before I left for the lovely city of Seattle, I went on line and purchased at obscenely low prices, two cones of lace weight yarn. The Pink is a 2 ply Cashmere and the White is a 60/40 blend of Cashmere and Silk. You can see scale on the dimes (left pink/right white). They are quite nice though you can't really see the character of the yarn until you wash off the "oil" they use on it to make it easier for their Mill's to handle. These again are "Mill Ends" and I think they are not a bad alternative to more expensive lace weight yarns . Most especially for a lace knitting freak like me! They also sell other weights of yarn for knitting or for weaving. ( http://stores.ebay.com/ColourMartUK) . I will put this link in my side-bar because I really like it for bargain yarn. They are very nice, deliver in a timely fashion and the goods are as advertised. Be aware however, you must really study the information that describes the yarns so you have a good idea as to how fine the yarn is, how many plys if any, and if it is for knitting or was originally manufactured for weaving. The yarns for weaving are more tightly spun so will twist more. This may not be a big issue for those who are making shawls using the tightly spun cobweb weight yarns and are accustomed to the over-twist issue. The merino yarn I purchased while visiting my friend, Jerry on Bainbridge Island. I got this instead of the "Kid Silk Haze" that was beside it because I liked the color. And also, see a shot of the wheels my sister and I have at home. I'm posting these because poor Jason had to search my other site to see them. As often happens, knitters become spinners and visa versa. Jason has it bad for spinning right now. He will soon learn, as have all of us, that it only feeds the knitting addiction :)

Now I must be knitting!

Worth Flying for (Thank the Lord I flew before the Security Alert!)

Thank the powers that be. I took that trip to Seattle before the security alert turned ugly! I went primarily for a poetry reading my friend Jerry was giving. He's been working at it for a number of years, on and off. Lately he has put a lot more time and effort into the work and I feel he's getting a lot better. A whole crew of us went up to this little coffee shop where they have poets read to support him. I may be biased but I liked his reading the best of the 3 poets who were up there. I don't have permission to post any of it, but once he does publish (he's working on that now) I think he will let me. Of course, a lot of the poets in his writing group feel his writing is directed at a "less diverse" group of readers (read Gay) as opposed to what I guess would be considered more mainstream, but I don't think I agree. People are people, Gay, Straight, Whatever. Anyway, I liked it a lot. Of course, his partner and he have once again sold their house and bought another house and are in the middle of a re-model. I say "once again" because his partner, Paul is a real estate agent and they do this every 4-5 years or so. Each place is beautiful and sells for more than they bought it for. It's a little confusing for the rest of us but we try to keep track of where they are. In stark contrast, my friend, Cindy, who I stayed with in Seattle, is re-modeling her modest home and it has been literally "jacked" up into the air so a lower floor and slab can be poured. Of course, there is currently a concrete pourer strike. We stayed at her mothers home which is right next door to her place. What were the chances that both of them would be doing this at the same time? We talked every night until well after midnight, baked, bitched and caught up on our lives. I brought her my swatch of the WRS center to see and I ended up leaving it with her because she wants to show it to some of her friends who knit. It was OK since it already served it's purpose. I did miss knitting while up there but I would never have been able to do a good job. Too distracted and busy during that trip! Now I have a confession to make. One of the reasons that I left the WRS swatch up there in Seattle is so Cindy's mother could see it. We have this little thing going where I knit something, she knits something more complicated, and I respond with something yet more difficult. It's not on purpose you understand. It's just a "thing" we do without really saying that we are doing it. I know it's petty but I never said I was perfect! Heck, if the woman is going to turn the seamless sweater that my sister knit for Cindy's daughter inside out to see how it was finished, then she can go ahead and stare at the swatch for awhile.

See above pictures of the tips of some knitting needles. Susanne's US 2-3 Ebony needles, Crystal Palace US 0 Bamboo and Addi Natura US 1 Bamboo. Some of the Heirloom knitters were asking about how some of the tips compared so I posted it there and here in case anyone is thinking to go smaller and wants to go with wood/bamboo. I still prefer the Inox for the WRS myself!

Good to be back! Will post again when I have more for you to look at than needle points!

Take my lace knitting on an airplane? Are you mad? (will be out of town)

Before I go for the weekend, I thought I'd make a short post. Normally I knit on a plane, but I'm sure I'd just screw up the lace or else someone will interrupt me while I'm knitting and the Air Marshal will have to arrest me! There was an inquiry asking if this yarn was going to bear up under blocking because I was expressing having problems with picking back and yarn integrity. Let me say it's not the fault of the yarn that I stink as a knitter sometimes. The twist in the yarn is good and it's strong for what it is. It blocked like a dream and has lovely drape as you can see on my sister (she now has a second career as a hand model!). I will say that picking back should be done only if you have to and that I'm getting a little better at it. Still, I prefer going real slow because I don't have to pick back if I don't make the mistake in the first place.

Here's the thing. I like to try things even if I might fail. It was not always so. I was not raised to be fearless. Until recently I would never have dreamed of having a blog or letting anyone but family and close friends see any of my craft obsessions. But as you get older, you realize that potential public humiliation is really nothing. It does not matter compared to the possibility that someone might be like-minded and interested in what you do. If my trying things that are difficult encourages someone else to try, then I think that's great! This is only the 3rd Shetland style shawl I've ever made. I've done lace knitting (ie, there is a row knit plain between pattern rows) to make lacey shawls, stoles etc. and the previous two Shetland Style shawls were just that, lace knitting. I admit that one of them, the one my friend Louise owns, I both spun the yarn and knit the shawl, but it was knitting of a different level of difficulty compared to what I'm doing now.. According to Sharon Miller, for something to be considered knitted lace, every row has pattern and there is no plain knit row to create the lace. The fact that I'm over-reaching to make my first piece of knitted lace is part of the adventure.

I guess I'm saying don't be afraid to try even if you are afraid to fail. You and I have a shelf life. Don't have a regret you can easily avoid. You may find, as I have, that people are actually very kind about your obsessions! I love the fact that my first true piece of knitted lace will be this beautiful shawl. It's worth the time and effort. Not everything is at my age.

That said, I am up to row 30 on the WRS. No additional lifeline, I forgot to put it in. I think I will keep going and put the lifeline in after the first full course of the pattern instead. Slow and steady is working for me. Those with more experience and better vision would undoubtedly go faster and with much more authority than me. I say,more power to them!

Until my return, I hope everyone has a terrific weekend. I know I will as I'm going to see very dear friends and will have more fun that I can possibly stand! :)

The Wedding Ring Shawl (snail paced progress)

So we are up to row 20 on the WRS . I couldn't resist posting these because I needed to see what little progress I have made. It's not much, but it is still pretty and it encourages me to continue with it now that the weather is better. I will put in another lifeline at this spot before I move forward. Also, see above current attempt to spin thin singles on my Schacht. I spin a bit in between everything else and will attempt to spin enough to make a stole or shawl. Short post tonight! This weekend I will not be around to knit. I will be visiting a friend in Seattle who is going to be giving a poetry reading. Will leave Friday, back Monday. No greater love hath one friend for another than to give up knitting and spinning time to be supportive of their artistic endeavors!

To Good Knitting and Good Vision!

Peacock Shawl Do-over (much bigger yarn and needles)

So yesterday I started doing the Peacock Shawl over again in a yarn size that I can live with on US 3 needles. You see a partial pin-out since there is no way to do a full pin-out unless I take the shawl off the needles and put it on something longer to hold the stitches. When the yarn is this big, I can see everything and I am already on row 91 of the pattern. Knitting this now just flies along like no effort at all. It's amazing how you can knit with authority when you can actually see the darned stitches. Now I know what you may be thinking. You may be rather concerned that the yarn is so LOUD. Well, you would be right about that. It will take a special kind of presence to wear this shawl and not be daunted. Still, when you are my age, life holds little to be afraid of in terms of what other's might think of you or how you are dressed. Besides, if not now , then when?

Anyway, the concept of knitting lace is not actually hard for me, it's the size differential that gets me. I want to knit the very thin lace-weights, but I pay for that desire in frustratingly slow progress since I can hardly see the stitches to correct errors. Hence, it is best not to make any errors in smaller size needle/yarn weights to begin with. Like I said, slow . I'm on row 20 of the WRS and did not knit it at all during the blistering heat-wave that we had here where I live (high 90's). I also took a picture of how I keep some of my lace projects now. I really like these clear project caddies. You can see all your supplies and retrieve them quickly It is also less likely that your lace projects will get bumped etc in these. I'd love to see how everyone else organizes their work. Of course, I have other things just thrown into knitting bags etc, but these are things that are not very delicate and if they accidentally fell off the needles, could be put back easily. There is a gathering in Dixon CA this weekend with sheep and vendors of sheep related products. I had considered going until it became so unbearably hot out here. I can't justify it since I have plenty of yarn, fiber and there are already 3 wheels in the house. Going to that show would only tempt us to buy more stuff and we already have a gracious plenty of supplies. I have been busy practicing spinning thin on my Schacht single treadle with some beautiful merino I bought from Lisa Sousa Knitwear (see side-bar). It's such a pleasure that I can't begin to tell you! I might experiment with my singles to see how sturdy they are. I've always been afraid to try to use my yarn as a single for fear it would just fall apart on me, however, on examination of the Shetland cobweb weight I've been knitting, I have begun to re-think my stand on this. If I give it a lot of twist, then steam-block it, I think It would be something I could use to knit with. I'm going to give that a try later. For now I'm still busy with the shawls and with my crazy quilt project. Not only that. Once I finish my Peacock Shawl, I have a lot of other patterns I want to try out!

Best laid plans... (when you choose the wrong materials)

Ok. So I picked the wrong yarn for the project and it's way too small. Peacock Shawl on US #1 needles is not worth the work to finish it. Not only is it too small, it is not as pretty as I wanted it to be. Not enough color. It is now trash. That's right, trash. Why you ask? Because I'm over 50 years old. I don't have the time to keep knitting a mistake. The WRS on the other hand is up to row 20 and looks good! Not enough to post but when I get one full repeat I will post. Of course, the yarn snapped so I have to hide a knot later or else fix it some other way, but still, looks good if very slow. My next attempt at the Peacock Shawl will be on US 3 and the yarn...well lets just say there is a lot more color going on. I have to admit it. I'm a loud person when it comes to color and after all it's a Peacock shawl. It's supposed to have alot of color. I am now knitting it in a Schaefer Yarn. It's the "Andrea" line which is 100% cultivated silk (wt:3.5 oz/1093 yds. Gage: 8 st/in). The colorway is Indira Gandhi and I have two skeins of it as one is not sufficient to do the shawl. I am at row 61 and will show it once I have a little more. Sigh. I will be using "Graceful" on something else I'm sure. I've been taking breaks and working on the Mountain Pines Shawl as well.

Have a Good Evening!

Lifeline (no easy way)

So I put in a lifeline for the first time ever, using one of the long needles I bought. Not all that hard to do but next time I will remember to go under the rubber markers so that I won't have to cut them to get them loose! I needed all those markers to be able to move because, on some rows, you move those stitch markers over. I'm going to leave the lifeline in in and add new ones at intervals. I can remove them later once I'm done. I'm up to row 7 of the re-do and I did try to attach the lifeline to the end of the circular needle to see if it would stay put while I knit. I'm sure many others before me have tried this and found it not to be successful. The drag of the yarn pulls it loose, at least at this gage. I imagine it might work if you were using a very thin lifeline and larger needles with thicker yarn so it would slide better. I looked at the Knit Picks catalog that came today. They have a needle set with interchangeable heads. There appears to be a small hole at the base used for the tightening device for those needles. I wonder if you could attach the lifeline there on those needles? They would have a great anchor and would not tear loose. Anyway, using the long needle and just treading it through the loops is ok. If it was larger yarn and bigger needles I was using, I might even thread my US 000 needles through instead of the tatting cotton and just cap them off to hold the stitches "in case". If anyone else comes up with a brainstorm, let me know! I am behind knitting a baby sweater so I must stop work on the center for awhile to meet my Auntie duties!

Later!

Fatal Error (RIP first attempt at WRS)

My first go at the WRS center has failed. What is referred to in health care as a "fatal error" has occurred!
I had to pick back on row 15. I managed it but damaged the yarn too severely in the process and the yarn disintegrated in the row and ran like a sprinter. Sigh. Gods way of telling me that I will have to learn to do things differently because this type of knitting and this type of yarn, is nothing like anything I've ever knit before. Which, is actually kind of exhilarating! See the picture of needles I got today at Lacis in order to use, for the very first time, a "lifeline". Thank you Jason for that link to the site that shows how to do it. Both sets of needles are blunt ended, both will take tatting cotton in the eyes to use as lifeline. The Doll needle has a much larger eye and is thicker in diameter than the Teneriffe weaving needles. The Teneriffe needles can run along the cable part of the circular needle and pick-up stitches very easily. I hope that I won't be making too many errors in the future, but if I do, I hope using the lifeline will spare the integrity of the yarn. I would have to choose the Shetland cobweb as my first attempt yarn. I could always go bigger, but what would be the challenge in that? So remember children. You can pick your nose as much as you like, but you cant pick Shetland cobweb weight yarn almost at all!

Disgustingly cheerful for all that I have endured disaster!

Much, much later I bet!

The Wedding Ring Shawl (Or why I lost what was left of my mind in 2006)

One of the women at work who I taught to knit took a look at my test swatch for the Wedding Ring Shawl and asked in an absolutely horrified voice, "Do you really enjoy doing this type of thing?" To her, it looks like some form of self torture. In a way, she's right. I wasn't going to post the shawl in progress until I had something more substantial to look at, but to be honest, it is such slow going that you might not hear from me for weeks if I wait that long. Any way, I thought you might like to see just what I have to contend with. See above, a close-up of part of the chart for the shawl. I had it blown-up 150% so I could see it. (see dime for scale). I use the post-it in order to keep track of what line I'm on. I used a highlighter to indicate the double yarn-overs as well as the center repeating motif. What? you ask, are those boxes doing written on the post-it? I have a left/right deficit. It's a mild form of dyslexia. When I look at those particular symbols on a knitting pattern, I have to glance at my visual cue's in order to know which symbol is which so I can make the correct stitch. Don't laugh, it works! Also, see above, between my row counter and the plastic container holding the ball of yarn, the "over-twist" that happens with Shetland and other tightly spun singles. The tendency to "fold back" onto itself, makes knitting with this yarn a challenge. I've been putting the container with the ball on my left side, pulling the yarn over the back of my neck as a tensioning ploy and down to my right hand so I can knit with it. If it twists, I can then pull the twist out because of the "drag" on the yarn at the back of my neck. It's slow, but it works for me because I'm not knitting this shawl all that fast. I'm sure others knitting with this stuff have come up with other methods to deal with this issue. "Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!", she cried out over the great internet abyss! I have only done 12 incredibly slow rows so far. Not much to look at at this stage I'm afraid. I have been working on the Mountain Pines shawl for a break from the WRS and someone asked where I got this pattern. I bought it one year at Stitches, a long time ago and I'm not sure anyone even sells this pattern any more. Since it's in yarn I spun myself, It's not nearly as fine as the Shetland. Still, it's pretty and I hope it will look "lighter" once I block it out. The center is "field of flowers" pattern. I'll post progress on that later but it doesn't look like much progress because it's knit from the inside-out. The rows just get longer and longer folks.

That's it for the time being. Until next time!

Cashmere is here! (And why I will be using the Shetland)

I received some very nice cones of Cashmere singles in the mail today from ColorMartUK in the United Kingdom. Four cones of what they label as their "cobweb weight" and one of the purple that is laceweight as well as a complimentary cone of pale blue, also laceweight, which they gave me for accepting the white even though it was not all on one cone. Above, you can see on the dime, two strands of yarn. The top is the Cashmere, the bottom is the Shetland. The Cashmere is larger, coarser and not as tightly spun as the Shetland. So, while Cashmere is nice, it will not go into the WRS (ie Wedding Ring Shawl). So tonight, the adventure begins! It won't be exciting. The center starts with six rows of garter stitch which will help ease me into the work at hand. I also got my additional needles in the mail (Inox US 0 24 inch cable and Susan Bates 14 inch straights in metal) so I'm all set!

I will report back when I have something to show! May be a little while though!

Later!

So waddaya think? (62 row swatch of The Wedding Ring Shawl)

So here we have it ladies and gentlemen. This is the 62 rows that are the center of the Wedding Ring Shawl ( one view plain, one with a dime for size). I used the "old stash" Shetland from Lacis. I actually got better at it as I went along. Not faster, but better. I went slow enough that I was not making the types of mistakes I made at the start and I learned the look and feel of the yarn, how to pull it enough to get the needle into areas for the knit two togethers etc. Eventually, during a test swatch, you begin to see a logic to how the pattern comes together. I know how much I can pick back before I destroy the yarn, I'm better at stopping before I mess up because I'm tired at the end of a long work day, and I'm knitting looser so it will slide on the circular needles and not shread. So, do you think I should wait for the Cashmere? Or go ahead and start? Should I try "shudder" the Silk again? As frustrating as the Silk was to knit, I was wondering if it would look/feel better if I knit it on US 000. The silk is so fine, it looks insubstantial on US 0. Of course, I could just be delusional from lack of sleep. I am Menopausal after all! I looked at the alternative central panel and I know that I like this one better for some strange reason. I won't be swatching the other pattern out but you never know. I might use it another time for something else!

While I decide, I will go ahead and cast-on the provisional rows so when I get ready to go, I can just start knitting (cast-on 247 stitches). Now, from pictures of the other people knitting Heirloom patterns from Sharon Miller, there does not appear to be any one type of yarn they prefer to use to do the provisional cast-on. I actually like DMC Cebelia tatting/crochet cotton #30 because it's small in size but comes in nice colors so you can see the cast on edge well, it is not "hairy" so will not felt with the yarn I'm using and will come out cleanly when I go to cut the "live" stitches loose.

Must go cast-on now and maybe work on something less taxing for awhile.

To all, a "Good Night!"

A good yarn is hard to find! (Not all cobweb weight Shetlands are made equal)

I previously posted that I bought additional skeins of cobweb weight Shetland yarn from Lacis, as a back-up. Better safe than sorry and all that. Well, I opened one up to wind it and lo-and-behold! I find it is not really the same. The quality is not as good as the one from the 1980's. To be sure, I checked the Heirloom Knitting group at Yahoo. There is discussion there along the same vein. Sigh. It sucks to get old and have things you liked go the way of the dinosaurs! I shall use this yarn later for something else. It will not be used in The Wedding Ring Shawl however. For that, I will use my "old stash" yarn. I will also go back to the Sharon Miller Heirloom Knitting site and give a good hard look at her new lovely yarns. I trust her judgment and further purchases of yarn for this type of Heirloom Knitting will likely come from her if it's a gossamer weight type of project!

I heard back from the UK via e-mail about the Cashmere. Because it was the last of it in that color/weight, and because it is a "mill end" it is in several small cones, not one large one. The mill let me decide if I still wanted it or not as some persons might prefer not to have to make a join. I really don't mind so I said to send it. They were nice enough to throw in an extra cone of the other lace-weight yarn I purchased in lilac. When I get them, I will post them! For those who are knitting the patterns by Sharon Miller, Alice (see previous post) suggested I check out the Yahoo group for Heirloom Knitting (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/heirloomknitting/) . I did join and I must say that the people there are a wealth of information and inspiration. Sharon Miller also takes her valuable time to answer questions for that group. I think I will mostly lurk unless I have something to contribute that is informational. I did comment to them that I had compared the old Shetland from Lacis to the New and found that they were not the same. The nice thing is, that there is alot more to choose from these days than when I first was interested in Shetland lace knitting. At that time the Lacis yarn and one from Jamison Smith (still available but not as fine) were about all there really was. So I guess it's not all bad, this getting old stuff.

Be back when I finish the swatch!