One Done, Another Started

One project finished and another nearly half done.

I finished the lace scarf I was working on. It's not quite what I expected. It's rather limp and lacking body. That would be a product of the laceweight Zepher I used, not a fault of the pattern itself. The pattern calls for fingering weight yarn, but in shawls people seem to get good results with either fingering or laceweight, so I thought it would be okay. I'll try it again someday using a heavier yarn.



Next up on the needles, a pair of Latvian mittens. The climate where I live is rather mild for such a thick mitten. The coldest part of winter here rarely requires much more than a lightweight driving glove. I'm knitting these more for the challenge and experience than anything.



My color choices were quite limited as I am just using up stuff from my stash. These yarns are "hand-me-downs" given to me by my daughter who received them from her grandmother-in-law.

Rumpled Lace

Lace always looks so ragged and rumpled when it is in progress.



As bad as it looks now, I am sure it will be lovely when it is finished and blocked. The pattern is called "Mary Ann's Cashmere and Pearls Lace Scarf" and I purchased the pattern from "Sivia Harding Knit Design".

This is a quickie lace project just to use up some of the beads and laceweight Zepher Wool-Silk left over from making the Peacock Feathers Shawl. I've got 8 of the 11 center repeats done and I've hardly made a dent in the small leftover ball I started with. Going by the yardage requirements stated on the pattern (229 yds - 328 yds, depending on brand of 50g ball) I thought I'd have barely enough (at 315 metres, or a little over one ounce) but I guess the difference between my laceweight and the suggested fingering weight is making it go farther. Maybe I'll even have enough for a second one?

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Look what flew over my house.



It's the Bell Blimp.



Thanks Rabbitch for the heads up about this contest.

New WIP

I've a new WIP on the needles. It's model no. 11 from "Drops, Strikk Design #78 " by Garnstudio, otherwise named "Cardigan in Muskat" which is a name I won't be using, of course, as I am making it in "Online Marly" not the Muskat used in magazine.



This is a bit of a challenge to knit, not because the pattern is difficult (it's not), but because the superwash merino wool I am using changes dramatically in gauge when washed. It's a good thing I remembered someone from KR mentioning this annoying characteristic of superwash wool and first washed my gauge swatch!

I knit up a gauge swatch using 4 progressively larger needle sizes. Before washing, the third needle size gave nearly perfect gauge. After washing and drying by machine it had stretched dramatically in width and had shrunk significantly in length. Now I am using the smallest needle size, to get the stitch gauge, and making all kinds of adjustments for the difference in row gauge. Wherever a measurement is used in the pattern, I must convert the information to rows per cm after washing and drying, and use that number. Similarly, when a specific row number (such as between sleeve increases) is given, I first have to calculate how many cm that would have been, then calculate it with the after-washing row gauge and make the adjustments.




All this extra calculation is a pain. There is also the nerve wracking problem of not being able to try it on as I go to be sure all my calculations are correct. This project will be completely done AND washed before I will know if it is a raging success or a dismal failure. *sigh*

Baa Baa Bowl

I won one of the many door prizes given out at the annual Spin In hosted by the Chilliwack Spinners and Weavers Guild and held at Ryder Lake Hall.



I love both the little items I found in the package. I call the first my "Baa, baa bowl". It's just the right size to use as a small vegetable serving dish or a large cereal/soup bowl. The sheepy "kitchen towel" is so cute I think I will save it for a bathroom guest towel. It's very soft, fine, terry cloth and the only reason I know it is supposed to be a kitchen towel, and not a hand towel, is that it was labeled as such.

Daddy, Our Baby's Gone

Our youngest daughter got married on Saturday.

Why is it that, even though she left home four years ago and she is not moving any further away, she feels so much more "gone" than before the wedding?



Is it that we actually "handed her over"....officially?



...even if it is to a handsome man who obviously adores her?



She's Mrs. Angus now.....



...gone from her parents side to be with her husband...



Daddy, our baby's gone!

Proud Peacock

Here she is, or should I say "he"? Isn't it the male peacock that has the showy display of feathers?



The shawl was too big for my blocking board and I was blocking it late at night so could not use my bed. I spread a sheet out on the carpet in an infrequently used room and pinned it out there.



You can see the beads I've added to the edging in this photo. They are the sparkling turquoise bits....the other colored dots are the pins of course.



You can see the blocking wires in this photo. I used them along the top edge and down the center spine. This is the lower tip of the shawl.



Here it is floating on a gentle breeze. Including the beads, it weighs three and three-quarter ounces. I started with 4 ounces of Zephyr Wool-Silk and I have one and a quarter ounces left, so without the added weight of the beads the whole shawl would have weighed less than 3 ounces.



The finished shawl measures 81" across the "wingspan" and 39" down the center back.



This was a very satisfying project. I can see now why people who "don't wear shawls" keep right on knitting them!

I Love Lace

I've got the shawl blocked, but have no time for pictures before we leave for the wedding. I can certainly see why people become addicted to knitting lace. After blocking, the Peacock Feathers Shawl is truly gorgeous.

Peacock Off the Needles

I finished the knitting of the Peacock Feathers Shawl late this morning. I added beads as I did the crocheted loop bind off and that took much of the afternoon. Here it is, unblocked.



I'll be blocking it tonight, despite the fact that I should be packing for the wedding. Not to fear though, I have an extensive list written and will be getting up in the wee hours of the morning to throw everything together.

You'll have to wait until late Monday for any blocked shawl photos. "See you" after the wedding.

50 Gummies because...

50 years ago today my husband was born......



and though I wasn't around to witness it, I'm sure the world became a better place. Thanks Terry and Jean for raising Brian up to be such a wonderful man.

Slow Progress

I'm back knitting the Peacock Feathers Shawl (at row 214 of 249 rows). Lace shawl knitting does not make for an exciting blog. So many hours knitting, so few pictures to show for it. Lace doesn't show it's true beauty until it is blocked, so even if I DID get my camera out, the shawl just looks like a bigger pile of blue dental floss than it did in the last photo.

I am enjoying knitting lace in general, and this shawl in particular, but I am glad to be nearing the end as I have other projects I would like to get to. Each successive row is a little longer than the last and it takes me, at this point, about 45 minutes to knit a "pair" of rows (one lace row, one plain row purling back). With 35 more rows to go, I figure I have about 18 - 20 hours left until completion.

To keep you entertained while I'm busy I'll send you here to read all about Monkey Potter. While you are there, wish his "mom" a happy wedding day.........it's zooming up quickly. ONE week from today! I hear Monkey will be hitching a ride with the honeymooners.