Archive for August, 2008
Wisp is Finished
I was in Baltimore for a conference in June. While there, I made sure to stop at the yarn shop closest to the hotel – A Good Yarn. It was a tiny shop that is aimed more at teaching than at yarn sales, apparently. Regardless, I felt the need to purchase (as I normally do in a yarn shop!). There was a lovely mohair/silk lacey scarf as a sample for the Kid Seta yarn.
I decided to get the Kid Seta and for some inexplicable reason, I chose the pale cotton candy pink! The yarn lady kindly wrote out the pattern for me and tucked it in my bag. For some reason, when I went to start the scarf, I decided I wanted to make something else – not the sample scarf from the store. I decided on Wisp from Knitty.
I decided to skip the buttons and button holes – I would never wear it as a poncho, I know that. So, now I have a lovely little fuzzy pink scarf. Never thought I’d say that!! I do really like how it turned out, though. And it was a easy little knit.
See how happy I am with it?!
Goodbye Slump
So, I seems as though I took the summer off – very little knitting and no blogging. Many of my projects are larger and although I have been picking away at them, it doesn’t seem like much progress and nothing is getting done. I really need to mix big projects with smaller, quick to finish, ones to keep my momentum up! Oh, and only one biggie at a time would help, too.
I’ve got my head on straight again and am on a role again. One night, a couple weeks ago, Ava was out for the night. [side note: She regularly spends the night at my in-laws' house. She always says that she had a great time with her babysitter, Grandma Lucy.] Something snapped and I really needed to start and finish something that night – it was already 8:00pm. It is hard to do that with knitting, so I headed for the sewing machine. I had some pre-cut fabric in the closet and just started sewing – we’ll serging. Yes, I pieced and assembled a quicky quilt using the serger. Top stitching was done on the sewing machine.
It is small and rugged – the perfect thing for Ava to take outside with her. The front is made of old Knitzi bag fabric and the lining and backing are fabrics I got from my mom. It took just under 3 hours from start to finish. While it isn’t too pretty, this is what got me going again!
I do have a little catching up to do so here are some things I’ve worked on since my last post…
Boteh Scarf:
This was super-fun and is made of 100% cashmere. Love it!
Rusted Root
Started then ripped out. The gauge was off and the stitches were sloppy.
Clapotis
This is one of the ones taking me forever! It is enjoyable to knit, I just don’t get to focus on it too much. It is about 3/4 complete now.
Express Lane Socks
Started ages ago but finished recently.
Spring Forward Socks
My comeback socks. After taking over 6 months to complete Express Lane, I finished these in just a couple days.
Top-down Beret
After at least a month with no FOs, I finished this hat as a sample for a local yarn store. I didn’t enjoy the pattern much, but the yarn was lovely!
I still have several things in the works and hopefully I’ll start finishing things, too!! Here’s what I have going: clapotis, serenity blanket, fuzzy pink mohair scarf, socks (a new design), and the minimalist cardigan (just one sleeve to go). More soon…
Forest Canopy Shawl
It’s all done, and ready to send. I have the lace bug now, and am going through patterns trying to decide what’s next. I have never been a shawl-wearing person myself, but am thinking I could become one if I put my mind to it.
the 8 rows that almost drove me crazy
This is my Forest Canopy shawl, the one that was a pleasure to knit until I reached the 8 rows of the border. The first picture was taken after I had un-knit 6 border rows a second time. Inexplicably, I COULD NOT get it straight. Well, maybe it is explicable. I was knitting in the car, and listening to NPR, and getting distracted. Also, there is that mysterious tendency to make mistakes when you are under the pressure of knitting something for someone else. I am embarrassed to say that this went on for days and days before I admitted to myself that I needed markers. (And reminded myself that knitting in the car should be limited to socks, or other simple objects. But not lace.)
Once I demarcated the 8-stitch pattern, I finished in no time. And I love how the scrunched-up knitted thing stretches and blooms into lace.
I decided that before I knit more lace, I will invest in lace blocking wires. I pinned this time, but with a lot of stretching, rearranging, and poking of my fingers, not to mention swearing under my breath.
