I can't knit. Sigh.

Well, disaster has stuck. and I have gone almost two weeks without knitting. First it was the sore/cut on my r index finger, and now the injury to my thumb. Figures, just when I have knitting to get done.

Instead there has been a surfeit of WoW. Due to well, my propensity for injuring myself, I can type and use a mouse decently well with one or more fingers out of commission.
Sadly, I cannot do this when I knit. Expect a new update when I actually have something to say, and should you be desperate for my dulcet tones in the meantime...

The Wow(World of Warcraft) blog
The Twitter Account
Or the personal blog on InsaneJournal
The personal blog mentions knitting infrequently at best, and is more likely to involve Harry Potter than anything else. The WoW blog is a blog about a game, and the twitter mentions whatever is on my mind at the time (generally a huge amount of random)

I know, two blog posts in one day! Obviously it's a sign of the Apocalypse. But I have stuff to talk about that isn't my new FO...

First, a knitting WIP roundup, complete with pictures. I'm going from most recently cast on to oldest and ignoring hibernating things.


This is the Swallowtail Shawl. It's the December KAL from Beginning Lace Knitters. That's a mystery yarn (my bet is an acrylic/cotton blend with some elastic, but that's based solely on feel). It has quite a bit of stretch and I love how it shows the texture so well. Those are size 7 needles.


That is a not very good picture of my Shades of Grey Peacock, a semi-circular shawl. The pattern was made by tonksknits, and is lovely. Here's a picture where it doesn't look like a tangle of yarn....

It's a feather and fan variant, and really not easy to take pictures of. The yarn is Numma Numma Saucy in Little Black Dress, and it's being knitted on size 9 needles.

I'm also still working on the Falling Waters Shawl and have picked up the Canopy Scarf again. I'm on the third ball of yarn with that and would like to get it done before the end of the year.

Now, other things.
I have learned how to knit backwards, and I LOVE IT! I twist my wrist when I purl, and that plus tendon issues =ow. I would heartily recommend learning the skill, plus it means you don't have to turn things. How awesome is that? The instructions I used can be found here and are English-only. (note, English meaning holding the yarn in your right hand and wrapping it).
I've also learned Fleegle's left-leaning no slip decrease. Instructions can be found here and are well-worth it. So much faster lace knitting!

Ooh, look, the rare and wonderful FO!

I finished my Election Day Scarf, and here it is....



That isn't a particularly good picture of it but it turned out well. I screwed up picking up stitches from the first knitted on border, so there's a line of yo-looking things in it, but it looks good otherwise. The texture of it is just incredible, the variegation of the yarn and the pattern really came together well.

Pattern is scarf with the striped border from Weldon's, Volume 5, 1890 from Victorian Lace Today using size 7 needles and Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in Bayou. It ended up 9 feet long and I still had some of the skein left over (not much, but a bit). It was a very easy knit once I got past the border, and I think this would be a good first lace project for someone.

WIP Roundup

So, not much has happened this month.  I cast on for another shawl, circular this time, continued work on mom's shawl, debated abandoning my sock (again), and cast on a scarf for Election Day from my Seasons of Lace winnings.

I'm still sick, and hoping that the latest treatment is the right one.   No pictures, unfortunately, because mom has managed to lose the camera.  It's in the house somewhere, but she needed to take pictures of a secretary (a mostly upright desk) that had to be moved as part of the furnace/duct work.  There were a bunch of knicknacks on it that she wanted to make sure she put back where they were.

We do have heat now, thank goodness.  With the sudden cold snap (January weather in Nov is not normal) heat is really important.  Yeah, I know, Atlanta doesn't get that cold, but hey, it's a myth.  20s for lows and 40s for highs isn't that warm, seriously.  

Having experienced both Massachusettes and Atlanta winters, I think Atlanta is worse.  MA is pretty much uniformly cold from November on.  Doesn't really fluctuate.  

One January we had: sunny weather so nice I was sunbathing, then two ice storms.  In three weeks flat it went from 70+ to 20-.  Sheesh.

I have a post on what every beginning knitter should have/learn/gather brewing, but it may be a while.  The meds and illness are messing with my ability to write, and I have grad school apps and stories that need to get written.  Blog comes after that.

I also have some ideas about turning some line designs from a city in World of Warcraft (Ironforge) into cable designs, but I need to learn more about cabling and do some swatches when my brain works.  A nice cardigan with cabling on the edges, like a cardigan for Arwen.

So, we can safely conclude that I suck at blogging.

Since my last post I have...


Knit the Heartland shawl and took lousy pictures of it, restarted a sock


Started a tank top of my own design


And knitted some wristies.

I've also been sick for over a month now, and that's cut way into the knitting time. Right now I'm lucky if I can manage stockinette for an hour or so. Also, we have no heat and are unlikely to have heat any time soon, so I kinda just want to burrow under blankets and stay there. Unfortunately I need to see my hands to knit. Le sigh.

More when I actually manage to come up with something interesting....

the End of Summer

Summer of Lace is officially over, and now I'm pondering a Fall of Sweaters and more lace. Summer itself is over here, since I had to turn on my car's heater this morning. Brr low 50s.

I knitted quite a bit of yarn over the summer, and I'm happy I now have a lace yarn stash, since my last day of work is tomorrow, and I may end up in graduate school. Or not. Either way, no money for yarn. Yay for having a ton of laceweight(a ton meaning 3 skeins of Prism Lace Wool, 1200 yrds (ish) of hand-dyed silk/merino blend, 1200 yards of sock yarn (for Luna Moth), and the two skeins of Prism that I am either using or need to reclaim. Plus 500 yards of grey sock yarn for something or other. I figure that will take me a good long time to knit up, and I have enough yarn for two sweaters and two-three tank tops on top of that, plus random singles.

I'm thinking about knitting Versatile from knitty, and I know I want to do A Cardigan for Arwen once I get comfortable with cables. I'm not sure what else I'm going to do once I get the three shawls off the needles. Yup, three....
Heartland Shawl (my I must think about this knitting) I'm in the middle of the third repeat.
Leaves of Yosemite (my brainless lace weight) Just started recently, using an EC design, and yup, leaf lace.
and the Falling Waters Shawl (aka the damn, this is heavy, and why am I only halfway done?)

Life eh.

I've frogged my brainless lace shawl. Or rather I tried. The two strands of yarn are not coming apart easily, or at all. It was a boring knit, and the gorgeous yarn was wasted on it.

The Heartland Shawl is coming along beautifully. I'm on the third repeat of the center chart, and the lace is finally starting to make sense. I'm vaguely worried about the size, but a shoulder shawl is nothing to sneeze at, especially since this is the most ambitious lace I've ever done. I'll try to get a better picture tomorrow some time.

I've joined the AM Knitter's Guild Pratchagan Along on Ravelry. It's one Terry Pratchett book, and one afghan square, a month. Given that I've read the entire Discworld series over the course of a weekend (yes, I am a fast reader) I already have ideas for...
A buggerit millenium hand and shrimp square (possibly just a blue square with a hand outlined on it, a crocheted shrimp, and buggerit written at the top)
A Night Watch Square (the badge)
A Wizzzard Square

I figure it'll be a great opportunity to learn how to do colorwork. Of course, I will need yarn. And I can't buy any, so this could get interesting. I think I have some wool-ease lying around, and scraps from stuff I've finished. I may need to wash each square once I make it to make sure it won't do weird things.

In RL news, I gave my two weeks notice on my job, so now I need to find a new one. Yes, I am an idiot, but when the stress of your job is actively making you sick, it's time to find a new one. If I end up working at McDs for a while, I can cope with that.

Well, disaster kinda struck

I was happily knitting away on the Half-Square in Trinity Stitch shawl (which I decided to name the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone, since that's my particular trinity). Then I stretched it out. Then I sighed, and got a measuring tape.

It's lovely, and also only a foot and a half long when stretched. Since this is supposed to be one of the sides of the shawl, it's way too small. Plus, I'm not thrilled about the blocks of color. So, to the frog pond it goes.

I went to the yarn store on Monday to get larger lace needles, and fell into my purse. That's 650 yards of sportweight? alpaca. It's lovely and soft, and the perfect yarn for the Heartland Shawl by Evelyn Clark. I've been wanting to do an EC lace piece for some time, and this seemed like the perfect yarn.

Sorry for the picture quality, it was taken near midnight. It's also since been frogged and restarted. EC's charts go R->L to the middle stitch, then you start back at the beginning and go R->L again. I was going R->L then L->R, plus I was having directional decrease issues. \ and / confuse me when there's more than one in a line. I ended up highlighting one and circling the other, as well as keeping the key in front of me at all times, and that seems to be working better. I'm now 4 rows away from finishing the first full lace repeat. I have to go back tonight and figure out why I have fewer stitches then I should (probably missed a couple yos). I also had a weak spot in the yarn break on me, but since it was while I was tinking back, it wasn't a huge deal.

And yes, I have more or less completely given up on finishing anything for the KAL except maybe the scarf.

Life not so good. Knitting good. Consumer culture bad.

So, I may have a nasty case of startitus. I certainly have a bad case of "want yarn NOW," but there is no money to get yarn. Sigh. I've been drooling over more of the Prism LaceWool. I already have 3 skeins (two of which are now in use). But the Yosmite one on Ravelry's so pretty and less than I normally pay. Sigh. Must be good. Must be good!

Seriously, I love this yarn. It's soft and strong and pretty and rips well (a good thing in a lace yarn when you're me). But I have one unused skein of Woodlands, plus I got a skein of hand-dyed silk/merino, and I have leftovers from my scarf and the shawl. And I have 1000+ yards of sock yarn that will become the Luna Moth and enough yarn for 3 sweaters. I am not hurting for yarn (even if my stash fits in two grocery bags). I must be good, and if I finish all three shawls on the needles, then I can look at buying another skein. Only then. Or if I finish three projects.

Speaking of which, I started the Half-Square in Trinity Stitch from VLT on Wed using the Alpine colorway. It's the first time I've used a laceweight without doubling it, and I was surprised at how much I liked the fabric on 7s. It's an easy pattern that makes little rosebud things. (and by easy I mean repeat two stitches all the way across, then purl a row, then repeat, slightly off-set). I probably wouldn't recommend the lace border to a new lace knitter, but the center part is a piece of cake. I also like the idea of starting on one side and decreasing. Sure the rows are really long at first, but it's still exciting and new then. Hopefully by the time I get to "so bored, why am I doing this?" the rows will be really short and that'll motivate me.

And yes, I started another shawl because I'm bored. That and the weight of the FallingWaters Shawl hurts my wrists so I can't do much at a time. I'm still in the land of way too much garter stitch with the Brainless Lace Shawl (I got 35 rows done, did an eyelet row, did 5 more garter stitch rows, then noticed that I had 17 more rows of garter stitch before I hit tail shaping (which is more garter stitch). And each row is over 200 stitches. Is it any wonder I'm bored? I think that shawl may need to be saved for brainless time. At least the other two have purling to break up the knit. The sad thing is that I love love love the texture of garter stitch, but it's just really boring.

I know I want yarn because I think it will make me happy and I'm so sick of being sick it isn't even funny and I'm frustrated with work, and yeah, life kinda sucks right now. But I'm trying to remind myself that I will be far happier with stuff done, and I can't get stuff done if I'm constantly getting new stuff. So, no buying things, and instead, finishing things. To that end, stuff I have on the needles...
1. Falling Waters Shawl (must be done by Nov 1)
2. Diamond Lattice Scarf (ditto on Nov 1, but I'd like to get it done by end of Summer of Lace if possible)
3. Brainless Lace Shawl
4. Trinity Shawl
5. Canopy scarf (which has been marinating in the WIPs since May)
6. Sock (again with the marinating)
Stuff I have the yarn and pattern and want to make...
1. A Cardigan for Arwen
2. Cabled wrist-wamers (which will be done before the cardigan so I can get used to cabling)
3. Luna Moth
4. A round shawl (which may require purchase of dpns)

I also have enough Cascade worsted to make a sweater (but the pattern I got it for requires sport-weight). Go me on the failing to read. I may do the hexagon coat from Knitting Nature and just make it shorter.

Wow, an update.

Yes, I stink at updating. My apologies, the month kinda went insane, and then there was DragonCon....

Anyway, since my last post I've started a new shawl, worked more on my own pattern, and worked on my scarf. I also blocked stuff for the first time ever. Here's some pics!

That's me in costume holding my scarf.


That's a pirate holding my scarf (and wow, see how much bigger it is!). This went to Con with me (it's my only project that fits in my purse right now), and I got several people to hold it. I wasn't so thrilled with this pattern starting out, but the yarn and pattern have come together to make it gorgeous. I even like the striping of the yarn.


That's the Falling Water scarf blocking.


That's the shawl in progress where I created the pattern. I know the pattern is fairly lost in the colors, but it's the same lace pattern as the scarf above.


and that's the Brainless Lace Shawl (the Feather and Fan Triangular Shawl from Folk Shawls). I call it the brainless lace shawl because so far it's been rows and rows of garter stitch with the occasional eyelet row. I like the shaping of the pattern, but I wish the lace started earlier. I'm not bothering with the color changes on this one, since I'm using a variegated yarn. I started this one since I've spent most of the month sick on and off, and thinking was not always such a good idea. It's laceweight yarn (Prism Lace Wool in Woodlands) doubled on size 8 lace turbos.

I'm currently pondering if I can get all of this done by the 21st (probably not). I've also got stories to work on, and I've started playing W0W. This may spell doom, but that's okay.

And if you're ever at a con, bring your knitting for people to drool over. Seriously, there was much drooling and squishing and I even managed to kidnap a scarf knitter over to Knitch, where she bought laceweight to make her first lace! Yay!

Hey, look, pictures...

First, my finished blue jeans lace leaf shawl....

Next, a really bad picture of the Adamas...

Third, the edge of the blue jeans shawl...


In other random news, I've given up on A Handsome Triangle

since I don't like the lace pattern with the yarn, and even though the indifference to decrease slants may be period-correct, I don't like the look of it much. So instead (in a possible sign of insanity) decided to design and knit my own triangular shawl. As of right now I'm on the second lace repeat, and quite like it. It looks better with the yarn, and it's easier for me to knit because I know the lace pattern really well (it's the one from the Falling Water scarf) and it has the nice reverse-stockinette lines to act as stitch markers.

If I actually succeed in making this pattern work, I'll stick it up here.

First lace shawl done!

WHEE!

It's done, it's done, it's done, it's done! (as of 1:35 PM eastern daylight time)

My bluejeans leaf lace shawl is done! No more knitting it! Just 4 ends to weave in, and blocking to do. And I think I figured out that too. I've got an old crib mattress I think I can use. Large enough for the shawl, but small enough for me to move easily.

So to celebrate, I...
cast on another shawl. Adamas. I'm beginning to think this lace thing might be addictive.

Anyway, details...
Pattern done in garter stitch with a stockinette edging(rather then the other way round as the pattern called for) size 5 circular used.
15 leaves total measured from bottom edge (pattern called for 21 lace repeats or 10.5 leaves). Top edge was adjusted as follows...
k2tog yo row, then a knit row, then a purl row, then a suspended bind-off (the pattern suggests a k2, slp first over second one bind-off) but I found it to be far too tight. The suspended is also a bit tight, but still much looser.

Pictures in next post, along with a picture of my new Adamas (which is on the same needles, but much lacer).

Stash Growth

I took a two-hour vacation today and went down to Knitch. (Where I learned to knit, and possibly the greatest yarn store ever. If you're ever in Atlanta, go. Trust me. Wonderful, friendly, knowledgeable staff, great selection, neatly-organized, and free coffee).

They're doing their duck sale tomorrow and Sunday, and I selected a bunch of stuff (2 skeins of sock yarn for Luna Moth, and some gorgeous teal yarn for A Cardigan for Arwen). They have this new stuff (I forget what it's called since they still have my yarn and will be pulling a duck and ringing it up tomorrow) and it comes in like 40 colors and you get 250 yrds of worsted-weight for 10 bucks. And AND AND best part? Isn't itchy to me. The Falling Water scarf (which I'm wearing today) is itchy. The Bearfoot Mountain is itchy. But this wool isn't.

I'm sensitive to pricklies, not to wool or lanolin itself. Merino is generally not a problem and I suspect wool socks wouldn't bother me at all since my feet aren't sensitive. My hands aren't either, which can make picking yarn a challenge. I generally have to put it up to my face or neck to see if it'll be a problem. Alpaca can bother me, but seems to not be a problem once it's knit. Go figure.

And now my stash won't fit in a bag anymore (I have it all hanging on my bedroom door, in a Whole Foods cloth bag). Guess I need to look into other storage options. Maybe that plastic chest....

Things that make me happy and things that annoy me...
Addi Lace needles only go up to size 9. Damn them! I want pointy needles in 9.5 and above, darn it.
Victorian Lace Today. I've now cast on 2 projects from this book. I love the Scarf with open Diamonds but I'm not doing the edging (since I only have 350 yards of yarn). Instead of using size 7 or 8 I'm using 5s, since I don't think Northern Lights Bearfoot Mt is really suited to a lacy scarf. It looks really nice at the tighter gauge, and the round holes give it a lovely bit of interest. In other words, I really really like this combo.
I've also cast on A Handsome Triangle, and I think the 4th? 5th? try with the silky merino is the charm. Yes, most of the detail of the lace is lost, but that's okay. And knitting with this stuff, wow. Going from that back to the alpaca-silk, well it feels like twine.

And speaking of Alpaca-silk, the bluejeans leaf lace shawl (which needs a shorter name) is now 68 inches across the back. I transfered all the live stitches to waste yarn (a process that took about an hour) and measured and took pictures. Then I tried wrapping it around myself. Sigh, not big enough yet. I put it back on the needle and haven't touched it since. It's laughing at me, I'm sure of it.

I need to make a lacy washcloth this week for Lughnasa and I have an idea for a gear shawl for Dragon Con. (Probably crocheted, since I'm not sure how you would get a gear shape via knitting and then there's the time issue. Maybe it'll get done for Con next year, or for Hallowcon?)

Anyone got a cure for startitus?

Not much to report. I seem to have an extreme case of startitus, this suckus, froggis. (Aka, I start something, I hate it, I frog it)

So far since June 21 I have frogged...

Luna Moth (wrong, so wrong for that yarn)
A ripple shawl from Knitting Lace Triangles (ditto)
Montego Bay (yup, the thing in the last entry. Just not a happy ufo)
Tiger-Eye Scarf (remember the chart with the non-standard symbols?)
Wine and Roses Mitts (why doesn't the cuff lace pattern stitch count match up with the co count? That's really annoying)
And I had 2 false starts on my Leaf Lace

What I Want to Do...
Make a lace shrug. At this point I am pondering taking my measurements, using the lace pattern from the Retro Redux shrug, and making it up. You make a rectangle, sew up the sleeves, add ribbing to the armholes (if not the entire thing) and you're done. Heck, I could even figure out the provisional cast-on so that I don't need to pick up bound-off stitches. And this is all because I can't find needles with a sharp point in the sizes I need. I have sizes 8 & 9 lace needles, not 9-10.5
Make a shawl from the Silky Merino (one where the pattern isn't overpowered by the color). I'm leaning towards the Handsome Triangle from VLT, as the pattern isn't complicated and it's pretty. Or the Flower Lace from KLT.
Make fingerless mitts. At this point, since I want lace, I may be making the pattern up as I go along. This may lead to doom. Or a cool pattern. We shall see. It might be a good idea to attempt to understand fingerless mitt construction first. Just maybe. I'm thinking using vertical eyelets combined with a bit of ribbing.

FOs, cast-ons, and failed projects

So, first, the falling water scarf is done. Yay!

Second, I spent quite a bit of time over the weekend trying to figure out what I wanted to do next. I want to make a shrug, since I think it'd be a practical garment, but I discovered this weekend that the needles I have above size 8 (a 9, and a 9.5) are completely unsuited to lace, or at least to the Retro Redux Shrug. The points just don't work for k2togs with thick yarn. So, in the end, I settled on the Montego Bay scarf again, this time with dental-floss weight yarn, and ignoring the pattern to do my own thing. Much easier. I still want to make the shrug, but I don't really have the cash for more needles right now.

I did get some new books. Victorian Lace Today and Knitting Lace Triangles. I love the pictures in VLT, and wow do I want to make the huge circular shawl, even though it would take me FOREVER. I also like all the edgings.
Knitting Lace Triangles is very nice, and it sets out how to make a triangle and the lace patterns and such very well. I would actually recommend this over VLT for a beginner.

I give you lace pr0n.
Finished Object


Works in Progress


Frogged attempts

Knitting goals

I have some, I just don't talk about them and have a tendency to forget them. So, I'll stick them here and hopefully that will help me remember them.

1. Finish bluejeans leaf shawl

That picture's old, it's a lot longer now. It's crowding the circular, and I think I'm on the 9th leaf for the center. I enjoy knitting this project, but I'm not so crazy about the look of it. I think maybe next time a yarn with a gentle variegation of color would be nice. The alpaca/silk blend is lovely and I like the way it feels knit up. Not so sure how well this is going to block, but since I'll have to figure out where the heck I can block it, I'm not going to worry about it.

2. Finish falling waters scarf

Lovely yarn, nice pattern, but the yarn bugs my hands. Also, the Addi Lace needles have a metallic smell in my hands. Something to do with the brass, I suspect. I like the tips of the needles, but I think when I buy new needles, I'll avoid the lace ones. I like the look of the silver better anyway. This scarf will need to be blocked as well, it's curling. It's about 6 feet long right now, and I'm knitting till I run out of yarn.

3. Luna Moth.
I started last night (thicker yarn and bigger needles are easier on my wrists). I'm using Silky Malabrigo in the Bahia color. Very rainbowish, and I'm vaguely worried about the colors overwhelming the pattern. I love the look of the pattern itself, but I think this one's going to require a lot more concentration than the bluejeans one. I'm using regular addi turbos, and the points aren't sharp enough for this. Picture forthcoming eventually.

4. Finish Canopy scarf and write up pattern. This is on hold because of Summer of Lace.

5. If I finish the first three before Sept 21, I want to make myself a lace shrug. I have various patterns, and I just need to decide what I like best, and what will work best with broad shoulders and big arms.

6. Gathered pullover. I have the yarn, though I should practice the cabling before I do it on a garment. I understand the principle of cabling, and I think I know how it is done, but I've never actually done it.

7. Tank top. Probably the Lutea lace one.

8. Tomato.

In other, not-so good news, my home router is currently throwing a hissy fit. I either need to fix it, or replace it, but I have no idea where I wrote down the settings. That will probably wait till Friday, since I want to go to a stitch and bitch tonight.

Why won't it stop?

So, I am a crazy person. Seriously. My brain is always full of ideas, and I need to get them out. (Otherwise, the plot bunnies multiply and I end up thinking about naked Lucius with a cookie in a meeting, and smiling like a madwoman and my coworkers call the men in white coats.)

Now, generally my brain is full of plot bunnies. Fic ideas, mostly, with the occasional pr0n. But the more I knit, the more I get "Design bunnies". Design bunnies are interesting, to say the least. Knitted garments pop into my head, and they want to be written down and made. This is extremely annoying since I haven't even made a sweater yet. I believe I lack the knitting skills to make these things from scratch right now, but that doesn't stop them from coming. So, like I do with plot bunnies, I will write these down in the hopes that they shut up. The notation may not make sense to anyone else.
Design Ideas
1. Strip Dragonskin skirt
2. Replica of my pink shirt. Maybe purl lines to represent the folds. Is it possible to create raised stitches like that? Also, would need to find a lace pattern for cuffs and collar. Would use same buttonhole idea?
3. Victorian Wrap and Shrug, knitted. (It's a crochet pattern I like, and I want to knit it instead)
4. Combo crochet and knit tank
5. Square-necked sweater. Cables down front possible. Want to recreate a laced bodice sort of thing.

In other news, my left wrist is slowly recovering from Rockband, and knit two together through the back loop is the best substitute for skp and ssk ever!

The Falling Waters scarf continues. I have 6 repeats, and other than my inexplicable inability to count while people are talking, it's going fairly well. I went and hung out with a crochet class last night and knit. That isn't the oddest place I've knit (a graveyard), but it's certainly up there. People kept asking me if I knew how to crochet. (I do)

I also learned how to use a ball winder and swift last night, and discovered that one of the local yarn shops has a finishing class. That's now on my list to take. Learning how to block properly might be a good idea, given that I'm knitting all this lace. Also, I like the teacher.

The bluejeans shawl is having a nice time-out to think about what it's done. I left out a yarnover, went on for a couple of rows, then noticed it and had to go back. That should teach me to use lifelines more often, but it probably won't. Part of the problem is that the Falling Waters scarf has a clear lace pattern, and I can see within 6 stitches if I've made a mistake. With the shawl, it's generally two rows of a ton of stitches before I notice. Grr.

I'm still debating the Tiger-eye scarf. Redoing the chart's a pain, to say the least. Either way, I think once I finish the Falling Waters scarf, I'll try my hand at the Viennese Shrug. It's lace with worsted-weight yarn, and a practical garment for me. Or, depending on what the Beginning Lace KAL chooses for the July pattern, I may do that.

Oh, and I figured out how to turn on comment notification. Go me. Now I can reply to comments within a decent amount of time. And there may be lace pictures tonight, if I find batteries for the camera, and am not frantically running around trying to get ready for Mom's surgery.

Well, I now have a new cure for stressed out and hormonal. Yarn. I finally went to Cast On Cottage in Roswell and they had many soft pretty things. I saw the non-laceweight malabrigo for the first time, and wow, that stuff is just as soft and pretty as the laceweight. Remind me when I become a millionaire to make myself some sweaters out of it. OMG, soft. And I bought sock yarn, using the argument that it could easily be made into lace, and it seems a shame to hide pretty yarn on feet.

That's my favourite color of it, made into a scarf. My first scarf ever, actually.

In other news, I frogged

that last night, and did a bunch of gauge swatches for the lace I want to knit. The blue yarn in that picture is an alpaca laceweight. I plan on using it for the blue jeans shawl. We'll see how that goes.

Victory is MINE!

After frogging, redoing, having the same problem, frogging again, and then actually bothering to count the number of stitches in my heel flap and finding out I was way off (I had 46 and thought I had 52), I managed to do a centered heel flap. And then I managed to pick up stitches for the gusset decreases with only a couple of holes. I DID IT! I DID IT! Of course now I have a ton of stitches to decrease, and I kinda made things up as I went along there (book was confusing), so this sock may end up with a gusset decrease that's half the foot. Oh well.

In other knitting-related news, I am signing up for Seasons of Lace. This may end up being a complete disaster, since I haven't really done any lace except the sock yarn scarf. But nothing ventured, nothing gained, and plus, it's only yarn. Frogging is my friend. Off to find my first project (I'm leaning towards the Wine and Roses fingerless mitts). But then again I have some lovely alpaca that I need to do something with, and it's perfect for lace. So, we shall see.

So far, it's been a quiet weekend. I started making a tank top here's a picture. Obviously that's not mine, but it's a good picture of the pattern. I'm a) not at the right gauge (so I'm doing math to adjust the pattern) and b) doing short rows for only the second time ever, so I am prepared to fail if needed. Heck, that's what frogging's for, right? But I love love love Rowan Calmer, so I am a happy person. (Rowan Calmer is a cotton/polyester blend that is insanely soft and just a pleasure to work with, and also, really pretty purple. Expect pic-spam later once I have more than an inch.)

Finished sock scarf, gave sock scarf to kissmythistle, who likes it. Yay.

I'm going to go back to knitting now, my brain hurts again.

Edited: Um, so I failed a bit and the tank is frogged. Moebius strips are good for scarfs, not so much for tanks. Oh well. Maybe I should take this as a sign that I should make a lovely sample (perhaps doing so in the continental style) and wash it to see how the yarn acts. After all, I have more yardage than I need, so I can afford to do so.

Noro Scarf and other stuff

I finished the Noro scarf last night. It's 10 ft long. Wow.
and
are two pics of it. I'm quite happy with how it turned out, but man, why does everyone love Noro so much?
The colors are pretty, but it's not evenly spun, and the bits of ick! Not to mention the roughness. Give me a good soft yarn any day of the week.

In other news, I started making what I have decided to call "the Chinese Waves Shawl"

Easy pattern (2 rows!), and I finally have a good use for some of my laceweight.

The Canopy Textured Scarf is still ongoing, and I'm trying to resist the urge to cast on my first top. I have Rowan Calmer and omg, so soft!

Canopy Scarf and the Evilness of Socks

The sock, it frustrates me. My heel turn, which I figured out by myself (okay with the help of More Sensational Socks) is not centered. But but but I don't want to pull it out, so I have set it aside for a little while.
My Canopy scarf is still ongoing. See picture above? That's it. Okay, so I stink at pictures, but that at least gives you an idea.

I've also started a Noro sock yarn scarf, and again I made up my own pattern (well, sort of). I swiped the Vertical Eyelets pattern from More Sensational Socks, and changed rows 1 & 3 to read p4, k1 instead of k4, p1. In my brilliance, I kinda forgot that I needed to reverse as well. But it still looks good, and with only 4 pattern repeats, it's a lovely lacy thin scarf. That's going to a friend of mine, because the colors make her happy and the wool's too rough for me. I'll still need to figure out what to do with the rest of the skein. I've only used one color repeat, and it's about 3 feet long, and there's a ton more repeats in the 400+ yard plus skein.

I picked up the Kaigo? pattern book at Hancock for 5 dollars. I may never make anything out of it, but the pictures are lovely. And a whole book of laceweight stuff? Yay!

Twisting Stitches and Random Knitting Change

Every time I pick up stitches, I twist them. Even though I know I'm going to do it, I still do.

I've started a new scarf, made out of Canopy. Oh, so so soft. My sock's ribbing is now two inches long, and I ran out of yarn for the Montego Bay scarf I was working on.

And I randomly started purling continental and it took me about 5 minutes to figure out why it felt so weird. I twisted about half those stitches as well. Grr. Oh well, at least I know I should be able to learn Continental without too much trouble.

Intro (and other stuff)

So, hi. I'm Melfina, and I knit, crochet, and do random other things. I plan for this to be my knitting/crocheting/random craft squee blog, so that my lovely friends at LJ and IJ don't get sick of me talking about it all the time.
Currently I am:
1. Knitting my first sock. I have an inch of k2p2 ribbing on size 1 double points. I am ridiculously proud of that. (since it took me three froggings to get to where I am). Note to self: should not attempt to do a sock pattern on the first sock you ever make. It's too confusing.
2. Making a lace scarf. I made my first finished scarf out of lace-weight malabrigo and had some left over, so I'm making the Montego Bay Scarf from Summer 2007 issue of Interweave Knits. It's been frogged and restarted once. Not a hard pattern but I seem to be good at getting my knit and purl rows confused. Since I now have 6 inches done, any mistakes are design features, no matter how odd they look.
3. Making a lace ruana/scarf/wrap thing. I think I shall figure out what it is after I get more than two inches done. It's currently my "I need to pay attention to what I'm doing" project. (It has also been restarted 5? 6? times. This explains why I have decided that any and all random rows(I like to knit when I should be purling and vice versa) are in fact nifty design elements.
4. Making washcloths for a friend's bridal shower. Thankfully I've only screwed up and restarted on one of them, and only have enough yarn for one more. Of course, now those needles are being used for the Montego Scarf. Yes, I fail at planning ahead.
5. Crocheting a lace sweater out of organic cotton. The pattern's from Sensual Crochet, and I highly recommend the book for gorgeous patterns. And Blue Sky Cotton is so so soft.
Resisting the urge to start anything else.