FO: diagonal airy scarf

I made this little scarf for cousin Marie -- it seemed like a good choice for someone who lives in a climate where it never gets cold. The airy scarf pattern from Last Minute Knitted Gifts is lovely and fun to knit, but I wanted to give it a bit of a twist this time, so I knitted it on the bias. It ended up kind of skinny and required more than just a spray-blocking. I gave this one a proper bath with baby shampoo and pinned it as tightly as I could to open up the lace pattern.


Diagonal airy scarf
Started: Sept. 24
Finished: Oct. 9 (blocked Oct. 16)
Pattern: Adapted from the Airy Scarf pattern from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze, half a skein, Heavenly
Needles: US 10 plastic needles

Kiri and Clapotis in action

Here we are, the happy newlyweds and Kiri, at the conclusion of the wedding ceremony! So far none of the pictures show off Kiri very well, but the official wedding photos aren't in yet.

Jessie wore Clapotis at the wedding too, as you can see here.

Kiri, blocked and ginormous

It's done and it's huge! 34 inches long and 74 inches wide! I wasn't planning to make it that big -- this was only 11 repeats of the main pattern. It barely fit on the bed when I blocked it (using Yarn Harlot's lace blocking method). Fortunately I am told that the shawl doesn't look ridiculous on me.

The scalloped edges didn't come out very scalloped, but I'm okay with that. I went up a needle size to US 8 on row 11 of the edging, then did row 12 on size 10's, and bound off very loosely with the 10's, but I guess it still wasn't as loose as it could have been. During row 11 I also added irridescent off-white seed beads to what would become the points of the shawl, more or less following instructions I found on the Kiri Shawl Knitalong Yahoo Group.

Today I will see how the shawl looks with my wedding gown.

Kiri
Started: April 17 (after many false starts)
Finished: May 9 (blocked May 11)
Pattern: From All Tangled Up
Yarn: Rowan KidSilk Night, color Starlight, 3 skeins (very little left over)
Needles: US 7, 8, 10 circs (Denise -- the 40" and 52" cords I bought on eBay really came in handy!)

Halfway to Kiri

I've almost completed the 8th pattern repeat on Kiri. It's approx. 42 inches by 21 inches. I'm in the middle of the second ball of yarn, which means I'm probably about halfway done with the shawl, perhaps even a little more than halfway. I'll want the shawl to measure at least 60 inches in width (my armspan). Still got a ways to go!

Today I took Amtrak up to Albany and back, and knitted the whole time. It was a beautiful ride along the Hudson. I made lots of mistakes in my knitting, partly due to too much sunlight! It was so bright I couldn't see the sparkly white stitches very clearly against the white Denise needle tips. Most of the mistakes were pretty easy to fix, but towards the end of the trip home I really botched up one of the leaves. I realized I wasn't going to be able to fix it on the train, so I stuck safety pins in the stitches I had unravelled so they wouldn't drop any further. When I got home i had to rebuild the leaf loop by loop. That actually wasn't so hard, and it seems to have turned out okay.

I've been leaving in two lifelines at all times, just in case I notice a mistake way back. So far I haven't had any mistakes requiring me to use a lifeline...knock on wood!

Here's a closeup:












And now, back to knitting!

Kiri redemption

Last night I made some alterations to my mother's 39-year-old bridal veil, which I will wear at my wedding ceremony. I removed the large flower decoration, which is lovely but a little overwhelming for the hairstyle I will be wearing. I then sewed on some bridal loops, which my hairstylist had suggested instead of attaching the comb directly to the veil. I slipped the wire comb into the loops and tried on the veil. Altering the veil was something I had been starting to dread, since my sewing abilities are rather limited, and I was worried about damaging a family heirloom, but it seems to have worked out just fine.

Sailing on the sense of accomplishment from the veil, I decided to attack Kiri again. I tuned my mp3 player to a relaxing podcast (Irie Knits), ripped out my wangulated runt of a Kiri, took some deep breaths, and started again.

So far, so good.

I completed the cast-on and startup rows, then put in a lifeline and began the first repeat. I took my time and made sure to do a thorough visual check after each completed row. I marked off the rows on the pattern and made tally marks, while also using the post-it to keep my place in the chart. Perhaps most importantly, I put down the knitting when I started feeling tired. It's still not back to the point it was at on my first attempt, but it looks much better this time. The stitches are more even, and so far there are no noticeable mistakes. The lifeline is a piece of orange Bernat Super Value, and I'm a little worried that fibers will stick to the Kidsilk. This weekend I will try to pick up some smooth cotton, which seems to be what everyone recommends for lifelines.

Clapotis triumph; Kiri woes

This is the finished Clapotis. I did 4 repeats of the increase section (the pattern calls for 7) and a full 13 repeats of the straight row section. It's very drapey and the soy silk feels soft and smooth against the skin. The ends are weaved in but I haven't blocked it yet. Blocking probably isn't even necessary.

What a lovely, relaxing knit!

Clapotis
Started: April 1
Finished: April 13
Pattern: From Knitty
Yarn: South West Trading Company's Oasis, 2 skeins, Parrot
Needles: US 8 circs (Addi turbos)

Kiri, on the other hand, is causing me nothing but grief!

I knit up this mini-Kiri to familiarize myself with the pattern, to see how the Kidsilk Night would knit up, and to try out a little beading along the edges. I had no major problems with the swatch. The beads are subtle and I like the way they complement the yarn and the pattern. I haven't blocked it yet, but I'm happy with how it came out. I would totally wear this shawl if I was 18 inches tall!

Then I started the actual grown-up shawl. I got halfway through the first repeat and realized something was amiss. One of the leaves was all mangled, and unfortunately it was several rows down and not worth tinking. I had only spent a few hours on the shawl at that point, so I decided to rip it out and start over. I then endured several false starts (butchering some of the yarn in the process) before I came up with an acceptable cast-on, and it still wasn't perfect. But the mistake wouldn't be noticeable to anyone else so I proceeded onto the startup rows. I was knitting along nicely until I noticed that once again there's a yarnover in the wrong place, way down near the beginning! At this point I became too frustrated to deal with it, and I put it away for the night.

I'm not sure what the problem is -- perhaps I have gotten overconfident, and have not been referring to the charts as diligently as I should be. I've been knitting in cars and in front of the television. I haven't been tallying my row count (and I don't have a row counter that fits the needles) and was only using a post-it to keep track of my place in the chart. I guess I'll have to combine the post-it with a written tally. And I'll have to use lifelines.

I will not be defeated!

Busy knitting...no time to blog

I don't have any pictures to show right now, but I have been knitting! Right now it's all about my wedding, which is happening at the end of May. So sadly John's raglan zip cardigan is on hold, as are many of my other projects.

I swatched for Kiri, which if all goes well will be my bridal shawl. Went on eBay and ordered three balls of Rowan KidSilk Night in Starlight from Jannette's Rare Yarns, and the Denise Companion Set from Woodland Farms Fibers and Yarns. You know you are knitting too many simultaneous projects when you run out of Denises! I'm thinking of adding some sparkly beads along the scalloped edges of the shawl.

There is also a modified Clapotis on my needles, close to being finished. I'm using South West Trading Company's Oasis (100% soy silk) in the "Parrot" colorway. This Clapotis is about 13" tall, just over half the height of the standard Clapotis, so it's more of a scarf and less of a stole. I'm liking it! It will be a bridesmaid gift, so hopefully she'll like it too. If nothing else, she will like the fact that it's eco-friendly and cruelty-free, since she's a vegan.

FO: Airy scarf

On the way up to Pittsburgh, I knit an Airy Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts for my aunt. She's been asking me to knit something for her ever since I started knitting. I chose the Airy Scarf pattern because it looked like something my aunt might wear, it seemed appropriate for spring, and I've been itching to try out Rowan Kidsilk Haze. It turned out to be a fairly mindless, relaxing knit, perfect for a road trip. I only had to count up to 10, which I can usually handle. (Anything higher than that and I start running into trouble!) While in Pittsburgh, I weaved the ends in, but decided to wait till I got home to block it.

Since this is my first finished lace project (I will finish Branching Out someday!), it was also my first attempt at blocking lace. I don't have a blocking board, and the dog sleeps on the bed, so the only appropriate surface I could come up with was our ironing board. I decided to more or less follow Yarn Harlot's lace blocking method. I threaded all four edges of the scarf with crochet cotton and pinned it down to the proper dimensions. Then I took a spray bottle and spritzed it till it was damp. The spray bottle I had on hand doesn't do a fine mist, just a rather powerful stream. I tried to angle it so I could hit a larger surface area with one spritz. Mostly I ended up with droplets on the surface of the scarf, which I patted with a towel. I suppose I could have soaked the scarf in the sink, but I was afraid to subject the delicate Kidsilk Haze to that kind of abuse. The next evening I freed the scarf from the pins, strings, and towels, and it retained its shape . . . for a little while at least. Before long though, the ends flared out again. I left it at is, since it's a birthday gift and there wasn't enough time to re-block it, plus I don't think it looks that bad, especially if it's going to be tied around a neck. At least the stitches look more even than they did before blocking.

Airy scarf
Started: Mar. 10
Finished: Mar. 10 (weaved in ends and blocked later)
Pattern: From Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze, half a skein, Heavenly
Needles: US 10 plastic needles (cast on and bound off with Grandma's US 11 plastic needles)

Raglan cardigan pieces

Here's what John's raglan cardigan looks like so far:

     

I put this sweater on hold for a few days, since we went to Pittsburgh for a long weekend and it's becoming too big to take with me places, but I knitted a few more rounds last night.

During our trip, I made a couple of Last Minute Knitted Gifts, of which I will post pictures soon. On the ride home from Pittsburgh, I knitted a few more rows on Branching Out, until the flu overcame me and my eyelids got too heavy to knit. Perhaps I should clarify that my eyelids don't actually do any knitting, but when they're open, they do enable me to see, which helps greatly when knitting lace. At any rate, it appears to have been a 24-hour bug, and I am feeling much better now.

It would seem that I am becoming obsessed with knitting podcasts. Cast On, Pointy Sticks, and KnitCast are probably my favorites at the moment. I have yet to actually knit while listening to a knitting podcast, though I have listened to them at work, at the gym, and while washing dishes. I find it very soothing to hear their lovely voices talking about knitting (and other things -- I honestly enjoy the digressions that sometimes occur though I know others have criticized them).

I have also been watching some knitting television. I checked out Lily Chin's Stitchcraft on Oxygen, which was fun though not terribly informative. I had heard it was a pilot, and I was curious to see how it would be developed into a series, but it doesn't sound like any more episodes are in the works. Then I found out about Vickie Howell's Knitty Gritty on the DIY Network, and I've watched a few episodes so far. The one on decorative stitches was actually very informative. Coincidentally (or perhaps not), Lily Chin was the guest on that one. She's very good at explaining and demonstrating techniques. Now I have somewhat of a clue how to do bobbles, drop stitches and beadwork, and the instructions are all available on the web site.

Knitting inheritance

In the process of going through Grandma's apartment, we found needles and crochet hooks of every size, all sorts of notions, patterns, books and magazines, and a carton full of yarn! As the sole active knitter in my family, I have inherited all these treasures. The patterns are especially exciting because they're covered in Grandma's notes. Judging by the sheer volume of knitting stuff, it would seem that Grandma was much more of a knitter than she made herself out to be. Mom recognized a short wooden needle with a red ball on the end (sadly, without a mate) as what she learned to knit on when she was a child. (Apparently my family is full of closet former knitters!) Most of the yarn is acrylic, but there are a couple of skeins that say 100% Pure Virgin Wool, as well as some unlabelled mystery yarn. Everything is at least 20 years old, some of it dating back to the '50s and '60s. There are also bags full of small crocheted squares. I'd like to learn how to crochet so I can finish the afghan project that was probably started 25 years ago. I hope to post pictures of some of these items in the near future.

For now, no new pictures, but I have been knitting! Branching Out is probably close to halfway done, and the lace pattern is showing up better now that it's weighing itself down a bit. I'm also about a foot into the Men's Zip Raglan Cardigan. I was originally going to use Happy Wool but due to a fire in a Jerusalem post office storage room, that fell through. Instead I went with Cascade Ecological Wool, color #9010, and I love it! It comes in such enormous skeins (478 yds.) and it's so soft!

The Fairly Easy Fair Isle stares at me from its hanger, taunting me with its dangling ends and its unseemly proportions. I still think blocking could turn it into something I'd actually wear, but the sweater is too big to fit in the bathroom sink and I'm reluctant to use the bathtub and waste all that extra water. Excuses, excuses!

Socktopus and odds and ends

John made a Socktopus for a friend's birthday, and every socktopus needs a hat so I knit him one. I improvised the pattern and used leftover Bernat Satin and bamboo double-pointeds (size 8, I believe). It was a very satisfying, instantly gratifying knit. I finished the hat just as John was adding the final touches to the socktopus. I have to say I really like working with that yarn -- so soft and shiny.


This is the beginning of Knitty's Branching Out with some 100% cashmere I got at School Products. I can't decide if the yarn is too lightweight for this pattern. It might be fingering weight but I'm not sure -- the tag doesn't give much information. Maybe it would look better with a smaller needle size rather than the US 8 which the pattern suggests (if that's even what I'm using -- to be honest, I can't recall), but then it would be super skinny. I'll have to do a few more pattern repeats and see if it shapes up. The Silky Wool suggested in the pattern sounds lovely and is surprisingly inexpensive -- I may order some online since I can't seem to find it in stores. I'm sure I can come up with something to do with the cashmere if Branching Out isn't the answer. The trick is I only have about 250 yards.

I've also made some more progress on the Koigu sock (hopefully someday to belong to a pair), my ongoing portable project. The heel flap is almost done. Over the weekend I borrowed the needles I've been using for the sock to make a pair of angora baby booties from Last Minute Knitted Gifts for my landlord's baby. Those are complete; pictures to come.

While watching the SuperBowl and the L Word last night, I finally seamed up the Fairly Easy Fair Isle's underarms and sleeves. The fit doesn't appear to be too bad -- the sleeves are snug and longish, just how I like them. The jury's still out on the body -- might be a tad looser than I'd like -- but today I bought buttons at M & J Trimming so soon we shall see. There are also a gazillion ends that need to be weaved in.

Socktopus hat
Started: Feb. 3
Finished: Feb. 3
Yarn: Bernat Satin leftovers in sapphire
Needles: US 8 bamboo straights