Tuesday, July 31, 2007

And, because I can't leave well enough alone...

and because I now own size 4 as well as size 5 Addi Lace needles, I swatched again on size 5s to see if I like it better. No pic yet; maybe I can post a pic of both, wet-blocked, later.

Finished too late last night while IMing. I hate typing one-handed but it was worth it to finish!

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Mystery Stole 3 swatched


MS3 Sampler
Originally uploaded by RenaissanceWomn
While finishing HP7 last night, I also finished my swatch, with some beads (as if I have to economize), for Mystery Stole 3. Scary parts: found one dropped stitch about 3 rows below at one point (fine, I can fix that) and was short 2 stitches not long after (no idea where they went). Hm. This may be beyond me. We'll see.

Friday, July 27, 2007

Woo hoo, I finished!

Shedir is done, ends are woven in, and it's ready to be photographed and sent to its new owner.

After my hot date.

And I've now added my 61st project to my queue in Ravelry, spilling over to page 3. This does not include the 7 to 10 projects already on the needles.

But I'm OK with that. Really.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Back in the saddle

I tinked back to my row counter marker last night (just half a row), studied the chart, and found the problem: row 63 is not marked as a "use one stitch from previous round" row, even though you clearly must. On the previous page, it's even included as one of those rounds; it's just the chart that doesn't have that marking. (interestingly, it's not been corrected yet.)

Once I borrowed that stitch, it was easy sailing. I'm up to row 73, down to about 48 stitches, and the end is in sight! I'd photograph it, but it's textured black--I think it would look like a black blob! I'll try to when it's done. So glad to be so close to done. (and, it turns out, Shedir is compatible with HP7! Glad I have a book holder.)

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Son of a NUTcracker!

The Shedir I'm working on was going well, very well, in fact. I got to row 60 with no problems (3/4 done!). Everything lined up, did as it was supposed to... then, as I went to change the row counter from 63 to 64, I knew something was wrong, as I'd just done a knit-the-knits-and-purl-the-purls row. Thought maybe I'd skipped changing the counter, so I put it to 65... and then I was knitting purls and purling knits, and clearly something was wrong.

I was so disgusted that I put it aside. I don't remember having this kind of trouble with the last Shedir I made. I want to be done, admire it, photograph it, and send it off!

sigh. I do hate tinking.

Friday, July 13, 2007

It's here! It's here!

I had tried to buy a skein of "Gathering Storm" off Rabbitch's store site, but the gods did not like me and PayPal couldn't process my order ("no country field filled out"--huh?). In a panic, because OMG it was so gorgeous, I emailed Rabbitch directly. She could send it!

Got the package today--and what a boon! Not only a skein of Gathering Storm, even more delicious than I'd expected, but an additional skein titled "Jennie," which is SO SO me, and a niddy noddy. (I'd sent her a bit of change when she was driving on a piece of bent steel and a patch of rubber a way back.)

Oh MAN, what fun!

Don't miss out. Her store still has some Black Orchid available, stunning purple stuff, and No Mean Feets, a gorgeous mix of blues, as well as a tasty Swamp Thing in 100yd or 50yd lengths. Go, now!

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Boiled Ass, just for Dharma

Here ya go. All original 14 repeates of Budding Lace done, 2 of 5 extra repeats done. Still soft, still wonderful...!


Click to biggify. In Flickr, click "All Sizes" to bigger-ify.

Monday, July 09, 2007

Mystery Shawl 3

It will come as no surprise to you to find that I am a joiner. When I heard about MS3, I was joined up before I even knew it (and changed to "special notices only" shortly thereafter--4000 messages in the FIRST MONTH?!?).

But the recommended color choices are black, white, and off-white/natural. I don't have any laceweight (in enough yardage) in black or white, and the only laceweight I have in natural is the cashmere thread I bought from ColourMart in a fit of "ooh, cashmere" and "aah, laceweight" but not a jot of "oh, if they'd put a quarter in front of the cone I could've seen that it was more like thread than yarn." And do I want to knit with thread? Do I want to knit MS3 with thread?

I do not know. What I do know is that a friend and I are going to be doing an order with KnitPicks soon enough and there just might be some black laceweight added to that order...

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Progress on Swallowtail Shawl (and, I can do math!)

I got lots of time to work on my Swallowtail Shawl last weekend at my aunt's cabin. I counted sets of markers, did lots of arithmetic, and found that I must have miscounted repeats-- I was two repeats short of the 14 called for (and thus short of the 195 stitches resulting from the 14 repeats). I also figured out that each repeat adds 6 stitches to the total. So, since I wanted a larger shawl than the pattern says (23" deep seems too shallow), I futzed around with the math of the next section (multiples of 10) and figured out how many extra repeats of budding lace II I would need, 5 (x 6 = 30, the first multiple of 6 that is a multiple of 10). I was so pleased when I looked it up online and found several others had come to the same conclusion. The repeats are slow, as the yarn is like thread and the needles plenty slick (Susan Bates Quicksilvr), so I knit carefully rather than my usual tearing speed. But 5 more repeats, even of 6 rows of pattern, doesn't seem entirely daunting. And the result does seem worth it, from what I've read in the blogs.

It really was worthwhile spending a whole weekend on one thing, as this shawl seemed endless only a few weeks ago. Now the end is in sight, and I have the trick for the p5tog nupps (sl 2, p3tog, pass slipped stitches over). I think I can do this! (oof, just found another notation that says I'll be short 2 stitches on a later chart-oh well, I can do that, too.)

I'll post a pic as soon as I've taken one--but it doesn't actually look terribly different than it did before. Just a few more buds in lace.

Friday, July 06, 2007

I sat and crocheted!


String bag
Originally uploaded by RenaissanceWomn
While I was on vacation, I finished a very cool string bag. I had been wanting to knit one, and had a pattern ready, but Beverly's put Sugar 'n' Creme cotton yarn on sale, and oh! the colorways! I was only going to buy a few balls for G for his handweaving ($1.29 a ball!), but there was a pattern for a string bag on the label of one, so I just had to buy three and dig out a G crochet hook (although these days, crochet hooks are metric! Had to find a chart to see what letter-size I needed!) and start it.

Hey, it was kinda fun! Made me remember how much I liked it, just not for sweaters etc., because the look is not as smooth as knitting.

I think it turned out great! See for yourself:






I think I'm scrod

I've been looking forward to finishing the Karabella Shawl-Collar [sic] Sweater ever since I started it (true to form). The Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk is only 66 yds/ball, and the recommended Karabella Marble is 92. Mine knit up at the same gauge. You do the math while I'm in the corner sobbing.

Monday, July 02, 2007

Idea for the Lamb's Pride Polarweight

Just as I'm ready to donate all of it, I find a great idea for making a felted rug with the Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Polarweight I was given. I have smidges of some colors and lots of others. Should be great!