When In Doubt, Shop!

First up…I hope you all noticed the change of scenery around here. I liked the old theme I was using, but it hasn’t been updated for awhile, and the old version was a bit twitchy with the newer version of WordPress. So I found one that let me insert my own photo in the header. That’s a picture of our lake at sunset a few nights ago. Here’s the original.

Next up is the pre-Olympic event of Stash Enhancement. I know, I know. I need more yarn like I need termites. So?

That is from the Verdant Gryphon, Eidos sock yarn in Medusa, Jade Emperor, and Wen Chang. Though I’m sure they would make lovely socks, my plan is to make a Color Affection shawl with them.

That is Mithril lace weight yarn, from the same shop. It will be a spectacular shawl someday. The color is Alice In The Rabbit’s House, and it is a true Tardis blue. I have my eye on perhaps this shawl. We’ll see. I have a few other lace things to get off the needles before I start something new. Note that the “yarn backdrop” was mildly curious for the first photo, and then she promptly went back to sleep. Ho hum. Just more yarn.

Last but not least, my beloved drug dealer’s scale bit the dust this week. It just died with no warning. Off to Amazon I went, and the replacement came by that famous brown truck earlier today.

I got a 500 g weight to use to calibrate it. Clever! This one is actually better than the old one. The LED thingee swings out so you can see it better, and it weighs up to 1 kg.

I needed this ASAP so I could weigh my Ravellenics yarn. I’m knitting a Lacy Baktus, which starts with a few stitches, increases until the yarn is half gone, then decreases back down. The last time I did this I didn’t weigh the yarn first, and ended up with this:

I ended up ripping about 300 rows back. Not this time.

 

For the record, the skein weighs 116 grams. Somebody remind me to start decreasing at the halfway mark.

I recorded a tiny bit of progress on this:

 

Right after I posted about six weeks ago that I could finish this by late September if I “just knit one row a day”, I put it away and didn’t touch it again. I seriously doubt that I will get it done by that due date, but I am working on it slowly. It requires a pretty high level of concentration, and preferably in the absence of vodka or whisky.

Finally, a photo of the lake I took this morning.

The daisies are going to town! It’s hard to be in a crabby mood when I have such cheerful daisies staring at me.

 

Author: Lorette

My name is Lorette. I learned to knit in 1999, and took up spinning in 2009. I'm a physician specializing in internal medicine, and live in the Pacific Northwest. Enjoy my blog!

14 thoughts on “When In Doubt, Shop!”

  1. I love daisies!

    Your yarns are beautiful! I’m going to try a sweater – well, a shell – for the Ravellenic Games, though I won’t be able to cast on until Saturday.

    I’m glad I’m not the only one who needs liquor-free concentration to knit lace (or in my case, try to knit lace …)

    Happy Tequila Day!

  2. Remind me what the white shawl is – it’s truly lovely. But then, I never met a shawl I didn’t like. I guess I can’t really say that. I have some pretty blue alpaca/silk that just can’t decide what it wants to be. Your sunset pictures are truly stunning. I had to laugh at the yarn pictures with Riley. I don’t think either Maggie or Lewey would be so laid back. They’d see each skein as an opportunity to play!

  3. When I made my lacy baktus I split the yarn into two balls each weighing about the same amount. However, you really should start decreasing a bit before the halfway point to account for gauge variance. I didn’t do that and I ended up with a squared off tip, but it was only nine stitches vs. four so no big deal.

  4. I really like your new website configuration. Very upscale. 😉 And I love sunset pictures and anything with daisies in the mix! (Ask my DH about me and daisies…he’ll just roll his eyes and walk away. LOL)

    Can’t wait to see all of your new shawls…whenever they get done. I hope your pics include you modeling them.

  5. Mmmm. I know what you mean about the resolution and the lack of solution. Put it away indeed. Back to work, young lady.

    Your views are stunning. Nice to come here and see cool water.

  6. I know all about that “one row a day” business. I keep thinking that if I were to practice the piano twenty minutes a day, I could learn to play something decent, but it is turning out to be twenty minutes a month, and that doesn’t do.

    The new blog look is great, and the lake picture is fabulous – as are the daisies. I love them too.

  7. Dayum Grrl – on so many counts!!!

    1. Your view is fantabulous!
    2. I love the Verdant Gryphon…they have some cool colors and I have a paltry stash of some of them.
    3. Your color affection is going to be gorgeous. Mine is neutral. You can see it on Friday.
    4. The Evenstar shawl is gorgeous so far.

    I’m sure there’s more, but I’ll quit now.

  8. Wow on so many items! Great new look, love the yarn and the Evenstar is beautiful-good choice. Daisys make me smile! 🙂

  9. The new look is a good look! Love the Tardis blue. Heh, when you bought your new scale, what did you get for “people who bought this also bought…”???

  10. LOVE the colors for Color Affection – I want to make this but have procrastinated for far too long because I couldn’t commit to three colors! I may be an east coast copy cat – thanks for sharing!

  11. So many beautiful things — sunsets, yarn, dog, lace, daisies! I need to try our Lucy as a backdrop. Misha is still too much of a puppy, plus she would chew up the yarn. What brand is your new scale? I like that swing-out feature.

  12. Your choices for ‘Color Affection’ look very close to mine (azaleaknitter’s My Affection in Ravelry). I love it and used Blue Moon Sock light, it’s nice and stretchy.

    Love your new header and it looks like your lake must either be Gravelly or Steilacoom (I went to CPHS).

  13. Love your new header, and the picture of the daisies! Can’t wait to see the Color Affection Shawl since the colors are just gorgeous- especially on the dog model. How do you get any knitting done when you have such a pretty view to distract you?

Comments are closed.

Discover more from The Knitting Doctor

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading