Lorette

Project Roundup

I figured it was time for a Project Roundup, and a few other things. First, the few other things. You all might remember the Knitter’s Hunk contest that Kim had a couple weeks ago. I took second place for nominating the winner, Alan Rickman (but only because Emily evoked visions of a naked Alan in her tie-breaking entry–I should have thought of that). As a prize, I got a very cool package full of stuff from Kim. Here are the highlights:

Note the lovely mitts, the knitting journal, and the spectacular Lavold Silky Tweed! Oh, and the photo, in case you hadn’t noticed that. She included that as well. Thanks, Kim! Great contest!

Now the PR. I’ve still been working on that bamboo top, but am bored with it. It’s not summer anymore, it’s just miles of stockinette, and it’s going into time-out as of today. Here it is, all bagged up for now. It’s my blog, and I’ll knit what I want to.

I’ll get back to that eventually, but not now. So what’s taking it’s place in the queue?

This:

Miles and miles of grey Peace Fleece, in all its glorious sheepiness. The color is Negotiation Grey, and it will be a sweater for John. I had ordered the pattern with it, which is the Father/Son Pullover from this page, and then tried to convince him that the Cobblestone pullover from the latest Interweave would be better. He firmly likes this one though, so plain plain plain it will be. It’s a good thing I’m happy to knit plain plain plain.

Here’s where I am with Langsjal Jóhönnu. I’m about halfway done with this, and pretty much have the lace pattern stitch memorized. I have 2 more balls of the yarn left, and I have the opposite border done already, so I “just” need to knit till I only have enough yarn to do the grafting, and that’s it.

Here’s the new sock yarn, some very orangey goodness. This is Sock Hop, in the color Spirit In The Sky, one of my very favorite oldies songs.

And the sock it’s making:

You might be wondering what that big ball of yellow yarn up there is. It’s Briggs & Little Regal, another bunch of sheepy-smelling stuff. I get to use that this week. A few months ago my boss showed me a brochure from a yarn shop in Idaho. It was for a knitters’ retreat this coming week. (Click “current events” at the bottom of their home page.) Despite the fact that she didn’t know how to knit at the time, she said “Wanna go??” A short time later we were booked and ready. I’m taking this yarn, and this book with me:

Beth Brown-Reinsel is teaching a two-day class on knitting ganseys, and I am so signed up. And yes, I know I just got back from vacation. What can I say, my boss made me do this. What was I supposed to do, say I’d rather work? There is no internet access (or cellular!) where we’re going, so I’ll check back in when we get home!

Last but not least, before I forget, one of my favorite blogs is back after a summer break. Go check out the latest info on the best way to do decreases!

Sit Back & Relax,

…this will be a long post full of fun and adventure! Get yourself a cup of tea, or maybe something stronger.

But first, a Lucy picture, because you can’t have enough silly cat photos.

Let’s all hear it, “awwwww”. Her look of pure bliss probably is due to the catnip that I dump over this thing regularly.

And next, just a few photo highlights of the recent Boston trip.

These are our friends Byron & Diane, who now live in Rhode Island. We went to visit them while in Boston. You might note that Byron & John have pretty much the same facial expression in these photos.

The sock got to see another ocean:

We had lobster:

We ate more good food:

The next couple are for Kris:

We found that they tend to get a lot more dressed up in Boston:

We took the Duck Tour, which is very corny, but I’d highly recommend it if you’re a first-time Boston visitor.

If you’ve never done one of these, they go both on land and water. Click on this one to make it bigger.

We went here:

Red Sox Win!

Then we came home:

The End.

(New Projects next time! Stay Tuned!)

She Grew!

Remember way back when, I had a new grand-niece named Riley, born in March? And how I knit her a Wallaby that was several sizes too big for her? It now fits.

Here’s the photo from April, when I finished the thing. She was just a couple weeks old then.

That picture still just cracks me up. Here’s a recent photo. Her parents took her camping, and it was cool enough for her to wear the thing.

Click on that photo to get the full measure of her cuteness.

And if you want a closer view of just how cute she is, here’s another one.

Makes you want one of your own, eh?

Boston…

Or, Red Sox, Blue Sox

Indeed we have internet access from our hotel room here, though it took me longer to figure out than I’d like to admit. Other than the rainy icky day we had yesterday, we’ve been having a blast. I even got to do some yarn shopping. More on that later. First, the Sox. We have tickets to the Red Sox game tonight, and in honor of that event, I finished a pair of Blue Sox. Actually they are more purple and green, but what the heck.

Project Specs:

Yarn: Wollmeise superwash sock yarn, in Krauterbeet
Pattern: My own. 72 stitches, picot hem, flap heel and gusset
Needles: 2.00mm Pony Pearls
For: Me
Started: June 2007
Finished: September 2007
What I learned: Hmmm. I always say the same thing about socks. I still love a plain sock. There are all those lovely sock stitch patterns out there, and yet again, I’ve started another plain version for my next pair. I carry these everywhere in my bag, for those odd moments when I can knit just one or two rounds, so I like a simple pattern that I don’t have to think about. I absolutely love this yarn. It has a nice smooth finish and the colors are fabulous.

Now, about that shopping. Laurie, aka Etherknitter, arranged for a few friends to get together to take me on a knitting tour on Saturday after we got here. Julia, Claudia, and Manise (no blog) met us at Windsor Button for the first leg of the tour. We then went to Woolcott over in Cambridge, then out to Lexington to Wild & Woolly. Kathy, Martha, Lucia, and Ruth met us along the way. We had lunch and a lot of laughs during the afternoon. To me, this is the best part about blogging. There are a lot of reasons why I still do the blog, but getting to meet some very wonderful people along the way is a real treat. Thanks, ladies! Here are some photos:

The classic “we’re blogging each other” photo:

Yes, Ruth has a baby in there. Or had, as I think she’s gone into labor since our little foray.

And what all did I bring home? Here’s the evidence:

We’re off to enjoy the sunshine. Next time, new project!

The Knitter’s Hunk

In case some of you aren’t paying attention to the closest elections anywhere, get over to Hand Eye Crafts and check out the voting on the most delicious hunk around. And vote for Alan Rickman while you’re over there.

I’m off on vacation, as soon as I get the bags packed. As usual, the hardest part is picking out the knitting projects. We’re off to Boston for a week. There’s not much progress on any of my projects, so check the photos from prior posts. The camera’s already in the bag, so I’m not taking any more this morning. Laurie has graciously arranged for a whole day of playing and yarn shopping with the Boston contingency of the knitbloggers, so I’ll post photos if I have internet access. Otherwise, see you in a week!

And go vote for Alan, did I mention that?

Uh, Oh

First off, thanks for all the nice compliments on the Forest Canopy shawl. It’s reblocking as I write this, for a couple of reasons. I blocked it in a bit of a hurry, and it was a little wonky. I also soaked it in my favorite woolwash, Kookaburra Delicate, but was in such a hurry that I forgot to rinse it. I think it might have been OK to leave it, but I wasn’t certain, so I redid it and rinsed it this time. I also got a little more stretch in the process. The final size is about 74 inches across the top, and 35 inches from neck to tip.

I got a couple more questions about the blocking mats that I use. Every time I show these I get a request for info, so I should probably put the link in my sidebar. They are the interlocking foam mats that most people use in kids playrooms. I bought mine online, from Wonder Mat, and got 16 of the 2 foot squares, along with edge pieces. This makes a huge mat, way more than I need for most blocking, but I also use them when John’s grandkids come to visit. We just cover the floor downstairs and they can romp at will. The mats do show holes eventually, but that doesn’t bother me in the least.

Now it’s on to Langsjal Jóhönnu. Here’s how you do the diacritic marks, at least on a Mac. Type option-e, let it go, then the letter you want the accent mark on. For the umlaut, type option-u, then the letter. I think the option key has the same function as the alt key on a Windows keyboard, but a Windows expert would have to weigh in on this one.

Here’s a photo, very roughly pinned out to give you some idea of what LJ will look like:

I am using lifelines on this one, as it’s pretty easy to get off track on this and screw it up. There is no easy purl-back row on this, all 10 rows of the pattern repeat are full of yo’s and decreases.

Now to the “Uh,oh”. A while back, Fleegle was kind enough to post a link to a Chinese online shop selling ridiculously cheap cashmere and cashmere-silk lace yarn. Of course I jumped. It arrived this week. First of all, the service was perfect. I got a prompt confirmation with a note that the standard shipping takes about 30 days. It actually only took about 12 days for mine. I ordered the cashmere-silk, 1600 yards worth of a lovely pink.

Note the “clothing” (wink, wink) on the customs form. This didn’t fool my husband in the least. Neither did the little checkbox that says “gift”.

And just how fine is that yarn, you might ask?

That’s the green Zephyr I used for the Forest Canopy shawl. The pink stuff is 800 yards per 50 grams, and the straight cashmere they sell, at 500 yards per 50 grams, is probably a little more like a real laceweight than sewing thread. Their regular price for both varieties is $9.99, and some of the colors are on sale for $6.99. You could get a damn big shawl for cheap with this stuff. Go buy some, so I don’t feel silly buying pink cobwebs from China. I do have an idea for what this might be someday, but I’m keeping it under my hat for now.

Forest Canopy Shawl

And finally, here are the photos of the blocked shawl. This week got away from me. We’ve had a variety of visiting friends and relatives staying with us over the past 2 and a half weeks, and I worked all last week. It was also cloudy and rainy much of last week, which doesn’t make for very good photos. Those are my excuses, and I’m sticking to them.

Here’s the shawl blocking:

Sorry if that looks a little psychedelic. Here’s the taped-to-the-deck-rail shot.

And a close-up.

Project Specs:

Pattern: Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl, by Susan Pierce Lawrence. You can buy the pattern here.*
Yarn: JaggerSpun Zephyr laceweight, a 50-50 wool-silk blend. I’m pretty sure the color is Bottle Green. At least I think it is. I bought this before I started my obsessive compulsive Access yarn database file, and there was no label with the yarn.
For: Me me me.
Started: Way back last fall. September, I think. Yup, here it is. I did the first version in the Mountain Colors Weavers Wool that she recommends in the pattern, and liked it so much I immediately started this one in laceweight.
Finished: Last week.
Needles: Holz & Stein 3.25mm ebony circular.
Modifications: I used laceweight yarn instead of the sportweight yarn called for in the pattern. I just did repeats until I was close to running out, and then did the edging. Otherwise I knit the pattern as written.
What I Learned: I just love knitting lace. The finished project also really impresses people, especially non-knitters. I also love Zephyr yarn. It has a great sheen, and comes in tons of lovely colors. This is a perfect pattern for lace virgins. Trust me, if you can knit and purl, you can do this one.

Here’s how much yarn I had left. The shawl weighs just a hair under 80 grams, and that little bit left weighs 1.8 grams.

Next up on the lace front? Langsjal Jóhönnu**, which has been in hibernation for over a year. I’ll show some photos next time. Right now I’m busy trying to figure out where I left off with the pattern.

*Oooh, oooh, oooh! Her lace patterns are all on sale! Go there now!

**I’m pretty fracking proud of myself for figuring out how to do the accent and umlaut on that word. It only took me 14 months.

Lookie Here…

It’s DONE!! The Forest Canopy shawl is done done done. It’s in the sink for a soak before blocking, then some real photos, but I couldn’t resist.

Here’s another one to tide you over until the blocking party is over. We keep threatening to get Riley in the canoe on the lake, and this is the summer. Here she is with my sweetie, out for a dog paddle.

I’m off to find pins.

How Big Is Tacoma?

I found this video on You Tube while trying to answer that very question. While we don’t actually live in Tacoma, but the next community south, I work and play there, and it just sort of runs together. This is a hoot, though not much of an enticement to move here.

How Big…

And the answer, per the 2000 census data, is 193,556. Lakewood, my home town, is only 58,211. Seattle’s the big city at 582,454. Now you know.

!@#$#@^%*(&!

Whomp!

That was the sound of the knitting goddess whomping me on the head for the sin of hubris. I’m knitting the Forest Canopy Shawl, which I keep referring to as an easy lace pattern. It has 8 pattern rows, half of which are straight purl back rows, and a 5th row is plain knit, so there are only really 3 rows that you have to pay attention to. Should be easy, right?

On top of that, I’m getting close to the end, and have what I think is enough yarn for a couple more repeats and then the 8 row border pattern, which is just repeated once. I’ve been trying to think out how I could safely use as much of the Zephyr lace yarn to make the shawl as large as possible, and still have enough for the border. I finally came upon the brilliant idea of using my drug-dealers scale. I finished a row 8, weighed the remaining ball of yarn, then started in on another pattern repeat. My plan is to finish another repeat, weigh it again, then I should be able to calculate roughly how many repeats I can get out of it. There will be a little fudging with this, as of course the rows get lonnnnger with each repeat, but it should be better than just guessing. I was feeling pretty proud of myself for coming up with this plan. Even a little above average, I would say.

So I’m knitting merrily along, about 3/4 across a loooonnng row 5, and discovered I’d somehow dropped a stitch or something screwy. I haven’t been using lifelines with this one, as it’s a pretty easy pattern to tell when you’ve goofed up. (More hubris.) The only hope was to tink back, stitch by stitch, across lonnnnnggg rows until I got to where I’d fracked it up. I ended up unknitting 3 rows before I found it. Somehow I’d skipped 3 yarnovers all in one little inch long section. I probably didn’t forget to do them, but somehow dropped them on the purl back row. I apparently screwed up the “easy” purl back row. I’m also more than a little embarrassed to admit that it took me that long to figure out that it was dropped yarnovers. Those actually are fairly easy to fix without tinking back, if you know where they should go. An average knitter could probably figure that out.

There are no photos of this. A blob of knitted lace done correctly doesn’t look much different in a photo from a blob of knitted lace with mistakes. Just imagine them, OK?

This is where a knitting blog turned out to be a blessing. I had the very brief, but very definitely serious thought of ripping the whole thing out into a pile of ramen yarn, then taking it to the backyard and burning it. Except I’d have to admit to all of you that I did it. Sooner or later somebody would comment “whatever happened to that pretty green lace shawl you were knitting”, and I’d have to confess. So I tinked. I tinked three very loooonnnnnnnngggg rows. And I reknit, and now I’m back to that row 5. I still don’t know how many repeats I can squeak out of this baby. I’m off to knit rows 6-7-8.

I’m Not Average

Just a quick post to show you an article in our morning paper, the Tacoma News Tribune. It’s a short biographical piece about a 91-year old woman who sounds like a real hoot. The first paragraph, however, refers to her by saying “Hull, a lively and sometimes mischievous woman, isn’t your average knitting grandma“.

Hmmph. I’m neither average nor a grandma, and neither are many of you. I’m in the process of drafting an email to the reporter to let her know that there are many of us who don’t fit her stereotype. I suppose I shouldn’t get worked up about these things, it’s probably a sign that I’m avoiding dredging out my office before all the visiting relatives get here tomorrow.

Here’s the link. The woman that she profiles in the article looks like a good role-model for women getting older.

I’m off to clear a path through the maze.

Edited:
I did send an email to the reporter. She promptly replied, with an apology for the stereotyping. It turns out she’s also a knitter, it just never occurred to her that the “knitting grandma” thing might bug some crazy menopausal woman. I invited her to our weekly knitting group, she said she’d come, and there you go. So don’t send her any hate mail!

I’m Still Alive…

OK, another 2 weeks got away from me. All of a sudden it’s August, the month of visiting friends and relatives. Our extra bedrooms are fully booked for the next 2 weeks, so if any of you want to come out and visit, take a number. And of course, now that we have people coming to visit, the weather has gotten crappy. It’s only in the 50’s this morning, though it’s supposed to get nicer later.

Here’s what I’ve been working on.

I’m close to the armhole decreases. I’m still working with a somewhat nebulous pattern. I want a v-neck, but after Lisa posted this, I’m revising how v-d it will be. I don’t want it to grow into something I need to wear a camisole with. I also want three-quarter length sleeves, but I’m not sure I have enough yarn. Of course, if this stuff grows that much, I can just do short sleeves, and wait.

I’ve also been working on those Krauterbeet socks, yarn from the Wollmeise. I have one done, and the second started.

I can’t even tell you how much I love this yarn. Wendy posted recently that the hank she had split like crazy, and was very twisty while knitting. It is very twisty, indeed. Mine doesn’t split, though, I’m not sure why the difference. I have, ahem, four more skeins of this in different colors in the stash. Well, I couldn’t just order this all the way from Germany and just order one hank, now could I?

And here’s the shawl and Riley, being Kinneared:

Sorry about the crappy quality of that photo. I just held the camera down and clicked, hoping to get some version of the shawl and the lake. Riley was a bonus. No, she wasn’t drinking the wine, I was, that might account for the photo.

Here’s what else I made last week.

Upscale BLTs, with pancetta, arugula, and mozzarella, and heirloom tomatoes. These were yummy enough that we’re doing them again today, this time with the burrata cheese that the recipe called for, and homemade bread. The recipe is in Bon Appetit from August this year. You can find it here. These are just unbelievably good, so go make some. I’ll take photos of the finished project and post them later!

7 Things

No, this isn’t the “7 Things” meme. It’s just that seven is all the things I could think of at the moment.

1. I’m still knitting the same stuff. No new pictures. It just mostly looks the same. I’m not bored with it, but you might be if I posted photos that looked the same as last time.

2. It’s just still fracking raining here. Rain rain rain rain. It’s all we’ve had all week. I’m starting to get moss on my north side (or is it the south side that it grows on?).

3. I just discovered NetNewsWire. I have used Bloglines as my blog aggregator for a long time, but it’s gotten really twitchy recently. If you have a Mac, try it out. It’s very cool. NNW, you heard it here. I’m probably the last Mac blogger on earth to find this one.

4. Google searches, redux. I just have to laugh that somebody got to my blog this week by typing “Aunti Debi” into Google. Now, really. If you were a person looking for your Aunti Debi, would you type “Aunti Debi” into Google?? Really? Hon, I’m pretty sure she’s not here.

5. Ravelry rocks. It’s a big-ass time-sucker, but it rocks. I’ve found lots more projects that I need to knit than I’ll have time for in any lifespan allotted to me.

6. I finally gave up trying to keep up, and hit “mark all read” in both NNW and Bloglines.

7. We had to have another tree taken out of our yard. This one was a Garry Oak, and it was huge. Unfortunately it had started to split right at the fork between the two main branches. We decided to take it out before it took out part of the rest of the yard.

The problem:

Click on the photo to see.

They had to get a crane in to handle this one.

And now it’s just a bunch of firewood. Very wet firewood.

Excuse me. I’m going to look for the lifejackets.

Project Roundup!

This has been a bit overdue. In looking back in the posts, I keep promising a knitting update, so here it is.

But first, a few photos from the 4th. A bunch of the boat owners on our lake have a boat parade late morning on the holiday, so we turned out to the beach with a few friends and some refreshments to watch.

Here’s John opening the refreshments. There were also Bloody Marys (Maries?) involved.

The parade:

There was knitting going on. My boss is learning how to knit. I gave her the first lesson Wednesday morning. Yes, I know how lucky I am, having a boss that wants me to teach her to knit.

And here is the promised Project Roundup. These are the 3 projects in active rotation. First is the sock.

Yeah, yeah, I know I haven’t made much progress. There have been other things interfering. For those of you not paying attention, this is the German yarn, the Wollmeise Krauterbeet. I just love the color name, Krauterbeet. It’s much more purple and green than in that photo. This is just lovely yarn, which is a good thing. Since I had to order it all the way from Germany, I couldn’t just order one hank of it, now, could I. Some day I’ll show you the rest of it fermenting in the stash.

Next is the Forest Canopy shawl. I really have made progress, it’s just hard to tell, being a lace shawl and all. This is Zephyr wool-silk, in Bottle Green. I thought it was Basil, but I’m pretty sure it’s the former. I love this color enough to buy more of it.

This one’s getting close. A couple more repeats of the main pattern is about all I will be able to stand, then it will be on to the border, then done.

Now, my new project. I am using South West Trading Company’s Bamboo, in a color called Butter. The color is actually more like real bamboo than butter. If you’ve ever been unfortunate enough to have the stuff growing in your backyard, you know what it looks like. I can only hope bamboo yarn really takes off. I have a bunch of it growing wild along my side yard fence. It could be an investment.

Here’s the first attempt. I am making a tee-shirt like top, though if I have enough yarn, I’ll put 3/4 length sleeves on it. I’m doing a picot/cable edging from one of the Nicky Epstein books for the bottom hem. The first version reminded me of chicken satay on skewers.

Then I had a little mishap and it ended up looking more like ramen noodles. The mishap had nothing to do with the pink wine in that photo. Since I’m making this one up as I go along, I didn’t like the first iteration, and decided on a do-over.

And here’s where I am now. The hem is turned up and pinned so you can see it. The edging is done by knitting 5 rows, doing a picot turning row, then knitting more rows, then a simple 4 stitch cable crossing all the way across.

I haven’t quite come to a verdict on this yarn. It is listed on the ball band as a worsted weight, which isn’t even close. I finally ended up with 3.25mm needles, and it measures out to be more like a DK or sport weight. Oh well, I really didn’t want to wear it this summer, anyway. It’s making a lovely, drapey fabric at that gauge.

Off to bed, another fun-filled work week starts in the morning!

Oh, Shoot!

I must need to swear more. Though I got a “G” rating, they flagged me for using the word “shoot”. Dang. In real life, I think I’m more “R” rated, especially when my language is bourbon-fueled, but I guess I’m blander on paper than I thought I was.

Go here if you want to see how your blog rates.

I also got nominated for this by Debi:

I’m pretty excited by this one. The last time I was nominated for anything, it was my senior year of high school. And I won, too, the Betty Crocker Family Leader of Tomorrow. I am so not kidding you. My family still laughs about this one, as I am not known for being the domestic one in the bunch.

Wait, I got a charm bracelet for it. I’m pretty sure I still have it. You don’t throw things like that away. Wait.

<<digging digging digging>>

Here you go. The front:

And the back:

Click on those photos to make them bigger, for the proof.

I’ve seen this Rockin’ Girl thing on just about every blog I’ve visited recently. Here’s the deal. I hate, absolutely hate, nominating people to do these things. I’m always the last one to get around to posting this stuff, and by the time I finish it, everybody else has done it. So if there are by any chance 5 of you who haven’t been nominated, consider it done and post this on your blog.

Next time, knitting. Really. I’ve started something new. I’ve actually started it twice, and soon will have enough for photos.