Monkey in the Middle of the wedding craziness!!

Just a quick visit to the blog today...we are so busy getting ready for the wedding. But I took some pics of my current project "on the needles".
This is a "Monkey" sock, a pattern made famous on Knitty in the Winter 2006 issue. (Link here) Cookie A, the designer did a terrific job of making lace look exactly like cables, don't you think? I love the pattern so far, however I have had problems with the yarn I'm using.
The yarn is Socks that Rock by Blue Moon Fiber Arts in medium weight. It is a colorway called "Barney Rubble". First of all, it pools. R-e-e-e-e-a-l-l-y pools. See that pink? It is all pooled together in that one spot. The back of the sock is blue and yellow. The biggest problem I had with this yarn however, is its tendency to twist on itself. I wound it in to a center pull ball using my ball winder and started knitting. Before the cuff was done, it had twisted on a piece of itself and begun to tangle. I didn't realize the extent of what tangling was happening, though. I kept knitting and pushing the twist back into the center of the ball. Then I decided to pull the center of the ball out and rewind just that. Mistake. It was a tangled mess that took me about 1 1/2 hours of work to fix. And I had to cut the yarn in two places. Yuck! I have it wound in a regular ball that pulls from the outside now, so I shouldn't have any more troubles. Hopefully!
This is the little turtle stitch marker I got from Yarn Lust. Isn't he cute?

A Shawl for an Important Day

I have been hard at work since February knitting a very important project. A wedding shawl. Josh proposed marriage to Lizzie in December and she said "Yes!" They will be married on June 28th at our church. Shortly after they became engaged, Lizzie asked me to knit her a Pi shawl that she would wear instead of a traditional veil. Of course I agreed. We began searching for shawl patterns that would work well for this purpose, finally settling on the Shetland Tea Shawl from A Gathering of Lace. The picture that convinced Lizzie was a photo of the completed shawl we found online by Knitabulous. This very nice person had substituted the Spider Webs and Diamonds pattern for the Diamond Madeira pattern that is in the original shawl. I corresponded with her a bit to find out where she had found the extra pattern, and low and behold, she had gotten it from the very next pattern in the Gathering of Lace book, which is a Sampler Stole. We decided I would add this pattern to the original, in order to make the shawl a bit larger. So, I was "off and running". It was February. I have been knitting lace like a Granny on steroids since then, barely stopping to breathe, hauling that shawl everywhere I went, praying that I didn't spill tea or Starbucks on it, hoping that I was a clever enough knitter to pull it off. Finally, on the last weekend in May, it was completed, and last weekend I blocked the thing.

The photo up top is the pre-blocking photo. It looks all small and shrivel-y. Now here are some shots of the "after blocking"...

I purchased Knit Picks "Bare" yarn for this project, and loved working with it. It took one whole 880 yard hank to knit all of the body of the shawl and a small part of the knitted on edging. I had ordered two hanks just in case, so I had more yarn to finish with. It is a lovely merino wool laceweight and was just right once blocked for the shawl. We wanted something that was heavier than a cobweb weight, but still delicate enough for wedding wear. After knitting the "horseshoe pattern" which is this one here at the bottom of the photo,

I got a bit worried about the size of the shawl, which I was knitting on size three circular needles. I changed to a size 4 and completed the shawl on those. It turned out to be about 69" in diameter when finished, which was a few inches short of what I would have desired, but still fine.

This is my second Pi Shawl and is much more "intricate" than the first, most of it being true lace knitting. I didn't use a lifeline, but only frogged back once during the whole thing, and that was because of the needle size thing, and only lost 5 rounds of work.

The funny thing is, having just finished this shawl and spent nearly 4 months on it, you would think I would be tired of it. But really, after blocking it, praying over it ( I wanted to pray during the knitting of it for an enduring and blessed marriage for my daughter and her wonderful Josh, my new son) I really was thinking to myself, "Gee, don't I have some pretty JaggerSpun Zepher Silk Wool laceweight that would look fantastic in this pattern? Hmmmmmm..." So you never know. I may end up knitting a fraternal twin shawl for myself someday!

If I have left out any info you'd like to know about the Shetland Tea Shawl, please leave a comment and I will be glad to try to give it in my next entry or email you if you leave your email address. Thanks so much to "Knitabulous", and to Meg Swansen, and of course, to Dale Long, the designer of this spectacular shawl. Lizzie's wedding will be all the more memorable because of you.

Blurry Socks

Ok, that first picture is EXTRA blurry. I need a new camera (or a photography course, maybe). But you can get the general idea of the socks I am knitting. It is Cascades Heritage handpainted sock yarn in Isle of Skye Paint #9825. I bought it at my Ben Franklin and am very happy with how beautifully it knits up, however, it is a fine fingering and I am using size 1 needles, instead of my usual #2's. I guess the yarn I usually use for socks is a bit thicker. So these socks are going to take a bit longer than usual, but I like the colors. Plain "vanilly" type...no real pattern, just measured my gauge, and my leg, and cast on.

Yes, I have been slacking off when it comes to blogging again, but I have been knit, knit, knitting away. Next time I will share the big project I have been devoting all my time to. It was finished at last after 4 months of work, just this past weekend.

I got to knit this past weekend as I visited my Mom-in-law, Sylvia. So nice to sit and knit together. She is knitting socks and I wish I had had my camera with me since the cute pair she was working on were turning out so wonderfully. We also got to visit her knit store there in Crescent City, CA. It is called "A Perfect Stitch". Just a small small store, but I couldn't believe all the wonderful yarn they had managed to fit into that small space. Mom bought herself some great sock yarn and also made a gift to me of the yarns I had chosen! So you will see those yarns on the blog one of these days.

Meanwhile, I have been asked to reproduce a pair of socks that I knit for my Dad a couple of years ago. He wore them out finally, and needs a replacement pair. So it looks like socks are the summer projects for me this year. And since I just finished the shawl, (whoops! there is a hint...) I am ready for smaller projects for a while.

More about that shawl next time. Happy knitting!

Yarn Fix

That's right. Got a yarn fix today. Danny drove 3 of us to Fancy Image Yarn in Shelton, WA. Myself, Danielle, and Lizzie. Corinne worked the early shift today so she missed this trip. What a nice shop! I was impressed from the moment I walked in the door with the beautiful colors I found. Most of the yarns are hand dyed by the owner, Myra Hansen. I bought a few skeins...

Got one more for Lizzie, and a cute bag for Danielle, too. My camera can't possibly do these colors justice. There were so many beautiful yarns and I will definitely go back for more when I can add some $ to the budget for yarn. In fact, Myra has a Yarn of the Month Club that would be so fun. She sends out a different DK weight yarn each month, each dyed especially for the Club members. During that month, the special yarn is also available for purchase if you wish to buy more. Fun! And at $179.40 for 13 months, you get a good deal on the skeins. (normally only $14.95, which is already a great price for 250 yards of hand dyed machine washable merino wool.) I bought a skein of this wool, in the red and gray colorway, also 2 skeins of her fingering wt. Couldn't resist the blue colorway...you know me!

When I walked in the shop, I was greeted by a cheerful woman who showed us around and Myra came in after while and even offered to wind up the skeins of yarn I was purchasing. If ever in or around Shelton, WA be sure to check out Fancy Image Yarn. It is a fun place with friendly people. And enough hand dyed yarn to make you drool!

Ties That Bind

A big hello! Just thought I would "check in" before heading off to work. I want to thank those of you who have left me comments lately. I am surprised that anyone at all is still checking my blog after my "disappearance" and am so pleased that you are. So thanks to Tina and Jenni, and also to my knitting idol, Kelley! See the sidebar for their blogs and for other interesting and fun blogs to read. I have so many more in my favorites that I read regularly and need to make some time to add them here. One of these days soon, I promise. Thanks also to the FNKC, (Friday Night Knitting Club), who give me a hard time if I am not blogging! I need their encouragement! You girls are so great!

I have been working on more of the fingerless gloves for Mom (step-mom, if you will) She asked if I would make some for her, and also for their friend. So, a black pair for the friend are all done...

And the yarn that looks a bit like a Yorkshire Terrier there is SWS (Patons). I am using that to make Mom's pair. It is kind of weird to knit with. First of all, it is slippery. Not too bad though, since I am using my Brittany wood dpn's. Made from wool and soy, it has a wonderful shine and the colors are beautiful. But it isn't a twisted ply and therefore splits easily. I have to knit a bit more slowly as a result. It reminds me a bit of Brown Sheep yarn, but prettier.


Here also is a picture of one of my projects I did this winter, a scarf. The pattern was in last years "Knitting" page-a-day calendar. Berroco's Ultra Alpaca was used and it turned out very nice. Ultra Alpaca is a very springy yarn. I have used it before for a shawl and liked it very much. It is very affordable and Berroco created some lovely colorways for it, also. I used the Light Gray, since that is what I had in my stash, having picked up two hanks while shopping last year at the Acorn Street Shop in the University District of Seattle. Wonderful store, by the way. I make a point to drive up there and browse every so often. I always find something to take home. They have lots of yarns, including sock yarns, laceweight, specialty type stuff, and loads of "everyday" type yarn. They also have spinning stuff, needlepoint and embroidery stuff, needles, and friendly helpful staff.

That is my Great Grandmother's quilt in the background of the picture. I use it a lot when I photograph my knitting. It makes me happy that a grandmother I never knew (she died a few years before I was born) and who never would have dreamed of a thing called a blog has a little "presence" here once in a while. She pieced that quilt in 1940, and then never quilted it. I did the quilting in 1992, which again gave me a thrill, working on a project "with her". I knew a bit of how Natalie Cole felt when she recorded "Unforgettable" as a duet with her father, Nat King Cole. Just thinking of my hand quilting, tracing her own invisible "handprints" on the fabric, made each stitch special and each hour spent on the quilt enjoyable. It took me 6 months to quilt (it was only my second quilting project or it would have been a bit faster). I love the feather pattern and the sawtooth piecing of the quilt. I no longer quilt, knitting is the passion now. But I know that with each heel I turn, with every row of ribbing and each dropped stitch, my Great Grandma would smile and say, "Yes...I was also a Passion Knit Girl. Knit on, Honey, knit on!" Knitting, quilting, sewing, embroidery, crochet...it's in the blood of the women and men in my family. And is one more tie that binds us together through the generations.


Until next time, keep knitting!

Renée

Kool Aid Fun/ Superwoman Delusions

Didn't "Kool Aid Fun" used to be the ad slogan for Kool Aid? I think so...

Well, it takes on a whole new meaning for me now, since I can combine my childhood love of Kool Aid (only an occasional sweet treat at my house when I was a kid) and my adult love of yarn.


I am signed up for the Mystic Light Shawl KAL on Yahoo Groups and decided to dye my own yarn for the project.
I bought the Knit Picks fingering weight Bare and some Kool Aid packets. At first I was going for yellow with a little bit of pink thrown in .


Then I realized that it was ugly. That's right. Ug. Ly. Like spagetti with strawberry jam smeared on it. So, I re-dyed it with Tropical Fruit punch. Perty. In the end, I wound up with a real tie-dyed look and it is perfect for the shawl. And just in time for the swatching, since the instructions just went up on the KAL (Knit a long).

Now I only need to find a way to knit 24/7 since I have so many projects going and one that needs to be finished by June. Why do I always seem to think I am Superwoman?

Countdown!!

I have been hooked on Knit Picks podcasts for some time now, even before I got an actual IPod. I learned that I could download I Tunes and listen to the podcast online right on my own computer. So I began listening that way and then for Christmas this year, my dear husband got me an IPod. Hooray! Suddenly I had a wonderful way of listening to knitting podcasts and also audiobooks.

The long and the short of it, is that knitting podcasts are very cool. And the coolest, in my humble opinion, is Kelley Petkun's podcast. (KnitPicks) Love, love, love it. So, in tribute to Kelley, here is my "countdown".

Ten reasons why I want to be Kelley Petkun




10. Xena. Any dog whose name starts with "X" has to be cool!


9. Cool travel opportunities that involve knitting and have "built in" knitting time!



8. KnitPicks yarn at my disposal....drool....



7. Terrific knitting skills and the ability to teach them clearly to others.



6. Lots of knitting friends from all over the world



5. I would know how to spin.



4. The ability to wear orange and be happy about it!!



3. To be cute and small enough to knit myself sweaters that don't call for 25 skeins of yarn.



2. To be a "knitter who looooves books"! (Ok, I admit I have that one going for me)



and the #1 reason why I would like to be Kelley Petkin is: (drumroll........)



1. To have the ability to look at an ordinary gourmet kitchen spoon and think out loud, "Gee, this would make a great set of knitting needles!" And POOFF!!! It is!!

Yes, if you too love Kelley, be sure to check out her blog Yarn Rambles, listed in my sidebar. She is a lot of fun and inspiration and a terrific Knitting Sister!