I’m not sure which I’m more in love with, the Zephyros Shawl, or my new camera!
You can see the whole flickr set here.
When I’ve struggled with a project I always get a little pissed off at it by the end. I’m less than pleased until I look at it through the lens of a camera and then suddenly it’s more beautiful than I ever imagined. I guess I need that distance and that separation, but whatever it is and whatever kind of neurosis I deal with, it’s a pretty beautiful shawl.
Some things I really love about it:
The short row corners (squee!)
The way the borders across the top face the same direction (upward) when you drape the two sides down the front over your shoulders
The continuous line of stacked yarn overs and how their twee bits of yarn just twist around each other.
The sunburst of rays at the back of the neck.
The way the border points across the top lay across your neck, pointing upward.
*happy sigh*
M
… to love Emma Thompson. Not that I really NEEDED another reason.
May I present, the Flutter Scarf. Pattern available through my online shop.
The yarn is an artisan laceweight from Skylark Yarns called Les Oiseaux. The colorways are beautiful and subtle, and the whole scarf took one skein of the yarn.
Yarn Requirements: Skylark Yarns Les Oiseaux laceweight yarn (70 % alpaca/30% soy fiber, 440 yards) in the color Artemesia
Needles: US 3 (3.25mm) straight or circular needles.
Gauge: 6 sts and 9 rows per inch in stockinette stitch after blocking.
Finished Size: 8″ wide and 60″ long.
Enjoy!
M
It seems like it’s been a long damn time since I released a pattern, and really… that’s true. The latest pattern release was November. November to February is just too damn long, wouldn’t you say?
So here’s what on the burner and when it should be done.
1. Cleite Shawl – I didn’t have time to knit this myself, so I outsourced to a sample knitter. It is almost 2 months late from the sample knitter. The pattern is ready to go, I just need the sample and some photos. She says she can probably have it done by the end of this weekend.
ETA: In 2-3 weeks.
2. Flutter Scarf – Another one where the pattern is done. This one is delayed because of lack of photos. The finished piece is done, blocked and lovely… I just need to take photos. Between winter’s dreary days and the lack of a functioning camera, it’s been delayed.
ETA: By the end of this month after I get a new camera.
3. Zephyros Shawl – The piece is done, the charts are almost done (I need to add notes for repeats and format them so they’re pretty), and I need photos. The text for the pattern is almost done as well, so just a nice polishing off and this one will be ready to go for the club kits. And I said this in a response to a comment the other day, but I’ll let you all know in a post as well. The pattern goes out March 1st in a kit, and then it will be available for download and for wholesale customers to purchase on April 1st after the one month exclusivity for the club.
ETA: For Club members, March 1st (plus shipping time), for all others, April 1st.
So there it is. I’m longing to design a sweater or some other garment-like thing right now. Just gotta get through the contract pieces.
M
People. This is a momentous occasion. If you have ever been invited to my house, you will know how messy it is. It is cozy cluttered and a heap of semi-organized piles (meaning I could tell you exactly where everything is, but it LOOKS really messy), and I usually need something to PUSH me into serious cleaning. I don’t dust. I HATE dusting. But people!
My. Bathroom. Is. Sparkling.
(!!!!)
The kitchen is tidied, but still needs the floor washed and the stove cleaned. However, the kitchen gets cleaned pretty regularly. But the bathroom, while it gets the sanitary swiping with cleaners, is NEVER sparkling.
M
The knitting and blocking for Zephyros is done, but I have returned the loner camera to my dad and my new camera is not set to be here until later, so all I have is in progress pictures for you.
Here is a detailed shot of the border:
And detail of the turned short row corner:
The finished shawl is just the right weight and size for spring. And the border all the way around is lovely! It took me about 1.5 days of solid knitting to get the whole border knitted on, but it worked out beautifully.
M
Thought you all might like the heads up. The ‘Lace in the Woods’ Retreat has been cancelled. If you were registered Jackie should be getting you a refund shortly. If you were planning on going, sorry! It sounded like it would be fun. But you know what they say about doors and windows and all that. The cancellation means I will be going to TNNA in June. Anyone else going?
Jackie was laid off, and as a result is closing her shop and everything is on sale 25% off. Go have a look
The zephyros shawl is clipping right along. I hope to make some SERIOUS progress this long weekend, because I figure I need to have it done by the 22nd in order to get the pattern laid out and edited and the shawl blocked and photographed and the patterns printed and to Anne in time to go out March 1st for the shawl club.
Here is a sneak peek at the motif that’s going farther down on the Zephyros shawl. I’m started knitting this and I think it’s turning out pretty well. I will still have miles of border to knit onto the live stitches when I’m done with this motif though, so I’d better get cracking.
M
While I was struggling with the shawl (it’s been a LONG struggle), I still had the desire to knit, so I finished a couple of side projects.
The friend who modeled the Serpentine Mitts for the pattern hired me to make her a pair. She calls them “Oliver Twist” gloves.
Pattern: My own Serpentine Mitts pattern, available for free through the shop
Yarn: Louet Gems Fingering Wt. in Cherry Red. One skein purchased from The Loopy Ewe
Needles: 2.25 mm (US 1) Plymouth Bamboo dpns
Size Knit: Medium (8″) size
Verdict: The pattern was fun and fast to knit and all around a quick and satisfying project.
I also made C another pair of socks. When doing laundry I realized that his supply of handknit socks is woefully behind mine in both numbers and variety. Although he wouldn’t really appreciate variegated, striped, or brightly colored socks (yet!), I figured a shift from the grays, blacks and dark blues he’s got might be good and made these maroon babies. They’re lovely and the yarn softened up amazingly in the wash. I got even further adventurous and put a cable on them. And what do you know, he loves them!
Pattern: Basic Toe-up sock for C, which is 80 sts on small needles, k3 p2 ribbing, this one with an added cable
Yarn: Fortissima Socka in color 1011, purchased LONG ago in the sale bin at The Wool Cabin.
Needles: 2.25 mm (US 1) Plymouth Bamboo dpns
Verdict: He likes them, I’m glad.
I also did some spinning that I’ll show you later.
M
But I apologize because they’re crappy pictures.
Turns out my camera’s flash board is broken, and while I COULD fix it, it would cost more to fix it than the camera is worth. So I had the camera place just put it back together so I can use it without a flash, but then they were closed by the time I got to the shop on Saturday, so I’m still using the loaner that takes fluorescent flashed pictures. But I did finally buy myself a tripod to replace the second hand one that’s older than I am. The grand plan is to save and buy a digital SLR soon. I’m trying to decide between a Nikon D40 and a Canon Rebel XTi. The rapid continuous shooting of the Canon is a pretty strong reason to go that way, but the rebelious part of me says that EVERYBODY has the Canon and wants to choose something else as a result. If you’ve done some research or have a rational reason for liking one over the other, feel free to chime in in the comments. But no comments about “Nikon sucks” or anything like that. Because if I end up buying the Nikon, then we can’t be friends anymore 😉
So I’ve been working on the spring shawl for Anne‘s A Change In Seasons Shawl Club, and holy crap! I was having such drama! I don’t think I’ve ever had this much drama with a project. I started and ripped out 8 times, recharted about 15 times, and changed the whole increase structure 4 times until I got it right. Most of the early starts weren’t documented, but I did start documenting for the most recent change.
This is the BAD start. BAD!! The increases were fiddly, there was no structure to their placement, it was not intuitive. And plus, it looked crappy. The plan at this point was to increase 6 sts every row, but after just a few inches I could tell it would make the whole thing ruffle and increase just TOO quickly.
THIS! This is the GOOD start. YAY! The increases flow (there are only 4 of them on each right side row) and I love the way the radiating increases each start with a yo and kind of meander down the shawl. It was super complicated to chart it, but once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty intuitive. And certainly different than a traditional triangular shawl. It should spice up my shawl repertoire a bit.
And that wave border will go all the way around the shawl. Woot! I’ll keep you posted on the progress this time.
M
Wil Wheaton‘s post about why he voted for Obama perfectly articulates why I did as well.
I struggled with whether Hillary might be our only chance at a female president. I thought about voting for her just to see if it could happen. But I really see her as being steeped in the politics-as-usual mindset. And the idea of facing another 4-8 years (and all but 2 years of my life) of Bushes and Clintons made me a bit nauseated. In the end I realized that voting for a woman JUST BECAUSE she was a woman seemed rather ANTI-feminist and certainly not civicly responsible.
I’m disappointed in the political system. I’m a disaffected voter. I wasn’t going to vote, but then my friend reminded me that even though my vote won’t count in November (being a Democrat in the reddest state in the nation means that no matter who I vote for, Utah’s electoral delegates always go Republican), my vote WOULD count in the Primaries. So I hauled my little butt down to the Senior Center, past the Pinochle tournament board and voted.
And got a nasty look from the man at the table when I said I didn’t want the sticker.
M
