More Mystery Stole-ing

Yep, I'm making another. I know I said I was going to start the print o' the wave stole, but I figured I really should get a start on xmas knitting. So I'm making another stole just the same as my own for my gran. I could have given her the other one, but I'm horribly selfish, and figured I could make another one just for her. It'll be better anyway, since I'm used to this pattern now. So here's the new stole at the end of clue 1:



I'm using a different yarn for this one. It's almost the same thickness, but when knitted up it feels a little more solid. It has a red and greenish strand twisted round each other, and I quite like it. Yet another charity shop buy. The colours in this picture are pretty accurate.



This one is knitting up really fast. I've been working on it for 3 days, and I'm on chart E. I'll just do the same as for the other one - work up to the end of chart F then graft them together. I'll try not to whine about this one so much though. At least I know what'll work for blocking this type of yarn now though.

I've also been playing on Ravelry. I haven't added any of my FO's just yet - I still have to upload them to Flickr. I had to set up an account there. But I have uploaded some of the books I have (the others weren't in Ravelry yet). It's really cool how you can click on the book you have and see the things people have made from it. It's made me look at some of the patterns in a new way. And I've become obsessed with the page where you can see the new patterns people have uploaded. I keep checking back just to see what else there is! Definite time eater.

Happy Happy! FO's

Yay! The mystery stole is blocked and complete!





After leaving it for a while, I finally felt up to trying to block it again. Pinning it out wet didn't seem to work, so I tried ironing it. And it worked immediatly! I'm not entirely sure why, but if it works, it works. And who am I to question it?

I'm so happy it's finally worked out. The seam where I grafted is still wonky - there's nothing I can do about that now - but it actually looks like a piece of fabric now, and I'm very pleased with it. (I'm working hard to ignore the seam, it is my first lace item, after all)

In fact I'm feeling so pleased with it, I'm going to try some more lace - Eunny Jang's Print o' The Wave Stole. I'm going to stick with rectangular stoles for a while before I venture into the world of triangular shawls.

Oh, I finished my boyfriend's sweater too - it's being washed just now to pull out the ribbing, so I'll get some pics tomorrow. I'm glad that's finished too - it's only been a year!

These two projects have been things I've learned from. I'm now better at sweater necks - his head can actually go through this one! - and I'm feeling a bit more confident about lace (although I'm sure just cos I wrote that I'm going to get smited somehow!) Grafting is still scary though - I need more practice at that!

Oh, and I got my invite to Ravelry! Yay! I'm on as Yarndancer if anyone wants to come say hi. I can see it's going to eat up a lot of time - but that's not a bad thing. :)

Cleaning Up

Wow, what a whiny post last time! I'm kinda embarrassed. I had just finished grafting the pieces together, and wasn't feeling very happy about it. Looking back at the stole, I suppose the grafting isn't TOO bad. Only another knitter or someone who was looking very closely would be able to see that it's a bit uneven in places. So I'm not feeling too bad about that just now. I haven't even attempted to block it again though yet. I've just been letting it sit there. It's a lovely pattern though, it's just my lack of abilities that I think I was upset over. I like to be good at things first time lol. But in a couple of days, I'll set it out to block again, see if I can stop it curling. Lol, where's the starch?!

I've not really done any knitting recently, since my bout of finishing things off. I've set up a couple of things, I ripped out the rasta blankie as the crochet was using up far too much yarn. I'm going to do something else with it, that I'm quite excited about, but I'll make a full post on that later. I also ripped out the neck of a jumper that I was knitting for my bf. I was actually knitting it about a year ago, but I made the neck too tight, and it wouldn't even go over a child's head! So it's been sitting there, and I finally dragged it out to work on it again. It doesn't need much work, just the top of the front and back. What I did wrong last time was picking up the neck stitches, then knitting them. It wasn't till I read a post by Grumperina, I think it was, explaining that it worked better if you picked up and knitted a stich at a time. I've done it on other sweaters since then, and it definitely does work better that way, so I'm going to try it on this one. Lol, it's been so long since I looked at this, that I had to swatch again to find out what size needles I used! (2.75 with 4 ply yarn in case you're interested lol)

Oh, and I've been cleaning! I got a new Dyson, and I love it!



It's the bestest hoover ever! I love to just watch all the dirt swirling around. I know, weird. You don't need to say anything. I know. But it's so cool! My dog leaves a lot of hair lying around - a LOT! - and this thing is brilliant. My carpet is actually cream, not gray! Who knew? ;)

(Not that carpet though - that's the horrible kitchen carpet. Ignore it.)

It's No Mystery . . .

I suck at sewing, grafting and blocking. Ug.

I've just grafted the two pieces of the mystery stole. Well, I say grafted. More like hacked the two pieces together with hardly an even set of yarn-overs next to each other, and a big line across the middle. Honestly, I was almost crying as I attempted to sew this thing together! It just wouldn't stay even. Then the yarn broke as I was pulling it through a stitch (luckily there was enough left to do the rest of the grafting, but still! It was an emotional moment). Then it all bunched together and I had to tease it open. It's just as well my house doesn't have a fireplace, because ceremonial burning sure seemed attractive at one point.

Eventually, I finished. I chose to graft it instead of doing a three needle bind off because I figured there wouldn't be a line across the middle. I mean, that's the main selling point of grafting, isn't it? That there's supposed to be no seam line. Well, mine has one. But now I'm thinking I should have just done the three needle thing, as it would have been a lot easier.

Plus, my blocking was crap. The two pieces looked so pretty all pinned out. But, as soon as I took the pins away, the edges just curled in along the line of YO's. I must have done something wrong with that too. I guess I'll have to try ironing it or something.

Ugh. I'm not happy. I put so much work in, and it's now a curly, seamy mess.

It's sitting in the spare room just now, out of sight. I'm not even going to post a picture, because the process of setting one up would be too much. It's just going to sit there, thinking about what it's done, till it decides to play nice, and block properly. (I think I can cope with the squiggly seaming if it blocks next time) It's weird though, the inside portion is blocked fine, the YO's are staying in place and everything. It's just that the edges are curling in on themselves. I'll have to figure out what went wrong. After a strong drink. :)

Finished Objects!

I haven't posted for a while, but I have been busy. I finished the bi-directional vest:



I like it. It has an interesting construction - you knit the centre panel first, then pick up and knit out to the sides. You do this for both front and back, so they're both the same, then pick up and knit round the neckline, hem, and armholes. It's all in straight lines, which is good. It knit up fast, and was good practice at picking up stitches. I had to rip out the side bits though and knit them in a smaller size cos I made it too big first time. I made it in the size I normally make, but it was too big so I had to make it a size smaller. Must be something about negative ease, or something, but I can't be bothered thinking too much about it just now. When I finally got it to the right size, I liked it. I did have to rip out the scarf I had made previously in that yarn though, cos I ran out, and just couldn't wait till I could find more.

I also made a hat:



I love it! It's from this pattern (I've been manically going through the crystal palace yarns free patterns page, in case you hadn't guessed!). The yarn is Sirdar Valentino, and it took a ball and a half. I made it a bit longer than the pattern called for, I must have a big head or something, knitted hat patterns always come out too short on me. I like hats to at least reach my ears, ideally to cover them. It gets cold here in winter! So instead of 7 inches like the pattern said, it was more like 9. I've been looking for a rolled brim pattern for this yarn for AGES, since I bought it. It just screamed out to me that it wanted to be a rolled brim hat, and this pattern was perfect for it. All the other patterns I could find were for different gauges, but this yarn substituted quite well for the one in the pattern.

And . . . the mystery stole is blocking!



At last. Tomorrow, I promise I will sew it together. No more procrastinating.

Some Knitting

OK, so I've finished the knitting on the mystery stole, but it's not blocked, or grafted together yet. But I'm getting there. Blocking and finishing are always the bits I procrastinate on.

I finished a hat to go with the scarf I made.



I made it using this pattern, with the mistake rib used in the scarf. Sorry about the crappy picture, I couldn't get a decent one with it on. I think it looks pretty cute on, so long as I keep my hair down. If I have my hair up it looks a bit weird. This is the first hat I've made, and overall I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

I've also started this:



It's the Taos bi-drectional vest from this site. I'm using Sirdar Bonus Flash for it, in the same color I used for the sweater I made a few months ago. I'm using up the left over balls for it. I'm not sure at this point if I'll have enough yarn for it, it's getting worryingly close. I'm trying to source some off ebay, but I don't know if it's been discontinued or not. If it has, I suppose I have a scarf made of it that I can rip back and use, so it won't be the end of the world. I like the look of this pattern, it kind of reminds me of the Fifth Element for some reason (my favourite film of all time!). It's knitting up quite fast, and the construction is quite interesting. The row gauge is very important though, so I had to swatch to check that for the first time ever (I normally don't bother). There's lots of picking up of stitches, so it's good practice.



Check out my picking up! It's my most even picking up ever! That's probably cos it's in a straight line though (I did maths to help me figure out where to pick them all up). I'm a bit rubbish at picking up round curved necklines. I absolutely hate it. There are always holes, or it's bunched up, and it just never looks right. But this picking up along a straight line, I like this! I'll be interested to see how this one turns out. It's very different from just plain knitting from the bottom up, and I'm having fun with it just now. I've done the whole front, and the centre panel of the back (or it could be the other way round since both sides are the same!).

Anyway, that's enough for just now. I've got quite a bit more I want to say on other subjects, but they can wait for a little bit, tomorrow at the latest. See, if I hadn't procrastinated on blogging yesterday, I wouldn't have this problem, but I just can't help myself. I'm a dedicated procrastinator!

Random Stuff - No Pics (sorry) :)

Lately I've been working on the mystery stole. I already said how I didn't want to make it with the wing, and was trying to reverse the lace pattern so I could just keep going - well, that didn't work out. My brain is not quite up to reversing a pattern like that. I just kept going at first, then realised after about 7 inches that I would need to reverse the side bits if I wanted it to continue into the triangle at the end. So I ripped back, and tried drawing various versions of the lace pattern and knitting them up. That didn't work at all. And I had decided in a fit of confidence to rip out the lifeline at row 287 or wherever it was. "Lifeline? Ha, I don't need that! I KNOW what I'm doing!" Remind me never to listen to myself again. Now I can't rip back and follow Melanie's directions for knitting seamlessly to the end. So, I'm grafting. See a few posts ago for progress on the second half, cos it looks exactly the same.
I'm suffering from Second Side Syndrome with this bit (I never get second sock syndrome but I've definitely got its variant). It's just cos I'm knitting the exact same thing, and I know I'm not smart enough to change it the way I wanted. That's frustrated me, but I'm persevering. It's a lovely pattern as it is, and I don't want it to languish in the 'where are they now' pile? That pile is already too big.


Some happier, dancing news. I bought my place on Yasmina's workshops in Edinburgh on the 25th and 26th, finally! I wanted to go to the Maria de Silva one a few weeks ago, but didn't have any money, so I was determined to get to this one. You can get information about the workshops on BellyDancingCaroline's website.

I can't wait for this workshop, or the other ones listed on her site! I also can't wait for Jewel of Yorkshire. It seems so long till that one! The middle of October! I haven't been away anywhere this summer, so I'm really looking forward to that one, getting away for a weekend and all.

Knitter's Block

The knitting mojo seems to have left me for a few days now. I just can't seem to get motivated enough to get on with it. I've got several things on the go, but I'm spending my time just now playing video games and watching stuff.

I caught up with the mystery stole knitalong before clue 5 was out: here's pics up to the end of clues 3 and 4:





Then clue five came out and I found out it wasn't what I was expecting ie. it was assymetical in shape. I was kind of expecting it in pattern, but not shape and it threw me a bit. I spent about a day thinking about it, and I decided I'm not going to make it that way, but I'm not going to rip back to the lifeline either. I'm going to attempt to keep going with the pattern, then knit the end charts backwards, so the points will be the same on both ends. However, that takes thinking, and my brain's not really up to that this week. Maybe in a few days.

I've also been knitting jellyfish from magknits (speaking of which, I hadn't even realised the new one was out). Now that I've looked at the new patterns, jellyfish might get ripped in favour of summer sky. I've got to that bit of knitting where I get unsure of the pattern, whether I like it or not, whether to rip it or not. I think I've mentioned that before with other patterns ;) Anyway, that one's been in the knitting corner since I got to the picking up stitches part, and found that I had nearly double what I'm supposed to, so if I continue I'll have to make up the ribby part myself. More thinking.

Anyway, from this month's magknits, I like summer sky, and pink champagne. Not that I'm in the mood to cast anything on though.

Mystery Stole-ing Along

Ok, so I signed up for mystery stole 3 like, AGES ago, when the yarnharlot was doing her enabling bit, but I've only just started knitting it now. I'm so far behind everyone! I've been collecting all the clues obsessively, and trying not to look at other people's pictures too closely - it's like the Harry Potter book, I don't want to know what it looks like before I've made it. But it's only yesterday that I actually got my arse into gear and started knitting.

I've finished Clue 1 now, and am 1/5 of the way through Clue 2. I'm trying to get them all 4 released clues finished before the next one is up. The break for the new HP book will help with that - I should be all caught up by then. Here's a pic at the end of clue 1:


I can't believe I knitted that! This is my first piece of major lace knitting - proper lace knitting, I would say, and I'm so stunned. The pattern is GORGEOUS, and it's actually working out. Of course, the lifelines are indispensable. I've got them spaced about every ten rows or so, and my god, I've needed them. I'm finding it not that bad following the charts, it's just that every now and then my attention wanders for a split second, and bam! I miss a YO or knit an extra stitch, and then spend ages trying to figure out what I did.

And I actually swatched! (something I'm absolutely terrible at doing - I'd rather rip out an entire sweater than make a 4x4 inch square)

OK, so it's not much of swatch, and it got ripped back out for use in the stole, but since it was just to check the yarn and needles were working well together, and all stitches and YOs were visible, I figured it wasn't necessary to do a HUGE swatch. And I got bored. Swatching feels like knitting with no purpose to me. I know it's all for the maths etc, but I'd rather get straight into making the actual object.

I can see how lace knitting can be addictive though. I love this pattern, and I absolutely adore the pattern for mystery stole 2 - Scheherazade. I'm sooo going to buy that pattern just as soon as all my bills are paid - yes, I'm still on a strict budget. Even $6 is too much right now. But I'm too busy with the mystery stole to do anything but drool over that pattern anyway.