Ravellenics Day 1 - Observer Shawl

I cast on for my Observer Shawl last night :)

Pattern page here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/observer

My ravelry project page here: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/yarndancer/observer

I'm using this huge cone of light fingering weight yarn



on 5mm needles, and it's coming out great! I had wondered about the large needle size, but it's really knitting up into a nice fabric.

The shawl is knitted using the Pi formula by Elizabeth Zimmerman and each part of the shawl is written out as a separate section, which is very useful for keeping track of where you are in the pattern. It's a written pattern, not charted, but having it in these sections makes it much easier to read - also the way Mindy writes her patterns with regard to pattern repeats makes it a "clean" pattern and very easy to read. There's no extraneous waffling - it's all very much to the point and straight-forward. I like her style of pattern writing :)

This is the shawl after section 2:



And this is is after section 3:



which is where I stopped last night.

Getting pictures of black yarn in knitting is very difficult! I ended up with my fingers etc being washed out and just a big white blur because the camera needed to absorb so much light for the dark stitches to show. Still, nobody's looking at the pictures for my fingers or toes (hopefully, lol) :) Also - trying to take a picture of circular knitting that wants to fold in on itself requires about 3 or 4 hands! I don't know how I'm going to manage it when the shawl gets bigger!

I'm really enjoying this project. The beginning was hard - I had to knit my end piece of yarn from the CO into my first row, because I kept picking that up and knitting with that instead. I had to frog it a couple of times because I was getting muddled up with that bit of yarn. But now it’s got going, it’s really quite addictive! I'll be knitting more on it tonight, I'm super excited! :D

WIP Wednesday - Willow Scarf

I've seen this idea on a few blogs recently - WIP Wednesday, where you talk/write about something that you're working on. And since I only seem to write about projects when they're done now, I decided to try to implement it on my own blog. I kind of miss tracking the progress of large projects, and it's somehow less satisfying to only have one post saying "look, here's a sweater" and that's it.

This week's WIP is the Willow Scarf. This is a pattern (found on ravelry here) by Vikki Harding of Wild Fire Fibres. It's a rectangular scarf with a repeating lace pattern.



I'm using 2 cones of lace/cobweb-weight yarn held together to make more of a fingering weight yarn, on 4mm straight needles (yes, I've resurrected my straights for this, and I'm quite enjoying it!) It's making a nice fabric, not to thin or flyaway, which it definitely would be with one strand of yarn.

It's acrylic, but the lace is still showing well, and I've used this yarn and needle combination before, so I know it'll look even better when it's steam-blocked.



Lots of people think you can't block acrylic, but steam-blocking does open it up and make it look a lot nicer. You just won't get the big size increase that you can get by blocking wool. Whatever the knit size is, that's the size it's going to stay. But you can still make it look really nice with steam-blocking.

To block acrylic, I just lay the scarf out flat and hold my iron a few inches over it (NEVER directly on the fabric!!!) then I press the steam button. I get the fabric nice and saturated with steam then take the iron away and lay it to the side (VERY important, I always take time to think during this process, and make sure it's away, I don't want to burn myself!) then I flatten the scarf out a bit with both of my hands, stretching the lace out so the holes open up.

This scarf is about 3/4 done. My rule of thumb with scarves is to hold it between both hands across my body so it'll be about the size of my wingspan (the same height as me, I understand, though I've never actually measured myself and tested that theory) I don't tend to measure it out very often. I used to religiously measure out 60" or whatever the pattern said with a tape measure, but really, does it matter if it's an inch or two or even ten off? If I can hold it out between both hands without folding my wrists or elbows in, then it's done to me. I'm either more lazy or easygoing about this stuff now, I'm not entirely sure which, lol!

This project is my couch knitting. Because I'm using the two cones together, it has to be beside and slightly beneath me or the cones fall about everywhere, so I've got them in a paper bag beside the couch, and I pull the yarn up from there. It means it's less portable, but I can get a repeat or so done at a time and I can see progress.

I've technically memorised the pattern, but I still get halfway through the repeat and need to check the chart. It doesn't seem to matter what half I finish, the first or second, I still need to verify where I am with the chart. But since it's not one of my portable projects, that doesn't really matter, I suppose.

I'm enjoying working on this in my piecemeal fashion, doing a few rows at a time whenever I can sit down long enough. I started this back in March, so it's one of my more longer projects, but I'm enjoying it very much.

Finished Lace!!

I finished the shawl on time!

I was quite scared of blocking it. Partly because I was scared it wouldn't block out enough, and partly because the yarn is so thin, I was worried it might just snap in the middle and make a big hole! But as soon as I dipped it in the water, it just went whoosh! absorbed it right up, and became so much more pliable.

This is a pic of it before blocking:



and this is it after:



It still didn't quite get to the 60" mark, but it grew from less than 36" to about 50", which seemed long enough :) It seemed like it would probably stretch out more next time it's washed and blocked though.

Knitting on the border was fun. I liked how in this pattern, you didn't have to pick up all the stitches, you just picked up one at a time and knit into it. And the numbers all worked! I was quite amazed at that, I usually have a few too many or too few stitches when I'm picking up and knitting them. But this one worked out perfectly.

Here's a detail shot post-blocking.



Probably not the bestest job of blocking out ever, other people's lace always looks so precise... But it was my first attempt, and it was a bit rushed to get it all done before the birthday. Now though, the shawl is the bf's mum's responsibility for washing and blocking ;)

She really liked the shawl, and put it straight on :) She said that it was amazing to see the yarn actually knitted into something, since it had sat in her stash for so long, then in mine for a little while. She really liked it, and appreciated it, and I'm glad :)

More Lace, An FO, And Some Seaming

I've finished the main body of the stole now, and am feeling a lot better about the size of it. So far it measures 36x12", but I'm a lot more reassured that it will stretch out. Thank you everyone who commented on the last post to reassure me of that! Thank goodness for the deadline, because otherwise I think I'd have just chucked it in a corner and forgotten about it. As it was, I just kept knitting. And knitting. And knitting. I hadn't realised how soon the birthday is, but I actually only have a week left to knit the border on and block it out.

And did I knit on it yesterday? No :D

I finished up a pair of fingerless mitts







These are the Reverse Rib Mitts by Holly Terrell. It's a free Ravelry download. I saw the pattern, and thought that some of the variegated sock yarn I have might look nice in reverse ribbing, and it actually turned out really nice!

Actually, now that I look at the pattern page, it appears that I did something wrong on this pattern :/ I just continued in the ribbing all the way up, and they're supposed to have more reverse stockinette in the centre. Oh well, I love them as they are! I made them a bit shorter on the wrist and hand than I would for winter gloves, thinking that the colours make them perfect for spring gloves. I totally love them!

These have been my late night knitting, when I'm completely exhausted from knitting lace. I've had to knit the lace like mad, up to 10 repeats a day, and it melts my brain a little, even though the pattern isn't hard.

I also sewed up the other seam on Mariah, but I realised the zip I got is wrong. It has a closed end, like you would need for a bag or something. So even when unzipped, it's still connected at the bottom. I need an open ended one instead. That's what I get for going on ebay late at night to get a zip! I'm sure I'll be able to use it for something though.

Check out my mattress stitch!!







Last time I made Mariah, I just whip-stitched the seams. They're fine, but I wouldn't want to show them off. Not like this one! I was sewing it up and was just totally amazed at how un-visible it is! This is the first time I've used it on a garment, and I'm totally converted now! Mattress stitch for everything :)

After I finish this lace, of course :) Off to knit more...

Lace Doubt

I've been making good progress on the bf's mum's birthday shawl. I've knit a quarter of the middle sections repeats. However, I'm a bit unsure about how it's turning out...





It looks kind of small for a quarter of a shawl...

I know lace blocks out, but does it really block out that much?? When I stretch out the knitting, it stretches to maybe a foot. But it needs stretched out to the sides as well. It's supposed to be 19"x60" when it's got the border knitted on, and is blocked out. When I stretch it out to the sides, it again maybe measures 12".

I'm hoping that with the addition of water and blocking pins it'll stretch out more... Does anyone know if that's likely?

I figure that stretching sideways is more important at the moment. I can always knit more lengthwise if I need to - I have plenty of this yarn, it's not going to run out any time soon. I'm just not sure yet if I'll need to. Part of me is thinking that I'll need to knit a whole extra foot or so onto it, but then I worry that it will become super stretchy as soon as water hits it, and it'll end up like a mile long.

I have knit some lace before, however that's still waiting to be blocked... (I'm so bad at getting around to stuff like that! When I finally get round to it, I'm going to have like 3 shawls all at once!)

The yarn is more cobweb-weight than lace-weight I think, so that's partly why I'm worrying it'll be too small. It's so thin!! I have to slow my knitting right down when I'm working on this, because otherwise I knit into stitches below and just generally mess it up. It's turning out to be quite zen knitting actually, because I have to actually pay attention to where I'm sticking the needles, and be quite mindful of the process. The lace pattern is simple enough that only a little attention needs to be paid to that, it's all on the actual working of the stitches, which is really nice.

So, if anyone out there has any advice about how much really thin wool yarn will stretch in the actual blocking process, I'd really appreciate it :) Just now, I'm going to keep knitting and see what happens. I still have 6 more repeats to go until I really need to decide whether to knit more onto it, so I'm trying to focus on that and ignore the nagging doubts. Having a deadline is useful, because otherwise I'd get so worried that I think it'd just end up in a bag in a corner somewhere :D

Deadline Knitting

Not a whole lot of progress to report on my various knitting projects. I 'm still knitting on my 3rd Tubey, still haven't got photos of the 2nd. I did manage to get my 2nd pair of Hebi socks finished, but I haven't taken any more photos of them as a pair yet. And I sewed one of Mariah's seam, and have pinned the other one, maybe that'll get sewed later on today. So progress is being made, just very slowly.

I've had to cast on another project though - I know, how awful!! ;p

I'm going to make "Miss Lambert's Shetland Pattern for a Shawl" from Victorian Lace Today (rav link) for my bf's mum's 50th birthday. Which I have been procrastinating about until it finally dawned on me yesterday that it's in 2 weeks!!! So I guess none of my other projects will be getting worked on much for the forseeable future ;)

She used to knit and had some white laceweight yarn that she gave me ages ago, along with a pattern which was for a similar type of shawl, but all written out in words. Millions of lines of "k2tog, yo, k1" etc. I just couldn't face that. So I handed her Victorian Lace Today, and asked her if she'd like one of those instead. Since this shetland lace pattern is similar, that's what she chose, which is good, because it's just an eight row repeat for the main section, and isn't too hard to memorise or work ;)

The yarn is some sort of Jamieson and Smith laceweight. I'm not sure how old it is, but I think it counts as "vintage" ;) It's sooooooo thin!! I'm using 3.25mm needles, and it's going to be super lacy and airy.

I'm having fun knitting the lace just now. I enjoy having the intricate pattern to think about and concentrate on. I can tell I'm going to hesitate when it comes to blocking (I always do!), but hopefully the fact that there's a really close deadline for this shawl will mean that it gets done!

I don't have any photos of it unfortunately (I've been really lax recently about taking photos of my knitting, must sort that out!) so here's a spring flower instead.



I've got a bunch of spring flower photos over on my flickr account. I went to Cambo gardens recently, and went a bit mad taking photos of the pretty :)

WIPs and Patterns

I think doing lots of small projects is helping my knitting mojo come back. That and browsing all the fab patterns on ravelry. :D I have more than my usual number of WIPs on the go just now, but it seems to be working out fine. Yesterday I worked on some socks, and managed to finish the first one:



Pattern: express lane by Diane Mulholland
Yarn : Rennie 4 ply pure wool
Needles: 2.75mm (my gauge seems to have tightened or something recently, I've had to go up a needle size for socks)

This is another pattern that I had printed and had been sitting in the hello kitty folder for ages, and since I'd enjoyed making my last pair of socks, I pulled that pattern out, and got to work. And it's fab!! I love the pattern. I've made a few mods - I'm doing a figure 8 toe cast on, and a reverse heel flap a la widdershins, and I'm only doing the lace on the front. The first one knitted up really quickly! I made it mid-calf length. The trouble with toe-up socks for me is that I'm always tempted to continue right up to the knee, but that takes too long! I think I've made this one just right.

I've been making the feather and fan comfort shawl too, but mine is going to be more of a shawlette.



I'm using a random laceweight that I found in a charity shop a while ago, and 2.5mm needles. That one's going ok, but it's getting larger now so the rows take a little longer. Not as long as if it'd take if I decided to make a full shawl though! Just as well I'm into the triangular type scarf just now :D

I've also started the josephine crocheted gauntlets which I came across on ravelry and also have been meaning to make for ages, but I'm only a few rounds into those, so there's not much point in taking a picture yet :)

There's also the vest that I'm trying to design for myself, and have just got hung up on the numbers. I don't understand why, cos when I do it, it'll be easy enough, it's not going to be complicated or anything, but my brain just doesn't want to do it just now. So it's in the corner, but it's still a WIP, it's not been abandoned yet!

Oh, and I found these pattern booklets in a local charity shop too!



I didn't buy them all in one go, but over the past couple of weeks. I feel kind of weird taking them up to the counter, cos it's a young girl who's been serving recently, and I'm sure she must just be like "why on earth would you want those old things?", but she's nice though, and probably isn't thinking that at all, I'm probably just projecting my own issues, but anyway, I was well chuffed when I saw them! They are kind of old fashioned with the edgings being on tablecloths and doilies and all sorts, but they seem easy to adapt to modern usage. And I love pineapple crochet designs, so I was very pleased when I saw that one!! (I managed to keep the squee to myself though, and not totally freak the poor shop assitant!)

There are a bunch of other things I want to cast on right now, and normally I'd get a bit freaked out about having so many things on the go, but I've decided just to go with the flow. Compared to other people anyway, I don't even have a lot of WIPs! And I'm sure I'll go through a finishing stage as well later on, so they'll all get finished really quickly, and I'll feel really productive! :D

Finishing Party!

OK, it wasn't really a party, it was me, a sewing needle and a crochet hook, but 3 things got finished! Yay!




This is the liquorice shrug, by Megan Marshall. I love this shrug! I test knit the pattern for her, it was a lot of fun to knit, and it's now my favourite piece of clothing. :) Oh, the pattern link takes you to the ravelry page for that pattern, where you will be able to buy it later.

I used Debbie Bliss Rialto 4 ply for this shrug, I think it must be my first time knitting with merino. I love this yarn to bits, it's very soft and yummy. Black is a bit of a pain to see the stitches in, but I have lots of lamps in the house! :D

I wore the shrug to dance class last night, and got some very nice comments about it. I always have to explain how knitting is not old fashioned whenever I talk to new people about knitting though. But it's fun to watch the slightly surprised and bemused look that comes across people's faces when I say I made something!





These are crochet slippers designed by Zuleika, from life in the zu. This was another pattern testing project.

These are so super cute! I love them. I used James C Brett With Wool Aran, an acrylic/wool blend. They worked up really quite quickly and like I say, very cute when on.



Last but not least, my February Lady Sweater. The knitting for this got done ages ago, but I had to find buttons big enough. I ended up buying 2x100 button sets off ebay to get 3 the same. But now I have a growing button collection too, which is a bonus. For this, I used Teddy Vanguard. I wasn't sure about the solid colour when it came off the needles, I thought it might look better in a semi solid, but when I added the buttons and tried it on, it hung just right, and I was very pleased :)

So now I only have Laminaria on the needles and a sweater I started yesterday. Oh, and the BPT jacket is still waiting on a zip so it still counts as a WIP. How hard can it be to find a 24 inch bottle green zip? Apparantly, it's very hard. The poor jacket has been sitting there for ages! Laminaria had to wait for a bit, because my needles were too blunt, and my thumb started to ache from pushing it through, but I ordered some new ones, and it's doable now :) These needles still aren't particularly sharp, but they work. The sweater is a big cosy sweater to slob about in during winter, using more of the James C Brett Aran, and Anne Budd's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns.

Vogue Shawl Completed!!!!!

OK, the knitting was done a while ago, and the blocking was done about a week ago, but I've finally taken pictures, so now it counts as finished!





Pattern: #02 Beaded Shawl by Karen Joan Raz from Vogue Knitting, Winter 2007/08
Yarn: Rennie 100% pure wool, off of ebay, in gray
Needle size: 4mm
Started: June 30 2008
Completed: September 4 2008

(Thank goodness for ravelry, eh? I'd never have remembered all that, or taken notes)

Not Feeling Well :(

My allergies are really playing up today. I'm allergic to a few things, I think, but I've never had a proper test. I know I'm allergic to cats, although that's not what's causing it today. I've got hayfever, and I'm probably allergic to dust and who knows what else. It doesn't help that Tupac sheds what seems like half his coat every day. My bf decided to get an air purifier to stop me sniffing so much. It arrived yesterday, and today I feel like death!!! I think it must be moving the dust and stuff around as it ionizes it and makes it fall to the floor, and it's irritating my nose something terrible! I've been sneezing and sniffing all day and I just feel pathetic and ill. Even antihistamines didn't help. So I've been lying around the house just feeling sorry for myself.

Big projects are out of the question today, as is anything that requires thinking. So I made another fan bookmark. My sister liked her bookmark so much she wants more! She gave me a big list of what colours they all had to be and everything. Since I have this pattern memorised, it's fairly easy to get on with even while sniffing. One of them is finished so far.

My other projects can wait for today. My BPT jacket just needs the zip put on now. I got a zip off ebay, but I think it might be too bright a green colour. Maybe I'll have to buy another zip, but that's too much thinking for today.

I've started Laminaria, in a lovely red laceweight yarn I got for a ridiculously low price off eBay ages ago. I'll post about that with pictures later, when I can navigate the whole picture uploady thingy.

I also started the February Lady Sweater, like about everyone else on the planet, it seems like! I'm just at the shoulders, for the second time, because for the life of me I cannot do top-down raglans properly. The first attempt is always the wrong size. I'm getting a bit sick of it to be honest, because you can't tell with top down sweaters if they're wrong till you get past the armholes, and then you have to rip it all back and start again. At least with bottom up sweaters you can tell after an inch or so how it's going to fit, and if you need to make a different size. I'm at the armhole seperating now, and I don't want to attempt it today in case it's the wrong size again, because I'll just cry if it is.

So bookmarks it is. I can make them while lying in bed and drinking hot chocolate and watching red dwarf. All that would be rather good if I wasn't sniffing at the same time, lol!

Crochet for the Bibliophile

Bookmarks! Lots and lots of bookmarks!




These are from this pattern: fan bookmark by crochetroo. I noticed that my bathroom book didn't have a bookmark in it, I was using old letters to mark my place, and that's just not good enough! I made two gray ones, because I was just getting used to the pattern by the end of the first one. I gave one to my mil, because she had seemed to like it when she saw me making it. Then I made two purple ones. I made one for my mum in purple because that's her favourite colour (I could make her anything in purple and she'd love it. The world's crappiest garter stitch scarf, with dropped stitches and uneven rows - so long as it was in purple, she'd love it!) She suggested I make one for my sister as well. I had to ask her what her favourite colour is (purple!) but I've learnt the pattern now, so it takes me less than an hour to make one. I posted it out to her yesterday. I didn't tell her I was making it for her so it'll be a surprise. I hope she likes it :)
Sidenote: my current bathroom read is A Woman in Berlin by Anonymous. I'll be writing a review of this as soon as I finish cos I have lots to say about it.

After making the gray fan bookmarks, I was getting quite into the whole crochet bookmark thing, so I made this one:



Pattern: fancy filigree bookmark by Cheri Mancini. This one was a bit harder, more fiddly and delicate. I like how mine turned out, but the pattern seems uneven with the picot spacing. I guess it's meant to be like that, because the picture on the pattern is the same, but it's a bit disconcerting to my inner OCDist. If I make another, I'll modify the pattern to space them evenly, I think. This bookmark is currently marking my place in my bedroom book, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett. It's a really good book, the first discworld one that I've read, and I want to read more.



Next up, the remember the day bookmark by Ferosa Harold. (the link takes you to freepatterns.com, you have to register to get the pattern, but it's free, and they don't spam your email account or anything)
This one has bullions in it! My first time doing them. I was totally worried about this all the time while I was making it, because my bullions didn't look right, it didn't look the same as the one in the picture. I kept wondering if I should just rip it out. I kept thinking my yarn choice (mercerised crochet cotton thread) was wrong, and maybe I should have used unmercerised thread. As it happens, I think unmercerised might have been a better choice, but luckily, the bookmark totally came together when I started working the last round! I'm very happy with it, except the back is a little squiggly and uneven, due to my own inexperience with bullions, and the yarn choice. I think unmercerised cotton would have hidden the squiggles more.

I feel like the queen of crochet picots after all these bookmarks! I'm definitely a lot more comfortable with them, and with bullion stitches. What started off as a purely functional project seems to have become all educational all of a sudden!

And finally, something that didn't work out well :(



This is supposed to be the shamrock bookmark, by Michelle Ryan. (that link takes you to a free ravelry download, so you have to be a member of ravelry to access it).
I don't know if I did something wrong or anything, but this is huge! This one repeat is about six inches square, and there's supposed to be a few repeats stacked on top of each other. If I had done the full thing, there's no book in the world large enough for it to be used in! It's my first time trying filet, so it's entirely possible that I messed it up somehow, but I really can't see how. I used a 1.25mm hook and mercerised crochet cotton again, so there doesn't seem to be anything I could have done to make it smaller. So it won't work as a bookmark.
Also, the pattern in the middle doesn't show up as well in real life as it does in a photo. It's a bit undefined in real life. I'm going to see if there's something I can do to salvage it, maybe use it as a motif on a fabric bag or something. It's become a bit of a challenge to myself to save it somehow instead of just ripping it. :) Anyone out there have any other ideas how it can be saved?

Internet Knitting-type Updates

The first issue of Twist Collective is out! I havent bought any of the patterns yet, but I added 13 to my ever-growing queue, and there were a couple I was swithering about which may get added later. I think the faux bois scarf may actually get made soon though, I love it!

Also, Mystery Stole 4 sign-ups are open! Sign up here (you'll need a yahoo account)

In my own knitting update, I've finished knitting the vogue shawl, it just needs washed and blocked. I'm pleased with it. It only required two more repeats and it looks quite nice, even unblocked. I haven't started anything else yet though.

Hundreds and Hundreds of Stitches

I'm working on two projects just now, the vogue shawl, and a BPT jacket from Knitty. I've done another repeat and a half on the vogue shawl, but I'm not taking it off the needles to take pics any more. It's getting to a ridiculous amount of stitches - over 300 at the moment, and I've still got another repeat and a half to go, at least. The rows are taking a long time to get through now, although I'm getting used to the pattern now and only have to look at the chart at the beginning of the row, which speeds it up. Last time I took it off the needles to photograph, it took about half an hour to put them all back on, so I think I'll just complete these 3 repeats then maybe check how big it is then.



The BPT also has over 300sts on the needles right now. It's knit top-down, and I'm at that bit where I'm almost finished the shoulders but not quite, so it's taking a long time to finish those rows too. I'm alternating between the two projects, hoping the long rows will be over soon. Gargh, if only my gauge had been right the shawl would have been done by now!



(Garhgh. Whoever said natural light was best for photos????? The green in the sweater is supposed to be much darker and richer, and generally more lovely. I'll take a better pic and post that soon)

It made me think about just how many stitches are in a project like a sweater or shawl. There must be thousands! If I could be bothered I'd work out the maths, but I don't really need to - I have just suddenly realised how much work goes into making these projects I do as a hobby. It doesn't seem like much as I'm doing it cos it's one stitch at a time, but I guess it must build up!

I am liking both these patterns, and I'm totally excited to finish and get the finished products. I think I've got my big project mojo back now - it felt like ages I was stuck only wanting to make small things, and couldn't think of what to use my yarn for (despite my ravelry queue which is now 1200+), but now I have the yarn set aside for three more sweaters, and I want to make tons and tons of shawls. I'm getting quite a collection as it is :) I'm really excited and want to do all of them at once. But, I can only do one stitch at a time.

Hmmm, I'm thinking there's a life lesson there ;)

When Tupac Met Scheherazade . . .

He reallllly loved her. She was so soft and lovely, that he just couldn't resist.




I was having a big tidy in my bedroom the other day, and this is what I found.




Yup, my dog Tupac had somehow managed to get the stole off of the table where it was, and hide it just beside his bed, inbetween it and my bed, so that he could use it as it pillow. Now, it's a big dog-hairy mess!

I was so gutted when I saw that. But at least he only likes to use my knitting as a pillow. I've seen some horror pics on ravlery of puppies chewing knitting to death, so I guess in the grand scheme of things, this is not too bad. Just annoying.

Oh well, all it need is all the hairs picked off (how can all that hair fall off a dog and he still be fluffy, I don't get it!), and a good wash to get the dog stink off. Sigh.

I guess it's kind of cute, that he liked my stole so much he had to rest his head on it, but oh, it did not seem cute when I found it! I'll have to be more careful about where I store my knitting!

My 1st vogue pattern - (non) beaded shawl

From VK Winter 2007/2008:



I'm not adding beads to this, for no real reason other than I didn't feel like it. I've been photographing it after every repeat:









That last photo is supposed to be it nearly complete, with the last repeat done. Hahahahaha! My gauge appears to be wayyyyyyyyy off! My shawl after this last repeat is only half the size it should be. You can see the difference in open-ness if you compare that pic to the one from the magazine.

After noticing this, I'm a little less keen on this shawl now. I wanted it to be like the one from the mag, dammit! But I suppose there's nothing wrong with it as it is, it's just different. It'll need another 3 repeats or so to make it the right size, and it'll be quite a bit heavier I imagine. A winter shawl! I've got lots of this wool anyway (gray rennie 100% wool off of ebay) so I'll have more than enough to complete it. And enough to make another at the correct gauge if I want, afterwards. So I'll keep going. I just can't bring myself to rip all of that back!!

Catching Up

Arg, again it's been ages since I updated this page. I think Ravelry's killing my blog :( I've been surfing that site obsessedly, gathering patterns for my queue (over 600!), and generally just hanging out there. I've got a total case of startitis as well, so maybe that's got something to do with my overall mood, where I don't have the concentration to do any more than sit and look at billions of pattern.

So first of all, an FO!




Pattern: Wabenschal
Yarn: Rennie pure wool in purple. I got this off of ebay as part of a test order to see what a shop was like, and this was my test project for the yarn (but don't tell my mum that, cos I gave it to her). It turned out really good, and blocked really well. The difference after blocking was amazing.

And, that's the only FO. All the other things I've been working on are still WIPs.



This is a garter stitch shawl I cast on cos I wanted something really brainless. It's not even normal shawl construction, it's just casting on 3 sts, then increasing at each end every other row. It's good for working on when I'm watching something. I'm about 2/3 of the way done, and I think I'm going to add embriodery afterwards to make it more interesting, maybe some flowers so it'll be all springlike. This project is good cos it's using up a thin yellow yarn that I got from a charity shop, and would probably not use for anything else cos of the colour.



I'm learning how to crochet properly at last! I taught myself off of some obscure instructions on the web a while ago, and recently bought Stitch and Bitch: The Happy Hooker, which is brilliant! Even though it showed me that I was doing it wrong :( I was going under only one loop of the row below, where I should have been going under both, so mine was more like ribbing. Also, I was throwing the yarn round like I do when I'm knitting. Probably not a big thing, and it probably doesn't matter to the finished product, but I wanted to be doing it right, so I'm changing. My 'beginning' project for this new crochet is Treenah, from the 1st edition of the Inside Loop. This pattern is good for me cos it starts off with a lot of treble crochet, so I get time to practice before the lace. And that tiny little bit in the picture? That took me 3 rippings and 2 hours of solid work just on that little bit (ie not including the time spent on the bits that got ripped) Crochet is harder than it looks!



And finally, I'm making Stargazer, from Magknits. I'm using some random red 100% wool I got off ebay ages ago. I was kind of saving it up for some imaginary intricate cabled sweater that I could never find a decent pattern for. I just couldn't find what was in my head, and couldn't be bothered spending the time to design it. Then I looked on ravelry and saw other people's versions of Stargazer, and one of them had a black border. I saw that, and thought that a black border would go well with red, and started making it :) I've modified the width of the top rectangles, so that it would meet the body rectangles under my bust, instead of in the middle of it. I'm in the middle of the last rectangle now, then I just need to join them all together. Making such big rectangles is hard going, but I'm so excited at the thought of having this top, it's not too hard to force myself to keep going.

So, I should be kept busy with all of that, but I still find myself wanting to cast on more projects. Ravelry is just tempting me far too much!

Scheherazade done and Wicked begun!

Schehrazade is blocked!




It's HUGE, at least lengthways - I had to clear a big space on the floor to get a decent photo, and even then there was still crap in the way :( (I'm having a few issues with the whole spring-cleaning thing that's going on. Please ignore me while I have a tantrum or two)

But I have to say, I think this is the most beautiful thing I've ever made (all thanks to the wonderful pattern). I really want to make it again, in some proper laceweight. The yarn I used was really thin cobwebby 2 ply, so I think it's a bit thin widthwise.

Some close ups:




I really need to try take better pics of it.

So anyway, I've been working on Wicked for the past few days. I'm using the last few balls of the Wendy Aran that I made Rogue with. I wasn't sure if I was going to have enough for the pocket, but then I got down past the shoulders and realised that it was going to be far too big. I totally forgot all about negative ease :) So, it got ripped back, and I'm making a size smaller. Now it fits fine, but I'm trying it on every inch or so cos it's my first top-down sweater and I'm totally paranoid about shaping. Right now, I'm past the pocket and have done some shaping for the hips, but I've got a feeling that might need to be ripped back and re-shaped. I'm just not confident right now with shaping. I guess I'll need to get over it though, since this arrived from amazon the other day:



I do have a picture of wicked just past the chest, but I'm not posting it cos my bf took it and I look lopsided and weird :)