Project Spectrum: Green

Anyone care to place a bet as to how many times I'll be pulling this out?

Spring Thing Shawl - I stumbled on this pattern using the exact yarn I bought on a whim in Chicago, seemed like the lace gods were giving me a hint so I'm giving it a go. I'll be the one on the knitalong struggling along at the end!

I'm really hoping to finish this for a June wedding but certainly not betting on it.

Off the Needles

I suppose it's a good problem when you have a list of finished projects to be blogged. Our perpetually grey skies have been not-so-good for the photo taking and oh-so-good for the sitting on the couch knitting.

At least the cold weather is giving me more opportunity to wear winter gear... like my new scarf.

Pattern: Midnight Purl's Diagonal Lace Scarf

Yarn: Ellen's 1/2 pint; silk/merino blend; 1 skein

Needles: 7 Addis - With this yarn, I'd suggest using a blunt needle to avoid snags on the silk.

Dates: March - April 2007

Notes: Yum... silk and merino in my favorite colors. Easy but interesting pattern that works well with the hand-painted yarn. Overall, a big woo-hoo for a quick one-skein project! Definitely a keeper if you're looking for a fast, pretty present idea (or a new scarf to make the never-ending winter a little brighter).

Pattern: Adapted from an Interweave Pattern from several years ago, taught at the Elmwood Yarn Shop

Yarn: Plymouth Galway, assorted colors

Needles: 10.5 circs

Dates: Fall 2005 - April 2007

Notes: This one sat for a long, long while as I procrastinated about lining it. I kept dreaming up "perfect" schemes for the handles, pockets, drawstring, etc. but finally just said to heck with it, put something in this bag and put it to use. Perfect? Far from it, but so far I've gotten compliments every time I've used it. There's a lesson in there that my perfectionistic/procrastinating self is avoiding. I'll think about that... later. Certainly after I've agonized over a few more unfinished projects!

This was my first fair isle so I'm a little proud of it. Felting helps the pride as it erases all the bumps and lumps in the washing machine. More pics here.

And of course with the finishing of projects comes the starting of projects...

1. The Spring Things Shawl - Definitely more on this when I actually start knitting the lace... but don't worry, I'll spare you all the bad words that will come along.

2. What can I say, I'm a joiner...

The Winter That Just Won't Stop*

Ah, such a lovely March morning when you wake up and find FROST on the INSIDE of your windows! Weather Dude, enough already! I’m soooo over this whole winter thing.

But to make the most out of a chilly situation, more months to make winter gear, right?

Thanks for all your comments on my first project in the Great Hat Quest of ’07. I think Lone Knitter called it. The P-hat doesn’t necessarily look all that naughty, but once I got that image in my head there was no going back. I’ve tried to put it on around the house every now and then (and yes, my apartment is cold enough to warrant indoor hat wearing, see “frost inside” above), but I just can’t shake my initial call on this one. I’ve even tried adding some flower brooches like all the cool hats are wearing these days, but to my tainted eyes it just looks like a boy part with bling. So frog it is…

And to really make this quest epic, hat #2 isn’t looking so hot either. In the spirit of Knitting from the Stash and expanding my color choices in Project Spectrum (even though this hat isn’t anywhere near the current PS colors), I chose a skein of Noro Kureyon that really isn’t me and jumped in for the Fake Isle hat from Magknits. I used some leftover Plymouth Galway worsted wool that coordinated with the most dominant shades in the skein, alternating the lime green and magenta based on the Kureyon.

Some of the online reports said it turned out too shallow so I generally went with the numbers of rows for the larger size although I cast on for the smaller size. Not only is it too long, but too big around. This is entirely a knitter’s dilemma and not the pattern. I think I should have to take some sort of test before I sit down with anything remotely requiring thought or skill, just to be sure I haven’t run out of focus, energy and mental fortitude. I really think I’m only safe for garter stitch right now.

I considered a few remedies (felting, overdyeing) while I was knitting and not feeling the love, but now that I’ve finished the world’s ugliest hat, I know that it’s time to frog.

I’ve heard it said that we learn more from our failures than our successes and with this one, I’d have to agree. I learned that I do enjoy fair isle knitting, but I think I want to go at it in a smaller gauge and with smaller floats. I also learned that if you aren’t loving the colors when you start, you aren’t going to love them any more when you finish. Finally, and the thing I think I needed to learn right now, pay attention when your head says you want simple knitting. I loved every minute of the Clapotis (which I need to blog) because it was pretty mindless stockinette, and, well, yarn with silk content is yummmmy. I didn’t think this was too difficult, but the slightest bit of challenge made me sloppy and the finished product reflects this attitude.

Another one of those random sayings which seems apt: If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing right. I usually use that one to chastise myself into working harder to do it “right,” but recently I’ve been thinking about turning it around. Perhaps if something isn’t worth doing “right,” it isn’t worth doing?

Anyway, I think a nice, simple London Beanie is going to be my next attempt for a head covering. I’m balking on starting it though in hopes that it will stay warm enough to warrant hat-less outings.

* To be truthful, it’s bright and sunny here today and we might just might hit 40 degrees. I started writing this a few days ago and just had to share the interior frost picture to get some sympathy from the folks at home in the sunny Midwest.

9 Months and You Popped out This?

Last fall I got one of my wild ideas to knit lace for my grandmother's birthday and my aunt's Christmas present. Got a little cocky after the scarf turned out successful and assumed the Christmas stole would as well. I think at one point I even gushed that I thought I might even finish the present on time.

Gush and ye shall be stricken down with the fuglies.

At least I got to play with my new blocking set...

The Christmas Stole

Pattern: Arrowhead Lace from a basic stitch dictionary, with 4 st. of garter edging

Yarn: Knitpicks Shimmer Morning Mist, 1 skein

Needles: Crystal Palace 6, bamboos... my new favorites in this size. One reason I kept starting and stopping this project is because I'd rip out the needles to do something else. I'd usually put the stole on a spare #6 from a set of dpns, but that one time in the Atlanta airport at about 1 a.m., the needle tried to make a run from this fugly thing (do you blame it?) and there was a bit of creative re-knitting to get it all going again.

Dates: Nov. 05 - Sept. 06

Notes: Ugh... I think this is the happiest I've been to do a final cast-off. So why do I dislike this so much? First, the yarn. In my mind, when I was making my plans, I was thinking subtle. There's nothing subtle here. I don't like the abrupt color changes and may overdye it when I visit home again. (I just put the thing in a box and mailed it off today because I didn't want to think about it any longer.) The other colorway that I used for my grandma's scarf is similarly abrupt in its color changes, but there was a certain shine to it after I blocked it. Here, nothing. It was reasonably easy to knit, but it just doesn't have any punch to it. I've got another skein of it too... joy.

Second, the pattern. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the pattern, but I didn't do a very good job executing it here. You really can't see the pattern at all, which I think is due to the size of needle I chose. I did a swatch and really liked it, but final outcome, not so much. I wanted fairly straight-forward lace and looking back, I think I should've stuck with feather and fan or maybe something like several repeats of the Branching Out pattern.

Third, the size. Geez, a stole is a big, honkin' thing. I think I really ended this one too quickly, but it was either bind off, block and mail, or throw the whole thing away and go to Target and buy a new toaster for the gift. I was thinking that it wouldn't be that much more than the scarf and since that went quickly, heck, no problem. Yeah, not so much.

Well, I suppose this was a live and learn kind of project. I enjoyed knitting Branching Out but my other lace endeavors have been a little on the questionable side. For anyone keeping track, I decided to put Sarcelle on hold. I did one repeat of the lace with the fancy butterfly thingys (they look like butterflies until you get them blocked out), and I nearly lost my mind trying to do some of those stitches. As Christina said with the yarn that I was planning to use, it's yarn to grow into. Maybe lace is something I still need to grow into.

Or maybe part of growing is choosing your project wisely. I keep coming back to look at Evelyn Clark's Flower Basket Shawl pattern that I bought. As any horsey person knows, you've got to get back on after you're thrown in the dirt. But this time, I'm using solid yarn in a heavier gauge with the needle size that someone else picked out!

I wanted to apologize for being a little bit grumpy in posts as of late. I've been in one of those fall cleaning modes where I'm trying to wrap up some unfinished objects (or rip them as I did to several blobs of fugly) and I'm discovering why these things languished. I think I may be on to happy knitting for a bit, or more ripping!

And to balance the pics of the fugly stole, here's a bit of Buffalo. Last Friday evening Rachel and I went on a little sailing expedition with the graduate student group on campus. Dorks on a Boat, it's going to be the next greatest hit.