Wednesday 23 October 2013

WIP Wednesday 167: Clearing the Decks

Halloween Tarot













Wow, the week is rolling by fast, isn't it ? The day after tomorrow is the start of half-term, when I can wake in the early hours, hear the roaring wind and staccato stampede of rain, and simply roll over for more sleep. Yes, I am rather looking forward to it.

My major WIP this week is actually Titch aka DH. I finished his Old Man Cardigan ages ago, but he will not put it on for me to take a photo. I have promised to cut off his head - after all, no-one is interested in him, just the cardigan - but no joy so far. I can't use a hanger as I don't have one big enough, and it looks all wrong and ooky, like a 2D chess board on the Enterprise.



how it should be


As ever, I am focussed on the positive, and that is the progress on the Forest Pansy Shawl:




The yarn is definitely not soft. I would not like to say scratchy, exactly. I shall think of an appropriate description, and will hope that fabric conditioner will make it touch-the-skin wearable. Of course, the yarn is from Shetland, and the Scots are a hardy, dour people who wear barbed wire undervests for fun and amusement, and no doubt this yarn would feel as wussy as angora to them. I love angora even though I have none, but I am a gin-swilling shandy-drinking Southern jessie.

 And I have completed Clue 4 in the SusannaIC Autumn Mystery Shawl KAL:




I have no idea how long the KAL is supposed to take, but as long as I finish the Forest Pansy Shawl, I think I will be ready and able to start NaKniSweMo (National Knit a Sweater Month, 1 sweater or cardigan, 50,000 stitches, 30 days) next week while my authorly friends take part in NaNoWriMo

Look at my lovely custom-made badge, with a martini and color co-ordinated to my blog and everything ! How cool is that ?





Thank you to Ana, who made this.

And now I am off to Tami's Amis to see what everybody else is up to ....



Friday 18 October 2013

FO Friday 158: Back or Forward ?

Halloween Tarot














Well, yes, I am kind of cheating, it's true. I have no proper FO as such. This is as far as I have got on my Romanesque:





Pretty impressive, huh ? I am making the large version, which meant I had to run out and buy an additional 4th ball of the Lanas Stop Baby Wool.




This close-up is what is left of the 4th ball. You'll notice in the 1st photo, the shawl is still on the needles, ie. unfinished. This is because there are about 10 rows of approx. 400-odd stitches of the last chart left to knit. There is definitely not 10+ rows-worth of yarn remaining - we are on 560m and counting, and the pattern says it needs 402 - 805m. I hadn't noticed the 805m aspect of it until just now. This shawl is going to be mehusive, and I'm probably going back to buy another ball tomorrow.

Rip it back to your lifeline and make the smaller size, you say ?

In spite of my lack of any lifeline whatsoever, I am merciful today and allow you to escape intact and alive, to go view real FOs over at Tami's Amis ....





Wednesday 16 October 2013

WIP Wednesday 166: Juggling

Halloween Tarot










Yes, you are totally correct - I have been unusually quiet: I'm sorry. Last week was mainly taken up with the hassles  grief  excitement of making sure the house was presentable for Destructo Boy's 8th birthday and sorting out the bits and bobs that surround such a celebration. 

You'd be surprised how judgmental a group of 8 year old kids can be - and what they tell their parents. I remember Mini Diva telling me about a particular child, that she thought his mother was either drunk or dead as he was always grubby and never seemed to have a coat or sweater (yes, I did stick my nose in and speak to the school when I saw him arrive like this on a wet, cold November morning). Which is why there was a panicked cleaning frenzy so we might appear as superficially normal as everyone else.

On Sunday, we actually took them ie. a group of 6 boys, 1 girl swimming for about 2 hours, then brought them back and fed them lots of sugary-additive type foods before handing them back. I did indeed put my bathing costume on and joined in the watery high jinks, while Titch aka DH bailed to the accompaniment of clucking chicken sounds .... quite frankly, I am amazed they I survived the whole experience. Destructo Boy tells me it was the best birthday party ever.

But back to the important stuff ! Clue 3 for the SusannaIC Autumn MKAL was released, and I had it done by Sunday evening:




I switched back to using straight needles, as although the Addi tips are lovely and sharp, they are quite slippery for laceweight yarn with no counter-balancing weight of work. Now the project is reaching a stage where it will have enough 'body' to resume using the Addis.

As you know, I am not one to sit idly. Well, I am ... but not with empty hands. So I have started a Romanesque Shawl - my choice of pattern kindly gifted to me by Emily Ross as a thank you for test-knitting her Arlington Shawl:





I am using a yarn from a Spanish company new to me, Lanas Stop Baby Wool, which is 25g/140m/153yds of lovely squooshy 100% extrafine merino superwash, competitively priced at £2.71/$4.33 a ball in my local posh LYS. Why yes, those are rather gorgeous Knitpicks Symfonie (Harmony in the USA) circulars that I am using. I found those old things at the bottom of the wardrobe, Titch. No, I don't promise, don't you know lying is a mortal sin ?

I had bought 3 balls, and of course found myself needing a fourth. So while waiting for Monday to pass and the LYS to open, I started Linda Choo's  Forest Pansy Shawl, using the Jamiseon & Smith lace 2ply that my MIL sent me from Shetland:





I have not been able to capture the true vibrancy of the color, more's the pity.

Well, yes, of course I have talked too much now, the pendulum swinging away from silence, and so must run to catch up with all these projects. After I have been over to Tami's Amis for tea and to see what everyone else is up to .....




Tuesday 8 October 2013

No.11: La Vie en Rose










Eyes that gaze into mine,
A smile that is lost on his lips—
That is the unretouched portrait
Of the man to whom I belong.
When he takes me in his arms
And speaks softly to me,
I see life in rosy hues.
He tells me words of love,
Words of every day,
And in them I become something.
He has entered my heart,
A part of happiness
Whereof I understand the reason.
It’s he for me and I for him, throughout life,
He has told me, he has sworn to me, for life.
And from the things that I sense,
Now I can feel within me
My heart that beats.
In endless nights of love,
A great delight that comes about,
The pains and bothers are banished,
Happy, happy to die of love.
When he takes me in his arms
And speaks softly to me,
I see life in rosy hues.
He tells me words of love,
Words of every day,
And in them I become something.
He has entered my heart,
A part of happiness
Whereof I understand the reason.
It’s he for me and I for him, throughout life,
He has told me, he has sworn to me, for life.
And from the things that I sense,
Now I can feel within me
My heart that beats.


Trans.here

Happy 11th Anniversary, Titch .....




Friday 4 October 2013

FO Friday 157: Hey Presto !


Halloween Tarot














Seeing as how it's October and we are talking about the magical and mystical, how is this for today's theme song ?








I just love the transformative process of knitting. I could start with the sheep/llama/rabbit, but you already know where wool comes from; instead, let's follow the practical changes once the yarn has reached me:



Sirdar Country Style DK 'Heather'








Transformed via the Cafe au Lait Tam pattern to this hat for Nanny:




To match the Cafe au Lait Mitts I made for her last year:




And then we take a skein of maravilloso Malabrigo Lace in 'Natural'




And filter it through the Afternoon Tea Shawl pattern to get this penultimate result:





And after the truly magical metamorphosis that is blocking, we get this:








Yes, that noise was me heaving a very contented sigh. You'll hear a lot more of those over at Tami's Amis ....



Wednesday 2 October 2013

WIP Wednesday 164: A Golden Moustache

Fantastic Menagerie Tarot











At last ! We seem to have forward motion - not only is the Infidelity project blocked and done, but a hat destined for my MIL only took me a day or so.

And that was just to occupy me until the new SusannaIC Mystery Knit-A-Long (MKAL) started on the weekend, the spontaneous addition to the head of my queue:





Yes, it looks astonishingly like a moustache right now, after the completion of Clue 1; but I am sure it will not stay that way for long; the shaping is done through wrap&turns - I was glad to be using my Addi Turbos with the lovely sharp points, I can tell you.

The gorgeous lace-weight yarn is hand-dyed BFL from Kirsty over at Wharfedale Woolworks; the colorway is 'Caramello', a perfect name for all the rich golden yellow, amber and brown shades. She definitely has a gift for color.

But what to do now ? The next clue is released at the weekend, and I surely can't sit doing nothing til then. I could get on with the sleeves for Titch's Old Man Cardigan, but the siren call of Linda Choo's Forest Pansy Shawl combined with a new set of KnitPro Symfonie fixed circulars AND the Jamieson&Smith lace yarn my MIL sent me ....  well, it is deafeningly irresistible.

There are people with way more WIPs than me over at Tami's Amis .....