WIP Wednesday 127 : Three to Get Ready

Gilded Tarot

Ermagerd .... Finally .... finally .... finished the purple yarn and the purple shawl: odd how that happened simultaneously, huh.

Seeing as how I have mostly dealt with most of my control issues, I can now have a Plan and a List and not stick to either of them; I can mix it up with the best of the bad boys, like shuffling from the bottom to the top, adding something totally new and extraneous and even - whisper it oh so gently - actually ignore stuff and do something random instead: go me and spontaneity, woo-hoo.

Of course, I am talking about knitting, you knew that, right ? I did say 'mostly', not 'completely' dealt with, remember - baby steps, people, baby steps.

So anyway in a spontaneous fit of random organization (oxymoron ? No, what's that mean ?) I sorted and shuffled my Ravelry queue of Things I Must Make (TIMM). And guess what - I was so free-spirited that now I even have the patterns, yarn and notions for the first three items; the first of which is this lacy cardigan available free from the Patons website:

I shall make the adult version in King Cole Haze DK in the shade 'Evergreen', of which I know Stephcuddles will approve as it is so very very green:

Second is the beautiful Sweet Dreams Shawl by BooKnits, which I shall make using Austermann Merino Lace,

with charteuse beads from the fast and friendly Highly Strung Beads website:

Hard to visualize now, but it will look Fabulous, I promise. There's almost a theme developing, isn't there ? Not to worry, to reinforce just how carefree I am, the third project is this cardigan, from this book:

Which I was fortunate enough to receive from Denise over at Voie de Vie, my fantastic swap partner (and now also my friend) in last year's Blog Hub Swap; I even have the specified yarn, Filatura di Crosa Brilla, a gift from my DH, although in cream rather than the book's pink.

Look at that, isn't it great ? Organized, listed, planned, yet with a touch of whimsy that is not green. So, what have I actually cast on ? This:

I must be off, to revel in my untrammelled-ness, humming this as I go:




Now you too will be humming it as you view all the other lovely things at Tami's Amis ... you're welcome.

FO Friday 112: Testing, Testing, One, Two ...

Silver Era Tarot

This lovely card from the Silver Era Tarot portrays for me part of the experience of test-knitting. For my non-knitterly friends, this is the process where a designer creates a design and pattern for an item, and then floats the sheaves of instructions off through the aether to jonesing twitchy fibre addicts with no lives, so that they can knit said design according to the prototypical instructions, discovering along the way any typographical errors, design errors, actual gauge vs. imagined and desired gauge, stuff like that.

Just imagine test pilots, but instead of jets, there are knitting needles with the accompanying excitement and dangers, and I believe you have got an accurate picture of the experience. 

Some while back, my friend Denise from Voie de Vie asked me to test a scarf pattern she had designed; it so happened that I had the perfect yarn on hand for it, so I was glad to comply. It was a Super Secret Mystery Test Knit as no-one was allowed to put up any kind of information about it until Denise did her big reveal. So this was completed some time ago, but I'm doing my big reveal now:

The Piaf Scarf

I used one 200m ball of the ruby red 70% wool/30% silk aran weight yarn the Twins got me from Kingcraig Fabric; the eyelet pattern knitted up quickly on 5.5mm needles, and blocked out it measured 72'' long and 7'' wide. I think the smooshy soft yarn, color and pattern complement each other really nicely. The Piaf Scarf pattern - which I would rate as easy/beginner - also includes instructions for a fringe, if one wishes to add it, and is also available from here.

And then in the miniscule interval where I had completed one project but had not yet started the next (I know, right ? so hard to imagine a gap in time that small and empty), my friend Dianne sucked me along with her into the next test-knitting vortex, for Emily Ross (knitterain), testing her Arlington Shawl pattern using Rico Superba Poems:

It looked like that, until it was finished and blocked, when it magically transformed to this:

 

 
You'll remember I had been stressing a little bit about the I-cord bind-off; but when I got there, I realized I already had used this bind-off on other occasions, I just hadn't known it's name.

 
Lots and lots of double yarn overs in this pattern, including the bind-off itself, which I found challenging but absolutely worthwhile for the unusual effect it creates: it's mainly for this that I'd classify this shawl as an intermediate knit. And once you get into the swing of it, any mistakes you make are almost instantly obvious and therefore much easier to correct. 

Statistics for this shawl are:  
                                 1 repeat of Chart A 
                                 8 repeats of chart B 
                                 4 repeats of Chart C 26g of yarn left 
                                 1 repeat of Chart D 14g of yarn left after Row 10 
                                 9g of yarn left after Row 12 
NB. I did not do row 13/14 of Chart D as I was worried about the yarn running out; and after the i-cord bindoff, I had 4g of yarn left: so that was a pretty accurate guesstimate. When blocked, it measured 16 1/2'' top to bottom, and about 44'' edge to edge.

The Arlington Shawl pattern is not yet available to buy, but will be here when it is.

I believe I have puffed off enough for now, so kindly go and see more loveliness over at Tami's Amis.

Blog Hub Swap: Extra ! Extra !

Victorian Romantic

Well, today really was the last day of the Blog Hub Swap - and an extra bonus day was lovely to have ! Even though we already know I have to check my Ravelry inbox (can we say ''pattern'' ? ) would you like to see what Denise sent me ?

How kind, even though I am no longer a mod ! And her accompanying email said it was also a thank you for organizing the swap - which is almost done; there is just one person who is still awaiting a package, which is being shipped internationally to the USA via a three-legged one-eyed decrepit old mule, I think - this poor person has an estimated 10 more days to wait before delivery ....

And this is the pattern that was in my inbox, Denise's very own La Vitre Scarf -  pretty, lacy and with added bling if wished; this will definitely get used.

Thank you so much, Denise, for being such an excellent swap partner, and taking so much obvious time and trouble to find all those lovely gifts for me: I truly appreciate them, and you.

Woot ! Blog Hub Swap Day 1

This beautiful card from the Gaian Tarot is perfectly expressive of how I feel today; though if I were to dance outside in the sunshine, I would have a lot more layers on, it being seriously winter temperatures today.

And the reason ? Do you remember this ?

Well, having spent 5 days in UK customs (who knows why) today my package from my swap partner Denise at Voie de Vie finally got here !

I was so excited ! In spite of being the swap organizer, I had actually managed to forget that Denise was assigned to me, and I believe it is a sign of my impending grown-up-ness that I was able to not look at my lists to remind myself: it was actually Denise who gave the game away when she emailed me to tell me she had checked the tracking, and my parcel was en route ...she had been concerned about the delay.

Look at all these photos I took for you - I hope you realize the enormity of the sacrifice I made for you, Dear Reader, as taking photos further delayed me opening my parcel and first package !

  


An interested dog, and a cat's butt. Oh ! And a huge box.

The card said 'Open me first'. So I did. Elegantly written in what I call American traditional script, it told me my themes were travel and creativity. I have done lots of travelling in my life - the longest I have ever been in one place is the 4 years I have lived here. But I don't know how Denise could have known any of that.

Yes, there are only 3 packages - but the card says to check my Ravelry inbox on Days 4 and 8. Even so ... Denise enjoys messing with my head, obviously. Because when I opened the large package numbered 1, I found the rest of the swap packages in it: 

There was a slight fresh whiff of wintergreen - Denise had used it to get rid of the smell of varnish, she said. One of the mandatory elements of this swap was that one item had  to be handmade - and this is Denise's. She says it's the prototype for an idea she's had for a while - and this must also be the creativity theme she refers to:  I don't even know how you come up with this, let alone work out the hows and whys necessary. I know my frustration threshold is WAY too low for something like this - and I really admire people who can create things just from an idea.

                                         Ignore the obligatory cat butt. Same cat, by the way.

Lovely shades of red, purple, magenta and pink with the springtime Tulip as a central motif.  I love these kinds of colors - and in fact one of my FO's for tomorrow is in a very similar colorway. It's definitely stiff enough to be a proper hatbox (if only I had a hat!) - and who doesn't love pretty and unique storage that can be displayed ?    

Denise's attention to detail verges on the obsessive is totally amazing - look at this:

The inside of the lid and base are maps ! So very cleverly part of the travel theme. I am totally impressed - thanks, Denise !