FO Friday 19/15: Darling Ruby

Gendron Tarot

Just popping by with a quickie - I am out the door super early today to take Destructo Boy to school in time to go to a gymnastics competition, and then I have a lift with a friend to go watch him, which he doesn't know about yet ...

So really I am not here, I am posting this yesterday, the day of the general election. In past times, I used to be so passionate and energized by this kind of thing, I would have stayed up to see the results come in.

Now however, I am resigned to the fact that politicians are all pretty much the same, hardly one has a personality, and the policies are so similar whichever party it is that you can stick a pin in the voting card for all the difference it makes. I did go aim my pin today, though.

Yes, I am feeling somewhat tired, and despair is not too strong a word for what I feel about the world and most of the events and people in it - which makes me grumpy. So let's ignore all that, and instead enjoy this darling little baby cardigan:

This was UKHA6, 4 rather pretty variations on one pattern, for 4ply/fingering weight yarn - I used a partial ball of King Cole ZigZag I had left over from the last vintage baby cardigan I made, and there was even a bit left after making the 3-6 month size. I had come unstuck with the buttons, though - and upon returning them, found out that job or dye lot numbers apply to buttons as well: you do learn something new most days.

Anyway, pop FO Friday into Google and see what else turns up ...

SAL Wednesday 8: Cream's the Theme

Fantastic Menagerie Tarot

The kids spent half-term with my MIL and their aunties and uncles, and therefore the week for me passed too quickly in a blurry haze. No, not alcoholic in nature, but chemical. I spring-cleaned. And now I regret the waste of time, because within a 1/2 hour of their return, clothes and belongings were strewn everywhere, and a bombsite looked clean and tidy by comparison.

You'd think I would have found time to complete the Tru Hate Wuv shawl, but no. I have some 16 or so rows to go, which doesn't sound like much, but the current row is 660 stitches long ... yes, that's a calculation from the chart as there is no way I can be bothered to count that ... so it's taking a while.
 

For light relief, I started the cricket sweater of Mini Diva's choice; and am loving the Drops Cotton Merino - so soft ! So squooshy ! So inexpensive !

And I am desperately trying to ignore the Eviller Twin, who seems to have got totally swept away by insanity and thinks that we should knit this:

Yes, you're right, it is a beautiful shawl. No, neither of us speak/read Japanese. Yes, it is charted. No, it doesn't use standard knitting symbols.

I have a taser if she comes too close. Purely self-preservation, you understand. I am already way too familiar with crazy myself, and need no 'help' that would disrupt the fine balance I struggle to maintain.

Go read what normal people are up to on StitchAlong Wednesday over at Yarn & Life ...

FO Friday: Summer MKAL Wild Flowers Shawl

Animals Divine Tarot

I thought the 6 of Wands for the unusual Animals Divine Tarot would be a good choice for today, as I have completed the Wild Flower Shawl MKAL.


I'm quite pleased with how it turned out; I'm glad I didn't bother with the 1700 or so beads that were part of the original - the sparkle of the metallic strand that runs through the Rico Design Creative Reflection yarn I used was more than enough.

I kind of wish I hadn't bothered with the nupps in the pattern - for the hassle involved, I'm not sure the results were worth it, as this yarn doesn't really show them up. However, looking at other people's projects, I noticed in many of them the same lack of ... not definition exactly ... but the 3D aspect that nupps ought to provide.

The sharp decreases near the end of the shawl may create a sort of gathered effect, and this may require careful blocking to avoid. You don't have to ask me how I know, cuz I know you know how I know already.

I did particularly like the bobble in the first amazingly long row - when blocked, they create a really lovely edging.

I know, I know, you're itching to see it. Wa-Lah !

The pattern itself is well-written and clear, and the designer is readily accessible through the Ravelry group if there are questions.

I hope you have as enjoyable a weekend as I am hoping for ....

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 .....

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 .....

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.

FOFriday 114: Note from A Sickbed

I hope you are suitably impressed with my dedication to duty - I have dragged myself from my sickbed, mopped my fevered brow, managed to find both slippers, flung several warm layers of clothing on, and oozed outside to take pics of The Hat, hampered only by my inability to breathe.

You know, the pretty one that I totally failed to be able to start, and so Steph did it for me. 

Once started, the pattern is pretty straightforward, and lacy without being too full of holes for a winter hat.

The pattern is 'Raindrops on Roses Beret' but it can just as well be worn as a slouchy hat, which is Mini Diva's preference:

The yarn is once again James C.Brett Moonlight Sonata, this time in the exciting colorway SM2, otherwise more approachably known as shades of blue; it's a real shame that the sparkles don't show up well in photos.

The hat only used up about 150m of the 500m ball of yarn, leaving plenty over to make a matching scarf, or as actually requested, a Victorian-style neckwarmer instead.

While I crawl back into my pit with a nice hotwater bottle, why don't you pop over to Tami's Amis see what everyone else has made over Thanksgiving ?

FO Friday 113: Lucky for Some

Made with the James C.Brett Moonlight Sonata yarn gifted to me by my MIL, I wonder if you remember this unprepossessing sack-like item from last week's WIP Wednesday ?

Look what magic can be wrought by blocking:

A Slice of Berries

 And here is a photo of the lace detail and edging, in which I think you may also be able to see the sparkles in the yarn: 

 

The pattern is A Slice of Autumn/Spring from Kay Meadors, and I may have had about 50m of yarn leftover. It came out a lot bigger in DK - 67'' wide by about 24'' deep. It is also interesting to see the difference that a yarn can make to a project; this is the last Slice of Autumn/Spring that I made, using Crazy Zauberball in 'Olive':

A Slice of Summer

 It looks the same size, but this is modelled by Mini Diva, whereas I am modelling A Slice of Berries. True, she takes the same shoe size as me now, and she is a tall girl, but even so ...

I am very pleased with how it came out: the yarn, the color, the size, and how easy it was. A brilliant pattern which I will probably use again.

Pop over to Tami's Amis to check out what other people are satisfied with today ...

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.

FO Friday 96: Shawla-Palooza

Whimsical Tarot

So while I have been quiet, I have also been industrious, and completed 3 shawls. I have been experimenting with half-circle shawls, and either I have got way quicker at knitting, or the patterns are very easy, or half-circles are quicker than triangular shawls, or there has been a rift in the space-time continuum. Or perhaps a combination of all of the above. 

Anyway, here are the results:

The Celestial Shawl, using Crazy Zauberball in the colorway 'Cloud 7'.

And the 'Slice of Autumn/Spring' Shawl, which I re-named 'A Slice of Summer' as this olive colorway of Crazy Zauberball reminds me of leaves in high summer:

And last, but certainly not least, my 'Summer Flies' made from the YarnAddict Supreme Sock Yarn (50%merino, 50% silk) in the colorway 'Dream Blue' gifted to me by my friend Steph, modelled by it's recipient, my niece on her 21st birthday:

You may remember having seen this yarn before; now it's unrecognizable as the same one. Thank goodness. 

I am really pleased with all of them, and am very likely to make them again: quick, easy, pretty knits. Hop on over to Tami's Amis to see more loveliness ....