I’ve been having a serious case of too many WIP’s going on for a while now, but I’ve been working really hard to not start anything else no matter how cool it looks until I clear my WIP queue. My concentration hasn’t been as good as it should, so I’ve been falling back on that good old standby, the sockyarn blanket. I even went so far as to make a chart of my current progress this morning:
There will be more FO’s to show off soon, but until then – Blankie HO!!!
Well stocking to be completely honest and even that is being being frogged back a bit because the foot needs to be a little bit longer.
Here’s a montage of in-progress shots:
Posts of substance to come soon!
…for crocheted market bags!
It’s a bit too big, so I want to make one that’s a little more manageable, so check back in a day or two for a quick and dirty pattern.
After all the work I poured into making the Aeolian Shawl, I did not learn my lesson and have decided that making 7 stitch nupps is THE BEST THING EVAR. So I decided that I would use Estonian lace patterns in Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Pi Shawl because my regular knitting and two small children just isn’t enough.
This is the swatch I made using some Arauncania Ranco on size 6 (4.0mm) needles. It looks very pretty and gave me a good idea on how the patterns worked with the pi increases, but I needed a larger needle for the nupps to stand out.
I had 3 skeins of Knit Picks Gloss Lace set aside for the project and I dyed them up on Thursday. I need to make new dye stock solutions because there has definitely been some fading and it took two goes to get the color that I really wanted.
I used my crock pot and Jacquard dyes and couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome even if I did have to mess about with the colors more than I usually would. So I finished charting the lace on Friday night and cast-on. I’ve just started the 24 round section.
In other knitting news, I made a lot of progress on my Giselle sweater. I’ve made a big dent in the lower portion of the sweater and since I’ve hit the point of decreasing every other row, it’ll go even faster.
This is what is left of my 2lb cone of Provence Lace Merino from School Products. It may not look all that small, but the diameter of the cone is at least half of what it was. I figure that by the time I’m done Giselle, I should have about 800yds left which should be just enough to make a pair of stockings. If you have the chance to go there, I highly recommend it – I paid just over $50 for this cone and I’m getting a large lace shawl, a size 3x sweater (with yarn doubled) and (hopefully) a pair of lace stockings or at least lace knee highs.
I don’t have it with me, but a dear friend treated me to some sock yarn this weekend in a lovely brown/gray colorway and for the life of me I can’t remember just what it’s called so that will have to wait for the next post.
TTFN and I promise that I’ll get the camera dug out so I can get proper pictures of things up.
Which equates to .64 miles of yarn.
The knitting on the shawl of DOOM is finished. As I am battling a nasty head cold, bad webcam pics and a worse cell phone shot will have to suffice for now.
It is gigantic! Unblocked, the top is at least 60″. It’s long enough that I can wrap it around me comfortably. Next step is trying to find a place big enough to block it and one where it can rest undisturbed until it’s dry.
I’ve been playing along in a stash game on one of my message boards and for now it’s very slow going because the two WIP’s that I am working on the most are HUGE projects that take lots and lots of time. Aside from those, I have a ton of UFO’s that I want to get done. Here are the ones I’m at least willing to admit to:
Finished Objects!
4/18 – Crochet Flower Hotpad (4) +40pts
Yarn Usage
WW Cotton from stash – 240yds
Check the sidebar and my weekly updates for progress. I have a ton of stuff that I need to finish so I can felt it, so hopefully I’ll be able to add a lot more FO’s and yarn usage to the list.
Welcome to the new Knitty Keen blog – long time no see!
It’s a rainy, yucky day today. One of those days where playing with wool is the last thing you really want to do, but seeing as I’m in the middle of row 39 of the final chart for the Aeolian Shawl, I’m willing to take one for the team just so I can get the damned thing finished. I’ve taken to calling it the shawl of DOOM everywhere and while it is beautiful, oh so beautiful, I’m at the stage where one row takes close to 30 minutes to complete.
Here’s hoping I can get it off the needles by weeks end.
Just a quick, “Hi!” since I haven’t updated in an age and seem to have forgotten that Geocities is no more so my free patterns aren’t being hosted anywhere right now. If you are in need, please post in the comment for the particular pattern and I’ll get one sent off to you until I can get things set up over on Ravelry.
The Knot Cap and Neck Warmer pattern pages have been updated and the PDF’s are available through Ravelry. As soon as I track down (or more likely redo) a copy of Elegant Eggs, I’ll post another update.
Thanks so much for your patience!
One of my Maryland Sheep and Wool purchases was four skeins of I Love Yarn’s Sport/DK weight 100% Rayon in a lovely green/blue/gray colorway with the intention of making myself a nice tank top or shell.
I did swatches on US Size 6 (4.0mm) and 7 (4.5mm) and blocked both of them. Even though the swatches are on the small size, the one done on 7′s definitely has a better drape than the one done on 6′s and since drape is something that I really want for this project I’m definitely going to stick with the 7′s for my project.
Usually one starts with a specific pattern in mind before swatching, but I have quite a few obstacles in place. The first, is that I had no suggested needle size for this specific yarn and since they really only sell it online and at Maryland Sheep and Wool, there is next to no info out there on it. My next obstacle is my size – not only am I plus-sized, but I also have a very large bust so there are very few (if any) patterns out there written for women my size. So what’s a gal to do? Design her own!
Swatching
I had a decent idea of what I wanted to do – a solid portion over the bust with a lacy bottom that gently flared out. My swatches reflect that – I did a stockinette portion on the top with a simple lace pattern on the bottom and worked an increase row on the lace as well to see how it would act. I mentioned above that I really should have made the swatches larger to get a better feel of the drape, but I was impatient so I have smallish ones (these were done the night I got home from MDS&W).
Swatching can be a real PITA, but it’s vitally important if you want your hours and hours of work to result in a garment that fits. Another thing you may be tempted to do is skimp on the size of your swatch, but you really should be aiming for at least a 6″ square to get the best feel for your yarn and the resulting fabric. There will be lots of times where you can get away with a smaller swatch, but when you are making significant alterations to a pattern or starting from scratch you’ll need that swatch to have the best idea of how the knit fabric is going to act.
In the next post, I’ll talk about measurements and the chesty girl’s best friend – bust darts!
I was able to make it down to Maryland Sheep and Wool this year and here are long overdue pictures of my haul this year!
Fingering weight wool/alpaca mix
Light Fingering Wool/Alpaca
(this picture does not do justice to the depth of color on these skeins)
Solo, Sport/DK weight 100% Wool
DK Weight 100% Rayon
(another where the picture doesn’t do the yarn justice)
Lots and lots of KPPM mill-ends
subdued grouping
brights
Not a bad haul. Everything has a specific project in place for it. In the interest of full disclosure I will admit that the KPPM was just bought willy-nilly, but since it’s fingering weight it doesn’t count 
.
