Jul
30
Filed Under (Knitting, Lace, Shawls/Scarves) by jennyk on 30-07-2006

I’ve finished Clue 4, side 1,which means I’m up-to-date with the clues, but on side 2, I’m only a little way into Clue 2. I’ve been slowed down by knitting a pair of socks for my mother’s birthday (she wanted short, plain, boring, so no pics) but I’m planning to spend all this week’s knitting time on the MS2. I’m hoping at least to finish Clue 3 before Clue 5 comes out next Friday.

I have both ends on a single circular needle, but I knitted one end off onto a spare one so I could pin the stole out for a progress photo. I used blocking wires down the sides this time. At the moment, it is 31″ by 14″ stretched fairly hard. From a quick calculation, [edited from this point after a hasty recalculation] if I block it about as hard as I stretched it today, it should end up about 14″ by 72″, which is close to what I hoped.

So, here is the photo of the stole so far …

MS2_4-1.jpg

Jul
18
Filed Under (Knitting, Lace, Shawls/Scarves) by jennyk on 18-07-2006

I have the next clue finished now, though I’ve still only done 6 rows of the second side as I’ve been having to share my knitting time between this and my mother’s birthday present. I’m hoping to catch up more second half rows as I wait for each new clue to come out, and have clue 5 finished on both sides by the time clue 6 comes out.

Although the picture shows it on two circulars, that is just for the photograph. I’m actually knitting both ends on the same needle, which I haven’t found a problem so far. Pinned out dry, it is about 14″ x 12″. I’m deliberately blocking it to be somewhat longer and narrower than it might naturally be as I want to keep as much of the original pattern length as possible even though I’m using finer yarn and smaller needles.

MS2_2-1.jpg

Jul
13
Filed Under (Knitting, Lace, Shawls/Scarves) by jennyk on 13-07-2006

I finished the first side of the first clue last night, but I decided to leave picking up the stitches for the second side till this morning. Once I’d picked up the stitches from the provisional cast on, I took the opportunity to get a photo. As before, it looks a lot lacier in real life, and of course it will be lacier still once it is wet-blocked.

MS2_1-1.jpg

 

I’m really enjoying this project. I rarely knit this sort of lace with a design ‘drawn’ with eyelets on a stockinette ground, so it makes a change. I am now knitting with both ends of the stole on a single 32″ circular needle. After 4 rows of the second half, I’m not finding that as awkward as I thought I might. It would be a little easier with a longer needle, but this one has a more flexible cable than any of my longer ones, so I still prefer to use it.

I don’t think I’ll get the second side of clue 1 finished before the next clue is released tomorrow as i have to concentrate on getting another slipper knitted in time to let my mother try it on tomorrow. I’m using Patons Diploma Gold this time. I used it for her socks and it seems to be wearing better than the Sirdar Country Style which I used for the previous pairs of slippers. Although they are both classed as DK yarns. the Diploma seems much thicker and firmer, so I’m having to adjust the pattern again, hence the need for fittings. I want to get at least one pair done by her birthday in 2 weeks.

Jul
02
Filed Under (Dyeing, Knitting, Lace, Shawls/Scarves, Spinning) by jennyk on 02-07-2006

I did a lot of swatching for this KAL, including Zephyr, but I decided in the end that I don’t want a stole, so I’m going to knit it as a scarf. I was given some Skacel Merino Lace by an online friend and hadn’t found the right project for it. It is nearer cobweb than laceweight, so I swatched with 2.50 mm and 2.75 mm needles (US #1.5 and #2). I’m going to go with the 2.75 mm, which will give a scarf about 12.4″ by 58″. That seems a good size for a cobweb scarf to me.

So here are the swatches. They are lacier in real life than they look here.

SkacelML-small.jpg

I scored 4 free Blue Faced Leicester fleeces last month, and I finally got around to washing one. Then I felt a need to dye some of it, so …

BFLfleece.jpg

Jun
30
Filed Under (Dyeing, Knitting, Shawls/Scarves, Socks) by jennyk on 30-06-2006

No pictures today, but I might get some taken over the weekend as I have a lot of things that need to be photographed. However, we have to go new-to-us car hunting urgently this weekend as our current one died this week.

My most urgent current project, other than the car, is to get at least two more pairs of slippers knitted for my mother by her birthday (less than 4 weeks). The old ones wore out too quickly, so I am going to use the same yarn I used for her socks, as that seems to be lasting better. It’s Paton’s Diploma Gold DK, and I picked up 4 balls each of navy and denim so I can make at least 3 pairs of slippers and one more pair of socks, maybe a second pair of socks too. That’s how many she requested for her birthday, but she doesn’t expect me to get them all done in time.

I’ve been swatching for other projects – the Mystery Stole 2 KAL and the Icarus shawl from the latest Interweave Knits. I haven’t joined the Icarus KAL yet but I might. The Icarus is for me, and I have a cone of 2/16 cashmere from ColourMart UK. I can’t stop fondling the swatches as they feel so wonderful.

I’m doing the Mystery Stole in Skacel Merino Lace, which is almost cobweb weight, so it will actually be a scarf. I’ll probably end up giving that one away, unless I totally fall in love with the pattern when I finally see it complete.

Before I start either of those, I’m trying to finish the edging on the fan stitch half circle shawl from Waterman’s shawl book.

I’ve also been washing and dyeing free (yes, free) BFL fleece. I got 4 fleeces for just a contribution to the petrol (gas) costs of the friend who collected them. They aren’t bad, even though they were sheared by the farmer’s neighbour and were going to be burnt as it wasn’t worth him sending them to the Wool Board. They have quite a bit of VM, but mostly straw and not too difficult to pick out,

Well, that’s all the fibre news from Chez Jenny for today. I hope I’ll manage to do the next update a bit more promptly than this one.

Mar
05
Filed Under (Knitting, Lace, Shawls/Scarves) by jennyk on 05-03-2006

I tried to get a better photo of the shawl when I took it over to show my mother, but the pictures weren’t very good. I can’t take any more now as my mother loved it so much that it didn’t come home with me. I’ll try to get it away from her for long enough to get more photos eventually. Meanwhile, here is the best one:

Springtime shawl finished.jpg

Mar
02
Filed Under (Knitting, Lace, Shawls/Scarves) by jennyk on 02-03-2006

It is finally finished and blocked and currently drying on our bed. I used wires to block it, along the top edge and a pattern repeat in from the scalloped edges (visible in most of the pictures), then pinned the loops of the scallops before removing the ‘internal’ wires. The blocked size is 72″ by 43″, and it took almost exactly 1000 yds of Zephyr. Click on the picture of the whole shawl to see a larger version. I’ll try to get pictures of it draped and/or being worn this weekend.

Springtime shawl 4.jpg

Springtime shawl 4 - edging.jpg

Springtime shawl 4 - corner.jpg

Feb
07
Filed Under (Knitting, Lace, Shawls/Scarves) by jennyk on 07-02-2006

I’ve now reached the stage at which I need to decide whether to add an extra repeat of the main pattern before adding the border and edging. I decided to pin it out and measure it so I knitted half the stitches onto a second long circular needle. When I tried to stretch it out, I lost a few stitches at each end – eek!!!

I think (and hope) that I managed to get them back onto the needles correctly. Then I finished the other half of the row before slipping the stitches onto 4 blocking wires. It pinned out to 50″ by 27″ so if I don’t add the extra repeat, it will end up about 67″ by 36″. I think I will have to add that repeat, making the finished shawl about 75″ by 40″. At least I’m now confident that I have enough yarn to do that.

Anyway, I suppose some of you want to see a photo. I had to climb on a chair to get this one, so I won’t be able to get a good photo of the finished shawl being blocked.

Springtime shawl 3.jpg

 

I got a treat in the mail today, an abacus pendant I had ordered from my friend Tricia. Click on the image for a bigger picture …

abaci-small.jpg

If you don’t know how they work, they are row counters, though of course you can use them to count anything you want. You slide a “one” bead past the ‘stopper’ (an elasticated ring of beads) at the end of each row, and when you get to the 10th row, you slide the mall back and move one of the “ten” beads past the stopper instead.

Tricia makes abacus bracelets as well as the pendants, which are small enough you can pin them to your knitting instead of putting them on a neck cord if you prefer. I love the pendant and bracelet I already have, so I ordered a custom-made pendant with a different number of beads so I could use it to count rows within pattern repeats rather than 1-10 etc.

Jan
28
Filed Under (Knitting, Lace, Shawls/Scarves) by jennyk on 28-01-2006

… and now it is eeasier to see how the pattern repeats. At the moment it is 27″ across the top. The selvedge tightness stops me stretching it any further, though I could (and probably will when I block the finished shawl) stretch it a bit more vertically. I had already been trying to keep the selvedge loose, but it seems I need to try harder on the knit rows as that edge is slightly tighter.

Springtime shawl 2.jpg

Jan
26
Filed Under (Knitting, Lace, Shawls/Scarves) by jennyk on 26-01-2006

I’ve started a pattern I’ve been wanting to do for a while now. It’s Kinzel’s Springtime pattern adapted to a triangular shawl by Glenda Hunt. I’m doing it in Jaggersun Zephyr laceweight wool/silk on 3.5 mm needles. It is actually Royal Blue, but the flash has affected the colour in the photo. It was going to be for a friend, but I didn’t have the right colour yarn for her, and I do love this colour and the pattern, so …

Springtime shawl - start.jpg