Friday was such a horrible day - I was literally sobbing at my desk from about 9am to 11:30am. The worst thing is that nothing can be done about what made me so upset. "Oh God, that I were dead."
I got the extra skein of Madelinetosh for my woodsmoke scarf, so I should have enough to finish the edging. For scarves, that's my main issue when I don't check gauge. They'll always fit someone, but you might not have enough yarn to finish!
I finished one of DP's socks (I chucked the argyle for now and went with a straight stockinette sock with an afterthought heel). DP loved the afterthought heel, which makes it easy to keep the striping sequence in all these handpainted sock yarns I have running around. I'm also thinking of overdyeing the Schaefer Anne that I had gotten for his next pair of socks - it's a blend of bright oranges and pinks, but there's more orange than pink. I think I'll overdye orange...or maybe yellow?...to try to brighten the color up. He doesn't mind pink, but he asked for orange socks :)
Finally, I'm working on some wristwarmers/mitts for a swap. I bought the yarn without a plan for it, but I think I have something awesome now. It will be based on King Thingol's realm - he's the lord of beech and oak and elm - and it will be made of Malabrigo sock. I'm very excited!
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Sweaters - argh
I realized I have two sweaters "on the needles" right now (even though one is in pieces and not on any needles really). One is Sprossling by Anne Hanson - a great design, and made in pieces. The other is my cardigan made out of Rowan felted tweed - just a simple raglan I worked up. Sprossling I might just put off to the side until I get a few days off, because I can't work on it without checking my notes to make sure I do the shaping right (downside of working in pieces.
My raglan is another story. I've knit this yarn into 3 different sweaters, but never finished any of them. I keep making them too big! I'm not tiny, but for some reason I always make things so big that I can't even wear them. I had this iteration of the cardigan done to about 8 inches past the armscye, but when I tried it on it was about 4 inches too big around and the armscyes were huge! Rather than rip the whole thing out (I cant bear to do the raglan increasing again) I ripped back to the split for the arms and unraveled about an inch or two past. Then I laddered down and put an 8 stitch cable on each arm and on each front to pull in the excess. I tried it on again, and I think it's worked. I'm also casting on a steek and working it in the round, because my other sweater is back and forth and and I need a break :)
My raglan is another story. I've knit this yarn into 3 different sweaters, but never finished any of them. I keep making them too big! I'm not tiny, but for some reason I always make things so big that I can't even wear them. I had this iteration of the cardigan done to about 8 inches past the armscye, but when I tried it on it was about 4 inches too big around and the armscyes were huge! Rather than rip the whole thing out (I cant bear to do the raglan increasing again) I ripped back to the split for the arms and unraveled about an inch or two past. Then I laddered down and put an 8 stitch cable on each arm and on each front to pull in the excess. I tried it on again, and I think it's worked. I'm also casting on a steek and working it in the round, because my other sweater is back and forth and and I need a break :)
Friday, October 22, 2010
I have discovered
That I hate spinning unblended batts. I have a lovely batt, in rose and cream, which I'm trying to spin into a two ply laceweight. It's giving me the fits.
On the other hand, spinning the loverly camel down (unblended with anything) into a two ply laceweight is slow, but no trouble at all.
Sigh - there are so many pretty batts, but they're now pretty much off limits, at least until I improve my batt control.
I finished the slippers I was working on; I'll try to get a pic of them when the light's good. They went straight from my needles onto my feet - I didn't even weave in the ends. They're nice and warm and not too big.
I'm still trying to get the Dwimordene pattern written up, but I don't seem to have a nice chunk of time that I can sit at the computer and work. It's so simple, I think people might like to make it, but I have to get my buns in gear and just write the darn thing out.
My brother's visiting tonight. He has a wedding to go to a little ways away, and he needs somewhere to sleep. It'll be nice to see him.
On the other hand, spinning the loverly camel down (unblended with anything) into a two ply laceweight is slow, but no trouble at all.
Sigh - there are so many pretty batts, but they're now pretty much off limits, at least until I improve my batt control.
I finished the slippers I was working on; I'll try to get a pic of them when the light's good. They went straight from my needles onto my feet - I didn't even weave in the ends. They're nice and warm and not too big.
I'm still trying to get the Dwimordene pattern written up, but I don't seem to have a nice chunk of time that I can sit at the computer and work. It's so simple, I think people might like to make it, but I have to get my buns in gear and just write the darn thing out.
My brother's visiting tonight. He has a wedding to go to a little ways away, and he needs somewhere to sleep. It'll be nice to see him.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Repairing vertical blinds, spinning Falkland
I had to fix my vertical blinds today; whenever I tried to pull them open, they would tilt closed, making it difficult to get them all the way open. I tried looking online, but I couldn't find anything useful to help me. I finally figured it out - the string to open and close the blinds had come off the pulley wheel on one side. So, every time I pulled the open side, that string would pull down on the closing mechanism and pull the shade closed. One crochet hook and two minutes, and it was fixed. Hooray!
I'm currently spinning up some falkland as a bulky two-ply to make some Malabrigo loafers. I have some green falkland that I spun as a 3-ply for the soles, and this will be for the uppers. I'm excited to have some warm slippers, now that fall is upon us!
I'm currently spinning up some falkland as a bulky two-ply to make some Malabrigo loafers. I have some green falkland that I spun as a 3-ply for the soles, and this will be for the uppers. I'm excited to have some warm slippers, now that fall is upon us!
Friday, September 10, 2010
In Dwimordene, in Lorien...
Now that I'm mailing the shawl off to my partner, I can finally post pictures about it! On the off chance she looks at this post, she should look away unless she wants spoilers.
So, the basis of the pattern was various descriptions of Lothlorien. I chose Dwimordene as the name because it's really a riff on Lorien from a human's point of view, and Dwimordene is what the Rohirrim call Lothlorien.
The leaves are easy - forest=leaves - but I wanted to include flowers as well. We read about Aragorn standing on a hill, holding flowers and remembering his meeting with Arwen, and Sam's daughter is named after a flower that grows only in Lorien. The Rohirrim also have special flowers that grow on the graves of their kings. I finished off with arrowhead lace because of Galadriel's words: "But do not think that only by singing amid the trees, nor even by the slender arrows of elven-bows, is this land of Lothlórien maintained and defended..." The wave edging was easy - we read about the Silverlode, Celebrant, Nimrodel and even Galadriel's fountain - so water had to be included.
I started with a miniature leaf motif in the center. I did a provisional cast on, then knit 12 repeats of the leaf motif up. From there, I transitioned to English Mesh, which works on the same amount of stitches and rows, and even has a row in common. This made making a transitional section a lot easier. I did 11 repeats of the mesh, which I consider to be flowery. From there, I ended with 2 repeats of the smallest arrowhead lace motif I could find. I then picked up my provisional cast on and knit the same repeats/motifs in the opposite direction. After that, I did not bind off, but cast on 13 stitches invisibly and began the wave edging. I didn't really miter the corners, but I did do multiple joins (2, 2, 3, 2, 2) to try to give the corners more ease and create a bit of a swirling effect. I picked up 2 stitches for every 3 rows down the long sides of the stole and joined the edging by knitting one picked up stitch every wrong side row, then starting out with a k2tog for the join. At the end of the last row, I grafted the live stitches to the invisibly cast on ones that I'd done at the beginning.
All in all, I'm happy with it. I could have blocked it out longer instead of wider, but what I did seems to look right. It would also be interesting to knit this in a heavier weight of yarn as a blanket or just a thick shawl. I might even convert it to a triangle shawl...I have some ideas floating around, but I need to take a bit of shawl/stole break :)
Now for the pictures:
And the beauty shot:
I love it when a plan comes together.
So, the basis of the pattern was various descriptions of Lothlorien. I chose Dwimordene as the name because it's really a riff on Lorien from a human's point of view, and Dwimordene is what the Rohirrim call Lothlorien.
The leaves are easy - forest=leaves - but I wanted to include flowers as well. We read about Aragorn standing on a hill, holding flowers and remembering his meeting with Arwen, and Sam's daughter is named after a flower that grows only in Lorien. The Rohirrim also have special flowers that grow on the graves of their kings. I finished off with arrowhead lace because of Galadriel's words: "But do not think that only by singing amid the trees, nor even by the slender arrows of elven-bows, is this land of Lothlórien maintained and defended..." The wave edging was easy - we read about the Silverlode, Celebrant, Nimrodel and even Galadriel's fountain - so water had to be included.
I started with a miniature leaf motif in the center. I did a provisional cast on, then knit 12 repeats of the leaf motif up. From there, I transitioned to English Mesh, which works on the same amount of stitches and rows, and even has a row in common. This made making a transitional section a lot easier. I did 11 repeats of the mesh, which I consider to be flowery. From there, I ended with 2 repeats of the smallest arrowhead lace motif I could find. I then picked up my provisional cast on and knit the same repeats/motifs in the opposite direction. After that, I did not bind off, but cast on 13 stitches invisibly and began the wave edging. I didn't really miter the corners, but I did do multiple joins (2, 2, 3, 2, 2) to try to give the corners more ease and create a bit of a swirling effect. I picked up 2 stitches for every 3 rows down the long sides of the stole and joined the edging by knitting one picked up stitch every wrong side row, then starting out with a k2tog for the join. At the end of the last row, I grafted the live stitches to the invisibly cast on ones that I'd done at the beginning.
All in all, I'm happy with it. I could have blocked it out longer instead of wider, but what I did seems to look right. It would also be interesting to knit this in a heavier weight of yarn as a blanket or just a thick shawl. I might even convert it to a triangle shawl...I have some ideas floating around, but I need to take a bit of shawl/stole break :)
Now for the pictures:
And the beauty shot:
I love it when a plan comes together.
Sigh
Why is it that people who are not being trodden down have to make up stories about how they are, and then try to make you feel bad for not being sorry for them?
And why can't I just ignore it?
And why can't I just ignore it?
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Long time comin'
Happy new year! I can finally take a breath, now that the holidays are here.
I've finished the Lembas & Lace swap shawl, and I'm just waiting to unpin it. It should ship out tomorrow - hallelujah! I so want to be able to work on something for myself again.
It turned out well, though I now wish I had more yarn to make it longer, or had blocked it differently. It looks good though, and I hope my partner likes it. These kind of things can be so scary!
I'm waiting for something that should have arrived before my birthday, but in reality still hasn't even shipped. Quite irritating, but what can you do? At least now I don't have to worry about whether I should give it away.
I'm really enjoying my Kindle wi-fi. I can basically read any classic that I want, since they're all either available from Amazon or from Project Gutenberg. Too cool. Patterns also look great on it, and since I'm not doing any colorwork right now, the lack of color on the screen is a non issue. The e-ink is so easy to read, and I can forget that I'm reading a screen and not a book. I'm reading Wuthering Heights to relax today, and it's just like reading my paperback copy! For $139 and free shipping, it's one of the best b-day presents I've gotten.
I'm currently waiting for my green tomato pie to cool enough for me to have a slice. DP thought it sounded too gross for words, but I figured it was worth a try :) I'll let you know.
I'm reading the Kalevala (on my kindle) and am constantly being struck by the things that remind me of Tolkien's work. The latest was when Wainamoinen is inside a sorcerer's stomach, building a forge and tormenting the guy. It reminds me of when Carcaroth swallowed the silmaril, and it was burning him up inside. The songs of enchantment are also similar, like when Finrod is having the contest with Sauron. Sigh - people weren't kidding when they said the Kalevala was a major influence.
I've finished the Lembas & Lace swap shawl, and I'm just waiting to unpin it. It should ship out tomorrow - hallelujah! I so want to be able to work on something for myself again.
It turned out well, though I now wish I had more yarn to make it longer, or had blocked it differently. It looks good though, and I hope my partner likes it. These kind of things can be so scary!
I'm waiting for something that should have arrived before my birthday, but in reality still hasn't even shipped. Quite irritating, but what can you do? At least now I don't have to worry about whether I should give it away.
I'm really enjoying my Kindle wi-fi. I can basically read any classic that I want, since they're all either available from Amazon or from Project Gutenberg. Too cool. Patterns also look great on it, and since I'm not doing any colorwork right now, the lack of color on the screen is a non issue. The e-ink is so easy to read, and I can forget that I'm reading a screen and not a book. I'm reading Wuthering Heights to relax today, and it's just like reading my paperback copy! For $139 and free shipping, it's one of the best b-day presents I've gotten.
I'm currently waiting for my green tomato pie to cool enough for me to have a slice. DP thought it sounded too gross for words, but I figured it was worth a try :) I'll let you know.
I'm reading the Kalevala (on my kindle) and am constantly being struck by the things that remind me of Tolkien's work. The latest was when Wainamoinen is inside a sorcerer's stomach, building a forge and tormenting the guy. It reminds me of when Carcaroth swallowed the silmaril, and it was burning him up inside. The songs of enchantment are also similar, like when Finrod is having the contest with Sauron. Sigh - people weren't kidding when they said the Kalevala was a major influence.
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