the most beautiful thing i have ever made

i don't even know where to begin on this one. i mean, some projects are just so intense and wonderful that you can't regard them in the same way you do say... a hat. or even a sweater for yourself.

that is more or less how i feel about this one. my Dad tried to ask me how much i would sell Collin's christening shawl for (of course. he sees most things in $.), and he didn't believe me when i said i could never sell this one. and i think that is true. i could be paid thousands of dollars to knit another one, but i could never ave sold the one right off my needles.

it means too much.
it has in it all my hopes for him, and his family. all the happy thoughts i had while making it, and all the frustration too. (all the sweeter for being a little bitter!) i think about the project and i think about all the great things that happened while i was working on it--my cousin's trip out to visit me on the spur of the moment, the oohs and ahhs from other knitters when i pulled out the piece in progress, how thrilled my cousin's husband sounded on the phone when he told me Collin had arrived, the compare and contrast my mum and i had with our various projects for the baby to be, the trip out for the shower.

probably best of all was the reaction from the proud parents when i handed it over. i love when i can make something that makes people happy.

Collin's Christening Shawl
based on the Celtic Knot Stole
designed by Sarah Kendra Hughs
published in I Dream of the Sea

knit in 5 skeins of Rowan 4-ply Soft (#376 "Nippy", 100% merino wool) purchased at K+S=B and knit on size US 4 addi Lace circular needles.

started: april 17, 2008.
finished: november 27, 2008.

if you want the complete glamour shots and work in progress photos, they can be viewed in the picasa album posted below. there are 2 mistakes that are visible in the final project, but they are relatively small. if you want to stay on my good side, you will keep them to yourself.

finally, here is the link to my ravelry page for the project. other ravelry members can read all about the knitting trials there.

Collin's Christening Shawl

put a lid on it: hats, part I

while i have been primarily devoting myself to complex gift projects that are running on deadlines, i have managed to squeeze in some other projects. almost all of these have been hats because they are very fast to make, and some of these have been skill builders to boot.

hats! hats! hats!


Foliage
design by Emilee Mooney
published at knitty.com

knit in 1 skein of Malabrigo Chunky (#98 "tuareg", 100% kettle dyed merino wool) purchased at Now and Then on size US 10 DPNs.

started: october 31, 2008.
finished: october 31, 2008.

i originally bought this yarn to knit an ear flap hat with a pom pom top and ties. as i started the hat, i discovered it looked awful in this yarn because it is too springy (texture, not season). i bought all of this color at the shop, so i couldn't get more to make something bigger than a hat, so i was on a search. i don't knit a lot of lace, so i decided to try this hat and see how lace in a chunky yarn looks. i like it. this is going to be a holiday gift to match the blue mittens i posted about a few weeks ago.

the construction was really cool for Foliage. you knit the hat from the top down increasing in the leaf lace repeat. fun.

FIN beanie
designed by Mari Muinonen
published in Made by Myself

knit in 1 ball of Jo Sharp Silkroad DK tweed (#409 "night" 85% wool, 10% silk, 5% cashmere) purchased at K+S=B on size US 5 DPNs.

started: october 21, 2008
finished: october 22, 2008.

i love this yarn, and i am a big fan of this hat because it has an awesome star decrease pattern on top. pretty straightforward hat that really shows off the tweed yarn.

yum!


Sweet Girl
design by kittything
available free with yarn purchase at K+S=B

knit in 1 skein of Schoeller + Stahl "Sweet Girls" (100% acrylic with silly ruffles!) on size US 10.5 needles.

started: october 4, 2008.
finished: october 21, 2008.

this is a store model to show this funny yarn we are carrying this fall. i am not into novelty yarns, so this is not my thing, but the hat design itself is cute. the top has an eyelet row and ribbon drawstring to close it up so a little girl can wear her ponytail through the top of the hat.

i know, adorable. speaking of adorable...


The Littlest Brown
designed by kittything
unpublished improvisation

crocheted in scraps of Frog Tree Merino (100% merino wool) with a size I hook.

started: november 6, 2008.
finished: november 6, 2008.

this is a hat for Collin to match the browns hat i gave his father last year for christmas. i made it from the scraps of the bigger hat. you can see father and son sporting their tasteful sports themed hats together on Collin's blog. this kid is amazing. he is cute, quiet, and already a prolific blogger!

yeeeesssss

this photo represents my current state of mind.

i am full steam ahead on a single minded mission to knit the edginging on to Collin's christening shawl. i am now 75% finished with said edging (i week ago i was 20% finished), and i feel this haze setting into my line of vision. everything that is not cream lace edging receds in importance.

who knew knitting come be so important and consuming. i have high hopes for this project. time will tell.

and shortly, i hope!

in other news, rW brought me orange roses. this is one of my favourite colors for roses. beautiful.



did anyone else notice how my blog's coolness just went down 17% as soon as i introduced lace and roses into it tonight? yeah.

the fun part of the full week. sorta.

rW and i have made some good progress on our puzzle despite only working on it intermittently. we did most of it last saturday and another hour of puzzling on one week night. we mostly have water and rocks left... some trees.

i did all of the sky at once.
go me.

i may have already bought a new puzzle. maybe. ahem.

i can tell you i bought new sneakers yesterday. all of my shoes are dying, and i needed something to replace the 4 pairs of canvas/rubber combos i pitched over the last few months. i also threw out a pair of real sneakers yesterday, but i may have to ask santa for some of those.

last night we went out to the beer store and discovered they had 7oz shorty high life!

high life is my favourite cheap beer. i got the 8-pack of shorties for $3.49. these may be the most perfect thing ever because i don't always want a whole beer.

meet Owloysius. he is a fan of the champagne of beers too.

i have done a lot of knitting on the shawl this week because my car had to go to the doctor and i had a lot of time on the metro. also, i sat (knit) through a first rehearsal of one show and the design run for another. i finished up the body of the shawl, knit the eyelet border, increased to a multiple of 8, and started the knit-on edging.

the edging experience has been a doozy. many false starts and corrections, but i think i have it now. 3 repeats down 51 to go!

holey wow.

this is piece of unblocked lace. um. that's why it looks so goofy and relatively bad compared to other projects i have shown here. don't worry, it will be pretty before the end of next month!

this is the christening shawl for my future nephew. mama knows i am making it for the bambino, but i hope my FBL doesn't tell her i posted a progress photo. ahem. this project is really giving me a run for my money.

i am a new lace knitter, and this has been a learning experience.

i have decided that non-repeating patterns are difficult for me. i can't memorize the knot motif so i am glued to the chart row by row. i would be in agony of i were knitting this to a full stole size with repeats of the knot chart.

but i am not!
and it will be beautiful and worth all the careful chart reading when i have knit the last stitch, blocked it so it looks like something and a new wee person is wrapped up in it.

in other news...
i finished rW's tie. it is beautiful. i don't have modeled photos yet because we have both been very busy this week. i had 2 first rehearsals, 2 production meetings, 1 nineteen hour work day, 3 shifts at the shop, costume fittings, and a partridge in a pear tree. i'm glad it was only a 4 day week!

after the crazy week, rW went out for dinner last night. it was fantastic. we went to Franklin's in Hyattsville (why do they not have a website? or why is it so hard to find?) and i was pleased this go around. i used to go there all the time in grad school, and it was great, but over the last year, it was really sucking. i was pleased to see that this time we had good food, fast service, and a wonderful server.

this last point is especially important to me. i have had the lamest servers there every time i have been in the last year and a half.

we had a relatively simple dinner. beer (yay brew pub!), fresh made rolls, and salads. my salad was mix greens topped with grilled peaches, rd onion, blue cheese, pecans, and a sherry vinaigrette. rW had a salad of mixed heirloom tomatoes, red onion, and slices of feta cheese finished with a lemon dressing.

i cannot even describe how delicious the lemon dressing was on his salad. it is even difficult to describe the dressing itself, it was so unusual.

we went to the attached general store after dinner, and it inspired us to buy a puzzle. a jigsaw puzzle. yes, we are preparing for our geriatric years now.

750 pieces of pretty coastline. i think it is an italian sea town. i will keep you posted as the puzzle develops and my grey hair comes to visit.

grumblelacegrumblegrumble

small lace update.

i made it 2.5" into the center chart on the christening shawl this weekend. yay!

today, however, i decided to knit this morning because i got up a little early. i gave myself a certain amount of time to allot to my lace, and i used it all. but made only one row of progress.

when i looked at the project this morning, i thought about sticking in a new lifeline (prompted by rW wondering last night when i would put in another) but then i got cocky and decided not to for a few more rows. bad move.

i messed up the side frame charts. i knit the same row twice and didn't notice until i had already purled back the next row and started a new knit row. without a life line, i could not simply rip. i had to tink* back two whole lace rows of 150+ stitches. i had just enough time left in my allotment to reknit one row.

gah.


*tink = knit spelled backwards. or "unknitting". there. a knitting term f the day for the civilians.

growing pains

my other half is supportive of my knitting habit. i may even say he gets excited about my projects. the other day he even gave me a hand massage. my right wrist is starting to cramp, and while he says it may be from too much knitting, i am still in denial.

let's blame stress.

i was on the phone with my cousin last night, and i got a little knot in my stomach (nothing, i am sure, compared to hers) when she told me she is right around the halfway mark with her pregnancy. i have a lot of knitting to do!

i have the bottom frame section done on the christening shawl. i now need to start the center chart, and because i am a big wuss, i have not begun. granted, i was finishing up a sweater, a 2nd mitten, and a few other mindless projects. now i need to buckle down and alternate between finishing the sweater for my boss and this shawl.

i must finish the lace if i want to be able to move on to the other gifts! wrist, do not fail me now!

here is a detail shot of the bottom frame section. it is stretched and pinned down on a pillow for the photo, but i have not blocked this project yet at all.

good clean knitting fun

i have knit a few dish/face cloths in the last month, and i am ready to share them! we'll start with a belated birthday gift.

Mesh Garter Cloth
designed by kittything

knit in RYC Cotton Jeans (1 ball #360 "Canvas" 100% cotton) purchased at Knit+Stitch=Bliss on size US 7 Plymouth bamboo needles.

started: october 15, 2007
finished: october 16, 2007

this one is a present for one of my knitting pals. i can't reveal too much until i give it to said friend. i liked it. it was a fun quick knit, and the yarn is very pretty when knit up. it gets a little splitty when knit, but i like the look enough to forgive it.

it is very close to the end of the Fall Into Autumn Swap, and i have decided to finally reveal the cloths i knit for my buddy. she doesn't do a lot of pictures on her blog, so i want to have these in case she wants to take them for herself after she gets the package.

so our first friend is...

Traveling Vines Cloth
designed by smariek
available at smarieknits

knit in Karabella Windy (1 ball color #5 100% cotton) purchased at Knit+Stitch=Bliss on size US 8 needles.

started: september 11, 2007
finished: september 11, 2007

i love this yarn. it makes a super soft fabric, and it is really fun to knit. best of all, the colors are really amazing. i liked it so much that i knit a second cloth for my swap buddy out of it...

moving on to swap cloth number two...


Twin Leaf Lace Cloth
designed by smariek
available at smarieknits

knit in Karabella Windy (1 ball color #4 100% cotton) purchased at Knit+Stitch=Bliss on size US 8 needles.

started: september 12, 2007
finished: september 13, 2007

again. i loved knitting this one. it was lots of fun. enough said. let's move on to this week's Fall Into Autumn topic...

Now that it is getting cooler here, it makes me think of apple picking and hay rides. Are you the type that likes to go to participate in all the fall festivities like apple picking, pumpkins, decorating for the fall, hay rides, baking fall goodies, etc. or do you just sit and count the days till Thanksgiving/Christmas/Hanukkah?

i am hit or miss on my fall "participation". i enjoy eating apples and other fall foods like pumpkin treats, and i have been known to carve a mean jack'o'lantern every once in awhile.

i think if i had more "free" time, i might do more of the fall activities... who am i kidding? i would just knit and crochet more.

two small things.

first! the lace edged hat is no longer thwarting me. i think i just had to attend my monthly Stitch'n'Bitch and bask in the positive knitting mojo of my knitting BFF, the lovely CG. picture soon.

second! i'm not sure if this is awesome of terrifying..... um. thanks, knitty.com.

south by southwest

it takes me a flipping long time to knit a pair of socks. i just can't seem to stay devoted to a single pair long enough to have them done rapidly. there is always a side project dividing my time... or other socks. the good news is that i finally finished this pair, and almost all of the distracting knitting along the way was holiday gifts. okay, okay... i knit myself a sweater too, but.... shh. i can't do a lacy pattern in the dark.

the details.....

Southwestern Socks
designed by Wendy Johnson
pattern available at The Loopy Ewe

knit in Mountain Colors Bearfoot (1 skein of the "Sun River" colorway, 60% superwash wool, 25% mohair, 15% nylon) purchased at Knit+Stitch=Bliss on size US 2 5" Brittany Birch double point needles.

started: august 13, 2007
finished: october 3, 2007

i love these socks. the pattern was fun. the yarn is a yummy color, and i survived doing my first pair of toe-up. woo!

as usual, these socks are slightly fraternal. my cast-on toe was different for each sock. the first one, i used the figure 8 toe, and i was never entirely pleased with the results. for the second i decided to make-up my own toe that is a combination of the provisional cast on using a crochet chain and the knitting circularly of the figure 8 toe. i wanted it to not have holes, so i did a little trickery with my first round of knitting. what i did was sort of a combination of all three techniques wendy details in this knitty article.

am i a convert, you ask? maybe. i like toe-up and i like top down. i'm happy to build my socks either way. as a change of pace, i like the way the heel without a flap looks on this sock, but i can also in enjoy a good heel flap (i.e. the cabled flap on the log cabin socks).

i will say that i like grafting. i just think it is fun. i know some people hate to graft, so they prefer toe-up socks, but i would rather graft 16 stitches together than execute a stretchy bind off over 52 stitches.

anyway.... i mentioned the fraternal nature of the socks, and it goes beyond the cast on. i have 4 extra rows in the second sock. i know, i know, i am a fool, and i should have torn back, but i realized it one full pattern repeat before i began the ribbing... which is to say about 30 minutes before the sock would be bound off. i'm not sure if the extra rows came about by starting the gusset increases too late, or by forgetting to increase on some rounds, hence making more rounds of knitting go by before i reached the correct number of stitches.

either way, i tried the socks both on before deciding to proceed or tear out 60% of the completed sock back to the 2nd repeat before the gusset. what i discovered was that the +4 sock is actually great on my left foot, which is larger than my right foot. so i decided to make lemons into lemonade (be lazy) and leave the socks as is. fortunately the 2nd sock had some odd color pooling that helps identify it as meant for the left. yes!

on thursday i leave for my cousin's wedding. there will obviously be no updates in the later half of the week. i am hoping to be able to post a picture of the Manos Crochet Beanie i did up as a model for the store, and i would like to do this week's Fall Into Autumn topic. we shall see if i make it.

in mixed news.... i am taking no knitting with me to ohio. i refuse to risk my needles and sanity being stolen by an ego tripping TSA agent. i have heard too many horror stories at the store of agents who don't give knitters the option to mail the needles back to themself or put the project on waste yarn. the problem is that the TSA doesn't address knitting needles on their list of banned or restricted items. when you call them, they say it is up to the discretion of the agent.

they do, however, assure travelers that they can wear a gel padded bra through security or carry less than 3oz of personal lubricant on a flight. so i guess the mile high club is in, but knitting at 30,000 feet it out.

instead i plan to bring crochet projects. it is a good thing i am happily bi-craft-ual.

hippy chick

this is project #2 from my new favourite book . i love this book, and i think this project was a good excuse to use a yarn i really wanted to try. the details...

Flower Power Vest
from Doris Chan's Amazing Crochet Lace

stitched in 2 partial skeins of Colinette Yarns' Tagliatelli (90% merino wool, 10% nylon in colors Neptune and Florentina) on a "N" hook.

this yarn is a really awesome merino wool tape yarn. it is like that junky ribbon yarn the bigger commercial companies put out, only of a much high quality. it feels really great to work with, and the colors are amazing. the skeins are all hand painted, and no two are totally identical.

the pattern was designed to be made out of moda dea ticker tape, which is a very stretchy 100% nylon tape yarn. because the tagliatelli is less stretchy, i added two extra rows of mesh in the straps and one extra row of mesh in the side joining panels. i also decided to add more mesh in rounds at the bottom of the vest to make it a little bit longer--personal taste there.

now that it is blocked and dry, i see that i didn't need the extra mesh at the sides, but it was needed for the straps. the extra mesh made the vest bigger than i need it to be, but it isn't big enough to be legitimately oversized. so it more or less has the effect of making me look 10 pounds heavier. ho hum. since that is the look i'm always going for.

this reinforces my assertion that bulky or novelty yarns are not to be fully trusted. just like muffins and pizza. or it may suggest i have been trusting muffins and pizza more than i ought to lately.

anyway.
i made one other design change. in order to show off the flower motif more, i decided to work the vest in two colors. the flower is done in Neptune, and the mesh that holds the motifs together is stitched in Florentina.

we'll see how much i wear the vest. i know i will to work at the store... but otherwise, i may have to hang it on my wall and just admire how pretty it is.

model material

finally a new finished object. this is the store model i made to display at work.

i apologize for the stupid pictures. it is very hard to photograph yourself, especially in full length. so the tunic is more flattering than the fatty picture would indicate.
the details....

Abydos Vest
published in Amazing Crochet Lace by Doris Chan

size small (long version) stitched in six balls of Plymouth Yarns Royal Bamboo (100% bamboo, color #40) on a size "H" hook.

i really love this yarn. it works up very nicely, and it makes crocheted fabric that is super drapey and beautiful. it is a little harder to work with because it is plied, not twisted, but the drape is worth the extra care needed to catch all of the the threads.

i am really into this book as well. i have started another project from the book already, and i think i may have to buy my own copy (i used the store's copy for these two projects) because it is too awesome not to own. the patterns are great, and most of them are relatively easy to make.

i think there could be some christmas gifts in those pages.

Doris Chan may be one of my new favourite designers. she has two patterns in the latest Interweave Crochet, and i want to make them both. the sugarplum bolero and simplicity top are both very yummy. i like her designs because they are simple, elegant, and show off crochet to good advantage for garments.

cotton + lace = love

back in september my mum came out for a visit, and in our shopping travels, i finally picked up Debbie Stoller's lovely volume for crocheters stitch 'n bitch crochet: the happy hooker. it is really fantastic, and i credit it with reviving my interest in crocheting. fresh new patterns, coupled with the fact that i am no longer in grad school, has had me fiber crazy. i went on a short cotton yarn kick this fall and these are two of the projects i made from ye olde happy hooker.


first we have a cropped bolero.
Short 'n Sweet
by Angela "La Vonne" Best

i made this one up in 5 hanks of Tahki Cotton Classic 100% mercerized cotton in a lovely aubergine shade on a size I hook. i'm sure the stitch work would have shown up better in a lighter color, but i don't really do light colors for myself. the yarn world should just be happy that i have moved beyond making everything in black.
this was my first lace project, and i think it turned out pretty well. i had to do a little improvising on the left front side to make it identical to the right front, but i think it stems from unpublished pattern errors. i did all of the published patterns corrections, which were super helpful.
there is one kittythin(g) error--i accidentally worked two extra stitch on one side of the front border. as the cotton stretches out (and it will stretch out) that side tries to slide off my shoulder. it doesn't happen until the 3rd or 4th time i wear it before washing and blocking.

this was the first project i made in mercerized cotton, and i loved it! i thought i hated cotton yarn, but that was because i had only made things out of kitchen cotton before. that's fine for dishcloths, but it is not representative of cotton's lovely possibilities. speaking of those possibilities...

Violet Beauregard
by Heather Dixon

crocheted with a size G hook in Tahki Cotton Cassic 100% mercerized cotton: 5 hanks black, 2 hanks magenta, 2 hanks hot pink. tahki doesn't list color names, so you get my best approximations. the name for this project makes little sense because the designer named it for her original color scheme: violet body with orchid and magenta accents. my colors are a little crazy in a 1980s sort of way, but i'll wear them more than a blueish purple. i intend to make another similar cotton skirt from sweaterbabe.com's fabulous and flirty crochet in more "sedate" or "mature" (ha!) colors some time this year. i like to make skirts because i wear a lot of them and they tend to be worked in the round, so they have very little finishing.

the downside of a crocheted skirt is that they stretch out a lot. i have to reblock this one every time i wear it. i think the fact that it is cotton does not help. we will see how my next skirt shapes up. i already have the yarn to make the citrine skirt from the fall 2006 interweave crochet. it is a wool-acrylic blend, so we shall see. (yes, that is correct. i have the other cotton skirt planned, but there is another friend that needs to be finished first. believe it or not, i have a "to do list")

time to sign off. coming soon: more Cotton Chronicles and a little taste of Real Work.