Shining Bird's Eyes Shawl

Why did I wait so long?  This shawl was a quick knit once I finally cast on.  The pattern is a bit tricky at first but after a few repeats is it quite obvious to see mistakes and fix them easily.  I only had to tink back once...granted it was in the last repeat and it was a row and a half.  That is what I deserved for my drinking (only one weak gin & tonic) and knitting.

The linen blocked beautifully!

Here are some pictures and a public link to the Ravelry page if you are interested in more details.

Diamond Circle Lace Cloth

After a short hiatus, I have added another lacy square cloth pattern to my collection.

I called this one Diamond Circle Lace Cloth. (Ravelry pattern link)

It is knit in the round with size 2 double point needles and fingering weight cotton. Finished size: ~12" sq.

For more specific details click here.

Click on the link on the right hand side bar to purchase this pattern for $1.

Thank you for your interest and support!
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New Driver and other sundry items

Yep! That day back in June when my oldest took her driver's test...she passed with flying colors! She didn't have any point deductions at all. Yippee! But scary at the same time. She's taken me to work a couple times so she can "have the car" while I work. Weird feeling...

Exercising is still going good. I finished my 30 day challenge a week or so two ago. That was on the medium level. I'll be starting another 30 days on the hard level hopefully next week. I did a hard workout today...one of the preset ones. Boy...that really got me sweating. Then I did the body test on Wii Fit. So far I lost about 5 pounds since mid-January. Probably would be more if I'd give up ice cream...oh well. I have noticed my muscles are more toned and I get less fatigued. My upper back doesn't hurt as often anymore either so that is good news.

Reading....I'm reading a Dorothy Sayers book at the moment. "Strong Poison" was first. The second story is "Have His Carcase". I'm maybe 5 chapters into it but having trouble staying awake at night. Long days at work and getting to bed too late/getting up early to exercise is beginning to take its toll. :yawn:

Knitting....I'm working on this year's Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery shawl. That is slow going too. No working on that in spare minutes or it would be tinking galore. But it is a pretty blue ...."Jazz" from Knitpicks...hence I've nicknamed this project "Jasper". Yes, a Twilight reference.

Mandala Pictures

This pattern is Mandala. It was last year's Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery Knit-a-long. The Ravelry pattern main page has some pretty pictures of finished shawls.

This pattern had 5 clues. Each of the first four clues had four different charts to choose from. So many options for the final shawl. The last clue was the edge. There was only one choice for the edge but you could substitute with another edge that had the same number of row repeats or if you were willing to do the math. I went with the given chart for clue 5.







































I was nervous about the blocking but it was a snap with a 70" round plastic table cloth.


Oh...here's my project page at Ravelry.

Busy Month

Since the last post....

House sat/Nephew sat while sis and her dh were picking up their oldest from college. Got locked out of their house without a key. Library card to the rescue. (Oldest dd's idea.)

Two days later...finally got the muffler repaired. Now I'm not so noisy.

A couple days after that...Prom for my oldest homeschooled daughter. Who would have thought! She went with a friend from church. His mom works for the DPI (Department of Public Instruction). And dd ran into two 2nd cousins while she was out for the night.

And there was a wedding shower, various church duties, "behind the wheel" class, dentist...once every month for braces, our wedding anniversary which I wasn't home for but we are celebrating tonight with cupcakes that the kids are making.

A bit of unplanned reading was thrown in the mix....The Host by Stephanie Meyer. I didn't really want to read it but my sister had sent it home with me so I figured why not. It made me cry (of course) but some of the characters really were very similar to Twilight characters.

Oh and knitting! Another pattern almost ready....plus the free one still. My Mandala is very close to being finished. (pattern ravelry link) Just another hour or two of knitting then on to the blocking. This year's Mystery shawl started this past weekend but I won't let myself start it until I get last year's shawl done.

But the biggest trouble this month was the computer dying. The one with the patterns and photos and all the other important files. We still don't have the new one here but it will only be another week or so. Luckily we have an old ancient computer upstairs that the kids use and we've got a wireless router. So except for all the files and programs and pictures on the main computer (which is a big BUT!) online life continued mostly uninterrupted.

How could I forget about exercising???? I'm still at it! Back to 5 days a week and sometimes weekends. I was able to save up enough of my exercise incentive pay to buy the new EA Active Sports program. I'm only on the first day of the 30 challenge so the jury is still out on which of the three exercise programs I like the best. This one this morning really had me sweating! But I like the flow of the Wii Personal Trainer and the fun of the Wii Fit. So most likely I'll be doing a combination of two of the programs each day for an hour's worth of exercise. Now if only the scale would start showing some signs that I've been exercising consistently since mid-January. :sigh:

EDIT: It isn't called Wii Personal Trainer. It is called Wii My Fitness Coach.
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Fitterknitter Blogged!

Thank you so much for blogging about my Pi Cloth pattern! You are the first to blog about one of the patterns that are for sale. I do appreciate the kind words.

I'm really glad to see that other knitters are enjoying the patterns and that the patterns are serving the purpose to which they were intended. Practicing skills on a smaller scale is not as intimidating as tackling a huge project with expensive yarns.





I do use these pretty cloths to give a little sparkle to my day when I'm doing the dishes by hand...which is every day...no dishwasher here! But if someone feels these are too pretty to use they would make some plain Barbie very lovely when she wears her beautiful new shawl to accent her outfit.




Anyway....check out Fitterknitter's website and Yahoo Group and the pretty lace note cards.

She is working on rewritting and charting the book entitled The Art of Knitting which was published in 1897. What a project! I've got problems trying to read the written directions of current day British knitting patterns. All the different abbreviations for YO usually get muddled in my brain.


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Smiling Diamonds Square Cloth

Here's the latest $1.00 pattern!

This cloth is knit in the round on four double pointed needles. The border is knit on and uses a triple join on the corners to allow the border to lay flat. After blocking the cloth measured 10.5" square.

The yarn is Pisgah Yarn & Dyeing Co., Inc America's Best Article 960, Perle Cotton and the color is Capri Blue. I love this thinner cotton. The cloths are so soft and just the right weight (about 24 grams).

I'll be adding the side bar link soon. But in the meantime here is the Ravelry link for the Smiling Diamonds Square Cloth.

And a link to purchase the pattern here in this post.

Apple Leaf Pi Cloth

The Apple Leaf Pi Cloth pattern is finally finished!

Scroll down the right side bar to find the link to purchase the pattern.

or here in this post..... buy now for $1.00 (Thank you for your patronage!)

See this post for more details about the yarn and needles used if you can't access the Ravelry link above (first link).

I love the leafy border!





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Christmas Secrets

Here is one of the Christmas secrets I was keeping.

It was a Christmas present to my sister.

The pattern is the Black Olives Stole. I had just enough of the 100% rayon cone left to make this second stole. Plus I knew she would love it!

I lost my blocking mattress so now I'm using a pink insulation board. Worked great! Pinned it on the bed then moved it to finish drying on the upstairs stairwell.

Bits and Pieces

Early this morning I blocked two cloths for samples for the class I'm teaching tomorrow.

The white one is made with DMC Perle Cotton (size 5) on size 2 double pointed needles. It's about 10" in diameter blocked. I could have stretched it a bit more.

The pink one is Euroflax linen. Also on size 2 needles. It is stretched pretty much to the max and is about 12" in diameter.
































The Stove Saga...

Here is our new "COILED" stove. I'm liking the coils. Everything heats up so much faster! And now I've got a window on the oven door too. Whoo Hoo!

And we've made two boards to go over the burners when they aren't in use. So technically it is a smooth top most of the time. I love the boards! I can take just one off or both depending on how many burners I need.

Upstairs

My dd is planning on attending a Homecoming dance. She has had her dress for a few months and we thought a nice warm wrap would look pretty and functional for a cool October evening. She decided on the Upstairs Shawl (it is rectangular) after looking through the millions of choices on Ravelry.

We then had to find the perfect yarn. Of course I had procrastinated on picking out the yarn so time started to become an issue. We ordered some pink lace weight online. It looked the perfect color on the monitor but was too purple of a pink in real life. Then we tried Cascade Sock yarn. It is so very soft but after knitting up a swatch it was just too brown of a pink. Our last attempt was successful. It is Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in the Peppermint colorway. It is very, very soft and a pleasure to knit!

The pattern is knitting up fairly fast. Although I am working hard to get it done by Sept 21st to make the Seasons of Lace deadline. Plus the dance is early October so I want it done soon anyway. I am almost halfway done and I started it Sept 3rd.

The original pattern is in German. There is a Free Ravelry download of the pattern in English.

I decided to start the pattern with a Provisional Crocheted Cast-on so that each end would look the same for the bind off. I may also decide to add a small knit on border on the short edges. Then I wouldn't have to think about the bind off not being stretchy enough when it comes time to block it.

I can't wait to see it blocked! I wasn't enjoying this pattern when I did the swatch. It just didn't look right. We even decided to start looking for a different pattern. Then I blocked the swatch! Wow! That changed our minds completely!

Black Olives

Finished and blocked!

Size: 20" x 69"

The yarn is one cone of Rayon Petalspun (Art. 2025) from Pisgah Yarn & Dyeing Co. in black. This yarn is very soft. I just weighed what is left of my one pound cone. It is about 8oz. So I used about 1/2 of the cone.

It was knit on size 5 bamboo needles. I used circulars because that is what I had available at the time I started this project.

The pattern is one I was writing up to be a cloth pattern but upon knitting the cloth it cried out to be a stole. I thought it would look nice with a knit on border that complemented the diagonal main body. I plan to write up the pattern and make it available on Ravelry.

I chose this yarn because I wanted this stole to be able to be used with my swimsuit at the pool on those cool days. I didn't want to worry it would lose its blocking if it got wet. The pool closed before I finished but I did get to throw it over my shoulders once while I knit on the first border. I also wanted the yarn to have a bit of a sheen to it so it would go nicely with some of my outfits. (Not this particular outfit! I wore this so the lace would show up nicely in the photos.)

Seasons of Lace

The other "big" start on the 21st was for the Seasons of Lace (Rav link) and the Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery Shawl. This is a Pi Shawl. You can still sign up for this KAL (knit along) until the 30th of June!

Goddess Knits site to sign up for this free pattern
Yahoo Group link ...where the pattern is uploaded so you can download.
Group on Ravelry

Clue 1 was fast. Completed it June 21st. This is Chart A. You had to pick one of the four charts.



Clue 2 was released on the 21st. I finished on the 23rd. This is the shawl so far. I didn't stretch it out completely.



For Clue 2 I used Chart B....again four different charts to chose from. As of this moment there is the possibility of 16 different shawls. If Clue 3 has four chart choices again then we're up to a possible 64 different shawls. Then Clue 4...256 different possibilities. Then there will be one more choice at the end to make it bigger if desired....if I'm remembering correctly.

The yarn is from Handpaintedyarn.com
I chose this yarn for the color and the price. The color is Mares Profundos. It is a very deep dark blue - semisolid. As I hand wound one of the two hanks I noticed that it isn’t consistent in its width. Some areas are a little thicker and some a little thinner. There were some kinks too. I’m not a spinner but those little kinks look like some spots may be over spun???? No clue if that is the case though. Some spots don’t look spun at all. So I have no idea. Anyway…I love the color. I hope it blocks ok...and keeps the block! Most of the items I've blocked tend to shrink up again...sometimes on the first wearing.

I'm using size 5 needles. I moved it to 24" circular needles as soon as possible. The bamboo dpns tips were a bit too rounded for long term lace knitting. They did work to get it started though.

Tick, Tock

I'm biding my time.

I love knitting socks so I signed up for "Summer of Socks". (Link to group at Ravelry) Sign ups are now closed because the start date is fast upon us...Saturday June 21st! But that also means that I've been waiting and waiting to cast on for a sock. I really miss having a sock project along in my purse to take up those wasted minutes that present themselves unexpectedly.

I haven't cast on another lace project either because I also signed up for Seasons of Lace. (Link to group at Ravelry) Lace socks also count! Anything lace! It also begins June 21st. Sign up for that group is still open a few more days I think.

And I thought, "Hey, if I'm going to be knitting lace why not sign up for the Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery Shawl Along group?" Whew, what a mouthful. Cut and paste comes in handy. Here's the Ravelry link for that group. The first "clue" was posted on the 14th of June. I'm still swatching and waiting for the starting gun for Seasons of Lace before I officially cast on for this circular shawl. Sign up is still open for that as well (as of today anyway).

I also started messing around with a new cloth pattern but it turned into a stole with a knitted on border on both ends. I've swatched for that too...but not with the yarn I want to use exactly. I've swatched and blocked with 100% mercerized cotton (fingering weight). I'm currently swatching with Euroflax linen (sport weight). But I've got some yarn (cotton/linen blend, lace weight?) on order to experiment with. I didn't want to spend a lot of money since this is all an experiment. And I wanted a yarn that I could wear over my swimming suit at the pool. Some not-so-hot days I'd rather throw on a cover up than an old beach towel. I'm cautiously optimistic about this project at this point.


Since there aren't any pictures...
This is Caesar. We inherited him from my mother-in-law after her fall last October. He is a friendly bird and loves to greet daddy when he gets home from work. He also loves his veggie/noodles, showers and chattering! He doesn't like to be pet but he does like to sit on your finger, or head, or toes, or whatever. This picture shows him getting comfortable on my daughter's arm with his foot up. Look at all those new little head feathers!

Swallowtail Shawl

Here's the Swallowtail Shawl. This is a pattern from Interweave Knits Spring 2006 issue. It is also being offered right now for a limited time as a free pattern at the Knitting Daily site (along with 4 other patterns).

The knitting wasn't too hard...although I did have to pay attention and count more than usual. I feared the nupps (the part that looks like Lilies of the Valley). After reading through the tips at Ravelry I made the decision to go ahead and give them a go (some replace the nupps with beads). The trick to the nupps are making the k1, yo, k1, yo k1 (all in one st) very very loose....like a half an inch of yarn pulled out for each k1.

The cast off I did with a needle 2 sizes bigger but it still may have been done too tightly. My "swallowtail" peaks didn't stay very pointed at all. Ahhh well...maybe next time I block it I'll try something different. I'm not an expert blocker by any stretch of the imagination.

This shawl, although called a shawl, is really scarf size which is what I wanted. Here are some pictures of how I've experimented in wearing it today. It's my first triangular shawl/scarf and thought I'd have some fun with it.

This was knit with Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud. Stream was the name of the color. It is very soft yarn. It took less than 1 skein (50 gms). I probably have about 13 gms left over.

Knitted Lacy Round Dishcloth

This Knitted Lacy Round Dishcloth is a free pattern from Knitting Knonsense.

It is a fairly fast knit and looks beautiful.

I decided to use Euroflax Linen for this cloth so it wouldn't get too big. I knit this on size 3 needles. It's about 9 1/2" in diameter.

I did the kitchener stitch incorrectly. I used the reverse stockinette method on this cloth. But I've already made another cloth and used the garter stitch kitchener. (That link is a PDF download)

It really needed to be blocked. Here's a picture of it blocked on my 0000 needles:


Blogger wouldn't download that picture (having hiccups or something) so this picture is downloaded from flickr. You can see a larger picture if you click on this and then the "all sizes" link above the flickr picture.

Elfin Lace Scarf

This scarf has been finished for some time...the knitting anyway.

I finally blocked it yesterday! I used blocking wires for the first time. Wow! They worked great!

It is about 10 1/4" wide and about 5 feet long (or so).

The pattern (for the cloth) is here.

I made it the same width as the cloth just kept on knitting the length.

The cashmere is from Belisa Cashmere, Bundanoon, NSW, Australia. This was purchased at Stitches Midwest 2006. (I used size 5 needles.)

I decided not to add a border on the bottom/top edges. I like it as it is. I was also going to try to reverse the pattern so the hearts would go the same direction but I didn't do that either. So now it is hearts on one side and spades down the other. Just need some diamonds and clubs...

Cashmere Scarf

My mom and I went to Stitches Midwest last year with our LYS. This laceweight cashmere yarn was something my mom bought (it came with a free pattern). She didn't enjoy knitting with such thin yarn on such slippery needles (addi's) so in frustration she threw it my way.

I cast on.....I didn't mind it at all. It was a nice break from sock knitting. And for her birthday this year I knew exactly what to give to her.

Marie, thanks for asking about the size. That would be nice to know. I called my mom and she'll measure it. The other pictures I had were not that great. I had dried it on bath towels...note to self...buy prettier bath towels for drying knit items. I wanted to get a picture of my mom wearing it and I did have a chance yesterday but spaced out. Ooo...mom called it is 12" x 55".