30 May 2008

Lace, Wabbits and Thanks

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your answers to my lace question! Thank you thank you! And Kerry gave me an idea. I will have a contest when I reveal what that yarn is. :)

In answer to Tora, who asked about how to keep track of the lace chart. Here's what I do.... I, like Tora, use a magnetic board for larger lace pattern repeats. The magnet strip stays at the top of the row I am working, and I highlight each row with a highlighter as I finish it. I also highlight the lines between repeats on the chart and use stitch markers that correspond to the highlighted line. I often count stitches between markers on the purl row when I knit patterns that are not lace on each row. This is all important because I have two smallish kids and a rabbit that is obsessed with me (more on that later). I can always find my way back to where I left off when the kids started yelling. :)

Have any of you had experience grafting lace? I am pretty sure it was absent from the list of things you would all want to learn. Did you find it easy? Difficult? Too frightening to start? ;)

And now for the obsessive rabbit. Since the weather is a little summery these days, I've been wearing shorts. And, um, the Diva seems to like my legs. If I sit down at the dining room table, she runs around my feet and through my legs in figure eights, nips at my ankles and scrabbles at my legs. I cannot get her to stop. I try picking her up (the Toymaker says she just loves me a lot) but she wants up and down and up and down and...you get the idea. I have to wear long pants in the kitchen, and she needs to be put away during meals. If I am walking around the kitchen (she is not allowed to leave the kitchen/dining room), she constantly does figure eights through my legs. I have to shuffle my feet to keep from stepping on her. It is very bizarre. Here is the older son trying to keep her away from me:

but it doesn't last. She didn't even finish her parsley (her favorite food) before she was back. Younger son put out her book - right under my chair. That worked for a little while.

("Mo-oommmmmm, the rabbit ate my homework!") And then she was back.

I hope she gets less obsessive as she gets older.

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12 Comments:

Blogger Cookie said...

I've been avoiding grafting in lace. *L*

I wonder if the bunny likes your lotion. I hope it's that because if it's not, it might be a long summer for you.

XO

2:34 PM  
Blogger thursday said...

I think we'd all enjoy a video of the bizarre rabbit behavior. ;) Good luck...

3:50 PM  
Blogger Jamie/Moira said...

I would like to learn how to graft lace.

I also need to learn how to properly employ the provisional cast on.

4:26 PM  
Blogger Tiny Tyrant said...

I second Jamie's two statements.

And Cookie might be on to something there. Could be your soap too. Might want to try Ivory and a fragrance free lotion for a few days and see what happens.

And I cannot wait to see thursday's suggestion show up on YouTube.

Hehe.

8:59 PM  
Blogger Yarnhog said...

I have grafted lace, and I didn't find it any harder than grafting stockinette. (Which, come to think of it, I find pretty darned hard.) But later I wanted to take out the grafting to remove a couple of repeats and soon realized it would be easier to separate my skin from my body in one piece than to take out that grafting without destroying the project.

10:14 PM  
Blogger Cindy/Snid said...

Grafting lace; when we made the Madli's shawl for our friend for her wedding, there were four of us who knitted sections and then we grafted them together. You can search my blog for details, but it is not too difficult, it just takes some time and concentration. It turned out very nice and they only reason you could tell it was done in sections was that we had used a slightly variegated yarn and the color patterning was a little different because of this.

Sounds like you have a mischievous teenager bunny! We had one that would hop up onto surfaces and start throwing things around to get our attention!

4:20 AM  
Blogger vanessa said...

be careful you don't trip over the bunny and hurt yourself!

6:43 AM  
Blogger sophanne said...

Thinking about grafting would mean that I got past more than 8 rows without losing my concentration. The tips about the stitch markers and how you and others use them were helpful. (at least in my head- I haven't tried them yet)

8:29 AM  
Blogger T said...

Thanks Romi, that makes perfect sense. I can't wait to try it our!

Tora in Chagrin Falls, Ohio

9:57 AM  
Blogger Erica said...

Some rabbits freak out for the salt on your skin, does your bunny have a multimineral salt lick available all the time? If it's lonely (they are very social animals) try giving it a (plastic) mirror, and a nice scratchy board to scrabble the claws on (just lay it on the floor), and a hardwood dowel to nibble on.

10:22 AM  
Blogger YowlYY said...

Has your bunny been neutered yet? If not, this may be one of the things some like to do. Nik was just like that, and his behaviour improved after the neuter. I am off now to explore your blog (lace...yum!), which I've just stumbled upon :)

12:52 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes, grafting lace stoles in the middle is mind boggling. In theory it sounds easy enough, but once those knits, purls, and yarn-overs leave the knitting needles, it's so hard to keep track of what to do next and keep the tension even. (Could you graft with a silk thread in a contrasting color, then go back and duplicate stitch in your proper yarn?)
Madeline

5:34 AM  

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