monday's musing & a give-away

Tis better to give than receive, is it not? I think so. That's why I'm giving away a copy of Tanis Gray's book, 3 Skeins or Less! Leave a comment by midnight, PST, November 5 (Wednesday) for a chance to win!

It's a great little book with some fantastic patterns, including my Tanis Shawl. I really loved every minute of designing and knitting this one. The yarn - Heavenly Fingering from The Uncommon Thread - was truly truly heavenly down to the last stitch.

Tanis, the woman, was an absolute pleasure to work with. Tanis, the shawl, has a beaded asymmetrical spine that moves seamlessly into the border.

The wide lace border is fairly heavily beaded with 6/0 seed beads placed with a crochet hook.

And Tanis is finished with a beaded picot bind-off.

3 Skeins or Less

By Tanis Gray

Interweave/F+W; $24.99

http://bit.ly/YA1MeV

leafy

My newest Oddment is here!

 Meet the Elven Cloche,

a squishy hat knit in garter stitch

with a stockinette leaf draped rakishly across one side.


Knit from the top down,

the hat begins with i-cord

and then splits off into leaf,

and not leaf.

Available in the The Great Oddments Knitdown subscription eBook, and knit from Valley Yarns Northampton Bulky!

monday's musing and a new pattern!

"Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it." - Lou Holtz
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And...introducing 

Copperwood!

This over-sized scarf/stole is a mashup of my Pins & Lace Club 2013 patterns. It's knit in Wagtail yarns 100% mohair fingering weight yarn (2 ply), and uses size 6/0 seed beads on the bind off edges.

It's big enough for a stole, but I love wearing it as an over-sized scarf.

Mohair is light, fluffy and warm, and it squeezes down perfectly into a bag for those chilly moments of the day or evening.

It can be dressed down with jeans and a corduroy shirt,

or up as a shoulder wrap.

Like all of my patterns, Copperwood includes both full written and charted instructions. A diagram shows the construction from the provisional cast-on through the first end, and then from the cast-on point to the second end.

The sample shown is worked in Wagtail's 2 ply yarn, and uses approximately 750 yards of a skein. The mohair is grown in Australia by the producers and features a very long staple length with more strength than is usually seen in mohair yarns. Because of the nature of the yarn (no bounce-back/memory), the pattern uses a smaller sized needle (US 5) than might normally be used to achieve gauge; the yarn behaves similarly to a baby alpaca or a silk. If a different yarn with more memory were to be substituted, a larger needle would almost certainly be needed to achieve the gauge given. It is particularly important to swatch with the Wagtail yarn before beginning your project, and wash and block the swatch. It will serve as a reminder of how beautiful the finished product will be, as the project will look particularly rough and uneven in this yarn before blocking. When knitting this project, I found it helpful to weight the provisional cast-on edge so that the yarn would not bunch up at the beginning, and I could easily avoid knitting into the row below.

Copperwood uses motifs from Winter's Moon, Song of Spring, Fuchsia Nouveau, and StarDance, all of which are now available as single patterns as well as in the eBook collection!

bit of a loose end

I didn't post this before I took off to Atlanta, so before I fly back, here goes! Noliegirl on Ravelry has won my monthly give-away (at the end of September) for her gorgeous Meadowberry (my pattern Meadowgold). Isn't her version lovely?

I think the color is stunning!

Congrats to you! Just PM me and let me know what pattern you would like!

bigger all the time

After my shawl (#1 for Y4!) came home with me, I ripped it all out. But it wasn't a sad thing. Not at all! The earlier version gave its life so that future generations could be made better and more beautiful. And I'm really happy with the way the plan is coming together.

The original version didn't have the lace inserts between the Vs of leaves (or really they look like little trees), it had a textured panel instead. Totally didn't work for me. The original also didn't have the scalloped edge, which I love in the new version!

I also decided to do a second version in the lovely Bliss sock from Saffron Dyeworks. The colorway is Noble, and it's a perfect grey. Dee also sent some beads to go with. Yum!

I started this one with a plain stockinette section between the rows of little trees. I love the way the center of the stockinette section worked out. Sometimes (often?) plain is just perfect.

This one is all fun, since I worked out the chart the first time through, along with a great way to simplify the instructions that I hope you'll love! It saves you from having to look at monstrously huge charts. Back to knitting for me! (And I promise to tell you more about the boat a little bit later).

well travelled

I'm going to tell you about a little trip, and I can't believe it's been so long since we've been back! So much happened, then the boys went back to school (they go in mid August) and then I had that little mishap with my iPhone. Thankfully, I had already uploaded a ton of the trip photos before I lost everything. (Word to the wise: back up. All the time. Why didn't I do this? I who have back-up upon back-up of my computers? No one–least of all I–knows.) Then the Rim Fire. Honestly, the smoke got into my brain circuits in a bad way. But it's going away now! The wind shifted and I just spent a lovely evening out on the porch with Mr. Romi. We will be enjoying the heck out of it until the wind shifts back.

Anyway. We took a little road trip down to Southern California to visit my Mother-in-Law. I hurriedly wound my lovely Saffron Dyeworks yarn (Casablanca in Rusty Halo*) into a ball to take along, and my first shawl for Y4 went along for the ride.

We saw trees

and desert.

We travelled through the Owens Valley (famous if you have ever read Cadillac Desert or know otherwise about the California water wars and how LA dried out the Owens Valley and Mono Lake).

We visited and we chatted. And when we had tired out Mr. Romi's dear mother for the day, we went down to the water to give her a little break. My knitting went along, of course.

Mr. Romi's cousin happened to be about to go out in search of blue whales in his gorgeous boat (more about that boat later on this week - it's very cool and deserves its own post). My knitting came out for a cameo, but went back in the bag so I could enjoy the beautiful day on the water.

Bear was relaxing in his space.

#1 Son was controlling things.

We saw the whale blow (off to the left there), and I have so many pics, but this one sort of sums up the experience.

We were there for quite awhile, watching the whale surface and then go back down to feed again. And then we went in search of dolphins. We saw Pacific Bottlenose and Common. They swam alongside the boat, playing in our wake with their babies. They were as interested in us as we were in them.

Then our cousin got out his auquaphone. Bear was absolutely lost to us at that point, and we almost didn't get him back in the car to leave. I think we have a oceanographer/marine biologist in the making. He is a true water baby, but to be honest, this was one of the most amazing experiences of my life too, and I am not a big water lover.

We went back to shore.

And then it was time for refreshments.

We visited some more, both MIL and cousin for the long weekend. And then we were back on our way.

We saw Joshua trees,

and then we were home again.

It was a lovely trip.

*(Saffron Dyeworks is currently having problems getting the Casablanca base, but I think Mini Mica would be a great substitute!)

6 myths

I've been reading a lot of these lately and it's just put me in a debunking mood! So bear with me while I ramble on about 6 common lace knitting myths (you can see more about some of these along with pictures of swatches and all sorts of good stuff in my Craftsy class!).

Myth #1: There's no need to swatch because it doesn't matter how a shawl or scarf fits.
Wrong! You should always always swatch and block your lace patterns (this is called a "dressed" swatch), if only to see how you like the fabric you'll be producing with the needles and fiber you've chosen. Also, since lace never looks all that great before blocking, you'll be giving yourself a boost of knitting energy halfway through your project when your lace piece looks like something the cat dragged in. Just take a look at the loveliness of your blocked swatch and you'll feel reinvigorated!

Myth #2: If I go down a needle size my lace will tighten up and look better.
Eep! No! First off, see above. Second, there are some fibers (baby alpaca comes to mind) where no amount of going down in needle size will ever make your unblocked lace look like anything but cat barf. To get that gorgeous airy lacy look, you will need to use larger needles than you think and block the bejeezus out of it. Ever wonder why your lace looks so uneven when there are peeps out there who do open beautiful lace and their stitches Look. So. Perfect. Does it just make you want to scream (or whimper)? :psst:blocking:psst: So use those bigger needles, and if you don't believe me? Block it. :)

Myth #3: There's no need to block.
Wrong! Again, see above for starters. For lace especially, blocking is magic! But honestly, every time I get a certain online store catalog, I cringe looking through the projects. One or two of them might be blocked, but I can tell from the lumpy bumpiness (even in straight stockinette stitch) that most have never seen water. Your knits need to be wet all the way through and petted into shape. It makes them feel good. And when they feel good, they make you look amazing!

Myth #4: One square in a chart equals one stitch used.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzt! Wrong! I could have twenty chart squares in a row and only use 5 stitches! (Multiple yarnovers anyone?) Conversely, I could have two chart squares in a row and use 10 stitches with a couple of handy k5tog symbols. So when you are counting to make sure you have enough stitches, count the number of stitches used and not the number of boxes in the chart row.

Myth #5: The repeat lines in a chart are for stitch marker placement.
Nope. Those are for marking repeats only. You can use them for marker placement (I do!) if you keep this in mind: they may move around and you might have to borrow stitches from the next repeat from time to time (especially when there's a double decrease in that row). Or they might even move around from chart to chart within the same pattern. If your markers end up needing to be moved, this does not constitute an error in the pattern.

Myth #6: The black boxes labeled "no stitch" in the chart key are slipped stitches.
=8-0 Wrong-o. There is absolutely no stitch there. Nothing. Nada. Those "no stitch" symbols are there to keep the integrity of the chart so that you can see how your stitches line up in patterns where the stitch count changes row to row. Just ignore them. They aren't really there.

Do you have any pet myths that need debunking? Let me know! This was kinda fun. ;)

inattention: discuss(t)

I always have a project going that involves lots of mindless knitting. This is the one I take in cars, the one I sit with while watching a movie. This is the one that makes me less fidgety. But sometimes this "mindless" sort of project backfires. And sometimes it backfires in a very big way. Following is a tale of woe. It may be a little too much for you, and you should be advised that this is not for the faint hearted: those who shrink from the sight of yarny entrails stretched across a floor.

It all started so well. I was loving the drape of the tml and the color. The lace stitch pattern is one of my very very favorites.

I was enjoying it so much that it was flying off the needles. I knit on it while working on my Craftsy class and the last patterns from my Y3 eBook. It was my calm knitting when I was uptight, and I loved the way it was draping on my dress mannequin. I was so excited to look forward to a nice light lacy and simple sweater just for me me ME!

When I got back from shooting my Craftsy class in Denver, I pulled my leafy sweater out and finished off one of the sleeves. It was super relaxing after a full week.

I was particularly loving the underarms and the way the raglan sleeves joined into the body.

I picked up the stitches on the other armhole and somehow it seemed tighter than the first sleeve. I knit a little further until I couldn't convince myself any longer that my gauge had changed that much.

It was starting to be a little less relaxing. But I still was deeply in love with the sweater.

I counted stitches on the sleeve. Then I counted them again and again; I had one less motif on the second sleeve. Gah! I thought, disbelievingly. This could not be happening to me!

I still thought I could salvage part of the sweater, and maybe even make it a bonus learning experience like my lace surgery posts here and here. I ripped up to the armholes, because sometimes you have to do that.

That's when it really hit me. It wasn't that I had cast on the wrong number of stitches below the armholes. There were four motifs at the top of the first shoulder.

And three motifs at the top of the second shoulder.

Need I say what ensued? I took a deep breath.

I ripped.

I tried to tell myself I was happy that I didn't have to cast on again.

But I wasn't really that happy.

It went into hibernation.

Sometimes it just doesn't work out, and no amount of chocolate or surgery will help.

I've pulled it out again and I'm looking at it sideways. It hurt me once, you know, but I've gotten over a lot of it.

Knitting gods willing, I will have a nice sweater for Stitches West. I will be lighting a candle. Perhaps several.

And if you've made it this far? You deserve a gratuitous shot of Petunia with her new haircut.

Isn't she cute?