Things that really needle you

Beware, friends, the hazards of knitting on a very, VERY crowded commuter rail train!

I cast on for the Vernal Equinox Shawl swatch on the train on my way to see my family for Thanksgiving. I bound off a stop or two before getting off the train, and put my knitting bag down. Then my phone rang. I rummaged for my backpack to get it, knocking over my knitting bag in the process, I guess. When I got to my parents' house, I found out that the needles I'd been using were gone (the size 6 tips from my Harmony Options and a 16" cable), as were my Clover Chibi yarn needles and my BRAND NEW stitch markers--the whole bag of them. GAH!!!

I was so pissed. I blocked the swatch, and it turns out that the size 6 needles were really the perfect size. But, I wanted to get started on the actual shawl while I was on vacation. I ended up whipping out the size 5 tips and knitting really loosely, which was more comfortable than knitting tightly on 7s. I hope it goes well. So far, it looks fine. I've done the first and second charts all the way through, and am about 15 rows into the third chart. I do need to get more stitch markers, I think. I also need to order another pair of size 6 Harmony Options tips. After Christmas, I guess, since my mom's doing money rather than presents this year.

I'm not a huge fan of this yarn. It's really loosely spun, which makes it pretty splitty. But the coloring is turning out to be quite pretty, and I think it'll look nice when it's done.

And now, for my next trick!

Hooray! I finished the hot water bottle cozy yesterday! I sort of feel like it wasn't really worth it. It wasn't by any means difficult to knit. In fact, it was easy enough to be boring. It wasn't all that pleasant, either. The yarn is gorgeous stuff, really. I love it. But I love it on size 8 needles, not on size 6s. Also, I bloody hate weaving in ends, and choosing to do wide stripes of color meant that I had quite a bit of end-weaving to do. Note to self: now you've seen how the Russian Join works. ALWAYS DO THAT FROM NOW ON, OK?

Now, I can get back to doing something truly fun and exciting. Lace! Yes, I'm on a lace kick. I belong to two lace-specific groups on Ravelry, and a third one for shawls that is mostly about lace. Lace is fun. Lace turns a little yarn into a lot of impressive fabric. Lace is pretty. Lace makes me happy.

I'm going to start on Vernal Equinox, using the Green Mystery Yarn. I've never done a semicircular shawl (or a semicircular anything, so this will be new to me. It looks very pretty. A lot of people have done it, and there was a knit-along, so there should be plenty of resources for me if I need to troubleshoot. I'm going to try that new (to me) trick on the lifelines, where you thread them through the keyhole in the Options needles instead of pushing them through every stitch with a yarn needle. I think I have enough stitch markers that I won't run out. (This is an issue because when you do the lifelines this way, any stitch markers that are on the needle when the lifeline goes through get stuck on the lifeline. When you pull the lifeline, they come out--they aren't stuck on stitches--but you can't keep moving them up while you work.) I should at least have enough to get me through Thanksgiving break.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I need to find an outfit. All I know is that I want to wear my Aeolian shawl to show it off to my family. :) Maybe with the new burgundy velvet pants and my white blouse? We'll see! I just hope they all ooh and aah over it. They probably won't. They're family, after all. Well, my immediate family will be impressed. Hmm...do any of my cousins knit? I don't think so. I wonder if a pretty shawl like that one will maybe gain some new converts to the Way of the Yarn-Whore? :)

BORED NOW.

I haven't posted in a little while. I know, that's hardly unusual for this blog, but I'd been so good about it! The reason why I haven't posted is that my current knitting project feels more like WORK than fun. I'm making a hot water bottle cozy. It's a very simple project--so simple it's not a challenge. Also, it's on heavy worsted cotton yarn knit on size 6 DPNS (since I didn't have a long enough needle cable for Magic Loop). So:

1) Boring pattern
2) Non-stretchy yarn knit at a very tight gauge for that yarn
3) DPNs (hate)

I have not been enthusiastic. So, it's been taking me a little while. I have left my knitting bag at home on rainy days, of which we've had a few, and I also left it today. I intend to finish it over the weekend, though, because I want to move on to something fun...like LACE! I will probably start the Vernal Equinox shawl in the Green Mystery Yarn from Newton's Yarn Country. That will keep me pleasantly occupied for a while, and give me something to do over Thanksgiving when I am not stuffing my face with...um...stuffing.

Craft night!

Tonight, one of my friends is hosting a craft night at her place. Many of us will be knitting or crocheting. One guy will probably be making chain mail. Someone might be doing embroidery or beadwork. I think I'm going to get started on a hot water bottle cozy. I'm dithering about which of two different patterns I want to use. I need to weigh my cotton yarn when I get home. If I have enough of the blue alone, I might do the cabled one just in blue. If I don't, I'm going to have to do the plainer one, because cables don't look as good when striped, IMO. But...I already did buy buttons for the plainer one. Oh, ok. I'll make a simple striped one. :)

I have remembered that I have a $25 gift certificate from my manager for Windsor Button, sitting at home! I was in there the other day to get my buttons, and took some time to ogle the yarn. They now have some Dream in Color! They also have Malabrigo lace. And of course, Kidsilk Haze, which is starting to lure me with its evil softness. I'm starting to like the idea of mohair lace. Sure, it'd be a BITCH to have to frog any of it, but it's so frothy and light and ethereal. I might just have to get some of that.

I'm considering waiting until the holidays, because chances are, my manager will get me ANOTHER gift cert for WB this year. Then I can go on a spree! I'm telling you...lacy stuff is making me more of a yarn whore. Now I can just get a skein of lace yarn or even sock yarn without a pattern in mind, confident that I'll find a gorgeous little one-skein wonder on Ravelry. Stuff like Multnomah, or Bitterroot, or Ice Queen. A couple skeins, and I can make even more. It's not like sweaters, where I'd have to worry about getting 6 skeins of worsted, or something, which makes it hard to be spontaneous. This is dangerous, because now I CAN be spontaneous. OTOH, it also makes it easier to get a lot out of my gift certificates!

The end is nigh!

The end of Multnomah, anyway. I can smell it! I started binding off on the bus to work this morning. Squee! :D With luck, I'll be blocking it tonight! Making use of my new blocking kit! At least, making use of the flexible rods and pins--there are no straight lines on this shawl! It's all curves, baby, just like me! Yeah.

...that feather and fan edge is going to be a pain in the ass to pin...

A friend of mine has asked me if I would knit something for her on commission. I told her I'd consider it--we need to discuss what she wants, and then if it's something that looks reasonable to me, we can agree on a price. I'm not going to charge a hell of a lot, since she's a friend and not asking for something on a deadline or to give someone else as a gift. So I don't mind making part of the labor be my gift to her. She wants either a small shawlette (I'd do something fairly simple--not another Aeolian!--in sock yarn, most likely) or some fingerless gloves.

Green is good for spring, right?

Just found this pattern on Ravelry: Vernal Equinox Shawl. That might be just perfect for my green mystery lace yarn! A verdant Vernal! :)

Still going on Multnomah. I must have done something silly when I wasn't paying attention, because I had to tink back several rows to fix it. I think I did an odd row on an even row? Something like that. So stupid--it's the easiest pattern ever at this point. Maybe that's why I wasn't paying attention! Anyway, I've finished row 69 (hur hur hur) and am eager to start the feather and fan pattern in a few more rows!

This weekend, I need to find time to bring my fingerless Vancouver Fog gloves to the Nave Gallery for their knitwear sale. I hope they bring in a good few bucks for the SHC!

Yarnia!!!

Once again, the Knitting Kumquat and I had a fantastic time at Stitches East, aka "Yarnia"--that magical land full of yarn. Again, even though we got there before 11am, we found ourselves rushed as we got to the end of the day.

Now, I haven't finished using all the yarn I bought at the last SE. I got the stuff that I used to make Aeolian, and that's done. Hey, have a full shot!



I also got the stuff I'm using to make Multnomah, and that's in progress. Here's a WIP shot (blurry, but shows the color)!



I also got the Mystery Green Yarn That Seems To Be Laceweight, and haven't used that yet at all. See, it's marked "sport," but it's a 2-ply that has 2200 yards to the pound, so that's, well, LACE! I need to pick a shawl for it. I have about 1200 yards. Here's a picture. Sorry about the crappy yarn cakes: my swift needs some glue.



Now, this year, I knew I wanted to get some nice laceweight. I ended up getting it at DBNY, where I had gotten the Dream in Color stuff last year. This year, they had a whole bunch of lovely Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Lace. Here's the color I got: Roses Are Red. My cat is furry and blurry. Don't mind her.



I also got a couple small (50-meter) skeins of a yarn that DBNY called "Sparkle", which is actually a variant on SWTC's "Yang." The Kumquat and I had been ogling sequined yarn (hey, I'm also a belly dancer!) all day, but most of it was extremely pricey. This was $7 for a skein. It's probably going to be a simple small scarf.



Other purchases included stitch markers (I ALWAYS seem to lose them) and a blocking set that includes flex wires, rigid wires, pins, and a yardstick.

Next time, we need to be more judicious about how we spend our time, because it costs us opportunities! Last year we didn't even finish looking at all the vendors. This year, we barely did. We scarcely had any time at one we missed last year: the Sanguine Gryphon. I'd only just heard of them, and this was the first time I got to really look at their stuff. Wow, is it gorgeous! These girls are like the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab of yarn: quirky and geeky and a whole lot of fun! Next year, I WILL buy something there. Yes, I will. Also, it was rather sweet when they liked my skirt enough that they threatened to molest me. In fact, that skirt got me a LOT of attention. More than my Aeolian! Sure, I got compliments on Aeolian. It's a fairly complex shawl, and the beads add real sparkle and interest. But a lot of people had on lace shawls. Not many people were wearing knitted skirts. The corset-style lacing in the back really adds something to it, as well. I had a slew of people ask me what the pattern was.

Oh man, what a day! It was really delightful. We were among our own, you know? It's the same kind of feeling I get when I go to Arisia, the sci-fi convention held here in Boston: I can geek out like mad, and be surrounded by people geeking out over the same stuff. The Kumquat, a fellow sci-fi-geek, knows this feeling as well.

It's probably a good thing for my wallet that I didn't go for the whole weekend, but man, I could have browsed in there for days, never mind taking classes!

Busy beaver

Hey, get your mind out of the gutter. I do work at MIT. Beavers are ubiquitous here--I even have one hanging on the wall of my cube!

I finished up the second of the Vancouver Fog gloves last night. I wove in all the ends and gave them a little bath in knit wash before laying them flat to dry. They came out pretty decently! Quickly, too: after a false start, I cast on on Friday. :)

Today, I have already started something new: I cast on for Multnomah. I figure I'll likely have enough yarn. I'm using size 4 needles instead of 3 (really, it's because I didn't have any size 3 circs or straights--just DPNs!), but it looks like people have used 4s and even 5s, and haven't needed a full skein of the yarn I have in order to finish. Since I don't quite have a full skein, this is good!

I know some people don't like the fact that Multnomah, as written, is heavy on the garter stitch. Frankly, though, I don't mind it in smaller yarns. I like the simplicity of the pattern because it will really show off the gorgeous colors of this yarn. The colorway is called "Dark Woods." I still don't know what I'm going to call my project. I'm thinking "Lovely, Dark, and Deep" (as in "These woods are lovely, dark, and deep/But I have promises to keep/And miles to go before I sleep"). :) This means I'll have something to work on at Stitches East. It's EASY, too. All that garter stitch is pretty mindless. I just need to keep an eye out for where to put the center YOs so I don't skip one and have to tink back to do it. Or I could just put in a stitch marker. I might just do that.

I am in such a frenzied knitting mood! I'm more productive than ever with it (hence the subject of this post), and I just want to keep doing more and more. I'm already looking ahead to other projects! This is unlike me! I took out my green-multi sock yarn last night (you know, the enormous hank?) and ogled it a bit. I keep thinking it's lighter and more yellow-y than it is, but it's sort of grassy looking, with little bits of olive and other green-variants here and there. I still think that just winding some yarn-cakes and swatching a little might serve me well. I want to see how it knits up. THEN I can make a decision. But whereas for a long time I wasn't all that excited about that yarn, now I'm kind of itching to see what I can do with it!

If I drove, I'd need a bumper sticker that said, "I'd rather be knitting," because that always seems to be true these days. :)

Plans and plots

What I'm doing right now: I'm working on what I think of as an "instant gratification" project: a quick, easy knit using stash yarn that I do between more planned-out, complicated projects. This time, it's a pair of cabled fingerless gloves (Vancouver Fog is the name of the pattern). I'm making them to give to a local art gallery, which is having a sale of handknit goods in November, to benefit the Somerville Homeless Coalition. I've got the left one done, and am nearing the end of the right one. I started them on Friday night, and I'll likely finish tomorrow.

What's next, then?

Well, on Friday, my friend the Knitting Kumquat and I are heading to Connecticut to go to Stitches East! We're going for the shopping again, though we might attend a vendor class too. I am going to strictly limit my purchases. Nothing that isn't acquired at a significant discount, and no frivolous junk like pins or tee-shirts! I need to watch my spending! Things I will be on the lookout for:

* gorgeous sock yarn that can be used in a lacy shawl
* gorgeous lace yarn that can be used in a lacy shawl

Yeah, Aeolian got me hooked on lace! :)

I'm making plans for my second skein of Dream In Color Stardust. I used some of it in finishing my Aeolian, but I should have enough left for a smallish shawlette. I'm thinking of something simpler than Aeolian, because the color variegation on this skein is more pronounced than on the other skein, so elaborate designs might get a bit overwhelmed. I'm thinking something simple that will show off the colors nicely. Maybe Multnomah, or Old Man of Storr, or Deirdre. Or maybe I'll try Traveling Woman. We'll see!

I have to remember that I still have that enormous hank of greenish lightweight merino sock yarn. Seriously, it's like 1600 yards. I got it for the price of about 450 yards of most sock yarns, so it was a hell of a deal. But every time I pull it out, I'm like, "Eh...not sure I like the color all that much." I think what I need to do is just knit with some of it. Do a simple lacey swatch or something. See how it looks. Then I can make a decision about what pattern would suit it.

I'm really in one of those "want to be knitting all the time" moods!

DONE!

It's done! It's done! It's done!!!

And I have been like this :D and like this \o/ all morning. Even more so than last night when I was actually finishing it.

Yes, folks, my Aeolian shawl, named Boreas, is done. I'm wearing it today, and couldn't be happier.

I bound off yesterday afternoon while at a friend's party. I hadn't had quite enough yarn, so I finished it with a little bit from my other DIC Stardust skein, which has a similar enough colorway that it doesn't look out of place. I blocked it on the futon in Spare Oom (the guest room, a cat-free zone) last night, and celebrated with a tiny glass of Ardbeg Supernova, the most heavenly scotch we own. I've uploaded photos to Ravelry, but they're half-assed photos taken with the PhotoBooth application on my work computer. I need better ones, including a full, spread-out shot.

For anyone NOT on Ravelry, here are the pics: