Stasia's Place Of Grace

Friday, August 08, 2003

 

Finished Object!

Please Note Changes To Pattern Below, In Red

Koigu Kersti Shawl
Enjay has christened this the Magical Mystery Shawl!

This is a shawl I made up, using Koigu Kersti Merino Crepe DK yarn in color K334 (six 50g skeins of 114 yards used). It hasn't been blocked yet.

I thought that I was knitting it from the bottom point up. For some reason, when I cast off, what I thought was the bottom point decided it was the center of the neck - go figure. This is the first shawl I've made, and I was just winging it, so I guess I didn't really "do the math!"

The general recipe is this:

1) Cast on one stitch. Turn.
2) Knit twice into that stitch (2 sts). Turn.
3) Knit twice into first stitch, YO, knit twice into last stitch (5 sts). Turn.
4) Knit across. Turn.
5) Mark as right side with safety pin. K1, YO, K1, YO, K1, YO, K1, YO, K1. (9 sts.) Turn.
6) Knit across, placing markers before and after 5th stitch to mark it as center stitch. Turn.
7) K1, YO; K to 1st center marker, making a YO before it; pass marker, K center stitch and pass second center marker; YO, K to 2nd to last st, YO, K1. Turn. (See explanation of this standard right-side row below.)
8) Knit across.

Explanation: on right side rows, I continued to increase (with yarnovers) one stitch next to each end stitch, and one stitch on each side of the center stitch - 4 increased stitches every right-side row. All wrong-side rows are knit.

After 8 garter ridges (16 rows), I did a row of YK 1 *YO, K2tog*, repeat between *s across, ending with YO, K1 to make the lacy holes. I just fudged at the ends, or where it didn't come out evenly, to make sure every lacy YO had a corresponding K2tog., so that I didn't increase any more than the four typical stitches needed in that right-side row (but those four YOs do not need corresponding decreases!)

I finished the bottom (what I thought was the top) by doing, after a lacy row, a couple more rows in garter stitch and then just binding off very loosely. Oh, yeah, I stopped when I measured the center line at about 38" when laid flat on the bed, and the last lacy row was about 130 big holes across, including the center and end ones.

This went very quickly - the gauge is about 3.5 sts./inch on a size 10.5 (7mm), 30" circular needle (I used a Susanne's Rosewood and loved it!) I have no idea what the blocked size will be, but just laid out, it is a good 76" wide by 38" deep. I have wet it and pinned it to the bed, using EZ Blockers blocking wires from Fiddlesticks Knitting, and it is pinned at 94" wide by 53" deep. Hopefully it'll spring back slightly when unpinned. I will keep you posted... but if you're making one, you may wish to stop increasing sooner, or not block as severely as I have.

Special thanks to Mary Hoge for her editing skills, and for the initial inspiration and concept of this project!

You can do it in a weekend if you're a fast knitter! Enjoy!

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Thursday, August 07, 2003

 

Color!

Today I am grateful for color in nature! The highlight of my day was seeing a brilliant, mustard-yellow and black, male goldfinch on top of a golden sunflower. He was trying to check for seeds, perching near the flower head, and his weight bent the stalk nearly down to the ground as he peeked over the edge. As nothing was yet ripe, he flew away and the flower sprang back to face the sun.

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I'm grateful for color in fiber, too! I am one of those who buys yarn that "matches." You know - white, navy, red; tan, cream, brown. Purple, yellow, and green is about the riskiest combination I'm likely to make. So I would never put these colors together on my own:

Colinette Ab-Fab Throw Kit Yarns

The designers at Colinette assure me that the above will, with my knitting skills (ha!) someday become this:

I'm trusting them...

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This color is gorgeous, too! It is "Parking Ticket" handpainted silk from Carol W. at The Silkworker. This is a two-ply yarn I have spun on the "Little Lendrum" (upright Lendrum, as opposed to the "Lady Lendrum" Saxony):

Carol's colorways are unbelievable, and her fiber is some of the best I have ever had the opportunity to spin. It is prepared flawlessly, and arrives beautifully packaged. Carol is an Artist in the true sense of the word - some of my friends simply collect her handpainted fibers, to keep on display! They're that lovely. Watch for more here in the future, because (I am ashamed to say) I now have a Rubbermaid tub dedicated to Silkworker fibers! (Kary, thanks again for this - you know I have you to blame for my Silkworker addiction, don't you?)

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Speaking of lovely fibers, have you seen Nannette's gorgeous handspun yarn? In case you missed it on her Blog, here it is - isn't it wonderful?

Nan's Yarn, Photo By Nan

The fiber is from Woolgatherings and was painted by Sandy S. (of Twisted Sisters fame), who should be doing a hank for me in this colorway (Apple Blossom) right about now... My yarn will never look as nice as Nan's but I couldn't resist ordering some of this fiber because her photo just took my breath away! After three trips to her Blog to see it, I figured I'd better just get some of my own.

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And Alice S.'s Wonderland Dyeworks is open for business, too! Today I received lovely carded batts in her "Violets In The Sun" colorway and they are simply gorgeous! (They came really fast, too!) The fiber is soft and not over-stripped like some commercial spinnables, and the colors are vivid and well-coordinated. I can't wait to see how my spinning affects the way they are laid out in the carding - it will be an interesting adventure, and I'm sure will help with my own carding skills... the Boo Blend I wrote about the other day is a little too blended, and kind of muddy in the finished yarn, so hopefully I'll pick up some good "tips" from working with Alice's fibers!

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I hope your day is rich in life's many colors, too! Have a good one, and please say hello in my Tag-Board! I love to hear that you've visited!

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Sunday, August 03, 2003

 

Fibery Things

Inspired by the latest Harry Potter book, I wanted to make a "Halloween-y" fiber mix - I'm calling it my Boo Blend. Kate Painter at Paradise Fibers had just what I needed - Ashland Bay Merino rovings in "Pumpkin" and "Purple," and some multicolored Firestar nylon for blending in some "zap":

Upper left, blended batt; lower left, rolled batt buns; upper right, three original rovings.
The actual color is much more vivid.

Once spun, I'll use the yarn for socks or a flashy, lacy scarf. We'll see how it looks before I decide.

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Today I finished the Artisan NZ Merino Lace Scarf, in "Pansy." If I were to make this again, I would use their solid-colored yarn instead of the variegated; the color changes seem to conflict with the Feather And Fan lace pattern (and using too-large needles didn't help). I'll see how I like it once it's blocked - I just received my EZ Blockers from Fiddlesticks Knitting, and am anxious to try them out on this small project - my first lace knitting.

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I'm still working on:

• Rambling Rows Afghan (purple and green acrylic)
• Koigu Kersti DK Merino Crepe garter shawl (variegated fall colors)
• Creaturs Of The Reef Shawl in JaggerSpun Zephyr silk/wool (blue jeans color)

I finished:

• Four sets of stitchmarkers for friends

Next Up:

• Lion Brand Homespun afghan in purple, green, and orange blends for my sister
• Colinette Ab-Fab afghan in fall colors for Jeff
• Lace scarf from cashmere (awesome stuff!) and Silkworker Silk handspun yarn. The singles are ready to be plied; spinning went so smoothly on the new "Little Lendrum." I love this wheel as much as the "Lady Lendrum" Saxony.
• Work socks for Jeff from commercial yarn
• Fiddlesticks Knitting Lotus Blossom shawl in "Periwinkle"
• Fiddlesticks Knitting Lace Scarf in "Paua"

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Please leave a note in the TagBoard, and thanks for visiting! As for me, I have to run... did you see that list I just wrote?!?!? Back to work!

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		Animal	All Bird Cat Dog Horse Pig Rabbit Reptile Small&Furry	Breed		Zip Code