two knits of ivory

(Me and the swift and winder aren't on the best of terms.) Several variables of the Evenstar project have fallen effortlessly (cough, cough) into place. One of these is the yarn I have chosen to use, Madelinetosh's Pashmina . Pashmina is a fingering weight yarn in an intoxicating concoction of 75% superwash wool, 15% silk, and 10% cashmere. I am using the Filigree colorway. How I became the owner of six skeins of this yarn is a tale as old as Christmas. I purchased a crapload of Pashmina from Kaleidescope Yarns - the most excessive being three skeins of the Filigree - on September 5, 2010. On September 11 I began an Ishbel with a skein of the Filigree and became so intoxicated with the yarn and the colorway I was moved to buy the three remaining skeins they had in this colorway. Now was three all they had left? I think so, but my memory is shit. I just remember thinking that I had to have enough of this yarn and 1080 yards wasn't enough. Not enough. 2160...

So I'm finally doing some "real" knitting (pronounced like the real part of realpolitik ). And I think I'm going to do some "real" knit blogging about it. I'm challenging myself after a long, long period of comfort knitting. I have begun my Evenstar and it has returned my Christmas joy. In the past week I have a) chosen the pattern I hope to enter into the 2011 Topsfield Fair b) knit two (read it and weep lazy knittahs! not one but two!) swatches of the star pattern c) found the perfect yarn in my stash!!! (Ergo, I'm frugal AND I can start on the project while my excitement burns brightest!) d) analyzed my yarn for the optimal order in which to knit the skeins e) begun project; and finally f) continue to bask in the glow of my accomplishments to date! So first up in this "real" blogging event: the swatches. Swatch 1: The swatches are knit in spare Lana Grossa Meilenweit 50 Seta/Cashmere , leftovers from my first p...

I finished my eighth(!) Shetland Triangle this weekend. No, that picture above is not the Shetland Triangle. I don't have any recent pictures. I'm not motivated to take pictures of anything lately, even the record number of yarn skeins I wound into cakes on Saturday. Instead of bemoaning my creative paucity, I've decided to fill in the blanks with an unblogged project from last year's deadspot. Last spring I knit a lovely Serenity baby blanket for my husband's best friend's first child, a baby girl. Did I mention this is a free pattern? It is a free pattern, and from the charts at least, an error free, free pattern. I really enjoyed knitting this project. And the reason's why are, what? What did I like about this project? Do I even know? Hmmm. 1) The lace was challenging but not fussy. 2) The occasional cabling was easy, and eye pleasing. 3) The yarn is Dream in Color's Classy, in the Chinatown Apple colorway. I took a big ...

So it's March. Again. March came with a lot of tension and some of that tension was from a miasmic bout of creativity that manifested as a fulsomely clogged consciousness. A constipation of the mind, if you will. How else can I describe this? It's like I am mentally paralyzed until I start doing whatever it is that I am inspired to do. The second of the two new projects is really new to me. I'm designing a lace scarf using the ever so intriguing Day Flower lace panel. With the laptop I find it really easy to jot down ever step I make just in case I want to finally, finally, finally, maybe, make a pattern for public consumption. Public consumption? Interfacing with the publick? Maybe. The pattern needs definite tweaking but she is lovely:

Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me; The Carriage held but just Ourselves And Immortality. ~ Emily Dickinson This is the thought that came to me as I opened the "new post" window. My muse speaks and I never understand her. 'S okay. I'm used to it. I am growing more and more devoted each day to giving her free reign. Or, should I say, my capacity for indulging her is growing each and every day? Some days she takes on mythic proportions. Other days? Notsomuch. There was a bit of a lull in knitting at chez yarn. 'S okay, too. I'm listening to my inner knitter agitate over the fact I haven't had an FO in forever and I've cast on a new project. She can suck an egg. Yeah. That's the ticket. Wow, there's a tone change. This project, another pair of Waving Lace socks with Sundara sock yarn, has been given the frothy name "Escape to Russet Moon Mountain." (If you're into Twilight snark, tak...

When Ted and Sylvia Plath Hughes purchased their first home in North Tawton, Devon, England in the early sixties, Sylvia, the whirling dervish that she was, immediately set about making the house a home. She painted the walls, doors, woodwork, furniture, and probably even some of the floors. This part of her story is always guaranteed to make me feel like a sloth. From the numerous biographical material I've read over the years, the house held a room on the second floor which was hers, and hers alone. A writing study. One of the room's most prominent features was a vivid red floor rug. Or was it walls (or both)? I'm pretty sure it was the carpet, but I'm far too focused on my thoughts to ferret the truth out of my bookcase. Sylvia was invigorated by color, especially red. She believed it actively fed her creativity. As a knitter, I identify with this; color is my primary inspiration. What I realized last month is that the color of my projects can either ...

I am a narcissist. A real one, like textbook real. My narcissism doesn't conform to the textbook definition, as well it shouldn't; personality disorders aren't one size fits all. So, with an "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" mentality, I do spend considerable time performing mental gymnastics to make said narcissism less, well, narcissistic. It does make sense. It does. So Friday and Saturday I had a ferocious need to finish up my first Clothilde . It came out beautiful in the last of my Sundara Sport. I told myself that as soon as this was done I'd finish up the last bit of my Christmas knitting. Midnight Moon Clothilde This is what happened after I finished washing and blocking the Clothilde: Strange Fruit Clothilde And I did it with a chuckle, instead of disapprobation. A woman's gotta knit what a woman's gotta knit. I think part of my problem is that there is too much blue in my knitting basket. The original Clothilde and the C...

I'm pretty sure I've found my knitting sweet spot: the Shetland Triangle . I finished my 6th last week: Febrillious I finished my 5th a week or so before that: Eire Shetland Knitting this pattern smooths out all of life's rough edges. It kinda bothered me at little that I wanted to knit this pattern again and again. There was a seven month gap between my second and third shawl. Real knitters knit new patterns, real knitters try new, more challenging projects. I felt the capital K in my knitting persona slip to it's lower case cousin, like a kid eating their sandwich in a bathroom stall after a month sitting at the cool kid's table. Once I realized what I was allowing to happen, I wised up. It felt good facing up to my knitting superego and asking her to kindly shut her high falutin' trap. 1. Febrillious , 2. Eire Shetland , 3. Spruce Baby Llama Shetland , 4. Another Shetland , 5. Pink Granite Shetland Triangle , 6. Shetland Triangle Viva la Shetland Tria...

I've learned a lot of things while not blogging. 1) I've been spelling won't wrong for 42 years. I really didn't know it was a contraction. How did I not know that? 2) I must accept that I am not a blogger. I am not a social creature and blogging is about sharing, which is a social behavior. As callous as this sounds, I do not want to open a dialogue with other knitters on a consistent basis. I don't want friends, I'd really rather be alone. With Ravelry I can weigh in when I want and then ignore when I want. There is no sense of obligation to be social, and this blog has become dead weight with obligation. 3) I don't really like knitting with lace weight yarn. My foray into needle arts began with crocheting lace. In college I would buy cheap mercerized cotton thread from the Coolidge Corner Woolworth's and try to make lace, and add lace onto whatever I could. I still have a bambooesque drink coaster that I added some Estonian lace work to. ...

I cannot count how many times in the past two months I thought I finally was going to get ahead of the curve only to find myself behind a seemingly insurmountable mountain of work and life obligations. I'm in government finance and its budget season, so the forces in my world have been excessively engaging, at their best, and infuriatingly obtuse, at their worst. Ugh. But, you know there is an amazing silver lining, and one that I keep coming back to time and again. It's already February. That's right, February. I have been far too busy to even notice winter passing me by. Now, that is something to celebrate at chez yarn. Usually by the winter solstice, which is December 21st or 22nd, I am miserably counting down the hours and days and weeks and months left of the dark days of winter. This misery wallowing begins the moment we turn the clocks back. I'm in awe of how busy I've been to really, and I mean really, acknowledge the time of year. It's like ...

So about 10 days ago I wrote a post with the title "I can haz willpower...?" By the time I had a chance to proofread it, things changed. It was no longer a question, but a reality. The theme over the past two weeks has been more like I HAZ willpower! That's knitting willpower, not blogging willpower, silly goose. :-P Things in my life have been all over the place. As an aspy I thrive when my life goes along a highly regimented schedule. Since getting sick two days before my 41st birthday back in December, it's been everything but calm at chez yarn. Last Friday marked the beginning, it seems, of things really feeling on track. Not surprisingly, there's been a lot less yarn acquisition going on. One of my post-holiday goals is to clear out my knitting basket and not cast on anything new until I do. I figured it would take a lot of willpower to do, and as I've kept to my goal, making significant progress, I've decided that this must mean I am a font...

The Shetland Shawl/hat/mitt project ended on as onerous note as all my other scarf/hat/mitt projects. Which is too bad, but easily, and happily, forgotten. Now that it's done I feel like I can breathe easier. Not only am I enjoying wearing these every_single_day (fangul you -6 degrees!) I can get to that gift project I started back in November, but had to put aside to complete my Christmas knitting in time. It's the lace scarf knit up in a lovely cocoa colored Bristol Valley Yarns. My new camera captures the color of the yarn beautifully. It's 80% Alpaca/20% Silk and splitty as all get out, but I think I'm finally finding my rhythm. I nearly doubled its size this week. (Photo below was before.) Speaking of my camera, I finally had a chance to take pictures with it outside and I had a rude awakening. All that success I've had with indoor photos is the extent of my knowledge with the camera. This puppy must be reprogrammed for outdoor light and, well, uh, I just...

After the house cleaning my yarn and knitting underwent this weekend, I think I may have summitted the malaise. (Am I tempting fate by even writing this?) One thing is for sure, Nell made a great point in the comments: "Isn't it amazing how knitting can take you from feeling like a genius to an idiot in a few stitches?" I'm used to feeling like an idiot, therefore this aspect of knitting fits like a favorite pair of old boots. Having something in one's life akin to conquering if your own Mt. Everest, your own Mt. Washington, well, that is fascinating and invigorating. So yes, Nell, it is immoderately amazing. As I had hoped for, I finished my Sunshine and Shadows Shawl (not a triangle!) this weekend. Once I had blocked it out I stood back in awe. It was magic, this beautiful garment, magic. Somehow, this frumpy old hag (me) took two sticks and some string and made this: Am I straining under a pile hyperbole? Well, maybe just a smidge. When you feel so dark for so...

OMG I just lost my whole post and my heart is broken. I really had a lot to say about reading, and grammar, and audibooks, and omg... I just have to walk away and pretend this didn't happen. I even have an FO and some minor milestones in spinning. I will leave all the post labels as testament to what this post once was. May she rest in peace. Happy Sunday blogland...

My Sunday morning waking dream was the design of a sweater using the much neglected Cascade 220 Superwash that's nearing a year in my stash. Ya know, cuz the best time to knit a sweater is the cusp of summer, right? :-/ This lovely yarn has been the subject of several design schemes, none of which came to fruition, including a sweater or two. The heathered tones scream out to become the vining twine leaf pattern I used in Project Stole . I'm thinking of just transposing the stole's motif right onto the front and back of a sweater, paired with a mini cabled rib for the neck, arm, and waistbands. But before I even think of designing something as ambitious as that, I've got to find the end of the Sunshine and Shadow Shawl , which has, by nature of my pattern dyslexia morphed into a leaf and medallion triangle. Who knew that the patterns in a book called "Knitting Lace Triangles " were the size of large hankerchiefs and not adult-bodied-sized shawls. Yes, ...