two knits of ivory

I've recently (maybe April or May) realized that I don't seem to enjoy knitting stockinette with lace, which is different than knitting stockinette, then lace, which I really love. An example of a great stockinette and lace combo is the Ishbel pattern (Sundara FSM in caramel apple): What I find mind achingly dull to knit is a lace project that couples plain knitting with lace on each row. Current proof of this malaise inducing phenomena maybe found in my knitting basket, a Saroyan scarf: I want one of these scarves; the pattern is absolutely lovely. My body just doesn't want to knit it. Why I don't really know. I first got an inkling into this inclination when I attempted to design a wide scarf using the day lily lace motif: This project turned out to only be a swatch. Even though the day lily lace pattern is engaging, and this madelinetosh DK yarn in the violin colorway is deadly scrumptious, I just couldn't find the will to continue knitting the proj...

Finally feeling like my orbit is back on track. Home for the Patriot's Day holiday. While Beantown is all about marathons and runners, I'm, as usual, all about me. I took some photos of a near ancient FO, Tidal Bloom, as well as some progress shots of my nearly finished raglan. It'a still hard to tell if the pix stink on this laptop, but I'm pretty sure they do. [EDIT 4/21/10: posted better pix] This quasi mistake rib scarf was knit with one of the first two skeins I picked up at the NH Sheep & Wool in 2008. And when I say first two skeins, I literally mean I walked into the fairgrounds saw this yarn and purchased it. It was my second festival ever, and I was still pretty green when it came to all yarn, and indie yarn in particular. But you know, I'm remembering this wrong. The first ever skeins that I purchased up in NH were from Ball & Skein, I think. This is from the dyer French Twist. It was after I had met up with Chris that I bought th...

I definitely view the world differently than other people. Sometimes I view the world differently than myself. For the first time in my life I am able to catch glimpses of the "real" world, as it stands apart from my world. And sometimes my mind and body go off on their own. For at least a week one part of me has been mentally berating myself for not taking an interest in photographing my FOs and wips. Another part of me has been guffawing at miss berator, laughing at her rigidity (I need a better word here...). Knitting and photography are my joys, fuck if I'm gonna do them when I am not going to enjoy them. The pictures herein were taken by Focused me, but edited by Fugue me. (I definitely need to name my different mes. That's a project in and of itself.) As I was saying, Fugue me edited the photos on my laptop. My laptop sucks for photo editing, but I love my laptop. How do I reconcile these things? I dunno. Yet. Sweater, sweater, I knit a ...

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...

I washed and blocked the Wide Leaf Winter Set last weekend and finally have the FOs for show and tell. It was amazing to me how quickly all of these pieces knit up. Aside from the finishing, they were done within a week I think. The scarf and mitts were each done in one day. Working with mostly fingerweight yarns has skewed this knitter's perception on things. It's no wonder I've got the fire in my belly to knit up the other scarf/winter sets I have planned. Wide Leaf Scarf First up is the scarf. I loved the yarn, the colorway, and this fabulous wide leaf stitch. The scarf has a lot of texture, accentuating the muted, but colorful, hues in the yarn. The only misgiving I have with the scarf is it's length; I didn't have the yardage to go the distance. Yarn Maple Creek Farm Merino in the PA Fall colorway. Approximately 325 yards. Love this yarn, love this vendor, I can't wait to get more yarn from her at Rhinebeck. Needles Knitpicks Harmony Options size US 10 1/2...

I've been trying to put my finger on the source of the all-encompassing malaise that settled into my life this past spring. It is like a hundred pound albatross. I'm not depressed or even a tad dysphoric. I'm just tired. In an email exchange with fellow knit blogger, Kristin , a phrase came to mind that encapsulates what I'm feeling: high maintenance. Every single activity I engage in, whether it's as banal as tooth brushing, or as fun as reading, anything other than malingering, just seems to be experienced as high maintenance. Once I could define what I feel, my spirits lifted a bit. Sounds strange, but it's true. Once I understand what I'm up against my natural drive to adapt kicked in and one of the first things I found the energy to tackle was my Sunshine and Shadows Shawl...errrr triangle. A week and a half ago I spent a solid half an hour struggling with the beginning of the final lace pattern, redoing the first 20 stitches or so who knows how many ti...

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...

I probably should have saved last week's post title for today. As of Saturday afternoon I became the proud owner of a third-hand wheel, a Louet s10. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The hubster and I hit the road Friday afternoon, with dogs in tow. We headed north to my Dad's house in the Adirondacks to celebrate my Dad's 70th birthday. My brother had flown in from Pittsburgh and I think Dad was looking forward to having us both at the pancake breakfast being held directly across the street at the local heritage museum . In the afternoon on Saturday, my dad's wife, Chris, brought out the wheel. She inherited it from an old family friend, and as she has another wheel she prefers, she was more than glad to part with this one when she saw learned how interested I was becoming in spinning. Chris gave me a quick demonstration. I marveled at her spinning ease. As is to be expected, when she gave me the reins I fumbled terribly. I was unable to keep the wheel goin...

I wasn't that inspired to post today, or lately, to be honest. Yet, I was over at Peaknit's blog , catching up on my blogstalking, and saw her sweet happy birthday message to her mom, who so happens to be a leap year baby. Obviously, leap year birthdays are rare, and probably relished all the more so because of this and so I immediately thought it would be good to mark today's date on my blog for the same reason. But what to talk about, as all my knitting are slogs? I'm still vacillating on whether to restart my La Digitessa's using a more appropriate yarn. It worked like a charm on my first pair of Firestarters . Yet....I'm just not ready to give up. I think as soon as I'm done with Blue Wavering , I'm going to hit these full force and not frog and restart. Speaking of Blue Wavering, I frogged the first sock back to the start of the gusset two days ago and am just about to begin the short-rowing on the heel. I just might have these done this weekend if...

Ahem. Good day. I was in the area, so I felt it my duty to introduce myself. I think in this kingdom I am known as The Queen's Forest . (What a pretentious mouthful! I assure you this is not of my own doing. ) A little about myself, you say? Well only a short while ago I was a respectable 81 inches long. And before I knew it a steam iron was put to me (I must not be considered good enough for a Eucalan soak! What impudence!) and now I am a vertiginous 90 inches. What was that foul person thinking?!? I come from a long line of ancient peoples, known as Last Minute Knitted Gifts Chevron Scarves . I am a distinctly new variety. Rather than superwash merino, I am made of a unique mixture of 80% alpaca and 20% merino wool. I am in no way concerned that my brethren prefer to be made of BMFA STR . No, I am not. I am a unique flower and damn proud of it. Oh, I am so soft to the touch and visually distinctive, I dare say my benefactress had it right in naming me. Yes, I t...

I shoulda started Cornucopia's companion gift socks, but I didn't; I started Christmas Balls socks , instead. In my defense, these will be gifts, too. And I shoulda waited until I finished The Queens Forest (48 inches!) before starting another scarf, but I didn't. My defense, your honors? Malabrigo . Understandable, no? Ever since picking up some awesome variegated Manos del Uruguay at Rhinebeck, I've been mulling over a hat, scarf and glove winter set. The Manos winter set is meant for my work coat, a camel hair car coat. The rest of my coats, which I wear far more often, are almost all exclusively blue. Light blue, dark blue, navy blue, teal blue. The wish for a new winter set for my non work coats grew stronger as my indecision on what to do with the Manos grew. And then Hobbygasa knit her My So-Called Scarf in a very similar colorway. How could I improve on that? Then after day in and out of looking at the fabulous colorway of Ripley's latest s...