Little Yarn Shoppe of Horrors

I Know, I Know

I was really blog-lazy last week.  As it happened, I went out to dinner several times, and things just degenerated from there, so the blog-time suffered--or profited, depending on your point of view.  There was some knitting happening though.  I've started my Christmas stealth knitting.  Yes, for those of you who've read this blog for sometime, I do mean Christmas 2007.  I don't think the recipient of this will be checking the blog any time soon.

This is the start of the first side of the "Estonial Wrap" by Evelyn Clark -- a Fiber Trends pattern.  This part is simple enough.  The design is very easy to memorize, and I don't even need to take the pattern with me, when I take it out to knit on, as I did on Saturday.  It accompanied me to the Austin Knitters and Crocheters Guild meeting.

I first was going to make it in a 2-ply laceweight yarn, but the more I knitted on it, the less I liked it in that weight.  The yarn in the photo above is Jamieson & Smith cobweb weight, and I like it much better.  I wanted it to be filmy, and the 2-ply just wasn't producing that appearance.  It is a light aqua, and the person for whom it's being knit wears this color and shade often.

Now, I may not be singing the "easy" song when I get to the nupps.  We'll worry about that when I get 30-35 more repeats of the motif done though, won't we?  It's just going to be one of those "Fiddle-dee-dee" items.

But what about Rosie, you wonder?  Rosie's fine.  Her stitches are in the process of being slid back on the needle, and I'll return to her after this little break.  She's hanging out with some -- dare I say it -- silk.  (Shh, don't tell anyone.)  She survived the tender loving care of some little hands last week,  so she's in the luxury yarn basket, but she's fine. 

Then, there's poor Emma's shawl.  It still wants to be blocked, and I haven't gotten around to it.  Maybe on Monday of next week, I'm thinking.  We have a big grandson birthday bash to survive over the upcoming weekend, so maybe when that's done.  I'm still toying with the idea of taking out the grafting and trying again.  The recipient is going to wonder when I ring their doorbell in 5-6 years and ask for the shawl, saying, "You know, I've been thinking about it all this time, and I just really want to re-graft that edging -- OK?" 

Good knitting,
MEM

Penance Knitting

That's how I feel about it, anyway. 

I finally finished a small, plain baby blanket that I was supposed to have finished before Easter for the babies in the NICU.  I'm sure they'll use it sometime, and besides, I had a good excuse.  Oh, they probably looked cute, all decked out like little Easter eggs, in their little bassinettes, and all, but that yarn is the nastiest acrylic stuff I've ever seen come out of a discount store.  Not that I'm too good to use it, or anything like that.  It's just nasty -- like knitting with plastic.  (I know, I know, some people do that, too.)  The group leader asked me if  I wanted anymore of it, and I fudged and said, "Oh, I have plenty of yarn that needs to be used up."  Get me to a yarn shop -- quick.  Call an ambulance.  I'd rather saw the points off my needles than put them through any more of this stuff.  I wonder if community service counts if you resent the yarn.  Hmm...

On the other hand, Arlene wisely recommended that I do something "artful" with Rosie and her roses that look more like cabbages, so I did.  I did this:

Yep, I ripped those borders right off, back to a plain row where I can slide the stitches back on a needle.  It's Shetland, so it won't unravel.  In fact, the spit-splices didn't even come apart when I ripped it out, and they haven't been spliced all that long.  I love spit-splicing. 

I'm familiar with the grafting method Ted used in his Rosebud, and I'm sure I'll use it for my Rosie.  Emily's shawl is too far gone to use it, however.  You need to start the edging with the "hat" as Sharon Miller calls it.  I think I'll go have some supper, then come back all revived and ready to slide those babies on a #1 needle.

Good knitting,
MEM

Now for Something Completely Different

I'm a little tired of Rosie at the moment, aren't you?  So, I took a little break today and worked on this:

Why yes, it is the start of another sock, just like it's big sister, there.  It's been so long since I knit the first one, that this second one is probably a fraternal rather than identical twin.  They have the same dyelot, so I know they have identical yarn DNA, of course.  I made this sock for my boss for Christmas, however, the Great Ordeal knocked it right out of the priority lineup.  I've worked a bit more of it since taking this picture, so there's some ankle showing on it, now.  Maybe I'll finish it soon, so that the recipient won't think I've forgotten it, completely.

Have you ever just wanted to do a good job on a project, but wound up committing knitting crime on it?  I'm not talking misdemeanors, either.  Well, I tried to finish up Emma's Shawl today, and lets' just say that it didn't go well.  I might as well warn you up front -- I'm not taking it out. 

Here it is, finished except for the blocking and trimming yarn tails.  I was really looking forward to grafting the edging together, took great pains with it, practiced extensively grafting in garter stitch first -- all to no avail.  I still wound up making huge, stupid mistakes.  The cables do line up, but part of the flower spray doesn't   Otherwise, it will probably block out alright, but I'm terribly unhappy with the grafting job. 

I should have known that things weren't going well, when I started to just zip the provisional cast-on out a stitch at a time, and realized that I, once again, in spite of carefully following instructions, had managed to pick up stitches in the crochet chain incorrectly.  Never, in the history of my 50+ years of knitting, have I ever gotten it just right.  That should have been a warning.  So I picked, and picked, and picked and etc......  Yes, that's what I did with my Saturday afternoon. 

The grafting itself didn't go too badly, once I got into it.  I really did practice on larger yarn, but I now realize that wasn't sufficient.  So, we'll see how it blocks out.  To be truthful, being imperfect won't matter much to  it's new owners.  Besides, when you put the baby on it, you can always lay that unfortunate part toward the back.  I seriously thought about doing that for the photo, but hey -- that's why we call it "The Little Yarn Shoppe of Horrors," isn't it?  Just one more horror to add to the gallery. 

I have decided that cobweb is more difficult to graft than 2-ply laceweight.  I hope that I remember that for future projects.  My lovely daughter has agreed to help me block it, hopefully better getting it stretched in a better circle with two sets of hands working on it.  Hopefully.  I have a horror of giving it that first good stretch and something going - Ping!  I tried really hard not to drop stitches, really I did.  (If there is a Ping, there won't be anymore pictures of this shawl.)

Maybe I should just go back to Rosie, after all.  Or maybe, the sock.

Good knitting,
MEM

More Rosie

I took a look at Ted's Rosebud, and it's gorgeous.  It made me go get my bag of Blackberry Ridge Thistle Down out of the closet and start salivating over it.  I'll fondle it for a little while and figure out what it wants to be. 

My Yellow Rosebud won't look just like Ted's version, of course.  Mine is made with J&S cobweb yarn, so it will have a different appearance.  I figure that if I start saying my shawl won't look the same, that may hide any mistakes that I might make.  One of those "lowered expectation" things.  Speaking of boo-boo's, lets' take a look...

Inside the Belly of the Rosebud:

There she sits on her little green plastic #4 needle, and yes, I do let the skein roll around in the center of the bag.  It should be good for something, I figure. 

But Wait!  There's more

What, pray tell, might this be, and how did it come to be hanging off of Rosie's underside?  I was just aghast when I found it.  For days, I'd knitted happily along, or as happily as one can knit with a raging sinus infection, then I ran my hand around in the bag looking for the skein, and up it came -- this hideous loop of yarn.  I can't imagine how I let that happen.  Not that it will be difficult to deal with, once everything else is knit, but I'll have to hide the ends somewhere.   I hate ends, especially in lace.  It's days are numbered.

My generous postal carrier was good to me, today.  She left me a box of Pharoh cotton lace yarn from Elann, along with a copy of the Fiber Trends Garden Lace Estonian-style scarf/wrap pattern.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it, or when, but I know I'll want to knit it up, sometime. I should probably practice the gentle art of nuppfication first.  I don't know what I'm going to do with the yarn, either, for that matter.  It will happen eventually, though.

That's what's happening here.  Thanks for the kind words in the Comments. 

Good knitting,
MEM

We Have Winners!

Tonight's contest is closed.  Congratulations to Beth and Donna.  Your copies of Wendy Knits are on their way.  Thanks for stopping by.
Good knitting,
MEM

Book Review: WendyKnits

We knew she could knit.  We knew she could write.  We even knew she could write about knitting, but now, for all of us who, when confronted with a knitting problem wondered, "What Would Wendy Do?" there are answers.  In her first book, Wendy D. Johnson has spelled out her knitting philosophy and a bit of her knitting history.

For years, I wondered if there really was a Wendy D. Johnson, or if perhaps, she might really be a conglomerate of several knitters, bent on stumping us into thinking one person really could finish so many projects.  Thanks to the magic of the Internet, I've become convinced that she lives, and yes -- she really does knit all that lovely stuff.  Now, she lets us in on the secrets of how she does it. 

WendyKnits is full of knitting tips, and a good number of very accessible patterns for knitters to knit.  I know I'll make the Grape Arbor Shawl, for sure.  (Uh, Wendy, if you are going to write a second book, how about including that great Aran you designed awhile back.  What was the name -- Liam?  Just in case you read this.)  I'm not going to give away any secrets, but each chapter is considers different aspects of knitting.  Perhaps my favorite chapter is the "There are no rules in knitting," followed closely by "There's no crying in knitting." 

Just to kick off the re-opening of the Little Yarn  Shoppe, and to show you that my heart's in the right place, the first 2 people to send me an e-mail saying that you read this post, will get a copy of Wendy's book.   It must be an e-mail to littleyarnshoppeofhorrors@gmail.com .  Comments will not be considered.  You must include your address.  So here are the rules, just to be sure they are understood:  (1)  Must reply with an e-mail, NOT a comment.  (2)  Must include name and address.  Failure to observe the rules cancels the entry. 

My only quarrel with WendyKnits is that there simply isn't enough of the ever-beauteous Lucy.  I fully expected a big color picture of her, but we'll just have to make do with the black-and-whites.  Better luck next time Lucy.

If you get the idea that I recommend this book -- you're right.

Good knitting,
MEM

It Grows

The lumpy bag that is Rosebud gets lumpier every day. 

I haven't made much progress on it.  I don't know how many stitches are on the needle right now, but it's something in excess of 500  Undoubtedly, it will grow exponentially, until I can hardly stand to work another round, and then it will be time for the lace edging.  I'm not keen on working from the inside out, although I realize it shouldn't matter to me.  A few thousands of stitches is a few thousands of stitches, no matter whether you're working inwards or outwards -- right?  I'm still not convinced, but I do like this design.

This is probably as good a time for a confession as any, so I'll confess that I called UK this week to get some of that lovely Guernsey Wool from Janet Stanland at Frangipani.  I've never actually made a project from it, but I've swatched with it.  I want to make Kinsale from Alice Starmore's "Fisherman Knits" collection, and I've swatched enough to know that I can do it in the Guernsey yarn.  I chose a pretty blue, that should showcase the texture nicely.  I'm planning a trip later in the year, wanted a new sweater to take, and I don't see how I can do any better than that.  It was great to call Jan and hear her lovely accent. 

Over at the Lace Extravaganza
Things are happening.  I know what the prizes are, and believe me, they are worth the effort to enter the contests.  There are more features every day. 

Good knitting,
MEM

Announcing...

The Long Awaited KBTH Lace Extravaganza is now open.  Several days of unrelenting lace knitting!  Who could ask for anything more?  Go to:
                                           www.knittingbeyondthehebrides.org/lace

Each day's events will gradually unfold.
Good knitting,
MEM