Laminaria

Laminaria by Elizabeth Freeman
Malabrigo Lace Baby Merino Wool (470 yards / 50 g per skein), 1.67 skeins of the color "Vaa"
US 3 (3.25 mm) Knitpicks circular needles

WARNING: This post doesn't contain very many words. My husband and I are packing for an impending move across the country, so I'm a little pressed for time, but thought I should try not to get too far behind in blogging my knitting projects.

In quick summary, this is a beautiful pattern and luscious yarn, and I'm quite happy with the results :)





However, I went a little overboard with my decision to aim for a fairly dense fabric. I chose a US 3 needle, based on my tendency to knit rather loosely, and didn't swatch. Before blocking, the shawl looked tiny, and the lace looked way too dense, but luckily, it grew to a nice shoulder shawl size - I'll try to get photos of it on at some point, so you can see - with a firm blocking.





With the somewhat variegated yarn, I do wish the lace was a little more open in general, though I love the density of the border:





Close-ups of the other stitch patterns:




...And here's some Bug cuteness for you (with the shawl pre-blocking, as you may notice):









Also, I was very fortunate to win Angie's recent blog contest prize: 2 skeins of beautiful alpaca/merino sock yarn from the Natural Dye Studio. Isn't it lovely?



Bye for now!

Another Smorgasbord... (including contest!)

Andrea Dogwood Blossom Wrap


Andrea Dogwood Blossom Wrap (Schaefer Yarn Company)
Schaefer Yarn Company Andrea, 100% Cultivated Silk (1093 yards / 99 g per skein), "Dian Fossey," 0.74 skeins
US 2 (2.75 mm) Knitpicks circular needles
US 7 (4.5 mm) Knitpicks Options circular needles

This week I finished the Dogwood Blossom Wrap for Schaefer and mailed it off to them (hopefully in time for a show they have this weekend). I really enjoyed working on it, and I'm so jealous that I don't get to keep it - so perhaps I'll make another some day : ) The yarn was gorgeous and not at all splitty, even with my uber-pointy Knitpicks needles.

Here are a few more photos of the prettiness:









Of course, Bug had to get in on the action:



I think it looks really cool backlit:






(Belated) Blogiversary contest!

April 15th was my one year blogiversary, so I'm having a little contest (woo hoo!) Leave me a comment before midnight on Friday, May 9th, and I'll randomly pick one of you to win... this fabulous trio of yarns in lovely springy greens:


-1 ball of Rowan Handknit Cotton "Celery" (93 yards)
-1 ball of South West Trading Company Bamboo "Sahara" (250 yards)
-1 skein of Lanas Puras Melosa fingering weight "Camouflage" (440 yards)


Dr G's Memory Vest

I keep meaning to mention a wonderful opportunity to get a great pattern while donating to a worthy cause. Kirsten of Through the Loops! designed Dr. G's Memory Vest for her father (Dr. G), who succumbed to Alzheimer's disease recently. In return for her lovely cabled vest pattern, Kirsten's asking for a donation (of any size) to the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research. Please see her blog for details.


"The Yarn Grove" blog contest prize!

I was lucky enough to win a Chico Bag from The Yarn Grove in their blog contest. It's extremely useful and compacts down to a tiny volume when not in use:




Bug for scale (he's a 15 pound cat) - it holds a lot!


A few good memes

First, Phoebe of Anphoe's Spaces tagged me for a meme. Here is what you do: Use the 1st letter of your middle name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real places, names,things…nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person you took this from had the same 1st initial.
You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

1. Middle name letter: M
2. Famous artist/band/musician: Metallica
3. 4-letter word: Mush
4. U.S state: Mississippi
5. Boy name: Mickey
6. Girl name: Milicent
7. Animal: Meerkat
8. Something in the kitchen: Moana (meowing for food)
9. Reason for being late? Major delay
10. Body Part? Mucosa
11. Drink? Milk
12. Something you shout: Mom! Joey's pulling my hair!
13. Something you eat? Mayonnaise
14. A movie you've seen? Mean Girls

Second, Michaela of Dollarknits tagged me to do a “six-word memoir.”
Here's mine: “Learning new things makes me happy.”

If you would like to answer one or both of these memes, consider yourself tagged!

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I'm WAY behind on my blog reading, but I know you guys are up to all sorts of great things. Hopefully, I'll be able to catch up soon -- although it will be a little while longer, since I'm going to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this weekend... Woo-hoo!

Thanks so much for reading, and have a great weekend (I know I will)!

Tilted Duster, Calmer Koolhaas, kooky cats, and more!

Hey everyone! I hope the new year is treating you well.

I am, as usual, a bit behind on my blog reading, but at least I got some knitting done : )


FOs

I did a bit of swatching a while ago:



And I got gauge for one of my projects right away... so I cast on and, like magic, it appeared (or rather, that's how it seems - due to my lack of in-progress blogging - doh!).






Tilted Duster (Interweave Knits, Fall 2007)
Berroco Peruvia, 100% Peruvian Highland Wool (174 yards / 100 g per skein), color 7180 "Alcaparrones," ~5.5 skeins
US 8 Knitpicks Options circular needle (32")

I made the 32" size, pretty much as written. I used the suggested yarn in a colorway (7180) that until recently didn't seem to exist except at Webs (where I bought it several months ago). Now Berroco's website has the color listed and it's called "Alcaparrones," the Spanish name for caperberries. (Cool! Now my Tilted Duster reminds me of capers - I can totally see that!) By the way, the yarn was really nice to work with... very soft, and I do love the (caper!) color. The gauge it's knit at produces a sturdy yet fluid fabric which looks great now, and hopefully won't pill too badly in the future.

Norah Gaughan's design is an interesting one - the two fronts are knit on the bias, then joined to the upper back piece before the "skirt" is picked up and knit downward. There are four buttons (two of which are visible) that close the deep, ribbed collar.





It's always a little challenging to pick up the correct number of stitches and seam the sleeves in neatly, however, the only real "excitement" (by which I mean, moment of terror) I had with this knit, was when I was pinning it out to block after washing. That's when I noticed that something had gone amiss during my bind-off, and one of the edge stitches had dropped a few rows. It didn't end up being a big deal - I let the sweater dry completely, rescued the dropped stitch with a crochet hook, and used a length of yarn to correct the situation - but it sure did give me a start when I first noticed it! Eeek! I guess I need to be more careful with my bind-off in the future : )

I don't usually go for super long (butt-covering) sweaters. They make me feel weird, as if they're emphasizing something they shouldn't be... however, I really like this design. It's definitely got a jacket/coat feel to it, and is very warm and comfortable to boot!




(inside out)
Koolhaas Hat (Interweave Knits, Holiday Gifts 2007)
Rowan Calmer, 75% cotton, 25% acrylic/microfibre (175 yards / 50 g per ball), color "Garnet," ~1 ball
US 5 Denise circular needle (~16")
US 7 Denise circular needle (~16") and dpns

I knit the womens size pretty much as written, but when I'd finished, I thought the hat wasn't deep enough. I debated frogging back the top decreases and adding another repeat, but I decided upon picking up stitches along the brim and knitting downward to make a fold up brim. I think it worked out pretty well.



I used a ball of Calmer that was leftover from my Fifi sweater, as the friend I made the Koolhaas Hat for has a wool allergy. It was a good substitution, I think : )


WIP

Two of the swatches shown in the first photo above (the light blue and "mulled wine" swatches) were attempts to get gauge for the Seeded Cables Cardigan by Sarah Heiniger from Sensual Knits, the lovely new book put together by Yahaira Ferreira. I just love this design! All the beautiful cables have me drooling...

I'm using Patons Classic Merino Wool in "Worn Denim" (that I got on sale at a craft store a while ago) and so far I'm liking the yarn quite a bit.



I was able to get stitch gauge with the Classic Merino, but not row gauge, so I decided to start with a sleeve in an effort to make a big gauge swatch (gauge is given in stockinette in the book, but I want to see how my gauge responds to all the cables before I start changing things up):




I've run into some issues with the instructions, some of which have now been added to the errata page, and some of which I'm waiting to hear back about - so this project is on hold for a bit.


Prize Yarn!

Cattywampus had a great challenge going in December to encourage people to donate to Heifer International. Her summary post about it is here - $4185 was raised!

By the luck of the draw, I won this gorgeous yarn donated by the very generous Ronni:



She even included a candy cane! Thanks Cattywampus & Ronni!


Knitting Accomplishments & Resolutions

Anphoe tagged me for a knitting accomplishments/resolutions meme, so here we go (Anphoe, you will notice I have a few things in common with you!):

In 2007 I accomplished the following (not necessarily in order):

1. I started my blog! (and subjected my cats to public knitwear humiliation)
2. I met some fellow knit bloggers in person.
3. I had great time at the New York Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck (related to #2) : )
4. I learned how to knit a sweater from the top down.
5. I learned to knit socks.
6. I joined my first mystery group (Mystery Stole 3).
7. I knitted my first lace weight project.
8. I made my first toys, one of which I designed myself (Octopus).
9. I did my first "model knitting."
10. I joined Ravelry.
11. I learned (well, started learning) to spin with a drop spindle.

On to 2008, and some KNITTING RESOLUTIONS for the new year:

1. I will try to knit from stash as much as possible.
2. I will learn to knit continental style.
3. I will try the magic loop method.
4. I will try out entrelac.
5. I will make more socks.
6. I will knit a bunch of colorwork projects and try steeking.
7. I will design and knit my husband a really cool (I hope!) cabled sweater.
8. I will try to design more of what I knit (which is hard, because there are already so many lovely patterns out there that I really want to knit!).
9. I will learn to spin on a spinning wheel (and maybe get one for myself) : )

Feel free to take this meme and run with it, if you'd like.


Gratuitous Kitty Photos : )

In my last post, I mentioned that Wendy of Catknits had included a cat toy in the wonderful package she sent me.



As you can see, the feathers are detachable, but the cats love the feathers on, hee, hee!

Here are a few shots of Moana giving it a little workout (every time she batted it onto the floor, I tossed it back in her cat bed - otherwise she would have been scooting around the house willy nilly, flinging the toy into the air and batting it crazily, far away from this well-lit corner of the couch).












P.S. Bug wouldn't participate in the photoshoot, but he was watching : ) He likes to pretend he's too dignified to play with it, but he'll occasionally stage a walk-by (you know, "I'm just walking along, minding my own business... and I absolutely do not see that fluffy, feathered toy laying there in my peripheral vision. And even if I do see it, which I don't, I really couldn't give a hoot. Do de do de do... do de do de do...) that is interrupted by a sudden, mad flailing attack on the unsuspecting toy. Yes, he's very dignified, indeed ; )