New Wave, or Further Adventures in the Land of Pink

First, thank you for everyone who has queued or favorited my little sock thong... it is wonderfully fun to see those numbers go up and up!

Next, here we go back in time, to a design that just begs to be reworked again and again... gee, I hope that's the hallmark of a really great design and not the opposite!

This version of the Waves in the Square came about because I seem to be trying all of my patterns, one by one, in lace weight yarn. The latest lace yarn to tempt me is Misti Alpaca, just lately available in the Vancouver stores. It was a big surprise to me that I really wanted to try this corally pink, normally a stay-away color for moi. You will have to tell me what you think about the end result when you see the pics below...

Now for the story of the new version! This was to be a store sample for Three Bags Full, where I teach most of my classes and where I work one day a week. Francesca, owner and boss extraordinaire, allows us shop girls to knit during times when the store is slow, and this has been my shop project of choice for a couple of weeks now. Since I haven't been working on it at home, having multiple deadline projects to do there, it has been sort of dragging on and on, and the knitting hasn't been adding up to what I would have hoped, being tiny yarn and needles and all. So, not to make too fine a point of it, I stopped short: a little middy shawl that just covers the shoulders. And I added beads into the lace. And I love the results. Hehe.

Pictures and specs below.




Yarn: 1 skein of Misti Alpaca Lace in Color CD43, with which I used 3.25 mm Addi turbo lace needles and size 8/0 silver lined crystal beads. Finished size after blocking: 27" wide across the back, 12" long at center back.

I placed the beads with a crochet hook wherever a “yo, k1, yo” occurred in the pattern, on the k1 stitch. I followed the pattern up to row 86, after which I skipped to row 168 with the following changes:

Row 168 had 321 stitches, not 561.
Row 170 had 323 stitches, not 563.
I ended with 324 stitches, increasing 1 st as the pattern says to do for row 179.
The beaded picot edging was done exactly as it says to do in the pattern.

Just a note about that: In the beaded picot instructions, I omitted the part about transferring the last bound off stitch to the left needle before casting on the 2 additional stitches. I know most of you will have the sense to do this anyway, but I must apologize to anyone who has been confused and/or unable to follow these instructions because of my omission.

The instruction paragraph should read:

*CO 2 sts using knitted-on cast on method, place bead on last st made with small crochet hook, BO 6 sts. Transfer last stitch on right needle to left needle. Repeat from * across row. End with picot, then pick up and knit 1 st at bottom corner of picot, BO 1 st. Cut yarn and draw through loop.

I think this version may be an ideal summer lace item... drop me a line and let me know if you agree.


Well, at least somebody is happy... my blocking gremlin, Mooshie, gets this way every time I block something!

Happy summer lace knitting, everyone...

Scallops for All, and All for Scallops

Several folks have asked me how I get the edge of Norwegian Woods to have such nicely rounded scallops, and since I just finished my knitalong scarf, I thought I would post some photos of the blocking process.

Let's see... am I ready to start? Finished scarf, check. Pins, check. Wires, check. Helpful gremlin, check. I think I am ready!

Another pic of the crumpled Norwegian Woods, for comparison and because I love crumpled up lace.

I don't show the next step, but you can picture me dunking the scarf in a warm tub of water with a little Eucalan added, then lifting out the shawl (complete with seaweedy aroma... don't you love sea silk?) and rolling it in a towel to semi-dry.

The first step is to anchor the top of the shawl, which is very conveniently done with blocking wires. These particular wires are actually TIG welding rods, and you can see the little flat place near the tip that "real" blocking wires won't have. However, since I got a pound of these for less than $10, I have decided that I do not mind the little flat place near the tip.

To use, simply thread the wire in and out of the eyelets that line the top border. You can do the same with fishing line or weed whacker line if that's your preference.

If you need to use two wires for the width of the piece, just overlap by putting both wires under the same thread, then continue.

Now stretch the top widthwise over the wires (or line), and at this point, do measure to see if they are even on both sides of the center seam. Blocking truly is nicer when symmetrical! I put pins along the top wires to hold them steady for the next step.

Now, stretch the piece lengthwise. A good rule of thumb for triangle shawls (or scarves) is length is approximately one-half of total width. But this is not a hard and fast rule... you can monkey with this if needed.

You can see the bottom point held with one lonely little pin.

Now go around and stretch out all the little points that shall become scallops. You are trying for evenness, not perfection at this stage. Try to get the points in a straight line, and do measure to see if you are stretching the sides out evenly. Allow some time for this step. It always takes more time than you think!

Close up of the pointy bits that will be scallops.

Now... make scallops!!! Using the center pin as a place holder, spread the sides of each point into rounded loveliness and use one pin on each side of the scallop to hold it there. I like to pin the sides downward and at a slight angle, as you see here. Again, strive for organic roundness, not pinpoint perfection. Unless of course that makes you happy...

Here you can see the rounded, pinned out scallops all the way around.


... And an aerial view of the same. Now wait until it is dry.

Tomorrow... the finished Norwegian Woods scarf!

Lights in the Harbour

Introducing... the Harbour Lights shawl, currently at its halfway point.



The story of the shawl: After inviting me to be guest speaker at this summer's FibreFest in Victoria B.C., certain people had the brilliant idea of unveiling a shawl design as a focal point in the proceedings. They left the field wide open as far as the shawl design went, wise folks that they are. Even I never know how and where inspiration will hit...

What I love most about Victoria is the watery brilliance of the coast and the beautiful quality of the sky above the water. So... not even knowing that two lighthouses flank the harbour, I apparently channeled lighthouse vibrations and the beacon-like central lace pattern arrived. I wanted to include the old "Candlelight" lace pattern because it conjured fond memories of nighttime ferry passages over the Georgia Strait. After some swatching and several attempts later, this design was born. The central beacon is mirrored in the centre of both side panels, flanked by Candlelight, which looks uncannily like waves crashing against rocks where it merges with the beacons. The beads are inserted at points with a crochet hook. I know you hookers will be happy that I finally came up with some beads that aren't prestrung.

Here are the actual lighthouses within view of Saxe Point Park in Victoria. First, the Fisgard Lighthouse:

And here is the Trial Island Lighthouse:
And here is my little knitting gremlin, checking out the floor shawl action.


For my sample, I am using Alberta Rose natural fingering weight alpaca yarn, which is just lovely and takes beads nicely too. The "final" piece will be in cashmere silk yarn from Fun Knits. Beads are size 6/0 silver lined crystal seed beads. I tried to use smaller beads at first and I liked the subtlety, but it was just a bit of a struggle to fit onto the yarn. I think either size would work fine, depending on the look desired.

The pattern should be ready by June... more updates before long!

Lolling around

I have been working hard lately. Very very hard. Probably too hard, y'know???

The good news is that things are getting done, and amongst all the other projects that I can't talk about, the Norwegian Woods shawl is progressing nicely.

And... guess what? The folks who voted for a triangle shawl are about to get their wish. Here is the start, partially blocked at the very top:



I know it looks humble, but try to see what's making me excited about this... how asymmetrical the lace pattern is when it meets at the center seam. I really, really like how this is working up. Yarn is malabrigo lace in the purple mystery colorway. Yum. More progress shots are promised soon.

And while I am thinking how overworked I am, someone else is at work reminding me of the importance of just lolling. Please enjoy...

Back to the Woods

Remember the Norwegian Woods shawl? I forgive you if you don't. It was a long time ago that I posted a swatch and promised more... but didn't deliver. Bad, bad me. Here is a recap of that swatch.

Since the Moonshadow came off the needles (and thank all of you very much for such a great response since it has been out!), I have resuscitated the Norwegian Woods. It is in an intermediate-but-getting-close-to-the-end stage - you know that stage when you are getting a bit tired of knitting but a bit excited to get to the end and block it all out to see what you've got?

So, hoping to kill (stun? much better word in my estimation) two birds with one stone, and also as it happens, needing a lace thing with which to demonstrate blocking to my beginning lace knitting class at Three Bags Full last night, I put the delicate live stitches of the Norwegian Woods shawl-so-far on holding strings and blocked it.

Notice how the pooling in the center section looks like shifting sands? I love that. And the lace pattern is so birch-like somehow. Ivory sea silk... what more need I say?

The picked-up edges have a bit of a wave due to the sinuous waving lace that emerges from them. I like that too.
The initial square piece, which began with a provisional cast on, flows seamlessly into the waving lace pattern. I really, really like that part.

In case you were wondering, the shawl has a little ways to go before it is really finished. There are two more lace patterns yet to be added (the swatch has been expanded). The good news is that in the process of doing this big-in-the-round knitting, I found a great method for doing big-in-the-round projects that is actually making this a fun knit. When I put the shawl back on the needles, I will share that with you along with some pictures.

I thought some of you might like to see how I use string or sometimes fishing line to block long straight edges, so I have a picture of that process too.

If I were going to block a bound off edge, the string (in this case, sturdy dk-weight mercerized cotton yarn) would be passed through the outermost row of bound-off stitches with a yarn needle. Here you see live stitches with stitch markers still in place so don't be confused. After you put the string through the edge stitches, tension is put onto the string by tying each end to a pin which is deeply dug into the blocking surface (in this case, a really ugly carpet). With tension in place, it is an easy thing to put a few pins down the line to make sure everything is square and straight, and bob's your uncle. This is a nice way to block long, long edges, and I seem to like it better than using wires (which I love for shorter edges).

Some of you might remember the discussion about whether this design should be a square or a triangle? Well, the squares seem to have won, but that's just for now. I have decided that the triangle idea deserves equal attention, and I already have the yarn... vermilion malabrigo lace yarn. Yum. Test knitting, anyone????

To celebrate, I got a new Lantern Moon knitting basket and I love it so much. This will now hold my back and forth projects safely, and it is a huge improvement on the open shopping bag I used before (I know... horrors!) Here is the new basket, which doubles as a Mooshie play environment. He particularly likes it when his daddy makes it into an elevator. Going down:

Going up:
Ain't we got fun?

I gave today...

and a nice, round $284.00 is now in the hands of MSF! Thank you to all who contributed. I am so proud of our little group fundraiser.

Now to answer a comment that was left a while ago under the post about my Mooshie and his yarn-bringing obsession... yes, I am extremely careful not to allow him to chew on yarn. I am very aware of the dangers of yarn twisting around a cat's insides and the thought horrifies me.

Fortunately, both my husband and myself work from home so we can watch him pretty much all the time (we don't go out much), and I don't leave tantalizing bits and bobs of yarn lying around, believe it or not. Moosh pretty much just likes to carry yarn balls around in his mouth, and deposit them in certain places. That seems to be the main thrill. And he does have lots of regular toys other than yarn. In case you wondered.

Awwwww...

Thank you for all the nice comments about the FOs. I am pretty happy about them myself! Today I am getting some sock samples done for the class on Monday. This class will be teaching heels and gussets, so I am doing one sock down to the start of the heel flap, and one sock down to the heel turn.

The yarn is my lovely mediumweight Rare Gem from the lovely folks at Blue Moon Fiber Arts, makers of Socks that Rock and purveyors of the Rockin' Sock Club. If you haven't yet heard about the events that these ladies have been going through for the last couple of weeks, please read about it here and here and here. They have now updated their website and are open and ready for business, so please support them. Their sock yarn is legendary, and they are absolute peaches.

The Chase is On

It is time to introduce the yarn gremlin, pictured here with his latest conquest.

Mooshie, as might be expected of an cat who is kept indoors amidst mountains of tempting fiber and yarn, finds his prey where he can get it. He is an excellent yarn catcher too, fast and skilled in the cat guerilla arts. Like many cats, he favors surreptitious moves, mostly at night or when his parents are gone, and can rarely be caught in the act of subjugating yarn to his will - yet the evidence is clearly there, usually left in a place where we cannot miss it, like the middle of the floor.

Lately, his yarn compulsion has taken a rather quirky turn. In our absence, Mooshie has started to bring balls of yarn to rest by the apartment door when we are gone, almost as if this act will bring us home; a play-wish, if you will.

This morning, this sight greeted us in the hallway:
The ball on top, sea silk in the ocean colorway. The bottom ball is Blue Sky alpaca & silk. Sea silk... alpaca & silk... start to see a pattern? Silk is definitely the fiber of choice chez M.

After running some errands this afternoon, these were waiting for us when we returned:
Top ball, leftover ball of Socks that Rock lightweight in mustang sally; bottom ball, the same ball of Blue Sky alpaca & silk from this morning. Notice the slightly bedraggled state of this ball? It is one of M's favorites. I have actually tried to hide this ball from him on occasion, but he always finds it. Mooshie obviously loves this yarn. Perhaps a more persnickety yarn owner would get miffed at this yarn abuse, but I figure, what's a little tangle between friends?

Oh, and yarn isn't the only source of play around here... Mooshie gets really turned on by paper:
May your yarn adventures be playful and full of bliss...