green.ketzle.net: knitting

i did start a new sock for the summer of socks kickoff. barely. but, hey! a start is a start and it shall be a sock at some point during the summer. haven't yet decided what sort of sock but i don't have to for a few rows yet.

instead of socks, i decided i would bang out the second swallowtail shawl that my mama requested. as long as i still have the muscle memory of the pattern, it seems a good plan. then there shall be no panicky last minute knitting in september, right before her birthday. i do really like this pattern and am dwelling on the possibility of a few more, for gifts; they make nice gifts.

and finally, an acutual sock, finished on the first day of summer. i will cast on for the second momentarily, before i forget what i was doing for the pattern since i never bothered to write it down...

18 june 2008 trifecta

there has been knitting! and finishing!

the shawl was unpinned and it was good. so good that my mother has let drop that perhaps a similar shawl might find its way around her delicate shoulders for her birthday in september. i'm up for it as i am still riding the high of finishing this one without tragedy. sophie had a wonderful time modelling it around the house, but it is now safely wrapped and on its way to mrs c.

while searching for some wrapping paper for the aforementioned scarf, i found the fuzzy scarf! and as i had the darning needle out, i wove in the ends and it has jumped from 99% complete to 100! and if i wanted to wear it, i could because summer just refuses to really land up here in the pacific northwest.

and because summer has not settled in, i can still knit with heavy wool. so i did. i finished the wooly mammoth shrug and it is just as i imagined and completely perfect for keeping the arms and shoulders warm.

i joined the two arms with a three-needle bindoff, to get the happy little ridge. then i picked up around the opening and knit six rows of 2x2 ribbing. it is both cuddly-snuggly and loose enough to not make me crazy. and i have enough yarn left to make a set of matching fingerless gloves so i shall have a lovely matched set of warm-keepers for next winter. it still smells sheepy and i still have to keep it away from the cat who still loves it like a bunny. i haven't washed it yet, so maybe it will be less ovine in odor once i do.

finally, i am determined to get this one sock done before the official beginning of the summer of socks. all the gusset increases are done so i will turn the heel later tonight and then zoom round and round until i run out of yarn. it's nice to have two skeins so there is no guessing as to when one has reached halfway.

i am still besotted with this yarn and this colorway. these socks may end up being the most favorite thing i've ever knit, just for that, assuming i actually finish both of them.

12 june 2008 tension

i've never really blocked lace before.

i expect it is easier when there is not a furry little helper who is insistent upon either eating the shawl or pulling the pins out of the already blocked portions. rotten beast. in spite of her, and with the help of a length of string and a handful of pins, i was successful ion getting it all stretched. i resisted the urge to block it to within an inch of its life, but it is fairly taut.

sophie thinks it is the prettiest thing i've ever made for one of her teachers. i, however, am still lusting after the throw i made her teacher last year, in all its apple laine glory.

another section, another lifeline. i am trying not to be smug about not having needed the first lifeline -- that way lieth the pride that goeth before the ripping.

it is cruising right along and i am thinking i really should have tried this lace thing before now. i like it! even if i am prepared to be amazed if this smallish wrinkly thing actual ends up looking like the picture on the pattern.

it is all about the end of the year gift for sophie's teacher.

last friday, i received the yarn i had ordered for the swallowtail shawl - dream in color baby in november muse. and i promptly put it on the swift and started winding it. only i wasn't so much paying attention, as we were having family story reading time and freddy the pig had gone flying curly tail over snout after crashing his bike, and i ended up with this:

with 3/4 of the skein wound, a rebel bunch of strands fell off the swift and wrapped themselves around the pole. three hours of patient untangling later, all was well, but i was too tired to start the knitting. one day less to get the knitting done.

it took me about ten rows to finally get in a rhythm for the first lace pattern, but it was pretty uneventful after then. before then? several minor meltdowns, one of which ended up with j commenting, "i thought knitting was supposed to make you less cranky..."

thursday, i finished the first section and put in my first lifeline. reading ahead, i had been nervous about the lily of the valley section, but so far [knock on wood] it's been easier than the first part. i am zooming right along and am actually ahead of schedule. which is good, as one never knows what is going to rear its ugly head in the week ahead.

green.girl knitting: commentary