Saturday, February 28, 2009
Pattern is done!
I finally finished writing my very first knitting pattern! I'm still waiting to get set up on Ravelry to offer it as a download and I can't seem to figure out how to upload it as a downloadable link here... but it is done... Here are some pictures as a teaser.... modeled by the inspiration (baby Aubrey) and in a larger size, Chey (I decided to show the bottom ruffle as optional, so the baby size has the ruffle, the toddler size does not). If you don't have a Ravelry account (or you don't want to wait a few more days) and would like the pattern (it's free), just send me a message and I'll email you the PDF.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Who knew knitting could be like skydiving??
Of course, I've never actually GONE skydiving, nor would I ever choose to do so. My idea of an intense adrenaline rush is trying to merge on the Deerfoot. If you live in Calgary, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.
In the knitting adrenaline department, I'd have to say that lace knitting is right up there. Especially the last few rows of a shawl when you're knitting 400 stitches or more per row and you feel like the end is finally in sight... then you look at your yarn and realize that it's disappearing faster than you thought and maybe, just maybe, you won't have enough to finish the project as written...... Tonight was such a ride. I finally finished the third installment of Make One Yarn's Year of Lace for 2008 (the link is for 2009, but it's closed now so if you're interested you'll have to wait until 2010); Amy Swenson's Silver Birches shawl. It is a thing of loveliness, but it was a heart pounding adrenaline ride to the finish. It all started about half way through the shawl. I'd just started the second ball of yarn (there were 2, so I knew I had to be at least 50% finished) and was either just starting or halfway through the last of the body chart repeats and I thought to myself... "Wow, I only have the edging chart left and I've still got half my yarn.... yikes! I must be knitting tighter than I thought!.... I wonder if I should add another body repeat to make up for it??"... so I did.... and that decision set off the exciting finish that I just mentioned..... I knit the first portion of the edging chart and moved on to the second part when it struck me that my ball of yarn was looking rather thin..... VERY thin, in fact..... I knit another row and my thin ball got dramatically thinner.... I weighed my yarn... 3g. 3g is not a lot of yarn..... I knit a row and measured again... still 3 g, although the ball was noticebly smaller.... hmmmm... perhaps my scale isn't quite accurate enough for cashmere lace yarn, so I decided to bind off..... with 6 rows left of the chart..... It then occurred to me that I might not even have enough to bind off..... but I soldered on and with the tiniest amount of yarn left (enough for perhaps 3/4 of the next row or less) I finished the last bind off stitch. I finished this last stitch during Eli's Karate class and although I really wanted to run hooting and hollering through the gym, showing it to every man, woman and child there, I managed to somewhat control myself and only shove it in the face of the poor person next to me. I then calmly and politely folded it neatly and put it away to be blocked immediately on home entry.
Voila! Here it IS!!!!
On a rather less dramatic note, I also finished a hat that I designed. I have even written up the pattern and plan to test knit Chey's size and then I'm going to offer it (for free, I don't know what the heck I'm doing and I'm not charging for it) on Ravelry. Here is a picture of that.....
And on the spinning front. I think it's going well. I had a lesson from a friend (I hope I can call her that) who really helped me ease through the stuff I would have had to fight through on my own. I'm hoping to ply this stuff in the next day or so..... I'm going to test it as a 2ply and as a Navajo ply. I think 2 ply will be too thin. Using the spinner's gauge, it looks like a 2 ply will be a (thickish) laceweight and 3ply will be closer to sport... but we'll see
AND I made a new orifice hook. I wanted something pretty and this is, however I really need to remake it with a stronger wire with a longer hook section, but I'll have to order the wire to do it... in the meantime, this one works and it's pretty....
In the knitting adrenaline department, I'd have to say that lace knitting is right up there. Especially the last few rows of a shawl when you're knitting 400 stitches or more per row and you feel like the end is finally in sight... then you look at your yarn and realize that it's disappearing faster than you thought and maybe, just maybe, you won't have enough to finish the project as written...... Tonight was such a ride. I finally finished the third installment of Make One Yarn's Year of Lace for 2008 (the link is for 2009, but it's closed now so if you're interested you'll have to wait until 2010); Amy Swenson's Silver Birches shawl. It is a thing of loveliness, but it was a heart pounding adrenaline ride to the finish. It all started about half way through the shawl. I'd just started the second ball of yarn (there were 2, so I knew I had to be at least 50% finished) and was either just starting or halfway through the last of the body chart repeats and I thought to myself... "Wow, I only have the edging chart left and I've still got half my yarn.... yikes! I must be knitting tighter than I thought!.... I wonder if I should add another body repeat to make up for it??"... so I did.... and that decision set off the exciting finish that I just mentioned..... I knit the first portion of the edging chart and moved on to the second part when it struck me that my ball of yarn was looking rather thin..... VERY thin, in fact..... I knit another row and my thin ball got dramatically thinner.... I weighed my yarn... 3g. 3g is not a lot of yarn..... I knit a row and measured again... still 3 g, although the ball was noticebly smaller.... hmmmm... perhaps my scale isn't quite accurate enough for cashmere lace yarn, so I decided to bind off..... with 6 rows left of the chart..... It then occurred to me that I might not even have enough to bind off..... but I soldered on and with the tiniest amount of yarn left (enough for perhaps 3/4 of the next row or less) I finished the last bind off stitch. I finished this last stitch during Eli's Karate class and although I really wanted to run hooting and hollering through the gym, showing it to every man, woman and child there, I managed to somewhat control myself and only shove it in the face of the poor person next to me. I then calmly and politely folded it neatly and put it away to be blocked immediately on home entry.
Voila! Here it IS!!!!
On a rather less dramatic note, I also finished a hat that I designed. I have even written up the pattern and plan to test knit Chey's size and then I'm going to offer it (for free, I don't know what the heck I'm doing and I'm not charging for it) on Ravelry. Here is a picture of that.....
And on the spinning front. I think it's going well. I had a lesson from a friend (I hope I can call her that) who really helped me ease through the stuff I would have had to fight through on my own. I'm hoping to ply this stuff in the next day or so..... I'm going to test it as a 2ply and as a Navajo ply. I think 2 ply will be too thin. Using the spinner's gauge, it looks like a 2 ply will be a (thickish) laceweight and 3ply will be closer to sport... but we'll see
AND I made a new orifice hook. I wanted something pretty and this is, however I really need to remake it with a stronger wire with a longer hook section, but I'll have to order the wire to do it... in the meantime, this one works and it's pretty....
Saturday, February 7, 2009
25 things....
There has been this "thing" going around on Facebook lately. You are supposed to post 25 random things about yourself and then tag 25 people. I've been tagged several times and haven't bothered to post my 25 things, mainly because, although I love to READ that stuff, I absolutely hate, hate, hate bugging others. I truly feel that "read this and pass it on" type email and posting is the online equivalent of coughing without covering your mouth.... who knows what you've just passed on to the next person in line.....
I am going to post my 25 random things here though.... without a "pass it on" ending.
1. I wasn't going to do this, but Christina made me...
2. I knit, crochet and now spin (like Sleeping Beauty, not like riding a stationary bike... and no comments from the peanut gallery about my comparison to Sleeping Beauty)
3. Even though I'm almost 36, I can still *almost* get one leg behind my head... and yes, I tried it to make sure...
4. I can also touch the base of my nose with my tongue
5. I have 2 dogs, a standard poodle and a toy poodle... and I think poodles RAWK.
6. 80% of the TV I watch is documentary-ish
7. My son has ADHD and he's gifted, which means he talks at about 5,000 miles an hour and soon he'll be able to out think me....
8. My son was 3lbs 5 oz and 15 inches long when he was born
9. I also have an adopted daughter who is my sun, moon and stars
10. I once broke a boat and made an ex-boyfriend and my friend paddle us to help....
11. I have NEVER been to a concert
12. I'm basically a big ole scaredy cat. I am scared of EVERYTHING
13. I went to college/university for 4 yrs and have nothing to show for it (except the student loan debt which took foreva to pay off!).. sigh.
14. My son just informed me that being a Mom is not a REAL job... I hope he clones himself and stays at home to find out for himself....
15. I went to a 3 day knitting retreat in November and loved it.....
16. I went to 7 different schools growing up.
17. I still occasionally dream that I'm in high school...
18. I once walked straight into a light standard and nearly knocked myself on my ass. Did I mention that I was wearing a short skirt and high heels at the time... oh and it was RIGHT in front of a pub in Whistler, full of mountain biking HOT guys.....???
19. I was somewhat known in college for my car... the Blue Demon.... as in "OH?? You're the girl with THAT car".... and it wasn't a positive "Oh".
20. I have a very sick and dirty sense of humor.
21. I like books that hurt my brain, but I read lots of junk food in between to keep me sane. At least I used to like those books, now all I do is knit.
22. Dale and I have been together for nearly 16 years and I even still like him most of the time
23. I walk almost every day
24. I write a blog and people actually read it, amazing!
25. Facebook keeps crashing when I try to publish this note.. I wonder what THAT means?? LOL....
I am going to post my 25 random things here though.... without a "pass it on" ending.
1. I wasn't going to do this, but Christina made me...
2. I knit, crochet and now spin (like Sleeping Beauty, not like riding a stationary bike... and no comments from the peanut gallery about my comparison to Sleeping Beauty)
3. Even though I'm almost 36, I can still *almost* get one leg behind my head... and yes, I tried it to make sure...
4. I can also touch the base of my nose with my tongue
5. I have 2 dogs, a standard poodle and a toy poodle... and I think poodles RAWK.
6. 80% of the TV I watch is documentary-ish
7. My son has ADHD and he's gifted, which means he talks at about 5,000 miles an hour and soon he'll be able to out think me....
8. My son was 3lbs 5 oz and 15 inches long when he was born
9. I also have an adopted daughter who is my sun, moon and stars
10. I once broke a boat and made an ex-boyfriend and my friend paddle us to help....
11. I have NEVER been to a concert
12. I'm basically a big ole scaredy cat. I am scared of EVERYTHING
13. I went to college/university for 4 yrs and have nothing to show for it (except the student loan debt which took foreva to pay off!).. sigh.
14. My son just informed me that being a Mom is not a REAL job... I hope he clones himself and stays at home to find out for himself....
15. I went to a 3 day knitting retreat in November and loved it.....
16. I went to 7 different schools growing up.
17. I still occasionally dream that I'm in high school...
18. I once walked straight into a light standard and nearly knocked myself on my ass. Did I mention that I was wearing a short skirt and high heels at the time... oh and it was RIGHT in front of a pub in Whistler, full of mountain biking HOT guys.....???
19. I was somewhat known in college for my car... the Blue Demon.... as in "OH?? You're the girl with THAT car".... and it wasn't a positive "Oh".
20. I have a very sick and dirty sense of humor.
21. I like books that hurt my brain, but I read lots of junk food in between to keep me sane. At least I used to like those books, now all I do is knit.
22. Dale and I have been together for nearly 16 years and I even still like him most of the time
23. I walk almost every day
24. I write a blog and people actually read it, amazing!
25. Facebook keeps crashing when I try to publish this note.. I wonder what THAT means?? LOL....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
