Wedding Shawl

I pushed through and have just about finished the Tuscany Shawl for my sister in law's wedding.  She does not want a huge, Stevie Nicks thing so I cut tow pattern repeats from the project (9 total, instead of 11). It's a pretty nice pattern, not too complicated, not too lacey-poo-poo and I suspect it would look good on finer yarn. It grows fast because it is very wide, the increases are on every row, rather that the usual every-other row.

The reason it is not quite done is because I did not know if it was long enough or if Katie (sil) wanted it bigger. I took my own advice and slipped the stitches off the needle and onto scrap yrn (Super 10 cotton held double) and then wet blocked it with pins on my ginat blocking boards. It blocked up rrreeeeeaaall goood!  Now I am waiting for Katie too come over an try it on and then I'll cast off, steam block the cast off edge, sew on a label, and off it goes!

But now that I have finsihed all my required wedding knitting I am in the flow and jonesing to knit anything, can't stop!

ww knit in public day

Hi friends!  Sorry I have not blogged recently. My beloved baby bird Belle passed away from unknown causes and it kinda got me down. Pluto was doing really well with a friend, so I think I may purchase a brand new lovebird buddy for him.

On a tangent, people have complaining that Intweave Press has been withdrawing their free online patterns and selling them through their webstore (for example the Soap Bubble Wrap from the Spring 2009 issue of Interweave Knits).  Personally, if they advertise that a download will only be available for a limited period of time, que sera. But if they publish a pattern in their magazines stating that the instructions are online and do not state that it will not be available after a specific date, I think it's reasonable to assume that the pattern will be there in perpetuity (unless the company goes under and the website disappears).  I thought about how I felt as a retailer who sells their publication and I wrote to them, telling them the myriad legitimate reasons why this policy is bad for business. As a consumer, if you are upset about this or feel shortchanged, I suggest you contact them and tell them how you feel.  Here is a link to their online contact form. If you don't tell them how you feel, how will they know? Be your own focus group!

The sock doll  is coming along nicely. I'm working on her pants right now, but the coat turned out really nice!  I improvised it and knit it in the round with some Elzbeth Lavold Angora I had hanging around the store.

I Finished my ceramic mini-cardie just in time for the hot weather. the yarn is cooler than others and was nice to use as a cover up on a sunny day, but I wouldn't say that it is going to replace air conditioners any time soon. That said, the drape is really nice!  I am going o try the pattern again in Cascade Fization and see what happens with a cotton that has more body.

World Wide Knit In Public Day Hat

I made a hat with Studioloo Mixed Weight Handspun, Downtown Beauty,  on World Wide Knit in Public Day in the park next to the Artscape TTC Barns.

Here is Rosie modeling the hat in front of the Artscape Barns - they look very archaeological on this side.

Knit in public day was so much fun!  next year I am going to do something more involved because it was a blast! 

babette done!

Ta-Daaaaaa!  I finished up the babette blanket! it'll be on display in the store for a month or so until the wedding. it looks amazing! exactly like i envisioned!  i'm so happy it worked out!  now i must figure something out to bring to the park on world wide knit in public day. i'm feeling that 'finished big project' denoument. i should get back to my little thingies, on the side. sigh. that is the difference between a mistress and a wife.

seriously, are you kidding!?

i have a miserable cold. all runny nose, sore throat and generally feeling hung over. before leaving work i started seaming the pieces of the babette blanket together, i was at block 3 when i left work. i brought all of the pieces home with me tonight, figuring that being sick was an excellent opportunity to seam it all up.  i just pulled it out and what should be missing? block 4. the thing is put together log cabin style, i don't think i can do any more tonight. mo-fo! the stupid thing must be on the table at work. i wish i had a car, i would drive back there and kick it's ass!

p.s. thanks to all the people who visited on the TTC knitalong today!  you were all so nice, the best group ever! :-)

barbie

i pulled out the babette blanket to start seaming the sections together, but i think that will have to wait until tonight because i've got stuff to do at work today, work stuff. not that seaming is all that compelling, but i've got drive and i'm ready to plough through and finish this puppy off. by the way, thank you for your comments!  they are proving to be excellent motivators. i'm such a helper! ;-) when someone tells me "i was thinking about that but i wasn't sure, and then i saw yours and now i'm inspired" it's really a great compliment, in both size and kindness.
 

currently, besides trying to write to you, i am braiding the hair on the barbies in one of Cindy-Loo Who's skeins, Barbie's Ice Cream Social. you can see more closeups on her blog. There have been some cool yarns brewing down in Whoville! this summer i am going to learn how to spin art yarn a la cindy-loo. of course, this means i will also be learning how to spin yarn.  i've never been overly inclined towards spinning, myself, but the idea of making art yarn is very appealing! maybe my first subject will be pluto yarn?

it occurred to me last night that i've been telling you how much i like washing my hair with Eucalan, but that i have not been showing you any results. now, this is fine, except when you stop by the store i have not necessarily had a chance to wash my hair that day (i'm normally every other day, but sometimes i get busy or i intend to do it after my workout). this is what my hair looks like after washing with Grapefruit Eucalan, followed by Avalon Organics Olive & Grape Seed conditioner, followed with my regular regimen of Kiehl's Strong Hold Styling Gel and Super Thick Volumizer. Caveat, washing with Eucalan WILL NOT cause decapitated barbies to sprout from your yarn. I think this is my 4th or 5th wash?  my last wash was with baby shampoo because I was at John's house. regardless, the ends are not drier and the Eucalan seems to handle them a little bit better. i REALLY need a hair cut and the real test will begin after all the hay has been cut from the ends.

anyway, project wise, as i said, the blanket was put aside for a day or two. yesterday i taught Laura how to make gloves and i started working on a pair of gloves in Regia Design Line (the Kaffe Fassett colours) 6ply (dk weight) in the fire colourway, 5950, with 3mm/5"" dpn. i've never made gloves before, for some reason i thought they would be unpleasant, but they are exactly the opposite and i'm getting into them.  they are working really quickly and the thin needles are actually easier to work worth than thicker gauges i've used for mittens. this might actually be more fun than socks, well, at least for me. i have to wear gloves every day all fall, winter and early spring, so maybe having several funky, coloured pairs of gloves is a good idea to brighten things up. live & learn. perhaps i will start challenging myself to try a type of project every month that is on my 'never want to make' list?



finally, i've neglected to update the store project. Liane has been working on a Stitch Diva Butterfly Wrap (sans wings) to be displayed on the back wall of the store.

we are using a 3.5mm Clover soft touch crochet hook and Super 10 Cotton in colour 3004, a really nice grey, in size Small.  at first we were a little puzzled by the workings of the pattern but it sort of fell into place without making emendments. i seriously suggest you test your gauge by working the back panel, you won't get a good idea of size with a small swatch. 

P.S. two months ago month left me a comment telling me that i had miss-spelled 'emend'. because the comment was anonymous i was not able to contact that person directly and replied to the comment publicly. for the record, the word can be spelled with either an a or an e, but it comes from the Latin root emedare. generally, as a former reference librarian and academic, i go with the bible, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED):

COMPACT OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY OF CURRENT ENGLISH
— verb correct and revise (a text).

— DERIVATIVES emendation noun.

— USAGE The words emend and amend both derive from Latin emendare ‘to correct’ and have similar, but not identical, meanings in English. Emend means ‘correct and revise (a text)’, while amend means ‘make minor improvements to (a document, rule, or proposal)’.

— ORIGIN Latin emendare, from menda ‘a fault’.

MERRIAM WEBSTER DICTIONARY


CAMBRIDGE DICTIONARY


Now, the reason i prefer to use 'emend' in this situation, rather than 'amend', is because changing a pattern to improve it generally involves a complete overhaul. regardless of how small or minor the tinkering, it always seems to cascade. a technical editor of a knitting/crochet pattern would be making amendments, correcting a number which have been miscalculated,  but not altering the concept or design.

Blanket Update

the babette blanket is moving along a nice clip!  i've finished seaming each of the 10 sections and i'm ready to put them together. after that all i have to do is press it, crochet the border, and press it again.

i don't recall if i already mentioned it, but the blanket is a gift for my brother and sister-in-law for their wedding in July.  I think they are looking for a good poem or two for the wedding, so if you know of anything please let me know!

i just cast on a capelet for myself (the stripey version), i am using green Noro Iro and i went down a needle size to an 8mm but i may go down further too a 7mm. i love the old one but it stretched because of the loose gauge and i'd like it to be a bit more snug. i wear it all the time at work, it is perfect for when i'm a little chilly and provides protection from pluto's little gifts.

Babette bobbing along

My Babette Blanket is bobbing along ahead of schedule. I have finished, blocked and joined all of the squares and I'm about to start seaming them. Making a schedule for this project was definitely a good idea!  It isn't a huge blanket, but there are a lot of little squares to make and having a daily allotment kept me completely motivated.  I'll start seaming, sOee how fast that goes, and schedule that too. Me so organized! :-)

Oh, and one more bit of vaguely knit related news .... I've been washing my hair with Eucalan.  My ends are getting dry and my shampoo is suspect. My hairdressers have always tod me to use a very gentle shampoo, but I'm not sure they exist without having to take a bank loan. I was watching tv way too late one night and was mesmerized by the ads for WEN, a conditioner type of cleanser.  After doing my research I found out that WEN is a big rip-off and that you can do the same thing with regular condtitioner. So I tired it, and the first wash was great, but the second was gross so I gave it up. A few weeks later, after wrestling with my ends, I figured why not try the Eucalan? I figured that if the stuff is the ultimate gentle wash for cashmere that it should be ok for hair. Hair is a fibre, right? So far so good, I'm 3 washes in and still happy.The roots aren't greasy, the ends are a little bit better  and they don't seem to be getting drier. The Eucalan is not heavy (my hair is fine and easily weighed down) and the curl's & volume are both great. I don't expect miracles, I just want to stop the cycle of damage. I started with the eucaluptus and moved on to grapefruit this morning. At first I wondered if this was going to be an expensive enterprise, but I sell refills for $8/500ml and I don't use a lot of the stuff when I wash.  Anyway, I'll keep you updated as I go!

Hi, my name is Haley and I'm a neglig...

Hi, my name is Haley and I'm a negligent blogger. But in my defense, I have plenty of excuses. Everyone I know has a big But. :-)

So here is what I've been up to ....

Painting the store.

We had the exterior painted, but the new colour (minty green) did not turn out to match the old colour (aqua-ee turquoise), so we painted the interior.  I had to take all the stuff off the walls and stow them away safely in the overhead compartment. The blue things were painted green and then i had to put all the stuff back on the walls. While i was putting stuff back i figured I might as well do some re-organizing i had been meaning to get around to. The needles are all pretty and everything has a little tag on the hook identifying what lives there and lets me know that it needs to be re-ordered (the hooks are hot real estate and are always in demand). I also did some furniture moving, which i had also been yearning for.

I created a 'vignette' (that's what they call a strategically placed chair at Ethan Allen) in the front window, moved my desk against the back wall & cleaned it out (lots of stuff in the basement), moved the shelving around (I'm getting ready to make space for a sofa!) and cleaned behind everything i could move. The new colour turned out really nice on the inside of the store, but was a bit much on the exterior, so we painted the doors a matching grey. the sign still needs to be repaired, it is getting a new frame, and the walls still need a new coat of paint.

i also moved the birds in together, they're shacked up. i got tired of the second cage, including the extra cleaning, but also Belle was very territorial about it and got really nippy. i send the birds for a vacation to my parents house while the painting took place and by the time they got back i figured it was time for them to take things to the next level. They loving couple are getting along super swell and I suspect Belle is getting ready to produce an egg.

Boteh Scarf, handmaiden sea silk, pewter

As for my knitting, I've actually been up to some crochet. First off was a Boteh scarf made with Handmaiden Sea Silk. An easy,  quality project, but I had to develop a system to keep track of the rows. I'm teaching a class on how to make it. The Sea Silk looks amazing!


Babette Blanket in Noro Silk Garden Sock

Shhhhhhhh .... I am working on a Babette Blanket in Noro Silk Garden Sock for my brother for his wedding. At first he said the wedding was next March, then it was moved to September, now it is in July! I've made a schedule for myself to get it finished in good time and reduce the likelihood of burnout. I might have 1/2 of the squares finished, maybe a bit more. I thought it would be fine with 5 balls, but I was very wrong and suffered much yarn shortage anxiety. Luckily, I was able to re-order from the distributor and it came quickly. 

xox H

P.S. Eden & Hans (my neighbours at Scratch) are adopting a baby! I just met her, she's great, easy babysitting!  :-)