Mystic Waters

It has been a long time coming, but I finally took some shots of the infamous Mystic Waters Shawl. I think this is one of my favorite things I've ever knit.

Pattern: Mystic Waters

Yarn: Ornaghi Filati Merino Oro, color 956

Needles: Knitpicks options size US5

Notes: This bit of pretty took me a long time to knit. I took a HUGE hiatus in the middle of the shawl. Frankly, I farted up a row, tried to fix it with out tinking, and ended up royally loosing my patience. SO, I put it away for about 5 months. Finally, I decided to tink back the two stupid error rows and finish the blasted thing. all in all, it only took another two weeks of on again off again knitting to finish it. I could have been wearing it all winter, but nooooo, I had to get irritated and put it in time out. There is nothing like a formal event to propel you to finish a delicate lace shawl!

The problem with starting it so long ago is that I kinda don't remember too much about the early knitting of the shawl. I kinda remember that the original pattern had an error or two - that were very quickly corrected, and that there was a place that I thought looked weird. The weird spot was part of the design, but it was really hard to see during the knitting progress. the first jog in the center motif happened at a break between charts, so it seemed like the chart was off a stitch.

I spent a whole evening questioning my knitting because of this. Lesson learned: trust the pattern until proven otherwise. I should paint that on the wall beside my knitting chair.

Overall, I am more than pleased with this shawl. I love the geometric nature of the design, it NEVER got boring and repetitious, and you could customize the size. I knit the short version, and it is plenty big. The big version would be way too long for my 5'2" self. Some people are scared off my charted lace, and prefer to knit from written out instruction. I am a very visual person, so I don't really understand that, but I am empathetic to those people. Anyhow, this is not the shawl for you if you are not a chart reader. As you can see, there are no two pattern rows the same in the entire shawl. Let me say that again, louder... "THERE ARE NO TWO PATTERN ROWS THE SAME IN THIS ENTIRE SHAWL" I, personally, love love love this kind of pattern. A good challenge is fun every now and again. I think it goes with out saying, this is not a take a long project, or a SnB project. I did work on it at SnB, but by the time you have 4 pieces of paper taped together, and limited table space, plus talking... you get the picture.

The yarn was very nice too. I love the bluey-purply color. It takes on different tones depending what it is around. The yarn itself was delightful to work with. It is soft and smooth, but with a bit of halo after you wash it up. it blocks beautifully, and really holds its shape. I took the pictures in this post after I wore it for an entire evening, and had it folded up in a suitcase.

I think this piece will get a lot of wear, and I definitely look forward to knitting more of this designers patterns!

I do still exist. I swear.

This time of year is always really freaking busy. I don't even have kids! I can only imagine what life would be like with end of year school crap to deal with too. Anyway, let me show you what I've been up to...

First up, the big project sucking away all my time is "the Gala". I'm designing a room again. I got a great idea (this is where it all goes pear shaped) to hang a whole seasons worth of props, costumes, supplies, lights - and on and on - from a truss grid in my room. awesome, right? Yes, in theory. In practice, this is a bitch. A big flaming bitch. It looks good. It'll look awesome when the rest of the room gets put together, and the tables and junk are in. Here is a sneak peek at my "ceiling collage/sculpture".

It kinda looks like TGIFriday's on crack. Or stock exploded on the ceiling. Or a vintage store threw up. Take your own euphemism and run with it. I like to describe the centerpieces as "piles of crap". I don't think devo likes that description much. When I have the whole flaming pile of evil assembled, I'll post more pics.

In between climbing ladders, tying crazy knots, and bruising myself to the point of looking like a crack whore, I managed to finish the Mystic Waters Stole!

It is blocked now, but I just don't have time to grab some FO shots yet. I'm wearing it to the Gala, so I'm sure I'll get some then. I'm glad I finished it. It is gorgeous, will look great with my dress, and will hopefully help hide the aforementioned crack whore bruises.

I also managed to get some time off yesterday. (Be amazed, be very amazed) So instead of updating my blog, doing laundry, cleaning my pig sty - er- my house, or any of the other hundred things I should have done, I went to the beach. I knit on the beach. then I went to Panera. I knit at Panera. then I went home. I knit at home, amidst the piles of crap, but, what ever. All that knitting resulted in my finishing the knitting on Camisa.

I might get to wrap this up over the next weekend. It only needs two seams and a crocheted neck line, yet I am not going to get to it. I'm just not. I have to do some sewing tonight for the children's theatre show I'm designing. It goes into dress rehearsals tomorrow night and Wednesday night. Then on Thursday is the Gala. I just don't see the opening in the schedule.

In hindsight, I might have overbooked myself just a little.

In all the craziness, I did manage to have some fun. We have "Beer 30" at the theatre on Friday evenings. Not all the Friday evenings, but enough to make it a well known entity. The final one of the season was a lot of fun.

We hung out, ate hamburgers, thew Frisbee, drank copious amounts of beer, and played flip cup. Yep - the good ole' college frat game, "flip cup". Our Managing director is a natural. Just saying.

What's up next for Costumechick? A week off. Hells yeah! I'm headed to PA to visit with the family, see my cousin and her babies, and probably help my Mom do some horrible chore around the house that I didn't anticipate. (She always does this to me. It'll be like, "oh on Thursday you can help me repaint the attic." "The attic?" "Of course. It just looks better that way. It's only 130F. It's small, we'll be done in time to re-carpet the church at 3pm. Then after our one meal we are going to eat today, in the evening we can do all the flower arrangements for the Congressional Club luncheon." ) You think I'm kidding - I can tell. I'm so not kidding.

I also have to get my shit together for another show I am designing this summer. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It's coming up fast, and I still haven't read the dang thing. At least I know the basic story. I can fake my way through, right?

What else? Oh, I cast on for my June Socktopia socks. No real progress to show yet, but I'm sure I will get some work done on them next week. That's it! You are caught up! Don't you feel better?

Most likely, this will be my only post this week, as I am stupid crazy at work. But, I promise FO pics this weekend!

WIp Thursday...wait. that's a sucky title

How about a project update?

I didn't get quite as much done on the Camisa sweater, as I had hoped, this past weekend. I did get the back finished, and am now picking up stitches for the front upper portion. Soon... soon... Anyhow, I like the back, and it all measures out in a good way, so I have no qualms about fit at this point. This is good. This point in the sweater proces is usually where I start worrying that it'll be too big, or too small, or that I'll run out of yarn. I am worried about running out of yarn. I always do. Everytime.

I have picked up the Mystic Waters Shawl again (Thanks Jenn). I tinked (and tinked), and reknit the row that was all jacked up. I went three pattern rows rows back, and moved 8 pattern rows forward, for a gain of five pattern rows. I want to wear this shawl to the Gala, so I have to get crackin'. I only have a chart and a half to go. Also, I didn't want to finish the Camisa before Thursday, or I would have nothing SnB suitable to work on. I plan my knitting life around SnB, evidently.

The purse is still in it's same condition. Someday I will finish it. Someday..

Let's play ketchup

I mean Catch up. Ketchup is funnier.

I am writing again from Tech, but this time by the light of a Rwandan Genocide Memorial. Fun, right? Anyway, I have knitting progress to report - even if it isn't as much as I'd like. First up, the Citrus Lozenge socks:

I am on the toe of sock #1. DH likes them very much. I said yesterday that I was on the toe. He said, "Of #2?!" He was so excited to get to wear them. I felt bad that I am only on #1. So sad.

another sad thing:

Yes that is the tip of my KP 0's. I caught it in a door. Don't even ask. It was a feat of skill and gracefulness. They still work fine. No problems on that account, so I'm gonna keep using them. It gives my needles character.

I finished up clue #3 on my Mystic Waters shawl. It is quite stunning, even in its misshaped, half finished, blob status. It is officially too wide to "pin out" while still on the needles. So I took some pictures in chunks.
The middle part:

The edging:

This is were I thought I screwed up:

I looks weird doesn't it? The nice thing about being behind in my knitting is that I get to see everyone Else's completed looks. No one noted a problem with this clue, and all the others looked likes mine, so I forged ahead. Now that the whole clue is complete, it looks just right. This is one place where "reading" my knitting did me a disservices. Usually, I can see the mistakes by looking back a the rows before and comparing to the chart. On this one row it gave me fits. the Ktogs were not lining up! I counted, and counted, and compared and counted. It just couldn't be what the designer intended! Umm.. It was. All that fretting for nothing. From here forth, I will trust this pattern, not second guess it.

That's it for now. I have to get back to work. (and by that I mean, update my Ravelry page)

Holy Monday Batman!

I have a lot of Knitting content to throw your way today! I should save some, since I will have none tomorrow, but, what the heck. Let's have a GIANT post.

First up, some updates. SotS is going well, and I have completed clue #4. This was a fast clue, and an easy one. Easy to memorize, and fast to knit.

Mystic Waters Shawl is also completed for this week. Clue #1 was a lot of fun. I hope the trend continues!

I cast on for the Snowdrift Mittens for My Grandma. So far so good. These are my current take a long project, so I'm sure they will be slow going.

With the start of the new month in a few days, I have a few more things ready to go on the needles. My Colette Sweater for NaKniSweMo, and Corrine's socks for Socktopia. Corrine's Birthday is in November, so it is a good impetus to get them finished. I am all set to be a crazy busy chicky!

Finally, I have FO pictures for you! (I am appeasing the Yarn Overlords for my Cast-on-itis with my FO's!)

Pattern: Ladies Long Gloves from freevintageknitting.com
Yarn: Superyak from School Products, NYC
Needles: size 0 and 1 KP classic Circulars
Notes: The only changes I made to the pattern was to decrease needle sizes to fit my super tiny hands, and to kitchner the fingers closed. I have fingernails, and I hate when my gloves don't take that into account. Kitchnering seems to help the problem. I LOVE how long these gloves are. They are perfect for my 1960's winter coat. SO much so that I *almost* want it to get cold so I can wear them. Almost. (Not really. I like the moderate fall temperature.)

I like the faux cabling on this pattern. We all know how I dislike the cable monster, and avoid it when I can. At first I almost rejected this pattern out of hand because of the "cables", then I read it. No cables! Sweet! All cables should be faux. The yarn was great to work with - even with the machine oil in it. If you have never knitted with oiled yarn, you should know, it is a bit odd at first. Your hands stay nice and soft, but the yarn acts like it is made from linen. When you wash the oil out, the yarn is soft and fluffy. You should have seen the water - eww. It was grey from the oil.

umm. I think that's it! Later!