SotS blocking

Thursday saw the completion of the SotS. I couldn't be happier with my effort, and cannot wait to submit it to the Gala coordinator.

The Secret of the Stole has been a lot of fun to knit, even if I didn't participate in the "clue guessing" aspect of things. I think it is a way fun way to do the mystery element involved in a shawl like this one. I just decided not to me a group player. I don't know why. Maybe since I am not keeping this piece? I am giving it to the Long Wharf Theatre Silent Auction at the annual Gala. I hope it sells!

Stats:
pattern: Secret of the Stole by Nautical Knitter
Yarn: Jade Sapphire Lacey Lamb, in Charcoal
Needles: Knit Picks interchangeables, size 4
Notes: I chose the yarn color for this stole based purely on "saleability" at the Gala. I wanted something that would go with almost any formal gown color. Since the Gala is a formal event, and the people bidding on it would be so dressed, I wanted then to imagine the piece along with the dress they were wearing - or tux. (Don't want to assume anything) I didn't want to do black though, as the Gala is in June, and black feels more wintry, even though I wear it all year round. I think the steel color is fantastic, and the brighter silver beads are stunning in the body of the stole.

As far as the yarn goes - OMG. It's kind of expensive, but it is WONDERFUL. I t has great spring while you work with it, but it blocks like a dream, with hardly any "snap back" after you up pin it. I cannot tell you how nice it was to knit with. I only just broke into the second ball of yarn, so I will definitely make a scarf out of the rest. I cannot keep away from it. heaven.
The pattern is not a hard knit, as far a lace goes, it just takes some thinking as you work on it. Non-repeating patterns are fun, but you can't knit four repeats, memorize and go. You have to knit where you can read a chart, makes marks, set out beads... you get the idea. That said, it is not the kind of hard that requires a silent surrounding. a lot of the pattern was intuitive. You could tell the shape you were making, and could quickly see if you were off. I like that. It was a nice medium knit for me. and at 72", a good size for a stole. I couls have gotten a bit more length from it, but as you can see from my pictures, I ran out of table.

Now I just have to weave in ends! I like to do that after I block. I feel like it looks better, and I don't have to worry that I wove in too tight, and it will pull.

As soon as I'm up and around, I'll get some action shots!

You've missed a lot!

Where have you been? I've been very busy, and you haven't even been paying attention. tap.tap.tap.
Oh, I guess I have to actually take a few minutes to update my blog, if you are to know what I am doing. hmm. Quandary, isn't it.
Let's see. I went home to visit with my parents over Thanksgiving. It's always good to go home and remember where you came from, who loves you, what you like most in life, why you like it, and how much you'll miss it when you are gone. My brothers were entertaining as always. My Dad grumbled about all the work my Mom makes him do, and about how she "spends all his money". My Mom wanted to go shopping, a plan I didn't resist at all! We went to a bunch of cute little stores, not to any of those crazy Black Friday sales. Please. My Mom doesn't believe in getting up before 9am. (or going to sleep before 2, but that's another story entirely) Guess where the last place we went was?
A YARN store!
My mom got some yarn to make a multi-directional scarf, and I got some sock yarn, (duh) and a sock pattern booklet.
I've had some Jojoland Melody before, but not the superwash variety. I'm really looking forward to using it, but I fear it won't be for quite a while. I still have a lot of Christmas knitting to do.
Speaking of knitting, I finished my Snowdrift Mittens for my Grandma M! It only took forever.
I was originally making two pair of these. One for each Grandma. I've changed my mind. I'm going to find a different pattern for Grandma R. The pattern was fun, but I'm tired of looking at these!

Stats:
Pattern: Snowdrift by Patons, free from www.knitting-and.com
Yarn: Green - Tioga Three Ply Fingering Wool, Purple - Jaeger Alpaca Pure
Needles: KP circulars, size 1
Notes: This is very well written, and easy to understand - a feat that is hard to master sometimes in a vintage pattern. we just write our patterns differently now. I had no trouble with this one. The gloves fit nicely, but if you have larger hands, they are going to be very snug. For larger hands, I'd go up to a sport weight yarn, and a size 2 needle. Usually, I'd say just go up a needle size, but these aren't the most tightly knit mittens on size 1's, and I'd be afraid they would be too breezy on 2's. On a design note, I love the old school vintage quality of these gloves. You can tell they are a 50's pattern with out even seeing the original text. I know not everyone has my love of the old, but these are a real classic.

My knitting picked up speed this weekend, as I didn't have to go to NYC every other stinkin' day. Therefore, I also completed the edging for my sweater! I'm steaming it today, and sewing it on tonight! Pictures Tuesday! I don't care if it takes me all damn night, I'm finishing it! I'm also so close to finishing the SotS, it actually hurts. I would like to get it finished off, and blocked before Thursday. I know I can finish it, but I'm not sure about blocking. Cross your fingers.

So what is next on the needles? I have to start planning! When I finish the SotS and the sweater, I'll have gone from 4 WIP to 1! We can't have that! Like I said, I have a bunch of Christmas knitting I want to do, so that will be my main focus the next couple weeks. I want to do two bags - one for Mom, and one for Mom's friend Vangie. (Vangie is another knitter - she gave me yarn last year for Christmas.) I still have my Assistant Trevor to knit for...and I'm still not sure What I am making him. Grandma R needs a gift - most likely mittens. Lastly, Aunt Helen has to be knit for - I'm planning a shawl. If I can get moving on the Mystic Waters Shawl, it might be for Aunt Helen. Oh, and I forgot, my friend Corrine's socks! Her birthday is in December, and she asked if I would knit her a pair of socks. I am going to be a busy lady. What to prep first... opinions?

Just call me "bangin"!

Aww Hell my peeps! I got some shit DONE this weekend!
Alright. That might be a tad dramatic....
And have something to do with the fact I watched "8 mile" on Saturday night.
I'll try to keep the Big D plates to a minimum. But I make no promises, yo.

First up, Clue #6 for SotS. After the eternity last weeks clue seemed to take, finishing up this one quickly was off the hook. Sorry, I mean "awesome". ahem.

It was nice to have some uninterrupted knitting time during daylight. I hadn't realized how many weekends in a row we have had "stuff" to do all day on Saturday and Sunday. Now, I know, I went to SnB last Sunday, but that doesn't count. It was "accidental" found knitting time. I thought my parents were staying later than they did, so I suddenly found 3 hours. Not complaining, just saying.

Clue 6 brought the beads back! I missed the beads. The beads make this stole sick! (I bet Eminem never referred to and stole or shawl as "sick".) and we are up to 50" unblocked!

I also cranked on the Colette sweater. I finished up the fronts on Saturday, the sleeve edgings on Sunday, and the sleeves today.

If I can managed to continue, I'll be in a good place to finish this by the end of November! I'm concerned about the amount of time it takes to seam, but I guess I can just not sleep the last few nights of the month if I have to. pysnah, dog.

No progress on the other WIPs, but they are all still on the radar. After I finish the sleeves on the sweater, I have to block it, which means I have one night of "other project" time. It's not much, but at least I can have a little forward momentum.

I think that's it. I'm outy.

!!!!

A lot has happened in the two days since I posted last. I got a flu shot, reached the armholes on my Colette fronts, attended SnB, AND GOT MY RAVELRY SHIRT!!!! Oh yeah! I should have taken a picture of it, but I wore it yesterday, and didn't have a camera at my disposal. You'll have to trust me, it is fabulous. Everyone at work is jealous of my "Where my stitches at?" shirt. (although, they seem to think that it should say "bitches?!" at the end, as that is much more my language pattern. I kinda agree.)
I didn't take another picture of the brown-ness. You just have to trust me. Armholes, here I come! Monday should bring something more to look at, in the way of interesting.
Speaking of interesting, I finished clue 5 on the SotS stole! It's kind of funny that the clue had two lone beads - at least to me. It was a bit of a promise that more beads are coming, and to just be patient. It is also the promise of another chart that I have to actually pay attention to. Sweet!

I managed to squeak this one in under the gun. I wrapped up clue 5 at 11:30 last night. I really thought I might not make it this week. Clue 6, with any luck, will be complete by Monday night. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

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!

SotS 3

I have completed clue #3. I had to stay up way too late to make it happen, but I did it! Whoot!
Let's go to the pictures:

The whole she-bang.

This is just clue #3.
I must say, I am irritated with the weather. WTH! Why must it be grey every day that I try to take pictures of this project? Blech. One day, it will be sunny. One day I will get decent pictures of my SotS.
In other news, My computer is acting like I'm trying to run AutoCad on an AppleIIE. every time I hit enter in a dialog box on Ravelry or in Knitty it freezes, and the cursor freaks out. It also won't load some web sites. I don't know what the problem is. I'd call the computer tech guy at work, but he is a complete tool. He'd just be mad at me for all the "contra ban" I have on this thing. No music! No photo! No You Tube! I'm short, and angry about it! Stomp Stomp Stomp! This weekend DH and I are going to look at buying a new computer for the house. If, and when, that happens, no more of this crap!
Since 10 people have either e-mailed, asked on the blog, or asked on Ravelry for the Trouble pattern, I feel as though I should write it up. The writing part I can do. But, I am going to be seeking technical help regarding the posting of the pattern on the side bar of the blog. That, my friends, is too fancy dancy for me. way past my blog skillz. I will post about it here, when I have the sucker written, and then feel free to flood me with "retarded computer person" help.

how you know you have lost your mind.

It's easy to tell, really.
You start taking pictures like these:

gloves for if I has scissors for fingers.

gloves for Nixon

gloves to keep my angry finger warm...

and my happy finger.

if I was a traffic cop.

you get the idea.
I need help.

The Secret of the Stole is coming along nicely. I should finish up my clue tonight. I hate when I can't start knitting a clue as soon as I get home the evening the clue comes out. It KILLED me that I had to wait until Monday to start this one. Along with getting home late Tuesday and today, this clue is taking extra long. Maybe I can power through it.
Mystery Waters starts today. I printed the clue, and I must say, I'm already in love. I can't wait to get this underway. I haven't even wound my yarn yet! At any rate, I won't get to start on it until Thursday anyway. I guess it is better that the yarn isn't wound. I'd feel all out of sorts because I hadn't started yet.

Hey SnB peeps! I'm throwing my winder and swift in the car tomorrow, in the hopes that Panera won't be too crazy busy. I want to wind my Mystery waters yarn. If you want to wind things, bring them along!!!

that is all.

and to continue...

RHINEBECK!RHINEBECK! RHINEBECK!
eh hem.
Are we excited? Yes we are!!! Although I am a bit bummed that I will miss seeing Erin. :(
I can hold it together for 4 more days, can't I? I feel like a kid going to Six Flags. I know we are going, I can't wait for it to get here, I can only imagine the wonderfulness that awaits me, and I hope it doesn't rain. Just like being 8.
To keep me calm the next few days,I do have some projects in the wings. Mostly more Holiday presents, but all requiring a little thinking on my part. Last night I "designed" a mitten for Trevor. I swatched said Design. Yuck. Back to square one. No, I didn't take any pictures. It was horrid.
The other mittens are all previously designed, and way less yuck - hopefully. I plan to get the yarn together and wound for at least one of the pair tonight, as my backup weekend project.
Oh, and guess what I remembered to bring with me?
That's right! SotS pictures!

Clue 2 was not too complicated, and it went by really quickly. The only problem I have with these Mystery Projects is the wait between clues. But, hey, Next Friday the Mystery Waters shawl starts! Wee! Extra lace to work on!