the knitting buzz

lace class inspired

Finally, my lace class inspired scarf design  is finished, blocked, written and finally published.  I called it Venetia Lace Scarf, named for the famous Diamond Mine in South Africa. 

 I knit it with Punta Space Dyed Lace yarn, a 100% Merino Wool.  This yarn was very nice to work with and was super easy to block.  And if you remember my wip picture, it appeared to need pins, wires and the works......

 
But instead....... it was so easy that I didn't use any t-pins or blocking wires.  I just let it soak in wool wash for about 15 minutes, then gently squeezed out as much water as I could with my hands, rolled it in a towel, then positioned it to the blocked size with my hands.  I blocked it 2 inches wider and 14 inches longer.  It was a breeze!  Don't you love it when that happens.....I know I do.

The pattern is available on Ravelry, along with the rest of my designs.   

 

 

ultimate needles for lace

Since I am back in the swing with my lace thing, I just have to pay homage to the ultimate "Lace Girl" knitting needles.

So this is my tribute to Signature Needles. There are other fine needles available but there is nothing like a Signature Stiletto Point Knitting Needle. They are available straights, circulars and dpns.  The straights are available in U.S. sizes 0 thru 10 in three lengths, 7", 10" and 14" long needles. They also come in three different tips; stilletto (my personal favorite), middy and blunt AND three different caps or tops to show off your inner fancy; teardrop, bell and spiral.

  In the beginning, Signature only produced straights and dpn's. More recently, they entered into the circular arena with US sizes 5 - 7. And soon, circulars will be available  in size US 3 and US 4....... sweet!

This is my collection of the 7" needles, my personal favorites. An accolade for the 7" knitting needle it may be little... but its  mighty. I am able to comfortably get 300 lace stitches on these needles which makes it feel similar to working on circulars with out messing with the cable or a join to worry about.....its the best of both worlds.....especially when working with lace.  I also have a set of US 1 dpns, which are heaven and a US 6 circular. I look forward to getting the US 4 Circular (24") and adding to my dpn collection.

I wouldn't recommend this for the faint of heart, but I was able to travel (air) with both my dpn's and my 7" straights.  I was nervous, but definitely lucked out.

 

plan change

Today was one of those days. 

Had great plans for this forecasted incredibly cold day to take Katie and Xander to the Museum of Science and Industy.  Only to find my sweet Xander, sick with head/chest cold & congestion.  Better to keep him indoors and ward off any chance for something worse.  I was sad about the plan change, but .....now saw my day ripe full of opportunity.

Opportunity to catch up on some chores and the opportunity to work on knitting  my latest lace scarf design. 

 

So with some hot coffee, my new project bag from Lantern Moon, my trusty Knit Kit  and the afternoon to myself, I made some decent progress.

This scarf was inspired by a set of three patterns, from the Barbara Walker Treasury, that I use in the Intermediate Lace Class I teach. Many of my students wanted a scarf pattern and I told them I would work something up.  The lace details are really difficult to see until it has been blocked. 

So, I used two of the three designs to construct a bordered lace pattern.  The smaller pattern is the border and the larger pattern is the insert.  I think it could make a very nice wrap or shawl too. I am using the 100% Merino Wool Space Dyed Lace from Punta Yarns. They have a beautiful range of colors.  It should block nicely.

 
As I have been working on this piece, I have been getting a lot of requests for the pattern. So once I have finished the knitting and  blocked it......  I will get it written up, take better pictures and published.  Hopefully within the week....

On a side note,  there is still some good football knitting this weekend......  GO BEARS!!!!

football is almost over

Football is a big deal at my house.

I mean a really big deal. Sunday afternoon & night, Monday night and sometimes on Thursday's;  we live and breath football......and knitting, (of course). 

That's right is the perfect excuse to have an entire afternoon and evening dedicated to knitting.  Don't get me wrong...... over time I have learned to enjoy the game.  But love the uninterrupted knitting time even more, without regrets or apologies.

Once upon a time ago, when we would join some friends weekly for Monday Night Football, my knitting projects were frowned upon and nearly schunned.  But I persisted and over time, and wearing them down...... I am pleased to say that now my knitting is not only accepted, but expected.  Once, I forgot my knitting, which was tragic in its own right.....but found myself showered with concern, "what would I do?"  That was the week that I learned more about the game and now thoroughly enjoy it myself.

Soooo.....next week is the last of the playoff games. Then there is the Pro Bowl. And then the Super Bowl.  Football will be over....sniff...sniff...sniff. Until September.

Enjoy the games and the knitting....

GO BEARS!!!!!!!

tnna fashion show

The TNNA Fashion show for Spring 2011 featured silhouettes that incorporated  playful texture, more lace, ruffles & pleats, sheer texture, embellishments and a thoughtful approach to colorwork.  In addition, there seemed to be skirts and dresses shown this year. Here is a sampling from the show.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Knitting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

spring 2011 color forecast

Compliments of VOGUEknitting and Tahki Stacy Charles is the Spring 2011 Color Forecast for Knitwear.  Note:  Pantone numbers have been included to get the exact color since online colors can be deceiving.

 
The "it" color of 2011 is forecasted to be Honeysuckle, Pantone 18-2120, a vibrant, energetic hue of reddish pink. Its a color that instills confidence and courage; perfect to ward off the blues. Honeysuckle looks great when combined with any of the spring 2011 forcasted colors. This vibrant reddish pink looks stunning with greens, blues, the blue-greens, the citrus colors, lavendar, russet brown, and silver grey.  

The browns and beiges of the season will be more peachy and added sparkle will present either within the garments or accessories. Check out Russet, Pantone 18-1235 and Silver Peony, Pantone 12-1206.

The Coral Rose and Beeswax color combination will be everywhere, you can't help but feel the enery from this color combination. Check out Coral Rose, Pantone 16-0941 and Beeswax, Pantone 14-0941.

The blues are inbetween last years turquoise and the greens are more grassy. They play beautifully together and work well with last years turquoise too. Check out Peapod, Pantone 14-6324, Blue Curacao, Pantone 15-4825 and Regatta, Pantone 18-4039.

What is left off of this color forecast is the importance of WHITE. Head-to-toe white will be everywhere, its fresh, its clean its confident. White with any of the forecasted colors keeps the palette crisp.

up in the air

I am a little behind in posting this.....perhaps its was the 61 pictures I took form the plane. I will spare you and share only some highlights.

Heading out and of course, I am equipped with my traveling sock for the 4 hour journey to Long Beach. I settled on the sock, yes another sock, because I resisted the idea of losing my precious Signatures, just so I could work on my lace scarf. This sock is being knit with Socks that Rock  by Blue Moon Fiber in my Dash sock pattern,

 

First of all, I am from the Midwest but know nothing about farming, I enjoyed looking out over the farmland, BUT then found myself mystified by large sections of land that appeared like crop circles but seemingly larger, throughout many different areas.

The picture is a little hard to see. But I found them very interesting. Can anyone tell me what these are.....I'm intrigued!

 

Here are some frosted version of circles, half circles and even some pacman shaped ones. What are these????

 

 
I could see my mystifying circles inspiring some design work down the road. They are beautiful.

I get the opportunity to see many mountains, so I couldn't help myself. There was alot of snow on some and none on others.

 

Canyons and steep ravines

 

This next shot  looks to me like it could have been taken on Mars....

Some were so majestic

 

 

And then after the mountain show, we land and alas, the Queen Mary. We are staying on this renovated ship while in Long Beach. So fun!

 

 


I will be posting on some new products, some features front the Fashion Show and  the fashion color forecast for Spring 2011.

 

heading for tnna

TNNA (The National Needlearts Association) hosts a show twice a year for retailers, offering classes, a fashion show, interesting speakers and the show to purchase yarn, needles , notions and accessories for the upcoming season. The best part is that it is hosted in Long Beach CA; a nice break from the down coat and Uggs routine.

We leave tomorrow, so today is filled with all the usual pre-travel errands, (hair cut, manicure/pedicure, dry cleaner and Walgreens) and what to pack, clothes and more importantly, which knitting projects to take. 

Don't laugh.....the projects are the most important part. Need to have a project that is somewhat mindless to have on hand during speakers presentations and classes. Something interesting to work on in the evening. And most important, something that will get through airport security.....we are talking about a 4 hour flight here. 

My history is that I have visions of grandeur and pack more projects than I can possibly work on. I think, secretly I have a fear of "what if I finish and nothing to work with on the way home"....YIKES!   

But this time, I am going to try to be more reasonable about the amount of project I take.

•  I have my lace scarf project which is a must have, but since they are on Signatures, I worry about them being taken by the TSA. So this will be packed in my checked luggage.
• A sock project that was abandoned during my holiday knitting because its recipient had a color change request, this could be my airport/plane knitting.
• A Linen lace scarf I started last year in my Bubbles pattern, this could also be airport/plane knitting
• A new sock design I started before the rash of holiday knits and its cowl compliment that has been cast on but really needs a gauge change. This may be too taxing a project and should probably stay home.
• There are others to consider, but so far, the lace scarf and the abandoned socks are definites.
  

Then there is the "other thing".....this is something that is only whispered. For some peculiar reason, I am compelled to take a plethora of needles, just in case. Just in case, there is a new yarn to try, just in case I score some yarn that has to be cast on immediately. Just in case, just in case, just in case......

More later on our TNNA findings.....

BTW.....we are staying on the renovated Queen Mary and it could be haunted....sounds exciting, right?

 

tools and tips

I am finding that my digital scale is becoming one of my favorite tools.  It is making me more accurate when determining remaing yardage and the size of a project. 

I had previously mentioned I used a scale to determine if a hank or skein was generous or skimpy. I am now using it in the midst of a project to determine a variable of size or rather when to start a finishing border or edge.  BUT WAIT.....there is more....

On my latest lace scarf, I want to try to keep the size to one skein. So in order to maximize the skein, I weighed it without the label or tag. I'm glad to say is weighed 2 grams more than the label. then after I finished the edge and beginning border and before starting the body of the scarf, I weighed the skein (without label) again to determine how much yarn I need to finish the scarf with the least amount of waste.  Or the difference from the beginning weight and the after border weight was 4 grams. Hence I will continue working on the length of the scarf till 4 grams remain.

I LOVE MY SCALE.  I also love starting a project with the end in mind..... this is my new mantra for 2011.

 

I found my scale at Knitpicks for $19.99. Its digital, weighs in grams or ounces and uses a battery. I love it.

craving lace

Since I can only work on my retro afghan when its colder (usually early morning or late at night), I need an alternative project or two, a lace project and a traveling project (Can't be left empty handed (if you know what I'm talking about, than you know and if you don't know what I'm talking about, then you just may be better off). 

 I am totally yearning to work on a knitted lace project, a lace scarf or shawl, or maybe even a lacey cowl or dare I say even socks.  Maybe not socks.  With all the gift sock knitting this year, 12 pairs or 24 socks or approx 250,000 stitches ..... no matter how I say it.....that's a lot of socks.  Socks may have to go on a back burner for a bit.

I took a couple of the stitch patterns that I usese in my Intermediate Lace Class teaching a variety of stitches and combined them into a pattern for a lace scarf, which could be easily adapted into shawl or a wider scarf. Here is a shot of my unblocked work in progess thus far.

I'm using a newer space-dyed laceweight yarn form Punta Yarns that is 100% plyed merino. This space-dyed yarn give a tonal effect.

happy 2011

It seems I am late at wishing Happy New Year, which is right in line with some of my gift knitting this season. Knowingly, I took on more than I should have and finished most on time with only a couple of stragglers that ended up getting finished last week. 

Sooo.......What have I learned? Perhaps I might start sooner, or perhaps I will work on gifts throughout the year or perhaps I should commit to less...... ding, ding, ding...winner, winner, chicken dinner!!!!  Only time will tell how this one plays out.

I am happy to start the new year with a post about knitting, crocheting and yarn.
Surprised?   I seem to lose focus during the last month of the year when it comes to blog posting and heavy concentration on gift knitting, shopping, friends and family.

I funny sock pattern came out nearing the deadline of my gift sock knitting. I had three pair of socks to go and 8 days till Christmas.  I started a pair of cabled socks with faggoting for Katie....then had a "what was I thinking?" moment. Cables? Cables take more time (at least for me) and the one thing I didn't have was time.

 

Did I ripe them out and start over? Oh no...that would be counter productive. In stead I started knitting them in stockinette, thinking the 3 cable repeats was I nice top treatment.  After a few rows, I realized I had to do something more than that.... I was using the beautiful Dream in Color  Smooshy sock yarn in color Nightwatch.....so I added back the faggotting.  

I like how they turned out and I really loved working with Smooshy sock yarn.  I will write the pattern up soon for anyone who might like it too.

New Year and time to get back to crocheting my Retro Ripple Afghan.  I have three repeats to go and the weather is cold enough to work on it with the benefits of it keeping me snuggly warm. Its so cozy!  I can't wait till its finished. 

This throw was inspired by the one my sweet dear Grandma made me when I was young girl. You know the one, its in colors only a silly girl would choose when her choice is Red Heart Super Saver.....not that there is anything wrong with that = ).