the knitting buzz

inspired by the hills

 

Inspired by the the beautiful rolling hills of the Scottish Highlands is my latest wrap design, Glencoe Lace Wrap. Its interpreted in graphic geometric nature of triangles and diamonds. Its available in 2 sizes, suitable for lace yardage of 100 yards to 1500 yards.

 

It can be knit in any weight yarn, but I favor the light and airiness of laceweight. The laceweight lends to the delicate nature and the Mare yarn gives the textured stitches a beautiful crisp effect.

Its knit in Deep Dyed Yarns, Lunabudknits, Mare Laceweight, 80% Merino Wool 20% Tussah Silk. Mare comes in 500 yard hanks.  The colorway is Young Grasshopper. Love, love, love the color! I purchased the yarn at the Kentucky Sheep and Wool Fest in Louisville, KY, but it is also available online.

The pattern is available online at  Ravelry.com and LoveKnitting.com.

This project has been set aside for a very long time due to surge of baby knitting gifts, holiday gifts and one very lovely alpaca distraction, the Serin Lace Wrap and Scarf.

 

What's on the needles?  

Two projects at the moment...... the start of my first holiday knitted gift (a toy) and another lace wrap.

More on this soon......

Until next time....

Happy Knitting!

blocking day

 Love blocking day. Blocking day is like a celebration. Celebrate the completion of a project. Its the end of a journey, with a new journey on the horizon. Its the day that the project transforms with just some water & pins.  

Blocking day is also a good day to start a new project (my personal favorite).  The blocking can take several hours and sometimes needs to sit overnight to fully dry.  Idle hands.......must start something new.  Its like a right of passage or just another excuse to Cast On.

Once dry, I'm looking forward to sporting this wrap around town, that is as soon as the temps drop a bit OR better yet, crank up the AC.

When I picked the project back up, I was concerned about the length, I started questioning what I had done when I started this project nearly a year ago.  I find that no matter how good I think my notes are, they are never as good as I thought they were.....especially when so much time lapses.  I knew I had plenty of yarn, but still things weren't measuring up.

The good news is.....the length was not as issue, it blocked to 89" long.  Plenty long to tszuj in so many different ways.

What's with the stitch marker on the lace?  I love a good teaching moment.....

 The stitch marker is a safety device. When I begin to block, the equipment needed are blocking boards, pins and/or wires, misting bottle of water and.... locking stitch markers.  The stitch markers are in case of emergency. Emergency? That's right.  Its for when the wet lace is being stretched into the size and shape desired and you spot a stitch that did not get knit all the way through. YIKES! (That's not exactly what I said, but you get the idea).

The locking stitch marker is a quick and safe way to grab the missed stitch or stitches before it turns into a larger hole.  When caught early, these stitches can be easily repaired after blocking when the piece is dry.

Blocking lace is similar to blocking anything else, except for one thing.......instead of blocking to specified measurements, like a sweater....I usually am blocking it as wide and long as possible without distorting the stitches too much.  My method of blocking is determined by the fiber blend. 

• In this case the Lunabud Mare is 80% Merino Wool 20% Tussah Silk, I soaked it in a clean sink in water and a capful of Eucalan for about 30 minutes.
• While soaking, I set up the blocking boards, T-pins, spray bottle for misting and locking stitch markers.
• After soaked, drain the sink and carefully remove the wrap in one lump and squeeze gently removing any excess water.
• Stretch on blocking board pinning the four corners to the desired width and length. This is the time to look carefully for any incomplete stitches before they create a hole/unravel using the locking stitch markers to catch the stitches. 
• Continue pinning, making sure the edges are straight and not curved where the pins are placed.  If this is happening, it may require additional pins or pin to a smaller size.
• Spray the piece again with water to set the stitches, I spray a little heavier around the edges.
• Once the piece is dry, I remove the T-pins but leave the wrap on the board. Then lightly mist the edges to smooth out any pin marks or dimples caused by the pins.
• After the second drying, its finished!  Its now time to make any repairs or weave in any remaining ends.

Stay tuned.....

I'll post finished pictures and the final details soon.

Until next time.....

Happy Knitting!

finally

I really can't believe its been over 10 months since I started this project.  When I started this project, I couldn't wait to wear it because I loved the color and the color name "Young Grasshopper". 

Then after the proverbial "beating myself up", I took a look back at what happened in between and I've forgiven myself...

• 5 Baby Blankets
• 4 Baby Sweaters
• 2 Baby Booties
• a Baby Hat
• 2 Afghan Blankets
• Rickrack Reversible Cowl and 
• Serin Lace Wrap and Scarf

What happened?.....life happens..... or rather ......new babies, Christmas gifts and irresistible local alpaca yarn is what happens. Not to mention, I've moved twice and started a new job. Okay, ENOUGH!

I'm only a couple repeats away and determined to finish the knitting, blocking and the publishing of this pattern.  

Glencoe Lace Wrap is the name of this pattern, I chose that name because it reminds me of the rolling hills of Glencoe Scotland. And I couldn't resist the color. The yarn is LunabudKnits (Deep Dyed Yarns) Mare in the colorway Young Grasshopper.  I found Deep Dyed Yarns at the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival in Lexington Kentucky and was smitten with the intensity of the dyed yarns. I know she attends many fiber shows but her yarn can also be found on Etsy as LunabudKnits!

    

LunabudKnits Mare is a laceweight yarn with one of my favorite blends, its 80% Merino Wool and 20% Tussah Silk.  The Tussah Silk gives it a crispness that compliments the graphic nature of this pattern.  Each hank is 500 yards and I purchased all she had that day which was 3 hanks. Would have preferred 4 but was determined to make 3 work.  Time will tell how I did with my estimations....fingers crossed.....stay tuned.   I know it won't have the length that normally strive for BUT THE COLOR, just couldn't dispute.

Yes, in this particular case, it was the color that drove the inspiration and those beautiful rolling hills.

Wish me luck, "I will finish this before picking up another project", she says.....onward to Blocking Day.

Until next time......

Happy Knitting!

 

 

the details

Serin Lace Wrap and Scarf pattern is graphic chevron design interrupted by a miniature diamond motifs offering textured detail while remaining light and airy.

The pattern is written in four sizes, offering variety based on what yardage you have on hand. For me, I gravitate to the larger wraps and buy yarn with that in mind. But I also understand that doesn't work for everyone. The yardage requirements range from 640 yards for the scarf to 1425 yards for the widest wrap. Details of the pattern and the sizing can be found on Ravelry.

 

The yarn used for this wrap was from a local farm, Eagle Bend Alpaca Farm and worked up to be a heavy lace/light fingering weight. Its 100% alpaca and was heaven to knit. The soft alpaca running through fingers was soothing to both my heart and soul. OK this sounds so corny, but its true. This was one project that I hated ending. Pure happiness.

I used a US#5 - 32" circular for this project, based on the yarn I was using. Swatching will help determine the needle needed to achieve the fabric you are after. Needle sizes US# 4 - 6 are a common range if using lace or fingering weight.

Normally any lace piece needs some serious blocking, soaking first then stretching it into shape on the blocking board.  When knitting with 100% alpaca, its a little different, once blocked it stays in that shape. This is can be both good and bad. Good because the times you will need to re-block this piece is few. Bad because if its mishandled, the piece could be ruined or just misshaped. When blocking alpaca, I do what is called a Mist Block.  I pin it into place while its dry, then mist it with water to set the stitches.

The reason to pin it dry is to avoid unwanted stretching. The fiber can easily stretch out of place, just in the movement from its bath to the blocking board. How do I know this?  That's right......experience. This was one hard lesson to learn.

Other yarns I choose to Mist Block over Wet Blocking is pure mohair, angora, cashmere, camel and yak. What these fibers have in common is that the fiber is more like hair verses wool which is curly and springs back into shape. If any of these fibers are blended with wool, I will normally wet block these pieces.

Until next time.....

Happy Knitting!