Tink Tink Tink ......

The saga of the Ooh La Lace Dress continues. I took a deep breath girded my loins and plunged into correcting the damage. Actually I gathered up my knitting and skeins and drove over to my LYS where sympathetic knitters could comfort me in my grief and help me stay determined to do what must be done. I ripped back to the life line (more life lines needed in the future). I then proceeded to swatch each remaining skein of yarn. All the knitters agreed that it was impossible to determine the relative shade of the yarn by strand alone, so the swatches were necessary. I have labeled each swatch and skein from darkest to lightest (photo below). Now I am tinking (unknitting stitch by stitch) the remaining 4 rows of lighter yarn. Once this is done, I will commence to knit from darkest to lightest skein alternating skeins. Proving that I can do the right thing.

Ohh No Not the Frog Pond!

I have just met my first challenge with this project and surprise surprise it’s not the lace. Last weekend I decided to work on this dress outside in my garden. I usually only knit this at night in bed. I am on my third pattern repeat and my second ball of yarn, Its about 12 inches long now. As I hold the knitting up to my leg to check for length I notice what? A stripe! A colour change! Mixed dye lot? This is Handmaiden yarn. There are no dye lots or colour ways assigned to skeins because each batch varies, and apparently each skein varies within a batch. Mine was a custom order of a single batch: this is as good as it will get. They do recommend knitting with two skeins at once to minimize colour differences and pooling but this does not always work and I was reluctant to do this when knitting circular lace. I’m not frogging. I will have to figure out a way to work with the colour variations, especially since they are not that obvious when on the skein. My daughter says it just looks like an intentional fade, but I’m, worried about what happens when the next darker skein comes in.

- Either I introduce the next darkest skein immediately after this one is finished, and when it is finished start knitting with the remaining four skeins two at a time.
- or I frog 15 rows back to my life line (four rows above the shade/skein change) and start knitting two skeins at a time.
- Another option is to frog back to the life line and introduce the next darkest skein (I can only identify one) and then continue with the remaining four lighter skeins.

I’m afraid that knitting with two skeins alternating will create a ridge in the circular lace. What I really want to do is just continue knitting one skein at a time and pray that it all looks like a sophisticated fade in and out (fat chance!). The yarn is a semi solid as it is a mix of silk and linen which absorb dye differently.

I have posted a photo of the dress-in-progress below. The colour is not quite dark enough and I think the shade contrast is exaggerated. The “cast on” photo shown in the previous post is closer to the actual colour. Neither of the photos conveys the sheen and depth of the yarn. I lined up all of the wound skeins from light to dark. Again the photo colour is lighter than the actual colours. I looked at all of the yarn and the knitting in the sunlight, (morning, afternoon and evening) in the shade, in artificial light etc… Sunlight creates the most noticeable contrast and artifical light the least.

Ooh La Lace Pour Moi

I finally have my lace summer dress (by Shirley Paden, in Lace Style) on the needles. First the yarn, Flaxen, took forever to arrive from Hand Maiden. But it is so beautiful and so worth it. Then I had to wind the skeins into balls. It took two attempts to get the cast on right. The original pattern has a slit in the back, but I am knitting this circular with no slit. I did not make a swatch because the pattern has a 45 stitch, 26 row repeat, and uses 6 needle sizes. I am a loose knitter so I am hoping that by starting with the needle size in the pattern I will allow enough ease for walking. After I knit past the area where the slit would be I will take the piece off of the needles for a fitting. If it works out I will then proceed to gradually decrease to a needle size 3 sizes smaller than what the pattern requires, because that it is the difference that typically gives me gauge. I will also not have a turtleneck or buttons down the back. A jewel neckline should allow enough ease to wiggle into the dress.

Starting Is More Enticing Than Finishing

February is over and my mittens are not finished. I till have one thumb and the blocking left to do. hopefully I can finish before next February. They would be excellent mittens to wear now in the late winter and in the early spring. The green and purple and black remind me of Blue Heron Tulips in my Spring garden.



I may not have finished in February but I did start projects. Starting is so much more enticing than finishing. My Habu lunch bag kit arrived in the mail. The yarn is multiple strands of coloured silk bound together with black silk. It creates a beautiful tapestry like effect. Blue and green roving is also in the kit, to make a felted handle. The instructions are a hoot. Very brief. You have to be an experienced crocheter to make sense of it, but the diagram is excellent.


Lunch Bag Kit

I also started the Anastasia socks, in red cotton/lycra Fixation. They are to be my March break travel project. I don't have wooden needles so I hope I don't have trouble taking them on the plane.


Anastasia

I finally photographed Curly Locks, the Fleece Artist mohair, and Flaxen, the Handmaiden silk/linen that I received before Christmas. Both of them are intended for Shirley Paden patterns. I have started swatching Curly Locks for a cardigan, but I probably won't knit that until next fall.


Curly Locks

The colour and feel were just so tempting that I couldn't resist swatching. How can yarn be so beautiful that I am happy to knit nothing but a swatch with it. The Flaxen is for the Ooh La La Lace dress and shawl, from Lace Style. I should start that some time in spring. But when will I finish?


Flaxen

February is for Finishing Photos

I finally took some pictures of projects that I finished in December. The spiral scarf is the first crochet project that I have done in decades. I love crochet but crochet eats yarn. This scarf tooke 3 skeins of Manos yarn. I made it as a sample for my Fashion students. Most of the students enjoyed the project. The scarf incorporates all of the basic crochet stitches in a very straight forward way and produces a fun and funky accessory. I actually wear this scarf a lot, almost every day. I also made a matching head band to keep my ears warms, and avoid my "big hair".
I made the hat for my son. This is the first thing that I have hand knit that he actully wears. It fits him very well as long as he has short hair. Unfortunately once his hair grows it becomes a problem, just like mine.
Now if I could only finish those Druid mittens! I have closed the tops, but still have to knit two thumbs.



Spiral Scarf, Manos del Uruguay Wool Clasica



Hat for a Skater-Boy, Cascade 220 Superwash

February is for Finishing

Interlocking Balloons

This weekend I joined the Ravelry forum group February is for Finishing. This group is to encourage the finishing of knitting UFO's. Now I am sure that one of the reasons that more timely finishing doesn't happen is because of too much time spent on Ravelry being encouraged to start too many projects. It's hard to kick a bad habit when it is so much fun. Despite my scepticism I have joined this support group and will try to act in good faith. I have proposed to finish:

1. Interlocking Balloons Scarf
2. Druid Mittens
3. Airy Wrap-Around Lace Sweater

All are fingering weight projects, and number 1 and 2 have lengthy charted patterns. I am only on row 21 of Interlocking Balloons' approximately 410 rows. I have to just knit the last 20 rows of shaping and the thumbs of both mittens. The endless wrap-around ties need to be started on project 3. This weekend I worked on the scarf and the mittens. The scarf was designed for sport weight yarn and although I love the single strand of Dale Baby Ull that I am using I am beginning to think that two ends would be much more efficient and just as pretty.

Showing Some Stash

I thought I would show a little stash today. I'm not very good at keeping an inventory of what I have. It is all in my head and each yarn comes forward in my mind when I want it for something. at the Kitchener Knitting Fair last fall there was a vendor selling Habu. I only became aware of Habu, a Japanese textile producer after I joined Ravelry. Their products reminded me of Junichi Arai and other forward thinking Japanese textile designers that I first became aware of in the 80s. There is a Habu store in NYC. When I go there I fully expect to blow all previous yarn and textile buying budgets. i have to find some kind of control for this or I could be in trouble. I love the innovation and interesting textures this yarn has and produces in resulting textiles. I bought the two yarns below without even knowing what I would do with them. They keep me dreaming of infinite design possibilities. This yarn is inspiring. At the moment I think the fishnet (cut up Indonesian linen fishing nets), which is very prickly, will be trim for a bag. The Fique a type of pineapple fibre will become a summer hat.



Habu AOS Fishnet Yarn



Habu FQ-1 Fique