Hot Off The Presses

Remember a while ago I got two patterns accepted to Storey Publishing's new 101 Wonders book? It's just about due to come out. I got an e-mail this week with a picture of the book cover.

See the red shawl at top left? That's mine! Really pretty damn cool, as far as I'm concerned.

My advance copy of the book arrived today, and I've been flipping through. There are some nice patterns in there I've got my eye on already. Worth checking out, guys, even if I do say so myself ;)

I'm guessing the book should be out for real within the next month, because Judith Durant, the editor, is booked for Rhinebeck, and they've got the same cover photo up on the NY Sheep and Wool site beside her profile. My mother's already planning to get Judith Durant's autograph on the book when she goes...

Golden

I got the snowdrop shawl I was working on blocked last night, and this morning it was dry and ready to go.

That kills three or four birds with one stone, as far as I'm concerned. I've removed 700 yards of laceweight from my stash, finished a project which can count for both the lace and destash KALs going on in our group, produced a sample of my pattern I can use to show people, since the original is still off at Storey for their contest, and have a finished item I can sell at one of the craft fairs, perhaps.

The only thing I'm still a little dubious about is the color. I may throw it in a dyebath to tone it down at some point. It's a nice gold, and it certainly makes a statement, but I suspect it's a hard color to wear for most people, including me. The remaining skein of the same yarn in stash is definitely going to get overdyed as well, probably to a green or brown.

Casting on...and on...and on

I finished the main portion of Joanne's second cria shawl last night. It was excellent timing too - literally five minutes before the end of the movie I was watching. This morning I wound the remaining skein into two equal balls to start the edging.

The edging for the Haapsalu shawls is worked in 2 pieces, one side plus one end at a time, and there is an actual formula, requiring a calculator, to figure out how many stitches to cast on. According to the notes, the edging is knit in two pieces as more stitches becomes difficult to fit on the needle, and longer needles or circulars are best for this part. After doing the math, I suspect this may be an understatement. My cast on row was 331 stitches for each half of the shawl. It took 20 minutes, by the clock, to cast on for the first half.

I have decided that I am very glad of 2 things. One, that because of my handspun not being as fine as their yarn, that I only had 2 pattern repeats across, rather than the 4-5 I would have needed (and the proportionally larger number of stitches for edging, then). And two, that the edging is written in garter stitch and not stockinette, so at least I don't have to purl back across all those stitches. I know I could do it - I suspect previous shawls have had at least as many edge stitches. It just feels like so much more when you actually count them.

Now to cross my fingers and hope there's enough yarn to finish the edge.

New, Pretty, and Educational

It's probably not surprising that a few of the gifts I received for Christmas are fiber-related. It's going to be a fun winter.
Mom always makes something for each of us - a tradition dating back as far as I can remember, with items ranging from cross-stitched ornaments, to pajamas, to kitbags. This year the others got hand-knit socks. I make my own socks, so I got a handwoven scarf. Creamy and drapey and lovely.

There were cotton cards, and some books from Schoolhouse Press I wanted - things with historical interest and patterns and pictures for inspiration.

I've read through them all already, and can't wait to play. May use a pattern from the Haapsalu Shawl book for some knitting later this year - Joanne loved the cria, and wants it turned into some lace, so I get to do that.
At the moment, though, I have another project in progress. A shawl in a drop-stitch bee pattern, which I should hopefully get done and written up for the lace book competition.

 Now that I've finished reading my Christmas books, and we've had our turkey dinner, it stands a chance of getting done today or tomorrow...

A Tale of Fudge and Other Updates

My Christmas tree is not up. I suspect it will not get done this year. That's all right, this time next week I will be trudging through the fields with Mom and the dog, in search of the perfect tree for our family Christmas, and enjoying the smell of fresh pine.
There are other things to do here, mostly involving fiber and/or food.

Friday was spinning and food at our last Fleece Spa day before the holidays. Saturday was the Metcalfe Christmas farmer's market, which yielded locally roasted coffee beans for a stocking stuffer, lavender body butter for me, and a slice of almond cranberry fudge. Sadly, the fudge was so heavy on the almond extract that a small piece gave me a sore throat, and had me checking in the bathroom mirror for signs of cyanosis (a concern largely due to excessive reading of early 20th C detective novels).
I still wanted fudge though, so I made a batch of sucre a la creme, the excuse being that I promised to bring dessert for a get-together Sunday evening. No-one complained - highly unlikely when you bring fudge that is essentially 2 parts brown sugar to 1 part whipping cream, with some nuts and things thrown in.

The cria continues to progress. I think I can fit what is left on 2 bobbins...2-3 skeins plied. The end is in sight. In between that, however, I have been knitting frantically on the first of two scarves for Christmas gifts. That got cast off last night and blocked this morning after breakfast. Forty minutes on the bedroom floor, 6 blocking wires, and some intense feline supervision later, it is drying quietly and looks pretty good.

After 40 minutes of threading blocking wires along the scarf edges while kneeling, though, I think yoga for lace knitters might be an idea whose time has come.

A Plethora of Projects

Just because I’ve been maundering on about gardening and historical characters doesn’t mean I haven’t been getting a bit of work done in the fiber division. In fact, totting up the projects, I suspect some springtime restlessness or something is going on.

There are now 3 finished skeins of cria, and nearly two bobbins more ready to ply. And dang, I’m getting a bit bored with it, gorgeous as it is.

I’ve started the neck steek for my Autumn Rose, and I’m on the foot of my first Pamina sock.

I also started a length of tatted lace, a nice easy-to-memorize pattern, so I can take it outside and work while Julia’s prowling, now that there’s a chance I can go out without mitts on.

And I got back to the cross-stitch I started and then abandoned earlier this winter. It struck me that if I want to have it done in time to exhibit for the fairs this fall, I had better get back to it. It does strike me as ironic, though, that my biggest issue in a stitchery of a cat is keeping the (actual) cat hair out of it.

The lace will likely also go to the fairs. Once summer comes, there will be less time to work on things, so entries have to be thought about over the winter. I had a lot of knitting but not much else for handwork last year, so I want more of a variety this time.

Presenting Snowdrop

Maybe it was having both the snow and the snowdrops the weekend before I finished it, but somehow Snowdrop seems the right name for the shawl (well, shawlette). Winter white, kind of a snowy pattern on the upper part, something a bit more floral on the edge.

I was kind of wondering how the points would turn out and all, but it worked.

Stats: almost 300 m/361 yd of laceweight silk/cashmere (1 ball Diamond Luxury silk/cashmere, with a few meters left), 4 mm circular needles, finished size 37” wingspan by 19” deep ( I think a bit bigger might have been nice, maybe I'll make that adjustment when I write up the pattern). Bound off loosely using the (K2tog, slip stitch back on left needle, repeat), which gave enough room to stretch the points – I was a bit worried about that part, kept checking during bind off, but it couldn’t have been better.

I must say, doing all the figuring for this, I think I am getting much better at reading and understanding lace. Excited to use this success as a take off point for more lace design.