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January 23, 2006
The Magickal Earth shawl
Before blocking:
After blocking:
Close ups:
The particulars:
The Magickal Earth shawl from A Gathering of Lace. Begun on March 12, 2005, knitting finished on January 18, 2006. Jaggerspun Zephyr, color Suede, less than 8 oz. Size 0 needles. Approximately 54" square.
I love it. I have to admit that I was concerned about how the center moon was going to turn out, but my pattern modification seems to have worked pretty well. (I divided the center into eight sections, did a yo, k2tog all the way around, with a k3tog thrown in at random in each section for the first round, then knit all the way around with a k2tog thrown in at random in each section for the second round. I repeated these two rounds until there were 8 stitches left on the needles.)
The author recommends a blocking technique involving string that sounds more fun than the way I went about it, but I wanted to use my spiffy new blocking wires.
As for how long it took me to complete this project--well, if I hadn't started 12 thousand other projects in the meantime, it probably wouldn't have taken me so long. Highly distractable, me.
Posted by missalicefaye at 12:08 PM | Comments (11)
January 20, 2006
Delayed gratification
As I know you've been holding your collective breath about this, I did actually finish Magickal Earth last night. :)
But I will postpone the triumphant unveiling until after the weekend, when I can block it and hopefully get some decent pictures of it during the daylight hours.
As soon as Magickal Earth came off the needles, I immediately cast on for the smaller version of the Faroese Shawl in A Gathering of Lace. I figured I'd give myself a break before starting on this or this.
Although a cable cast on of 421 stitches didn't exactly feel like a break....
Posted by missalicefaye at 09:59 AM | Comments (1)
January 19, 2006
64 stitches to go....
I modified the pattern for the center circle and am forging ahead. Tonight, my dears, we shall have a finished shawl. I hope.
Posted by missalicefaye at 11:09 AM | Comments (4)
January 18, 2006
The end is near
I was hoping that this would be the entry where I get to say: "Behold! A finished Magickal Earth Shawl! Let us all revel in its loveliness!"
Alas.
The very last bit--the moon pattern in the center--is giving me fits. Fits! Tonight I will knit that silly circle for the third time, hoping for properly random yarnover placement.
Fits!
Posted by missalicefaye at 03:13 PM | Comments (1)
January 13, 2006
Frivolite for Friday
The completed bookmark. More fitting for an aging edition of Little Dorrit than the old receipt I was previously using.
Posted by missalicefaye at 10:27 AM | Comments (2)
January 10, 2006
Oooh--shopping!
So I've finally managed to set up a little shop on Etsy. As shown above, I've listed some small embroidered bags, as well as notecards created by me and my precious new print gocco.
Go take a look and let me know what you think, eh?
Posted by missalicefaye at 12:18 PM | Comments (3)
January 09, 2006
I like lace
A bit of a tatting update. This is destined to become a bookmark of some kind--in other words, a strip of tatting with a purpose rather than a random piece of edging, forlorn and homeless.
I finally got my hands on a library copy of Rebecca Jones' Complete Book of Tatting, which I would definitely recommend to any beginning tatters out there. (You know you want to try!)
Whereas most tatting diagrams I've seen so far are rather impenetrable, hers actually make sense.
Currently, I'm looking forward to the delivery of a bobbin lace making kit from Mielke's Fiber Arts. Plus, I was excited to see a tiny article and how-to on needle lace in the latest Piecework. My quest to master ever more obscure needlearts continues....
Posted by missalicefaye at 03:59 PM | Comments (5)
January 05, 2006
Appliqued bag, v. 2
A gift for my sister-in-law. A.K.A, the back-tack bag, tweaked. Forgive the lighting--I took the photo while we were in Chicago, where sunlight was nonexistent for the duration of our stay.
So utterly tired at/of work today. Ever gotten a papercut from a manila folder? I've gotten three in the last 15 minutes. Stupid jerk manila folders.
Posted by missalicefaye at 08:28 PM | Comments (3)
January 03, 2006
Laura Palmer revisited
A bit of embroidery for my dear Jessica.
In a feeble attempt to stave off the world of work for as long as possible, I'm taking an extra vacation day today. I've just tuned in to Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. Ah, the memories. Drugs, incest, domestic violence, prostitution, pervasive creepiness. The Log Lady. How did this show ever end up on network television, anyway?
Posted by missalicefaye at 08:23 PM | Comments (5)
