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May 23, 2006
Ukrainian yarn FAQs
Heirloom Knitting Gossamer Merino on the left, Ukrainian yarn on the right.
As some have shown interest, I'll relate to you my path to Ukrainian yarn acquisition.
Those who know me well may find this hard to believe, but I sometimes find myself bored (out of my skull) at work. In these vulnerable moments, the interweb is my greatest friend/enemy, especially when I find myself on ebay. Occasionally, I'll do a search for "lace yarn," even though I have no business buying it after spending a million dollars any given month at Home Depot/Lowes/IKEA. But I am weak, so I look.
Ahem. So if you search for "lace yarn" on ebay, you will invariably stumble across purveyors of Ukrainian yarn. Very thin yarn, very pretty yarn, very inexpensive yarn. This last point is very important to me (see above paragraph). So far, I have bought yarn from these sellers and have been very pleased. However, I can't make any informed comments about the longevity or durability of the yarn, since I've only had it since last Thursday. I'll let you know when I know.
Coincidentally, on the day I ordered my first Ukrainian yarn, this article on lace yarns appeared in the KBTH list's lace symposium (which you should check out if you have any interest in/obsession for lace--click on the "Schedule" heading). The author talks about this yarn a bit toward the end.
So. Onward and upward: Rosebud 2 is nearing completion.
And, just for the hell of it, some real rosebuds from our yard:
Next entry: nothing in the vegetable garden has died yet!
Posted by missalicefaye at 06:48 PM | Comments (2)
May 19, 2006
Ukraine is strong!
Something happy came in the mail yesterday....
7,060 yards of fine laceweight yarn.
So much knitting to be done.... So much valuable crafting time wasted at the day job....
Posted by missalicefaye at 10:24 AM | Comments (6)
May 17, 2006
Rosebud progresses
Rosebud 2 has a rather wide edging, so I have to knit all sorts of extra rows to get the corners to lay flat. I think it's working pretty well. Observe:
I really like the Alpaca Cloud, but I've noticed that while I'm attaching the edging, the reserved stitches on my needle get very fuzzy. Does anyone else experience this annoying phenomenon when working with alpaca?
Posted by missalicefaye at 01:06 PM | Comments (3)
May 15, 2006
Alice turns 30...
but, more importantly, doesn't drown.
So we went whitewater rafting in upstate New York on the Hudson River last weekend. I did have fun, despite what the expression on my face may indicate. (I'm on the right side of the boat, in the middle. Behind Jon, the Power Rower.)
You can probably tell that I don't really like getting water in my eyes.
It was, however, Very Cold. And I might have been Slightly Hungover. These things dampened my enthusiasm during the calmly-rowing-down-the-river segments, but were entirely forgotten during the rafting-over-fearsome-waters segments. (Actually, the waters weren't terribly fearsome, but I did make sure I was securely wedged into the raft. Swimming in churning frigid water has little appeal for me.)
I look rather ill in this picture, but I think it's just the water-in-the-eyes thing again. And I was rowing, honest!
Posted by missalicefaye at 11:42 AM | Comments (9)
May 11, 2006
Rosebud proliferation
I'm a little fixated on rosebuds at the moment.
Using Sharon Miller's Heirloom Knitting as a guide, I've completed one rosebud-themed triangular shawl (still no decent picture of the whole thing, so you'll have to use your imagination). It has a center triangle of the rosebud pattern, borders in Old Shale, and a Lace Holes edging.
For some reason, I was possessed by the need to make a second iteration right away. This one looks a little bit like Ms. Miller's Rosebud Shawl pattern, but I've made mine even rosier (apologies for the blur):
This time, I've modified the spacing between the rosbuds in the center triangle and used a rose lace border. Then I cast on for the edging using Knitterguy's tutorial. This should make grafting the ends together much easier and more attractive than my usual haphazard garter stitch grafting mess.
I replaced the beads in the middle of the edging's diamonds with rosebuds. Of course.
Classy over-the-knee shots, eh?
For the curious, this is Knit Picks' Alpaca Cloud in Peppermint on size 2.5mm needles. I like me a petite needle.
Posted by missalicefaye at 03:10 PM | Comments (3)
May 09, 2006
Flowery
Oh, the Technical Difficulties we've had with the blog this week.... You know it's really bad when you have to both fill out help tickets with your web host and beg the Movable Type forums for help.
We are on the mend, however. So let's take a deep breath and look at some soothing pictures of the pretty flowers in my yard. Knitting tomorrow, ok?
Posted by missalicefaye at 10:13 PM | Comments (3)
