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July 24, 2007
Spring Shawl border, part 2
This was taken around border row 106--I'm currently at 116 of 150. I'm kind of liking this not-taking-six-months-to-finish pace.
My summer classes are over next week (yay!), but I have a final project, a final exam, and a few other miscellaneous things to get through in the meantime (ugh.). My brain is ready for a nap.
Since I don't have anything especially scintillating to say (see brain napping statement above), how about we go look at some pretty laces out there in the internets?
Ingrid has a new blog called rabbitIng, which is off to an auspicious start with some lovely photos of her completed Wedding Ring Shawl and Rosebud Shawl.
Jane of Lacefreak fame is knititng a beautiful doily on 0000s. Check out that perfect cast on. Sigh.
LittleBerry is experimenting with lace design. Pretty pretty lozenges!
And lastly, though this may be old news for some of you, I have to point out this fabulous slideshow for Lacis Museum's new knitted lace exhibit, which I first discovered through Laritza's blog. Oh my. Excuse me while I go stare at the pretty pictures for a while....
Posted by missalicefaye at 09:09 AM | Comments (9)
July 17, 2007
Spring Shawl border, part 1
Border rows 1-63, detail.
When I first started to knit the shawl, I wasn't sure I cared for the merino/tencel blend--it felt a little rough and scratchy (even though it feels soft soft soft in the skein). I think I may be having a change of heart as I get used to it, though. It certainly feels more substantial than the cashmere/silk blend I used for the Wedding Ring shawl, yet it is fine and practically weightless. Plus, when you drop a stitch it's sticky enough to not escape immediately--as long as you don't breath or make any sudden movements.
There are only two weeks left in the library school summer session and I spent most of the weekend either freaked out by all the work I have to do or procrastinating (or attempting to remain sane?) with the lace knitting. Believe it or not, I've managed to convince my Digital Libraries professor that I can construct a library of lace knitting resources for my final project. Details to follow, provided I can figure out how to make it all work.
Posted by missalicefaye at 10:15 AM | Comments (13)
July 10, 2007
Centered
So I've finished the center of the Spring Shawl.
Sure, it's pretty now. But all has not been sweetness and light between us.
About halfway through the center, I made a rather Glaring Error, which I only noticed about five rows later. Usually I'm pretty cavalier about lace knitting mistakes (i.e., "Fuck it--no one will ever notice"), but this error was, well, glaring. Now, you must understand that I don't use lifelines (out of laziness? hubris? a little of both?), so the only way to fix it was to either painstakingly tink back six rows (not going to happen), or pop the whole thing off the needle, rip down to the offending row, and then attempt to get all those tiny slippery stitches back on the needle in the appropriate order.
Which is what I (after taking a very very deep breath) did.
This nightmarish process took the entirety of a Darkman viewing (believe me, I could completely empathize with his uncontrollable rages and mental instability at the time). At several points, I came very close to ripping the whole damn thing out and starting over (or stomping on it and setting it on fire).
But in the end, knitter somehow triumphed over shawl. And the rest of the center was totally delightful, honest.
On to the border!
Posted by missalicefaye at 09:38 AM | Comments (22)
July 02, 2007
Christening Shawl
Women's Own Christening Shawl, designed by Gemma Ord (aka Gladys Amedro). Pattern purchased here. Knit with less than one skein of obscure Russian wool procured from eBay last spring.
This is definitely one of the most enjoyable projects I've worked on lately--aside from a few fatigue-inducing looooong plain knit rows after picking up the main body stitches. I think I actually dozed off during a couple of those.
I never quite felt the love for the rose and anchor section in the original pattern, so I replaced it with a fir cone motif. Works pretty well, I think!
The pattern calls for Jamieson and Smith cobweb yarn on 3.25mm needles for a 50" square shawl. I used a slightly thinner yarn on 2.5mm needles and ended up with a 46" square shawl. Still big enough for baby-wrapping, I presume.
Posted by missalicefaye at 09:09 AM | Comments (31)
