FO: Surprise!

Just got the word yesterday that this had made it to its ultra-cute recipient:



Pattern: Baby Surprise Jacket, EZ

Yarns:

Cream color: Domestic wool from Spunky Eclectic, two ply, bulky weight, handspun by yours truly

Light brown: Romney, two ply, dk weight, handspun by yours truly (held double)

Dark brown: Romney/Shetland/Merino, two ply, worsted, handspun by Mary Jane

Needles: US 7

Size: 1 year / 21 in chest (ish)



I hope this keeps the little one toasty warm this winter :)

FO: Nessie

I think the pictures tell it all...

Pattern: basic, top-down triangular shawl, 24 in. deep, 49 in. across when blocked.

Yarn: 1.8 oz/270 yards of my handspun singles from a "Sea Monster" batt by artclub.

Needles: US 10, Needlemaster circulars

Red Sky In Morning

... sailors take warning.

I snapped this shot some weeks ago when we had an eerie, red sunrise. The light was so strange, almost purple. Why does this picture come to mind? Perhaps because red mornings supposedly predict an impending storm. Our forecast here is for three days of poor weather. Sounds like it will be an inside weekend. Perhaps it is also because I feel the need to listen to another warning. Yesterday I had a lovely, crafty day. Spend two hours knitting, went to the weekly spin-in (1.5 hours) and then spent the evening prepping some very dirty alpaca fiber. By bedtime, my hands and wrists were hurting. Today I am holding off on all the spinning and knitting (Christmas presents!) I would love to be doing to try to give my hands a break. I probably shouldn't even be typing this. I really don't want to have carpal tunnel problems. Spinners have any suggestions for me? Maybe I will try to not bend the wrist of my back hand so sharply when drafting... knitting has never given me this tingly, persistent pain.

In honor of Friday I give you a picture of a luscious scarf kit my MIL brought back from New Zealand for me. I seem to be in one of my green moods again. Be patient little scarf, your time will come.

Thank you all for your advice and encouragement on the seafoam project. I think the concept is something that I will revisit, this time around the edging just didn't work. Sorry that your comments did not appear immediately, I was playing with the settings on the blog because I wanted to delete a comment (no worries, nothing bad, just something out of place). From now on your words should go right to print.

Have a great weekend!

Exponential Growth

Where have I been? I've been sitting on the couch, learning the mysteries of the ruffle. My walks on the beach have made me wonder if I could make a scarf evoking the lacy patterns of sea foam on the shore.

Started with some handspun:


I thought I would do a triangular scarflett (size of bandanna or so) and edge it with a ruffle, and do just the last two rows with white.



Attempt number 1:
Row 1: *K1, yo* K1
Row 2: purl
Row 3: *K1, yo* K1
Row 4: purl
Row 5: *K1, yo* K1
Row 6: purl
Row 7: knit
Row 8: BO

That sort of increasing produces QUITE a ruffle. Like 1058 stitches worth.

The swatch looked good, but when I tried it on halfway through the bind-off row, it looked like I was being devoured by a giant sea slug. The stiffness of the fabric plus the way I wanted to wear the garment made the ruffle stand up enough that most of what was visible was the "wrong side" of the ruffle.

Look at that swatch picture again, see how the ruffle looks good "down"? Trust me, it does not look so good from other angles.

Attempt number 2:
Row 1: *K4, yo* K1
Row 2: purl
Row 3: knit
Row 4: purl
Row 5: knit
Row 6: purl
Row 7: knit
Row 8: BO

Theory: less fabric created initially, plus more plain rows to tame down the ruffle.
Result: no ruffle.

Attempt 3:
Row 1: *K1, yo* K1
Row 2: purl
Row 3: knit
Row 4: purl
Row 5: BO

Result: a nice row of eyelets in the increase row. Rest of the work rolls up and obscures everything.

Further thoughts: I think that my bind-off is contributing to the rolling. Will blocking fix it? Not sure. The white single I am using for trim also adds a lot of body to the edge, causing it to roll. Looks like rolling is the natural tendency. Should I just... roll with it?