Wednesday, March 31, 2010

The Beginning Of The End

At long long last, I have actual progress to report on another Year of Lace project.

Behold Centrino, aka The Big Red Blob.

Centrino-15

I finally finished the last bit of around-and-around knitting, and have embarked on a long journey of back-and-forth-and-back-and-forth knitting.

Centrino-14

That little pink-ish squiggle you see there is the provisional cast-on for the beginning of the border. When I finish the border, all 36 repeats of it, there will be just those few stitches to graft together.

Six down, thirty to go.
Centrino-13

Monday, March 29, 2010

Piffle

Is this thing still on?

Well, I’m back. I’m tired but happy, after the successful launch of a volunteer project, which ate up most of my free time and a goodly chunk of my (virtually non-existent) energy. It went well, and we’re all quite pleased about it.

In the meantime, there has been knitting going on around here. Progress is being made on the borders of not one but two lace shawls, another shawl is growing by leaps and bounds and getting quite unruly, and there’s a cardigan in my knitting bag to go to knit night with me tonight.

But I have been humbled. I have been brought low. I have been shown to be a bear of very little brain. Or perhaps I am just a knitter who cannot read a tape measure.

I’ve been working on a sock. A rather lovely sock.

Vortex-01
Bag by Celestial Fiber Arts

Knit at a wrist-aching 9 stitches to the inch, the lovely soft and smooth yarn shows off this massive cable on the front just perfectly.

Vortex-03

But it's too short, by at least half an inch.

Vortex-04

See how the heel flap curves like that? Yeah, it's too short. My toes are scrunched down in there, and I just know that they’d be uncomfortable. Not to mention how fast they'd wear out.

I’m going to have to rip out all the way down to where the gusset starts, add some length and do it all over again.

Oh well, I wasn’t entirely happy with the increases I used for the gusset anyway, so now instead of wishing I’d picked something different, I can just go ahead and change them

But still… piffle.

Monday, March 8, 2010

On The Needles

Saturday morning found me with one completed Baudelaire and one skein of fugitive sock yarn. Saints preserve me, I think I’m going to have to clean the house… or start another pair of socks while I wait for the yarn to reveal itself.

Since procrastination is something of a specialty of mine, I decided it was the perfect time to gather all my WIPs in one place:

OTN2010-03-06

What you see there are three lace shawls and a cardigan.

No, really.

Here, lemme show you, starting with the oldest project

This is Wisteria Garden, the second project from Year of Lace 2009.

WG-06

I’m working the edging now. Twelve stitches and six rows, back and forth and back an forth and…

WG-07

Whenever I get tired of it, I spread it out like this. Then I smile happily and do another repeat.

This is Centrino, aka The Big Red Blob, the third project from Year of Lace 2009. (No shellauw, you didn’t miss the finish of this one)

Centrino-11

This has been at the same point for several months. About ¼ turn to go, then it’s on to the border. Back and forth and back and forth and… I’m sensing a trend!

Then there’s the Waves in the Square shawl:

WS-01

This is written for fingering weight, and I’m using Malabrigo Sock for it. Oh, so veryvery soft! A friend of mine (Hi Kate!) gave me the pattern in a swap that we had, and I couldn’t resist it any more.

And finally, the Geodesic Cardigan, out of Malabrigo Lace.

Geodesic-01

What you see there is the slip-stitch seam. I’m working the waist decreases, and soon it will be time for the tucks. I have high hopes for this cardigan… chief among them that it will actually fit the person I’m knitting it for. Which is myself. I’m measuring obsessively and checking my gauge over and over again. Wish me luck!

Now then… WHERE is that skein of Happy Feet?

Monday, March 1, 2010

An Early Spring

I posted recently about The Amazing Re-Appearing Crocuses in my front garden. I was so amazed by them, and I know that seeing them come up again after all that time was a major turning point for me after a winter that seemed to sap my strength at every turn.

Unfortunately, late sunrises, early sunsets and rainy weekends meant that I never managed to get a decent photo to share with you. The blossoms were yellow and tiny, and they made me smile every time I saw them.

We’re have an extremely early spring in my part of the world, due to the same El NiƱo weather system which wreaked a certain amount of havoc on the Winter Olympics in Vancouver B.C. Trees, bushes and bulbs are bursting into new life much sooner than we’re used to seeing them.

Take this camellia bush, for instance:

Camelia2010-01

It’s absolutely covered in blossoms, with more buds ready to go. Camellias always fool me into thinking the roses are blooming, but they have a magic all their own.

I might have missed pictures of the yellow crocuses, but I got these yellow flowers instead:

Daffies2010-01

This is their first year in their new home, transplanted there last fall from various other places. I swear they sprang to life nearly overnight.

Finally, my Grape Hyacinth is coming on strong:

Hyacinth2010-01

They’re just starting out now, but by the end of the week there should be so many blossoms open that it will look like a piece of the sky came down to rest on the garden.

Knitting (and the search for the fugitive sock yarn) continues. I’ve got three lace shawls on the needles, and have also started the Geodesic Cardigan from the latest Knitscene. Pictures coming soon!