Lightheaded March 20, 2009

I got a haircut tonight- a big one. I had a trim a few months ago, but my hair was really just grown out, long, unweildy post-wedding hair and I needed a big ol’ change.

Here is before.

Looong, wavy, only a couple of layers (one maybe 2 inches shorter, at most, than the other). Boring! Too long to put up. I could go on- I was sick of that hair!

Aaaand here is after (I haven’t dyed it yet, so I’ll probably update this tomorrow post-dye!):

Much shorter, lots and lots of layering and choppiness, and some side-bangs. I love this cut! Plus, my stylist and I really hit it off. It was great fun.

I tried in vain to get a shot of the side/back but this is all I acheived…

But yes, it’s very layered and crazy in the back. I’m so much happier with this, and my head feels about 2 pounds lighter. Heck- judging by the hair heap on the floor of the salon, my head probably IS 2 pounds lighter!

Neutrals can be awesome too March 19, 2009

I didn’t get much knitting done today, but I got two of my birthday packages! Both my knitpicks order and my patternworks order came in today. The knitpicks order contained no yarn- just this!

That’s right- the FULL options interchangable circular needle set. A set each of points from size 4 to size 11, including some half sizes, 4 cables, endcaps, and a case. I also got a size 2 40″ fixed circular for knitting socks 2 at once. I LOVE these needles! I already switched the shawl over to these- so much sharper and smoother. Love ’em.

The Patternworks box contained neutrals, neutrals, and more neutrals- but goooood stuff. Observe:

Two balls of Rowan 4-ply in brown and tan, to make these mittens.

One skein of black Koigu (I ordered a colored one, too- dark rainbow- but it was backordered) to make these.

And the cream of the crop…. the ultimate neutral:

That’s right.

One skein of 375 yards laceweight 100. percent. cashmere.

No, you can’t have it. No. Get away. Mine.

Get your own.

I don’t yet know what I’ll make with it. I may wait until Stephanie Pearl-McPhee releases her cowl pattern, and try that, but for now… it has a special place on the top of the stash.

Nupp Nupp Nupp March 18, 2009

It is rather fun to say, you must admit.

I finished chart 3 of the Desert Rose Shawl today (Aeolian, if you haven’t been paying attention) and the last row includes “nupps” (pronounced noops). A nupp is essentially a stitch increased to several stitches in one, and then all are purled together in the next row. These nupps are made with 7 stitches, so on the purl row you purl 7 together. It is, I must say, FAR easier than I expected, but that’s been true of almost all knitting manoeuvers I’ve attempted.

Here’s the transition chart, complete with nupps.

Here’s a closeup of a nupp.

It’s still gorgeous and I’m still in love with it.

In other news, I joined a group effort today in the CPaAG Group (don’t ask if you don’t know) on Ravelry in which people who like to knit socks can knit them for someone who does not like to knit socks but wants some, in exchange for something the sockless one can do. It’s called “Who Wants Socks?”. I am partnered with an art-yarn spinner and weaver, so this should be great fun! I’m not yet sure what yarn I’ll use, nor what pattern, though she likes the look of Leyburns a lot. We’ll have to see what I come up with.

(PS! I changed my username on Ravelry from Pinfish to Beeca. I needed a change. Thought I’d let y’all know.)

Magic March 17, 2009

There’s really no other way to describe the difference between blocked and unblocked lace. Before you say anything, no- the shawl isn’t finished, in fact I’m only 6 rows past where I was on Sunday, but I took a photo of the scrunched mess that is unblocked lace, and thought it would be neat to show you that picture next to a pinned-out photo I took previously.

Here is how it looks right now, on my needles.

Bit like a dog’s breakfast. A shiny, beaded dog’s breakfast, but still. Not what you might call “pretty”.

Here, on the other hand, is what it looks like with a bit of stretching and pinning…

See?

Magic.

S’all I’m sayin’.

How Monday can you get? March 16, 2009

I woke up exhausted this morning, despite having gotten a good solid 7 and a half hours of sleep. I didn’t even remember hearing the alarm go off the first time, though apparently it had, because I woke up when it went off again at 7:04. That sleepiness never really faded (she types, yawning), so a few of the following events were unsurprising.

First, I got out to the car and realized I had forgotten my lunch. I didn’t really have time to go back, so I just thought I’d buy a lunch at work. No big deal. Upon arriving at work, however, it occurred to me that my check card and state ID were back home in the back pocket of my jeans. I had enough cash to get breakfast and lunch, so it was ok, but kind of a tight squeeze. Then, I proceeded to make 3 dumb, completely obvious mistakes in assigning tickets… and got called on each one by a different person.  The rest of the afternoon didn’t prove any better, and things just started piling up. It was a Bad Day.

The evening, however, was quite nice. Cory and I went to my mom’s place for dinner, where I helped her learn to seam her sweater and pick up stitches for the neckline. Her sweater is coming out very nice, particularly since it’s her first! Very impressive.

Now that we’re back home, I’ll probably work on the shawl for a while. I might not get a lot done though, as I haven’t been feeling well all day (yeah, that didn’t help things much) and I might just go to bed early. We’ll see.

(However- for a bit of good news, check out that hit count! Wow! Thanks all of you for reading, it really does mean so much to me!)

A third of a rose March 15, 2009

I spent very nearly all day today in the craft room, knitting lace, while Janelle sat next to me doing homework. We set up an extra “desk” (folding table) for her laptop and supplies, and both of us got some good work done.

I am now approximately, by my estimation, 1/3 done with Aeolian.

I have completed all 4 “Yucca” chart repeats and am on row 8 of the “Transition” chart (though this photo was taken before starting the “transition” chart). After that, there’s the “Agave” chart and several edge charts, and then I’m done, but since every row gets longer, I’m definitely nowhere near half done yet. For scale, this bit reached nearly all the way across the diagonal of a 12×12″ square blocking tile, so about 17″ wide and maybe 8″ long.

I am still madly in love with the pattern, the yarn, and the color combination, and the beads are getting less cumbersome as I go.

The only way I could be enjoying this any more is if I didn’t have to do anything else until I finished. Sadly, it’s too complex to bring to work, and I have plans tomorrow evening, so I won’t get to work on this again until Tuesday evening. Ah well. It’ll still be here, waiting.

Obsessive Organization, or how I knit lace March 14, 2009

As I began this lace project, I had a number of people ask me how I am able to knit something complex from charts without getting hopelessly lost and confused. The answer, of course, is that I do get lost and confused- I just have a lot of failsafes put in place to help me get found again. (The other answer is that I have a bit of experience and a sound knowledge of knitted construction and how things ought to look.) I decided that today I would show exactly how I keep things straight.

Here is my workspace. (There’s my early anniversary/tax refund present from Cory, Max the netbook. Hi Max!) As you can see, there’s a lot of pieces to my setup, so I’ll show you some closeups.

On my right, you can see supplies- my ‘gator full of notions, TONS of post-it notes, my beads, and a drink. All vital, particularly the drink as I can promise with this setup I’ll be in one spot for a good while.

The beads are on something called “SuperFloss” by Oral-B. It’s a type of floss for people with dental hardware. It has a stiff threader end (perfect for looping through a stitch, folding in half to slide a bead down onto the stitch, or scooping up a bead), a middle section that is kind of soft and poofy (doesn’t let the beads slide off without help), and a long regular floss end. I tied a single bead to the floss end, and put a couple of hundred beads on it. It’s very portable and stops beads from flying everywhere or getting dropped off of your hook, and is available at pharmacies, grocery stores, and other locations that are generally easier to find and get to than a yarn store selling size 12-14 steel crochet hooks.

Here, from left to right, are all the charts clipped together with a post-it marking my spot, a sheet with the chart key on it, and a page of explanations for if the chart key doesn’t explain well enough. These are all taped up directly in front of my face,  since my desktop is fairly small, so I can see them all at once (if you look above, the actual pattern itself is on the desk under the knitting).

If I have to get up in the middle of a row (say, if I have to use the toilet, or if my drink is gone) I use post-it tabs to mark the stitch that’s next. I also have a row-counter bracelet that I got on etsy, just to make doubly sure I always know just where I am.

Here is a photo of how far along I was when I left for Janelle’s (where I spent most of the day):

That is the entirety of the set-up chart. I now have 2 repeats of the second chart, the “yucca” chart (though it looks nothing like yucca, honestly) done, but there’s no good light here to get a picture so I’ll post tomorrow with that. It’s gorgeous, though, and at the risk of sounding stupidly romantic and soppy, it looks quite a bit like dewdrops on rose petals. I’ve called the project “Desert Rose Shawl” because of that.

The start of a beautiful journey… or it would have been March 13, 2009

I didn’t get any knitting done at work today, as I had a project to work on all morning from my boss. When I got home, I whipped up some dinner and my brother and sister came over to eat it up. Poor James is still sick, and Kristen had a show to get to, so they didn’t stay all that long but we had a good time.

Afterwards, I sat down to get started on my shawl, since I dug up my size 5 circular from the depths of one of my WIP baskets- I knew I had one. I wound the skein into a neat little cake, pulled out some waste yarn to do the Crochet Cast On, got all of my supplies and the pattern ready…

And realized my smallest steel crochet hook is still too big to fit through a size 8 bead.

Rats.

I guess I know what I’m doing tomorrow! Anyone know where to find a size 12 steel crochet hook, besides online?

I may still start it tonight, and get through the cast on and startup rows. I don’t need the hook until the first bead, in the Setup Chart, and it’s already 9:30 anyway, so… might as well do what I can.

A precious thing, and other stories March 12, 2009

Return of Random Thursdays on today’s blog. One of those “things happened but none of it was related” sort of days, so here we go.

1. I have spent the rest of my birthday money, and it was good. I went out with Kelly first to Bella Lana for yarn, then to Bead Monkey for beads, and finally to dinner at a very good Indian restaurant (yes, I love Indian food, kind of you to notice). Here are my spoils.

Possibly my favorite yarn purchase ever- 2 skeins of Tilli Tomas Voile de la Mer (Veil of the Sea), in Ruby Wine. It’s 70% silk, 30% sea cell (a kelp derivative) and it is luscious. The beads are size 8 glass czech seed beads, and I think they’re nicely matched to the yarn while also slightly contrasting to add interest. The Bead Monkey, by the way, has a fabulous selection. This is all, of course, for Aeolian.

2. I got… maybe another 2 rows? done on the bathrobe. It will continue to crawl, I’m sure, though Aeolian may bring it to a dead halt for a good while. Again- I have plenty of time. No hurry.

3. Over the past couple of days I have been participating in the VLT- Very Longest Thread- on Ravelry and it is a subculture all its own. Kind of fascinating. It’s like a chat room, but delayed, kind of, since people can respond to old posts. It’s quite fun, and nice to know that there are others besides me who are so totally bored all day that they can post constantly.

4. My brother and sister are coming over for dinner tomorrow, yay! I’m not sure what we’ll do yet, but I’m sure it will be good times.

5. My KnitPicks order shipped today. I don’t think I ever mentioned what I got, since the Patternworks order will be shown when it arrives, but the KP order doesn’t really warrant a photo. I ordered the full nickel-plated interchangeable options circular needle set (YAAAY) and a size 2 40″ nickel plated circular. Sadly I may have to wait for the set to arrive before I can cast on for Aeolian, but I think I have a size 5 circ hanging around from Cory’s cardigan. Not the best quality, but I don’t think I can wait that long!

Stop drooling on the laceweight March 11, 2009

I don’t know if any of you have noticed (ok I’m quite sure you have, actually) but of late I’ve been yearning, nay, lusting after lace patterns. I’ve bought nothing but lace and fingering weight yarns, and have been obsessively prowling through the “shawl and scarf” section of ravelry looking for that one, shining, perfect lace pattern.

Spring Knitty came out today.

When I opened the page and saw the cover pattern (here) I was… impressed, but not inspired to immediately cast on or anything. It’s nice, but it’s a little too rustic looking- not what I’ve been craving. I clicked through to the rest of the patterns… and just about died.

Aeolian.

My dream shawl- everything I’ve wanted in a shawl, perfectly executed in two sizes and three yarns, one of which is handspun. It has nupps; it has beads; it is an elongated, graceful triangle, wearable as a shawl, scarf, or wrap; it is complicated and involves several different, but related stitch patterns and charts; it is a veritable work of art.

I adore it. Simply adore it. I can honestly say that this is the first pattern I have ever looked at and immediately thought “I’ll need to make more than one of those.”

And …. did I mention it’s a free pattern?

I still have to find the perfect yarn for it. I may even end up spinning the yarn, because I don’t have any yarn right now that’s crying out to be that shawl, but I certainly do have a lot of really lovely spinning fibers. Otherwise, I still have around $50 of birthday money still kickin’ around that would nicely cover a big ol’ skein of laceweight something-or-other and enough beads to do the job. We’ll have to see how I feel after going to the bead store tomorrow with Kelly.

In other happenings, this is what I’ve been working on.

The bathrobe:

I still only have about 18 rows done. Have I mentioned how glad I am that I have until August to finish this thing? It is, however, looking quite nice and is appropriately cute and squishy. Has that going for it, anyway.

My dark BFL spinning project:

I have a little over one full color repeat done. I’m… not entirely sure how much of the total that is, but it isn’t much. I’m spinning a laceweight single, and I’ll either do a 2 ply fingering or a 3 ply DK. I’m leaning toward 3 ply at this point, I think it’d work very nicely with these colors.