Vortex by Chrissy Gardiner in Lorna's Laces Sheperd Sock

 I’m going to try posting more regularly, or at least once a week.  First up, my current sock project is Vortex by Chrissy Gardiner from the book Toe Up! Patterns and Worksheets to Whip Your Sock Knitting into Shape.  I got mine from my LYS but Chrissy has a website where you can order directly.  It’s a great book that is published beautifully.  Check it out!

Kromski Minstrel in Mahogany

My new friend.

I love it when the flowers start to bloom, even if it isn’t good for my allergies…

So, part 2 of the festival. 

MD S&W Purchases 2009

My plan was to get 2 new spindles, one of which had to be a Bosworth.  I also wanted a niddy noddy for skeining yarns and approximate yardages, and some new fiber.  I managed to get all of those things just as planned.  Getting there at 8 am allowed me to do some shopping before the rush.  I got a niddy noddy and a yarn ball holder straight off.  I’m not sure of the vendor, but they’re the people with all of the books.  I also managed to get to the Journey Wheel booth and get my Bosworth featherweight with a purpleheart whorl, .64oz/18gms.  In the main hall I also went to the Little Barn booth and got two batches of roving in very pretty colors.  The purple is already being spun up on the Bossie.

I also could not resist picking up a Trindle from Gale’s Fiber Art along with some Tussah silk roving.  The two went together nicely and look like this currently:

Gale's Fiber Art Tussah Silk spun on a Trindle

Golding Tsunami 0.45oz RingSpindle with Spunky Eclectic Merino/Tencel in "Aspen"

 All in all, a great Sheep and Wool Festival for me this time.

Saturday morning I woke up fairly early because I was very excited about going to the festival.  The first time I went I was totally overwhelmed, but this was my second year and I was better prepared for the number of people who would be there.   I also made the mistake of starting out at 8 am the first time, and was sitting in traffic for an hour on my way there.  This time I started out at 7:20am and arrived at 7:50.  I made my first purchase by 8:20am and was on my way home by 10:45.  Perfect, because by that time the festival was very crowded.  The rain forced most people into the buildings, making the crowds seem worse than they probably were.  But, here’s a picture of what things look like when you’re one of the first shoppers to arrive.

There was fair food…

You can see how there seem to be no people around. This was at about 10am and everyone was in the barns.

There were sheep…

 And an amazing amount of wonderful projects that were entered to be judged…

I enjoyed myself more this year than last because I took the time to wander around and see all there was to see.

Next time, my purchases.

I’ve been shopping for new lace projects. 

Edging for the Lerwick Lace Shawl

 A few weeks ago Sharon Miller released a new pattern, the Queen Ring Shawl.  It’s based on one of the antique shawls she has in her collection.  Since I really wanted it and was ordering from her anyway, I went ahead and purchased the booklet for the Lerwick Lace Shawl as well.  I ordered a ball of Shetland Supreme in Moorit to try out when I purchased the yarn for the Princess Shawl.  I wasn’t ready to try to knit true every-row’s-in-pattern lace then, but I seem to have grown more confident in my knitting since.  I’ve started Lerwick and am working my way up to the Queen.   So far, so good.  I’m being patient and taking my time, although the knitting is progressing more easily and quickly than I expected. Princess may take a few years, but she’ll eventually make it to the needles as well.  Maybe by the time I finish this one, the Wedding Ring Shawl will be ready for re-release (2010, after all).

 I’ve also been working on Icarus for a co-worker.  She saw my Seraphim shawl and wanted one herself.  She purchased the yarn and I’m knitting it because she’s a wonderful person to see every day.  She’s had a rough year with a breast cancer diagnosis and a medical scare with her daughter.  I’m happy to make something that I know she will love.   She’s taking a trip to Italy in May with her sisters and I want to have it completed before then.  Actually, I’m halfway through chart one and expect to have the whole thing finished by next week.  I’m devoting one hour a day to it and it’s moving along nicely.

Finally, there’s the Triangular Lace Shawl from Knitted Lace of Estonia.  I’m making it out of some Knitpicks Bare Laceweight that I dyed in 2007.  I noticed that the pattern called for just about the amount of yarn that I had on hand, and I’ve been working on it steadily for the last month and a half.  It’s a really easy pattern with no nupps.  It might actually be the only one in the book to carry that distinction. It’s blocking now and I hope to have a modeling shot later this week.

I love best the blogs where the writer just lets me know what’s going on in his/her world, so I’m going to try to do that more often.

 First up, I’ve managed to finish a few things since my last update. I got a pair of Hederas knit up as part of the Makin’ Cookies KAL on Ravelry.  The first time I tried making these socks didn’t work out.  Perhaps because I was trying to learn to knit lace while riding on public transportation    Anyway, this time I flew through the pattern and was ready and waiting for Sock Innovations to come to the nearest  bookstore.  I love the book, but why is it that Interweave Press can’t produce one new book without a ton of errata?  It was the same with Nancy Bush’s Knitted Lace of Estonia.  I swear, I’m going to start waiting until all of their titles go into a second printing before buying things from now on.  I thing there’s at least 8 sets of errors in this one, and about the same for Nancy’s book.

Hederas in Regia 4-Ply

I also managed to finish a Norwegian Star Hat  out of my stash of hat-knitting yarn I got on sale at A Tangled Skein in February. I went in to buy some yarn for my mom’s requested birthday gift (another hat) and ended up with a small stash of Ella Rae Classic for my Christmas gifts this year. The hat and socks both went into storage to be given out in December. I hope to finish a few more things throughout the year to have ready by the time the holidays roll around.  I love these patterns and plan to make all of the hats on the TiennieKnits site.  She’s got a great blog, and she makes things in multiples, which is amazing to me.

I’ve been looking for a way to organize my knitting projects.  I love my Namaste bag, but it’s for my portable knitting only.  I have 3 of the small GoKnits pouches and all have socks in them, or a small shawl if the yarn will fit.  I also have a medium sized one that fits a larger shawl project with no problem.

I realized, though, that I had nothing that I could fit my Dad’s sweater project in.  I also have a couple of afghans still on the needles that are getting pretty big and need a better container that can be closed and sealed.  Whenever I visit my parents’ house I come home and immediately change clothes, because my Dad smokes and whatever he thinks, cracking the door and smoking next to it does not keep the smoke out of everything.  Washing my clothes is the easy way to deal with it for them, but my knitting projects are ongoing and I like to take them with me to work on when I visit.

So, I went to The Containter Store to see what they might have that would work as a project storage method.  I ended up with 3 of the Reisenthal small storage boxes.  I bought one of their baskets  and one of the bags in Germany because they are fabulous for shopping.  Germany is very big on reusable bags and everywhere I went I saw these bags.  I love them because I would get all of my purchases in the bag with no problem.  In the 2 years I was there, it was in constant use.  These boxes are the same.  I have a large one that I store my finished knitting projects in, and these small ones are going to be for my current projects.

Plus, they were on sale!  Even better!

They have a wire frame inside that allows them to have structure and stay up when in use, but they collapse when not in use.  I was able to fit all of the yarn not currently in use for the sweater (12 skeins of 100 gram worsted weight) in the box no problem.  The other two hold yarn for two baby blankets I plan to make.  I may go back for a couple more in the next few months if I need them.

I think I’m in love.

This is what happens when your ball winder and swift are in one place, and you’re in another, and new yarn comes in the mail.

In*shmore (back), Valley Yarns Northhampton

I really have a very hard time with project monogamy.  I get distracted by a new idea or a cute pattern in a book and off I go, casting on.  The problem with this is that I have multiple projects in various stages of progress that never seem to get completed (duh!).  And I like them all, even if I do get bored with one or the other.  I want to finish something.  The whole point of starting them is to have a finished object at the end that I can give away or wear myself. 

With this in mind, this year I’m tackling the idea of Project Monogamy, Ebony Style.  That means  I’m going to try to stick with a project with a few little afghan blocks or stockinette car knitting socks thrown in.  My first focus project is In*shmore by Al*ce St*rmore.

Close-up of In*shmore

My dad picked this pattern out as a sweater he wants to have and wear.  He wanted something with a turtleneck that “no one else would have” (his words).  I think it will be uncommon enough to suit his tastes in this regard.  The pattern itself is quite simple once you get the hang of it.  I’m cabling without a cable needle, since this pattern really lends itself to knitting this way. I searched all over the internet for a good substitute to Rowan Magpie, the yarn the sweater was originally designed in. The Northhampton from Webs was closest in terms of yardage, at 247 yds/100 grams. The Magpie was 252 yds/ 110 grams. I was able to get gauge with the needles specified in the pattern. I even did the whole knit a 6″ swatch, wash and check process. I want this sweater to fit well. I also opted for a tubular cast-on to give the sweater a finished, hand-made (as opposed to home-made) look. I’ve been working on it daily with an occasional block thrown in to relieve the cabling monotony. So far, so good.

Eyelet square, Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece

This week’s block has been the eyelet lace Warm-Up America blanket block from Knitting for Peace. I love these small 7″x9″ blocks because they’re very easy but very effective when all sewn together. I should be able to get at least 2 blocks from each skein, so I’ll be buying one or two at a time after I’ve used up my stash of Vanna’s Choice on blocks for a Vanna’s Choice block exchange with one of my Ravelry groups.  I also love these Knitpicks Harmony Straights (10″).  I ordered them specifically for this project, and as needles I could use with other small block patterns.  So smooth and nice to knit with.