Borderline scratchy

Just as promised, let me present another shawl, fresh off the needles.  Here's Danielle:

Oops, sorry about that!  The Puppy likes Danielle too, take your eyes off for a second and she'll install herself right on top of the lace, without any regard for its fragility. 

Let's try again.  Danielle, in all of its (block-in-progress) glory:

Right, I know pictures are rather unimpressive so far, but would you be eager for an outdoor photo shoot when the outdoor looks like this?

I didn't think so.  Wait for the weather to clear, you might say, but with Ireland experiencing the worst summer in decades, this could be quite a wait.  A pretty detail will have to do:

A quick knit, simple and lovely (free!) pattern.  About a week from start to finish, with a logical, easy to memorize chart.  Unless I'm very much mistaken (which could happen, but Ravelry notes confirm my version), one line in chart 5 is off by 1 stitch (per side)*.  Easy enough to rectify, just add one stitch near the beginning and the end of the offending row and from there it's smooth sailing. 

Yarn:  30% mohair, 20% wool, 50% acrylic, 350m/50g.  I ordered it specifically for Danielle - I couldn't imagine so leafy a shawl in colour other than green - and while I love the shade, I'm slightly disappointed by how the yarn feels against the skin.  I'd call it borderline scratchy - not quite unpleasant, but definitely not smooth and soft.  That's natural fibres for you, I'm afraid.  This particular yarn is not too bad, but I've seen (touched!) wools you could flay someone with. 

Just something to think about, before you order online :)

* I'm sorry, I forgot to write down exactly which line has the mistake.  Now I'm not 100% sure anymore and I don't want to mislead you.  You'll see it when you get there :)  

Alone no more and a brand new shawl

Despite silence on the blog, a lot is happening in my little knitterly world.  Turns out there are knitters - and even spinners! - on my mountain.  While spending time with other people is not the easiest thing in the world for the introvert me, it is really good to meet someone who gets this whole knitting thing.  I'm more used to the look of friendly incomprehension from the general public and while I don't hold it against anyone, it's a pleasure to experience something different. 

A lot of brainstorming takes place, and who knows where it will lead me and my new friends?  I'll let you know when anything significant emerges, for now let me share another recent creation - and why, it is another shawl, thank you so much for asking!

A very pleasant pattern by a Polish designer, Kasia Smolak, it's called Creamy Shawl and it works up in a breeze.  I think it took me about a week, maybe 10 days from start to finish, eating up around 600m of sport weight yarn (20% alpaca, 40% merino, 10% mohair, 30% acrylic).  Just imagine it wound up around your neck rather than this handsome fence post on my patio*:

It could happen, you know? The shawl may still be snatched by my sister for an upcoming wedding but if it's not, I'm putting it up for sale.  Do let me know if you're interested - my email address is contactstitchsmart(at)gmail(dot)com.  I thought I'd like to wrap myself up in something warm and pretty but in the end, it's not quite 'me'.  Off it has to go, one way or another.

What do you think about the frilly edge?  I'm inclined to block it out of existence (whether it would block out is another story), but a friend said it adds character to the piece.  Does it?  Should I try and fight this particular windmill? 

More shawls coming soon.  I'm on a roll.

* See the stormy sky in the background?   That's Irish summer for you...

One Lousy Day

I didn't finish Oceanspray in time.  I was late.  By one day.  ONE LOUSY DAY. 

The world didn't end.  Even with the surprise element spoiled, the shawl was gifted away and duly admired.  All's good.

I don't know if you can fully appreciate it from the picture, but the finished knit is HUGE.  So huge, in fact, that I had serious problems trying to block in on two single beds put together.  I never bothered to measure it but my goodness.  It's a blanket rather than a shawl. 

Just as I suspected, silk/alpaca mix is a tad too drapey to really bring out beauty of this particular pattern.  Eyelets get lost in the stockinette, but as long as the leafy border looks ok, I'm not worried.  It does look ok, doesn't it?

Puppy, as ever, insisted on joining in the photo shoot.

I am very, very happy with this pattern.  I used up 4 (and a tiny bit) x 50g skeins, 350m each.  I have another four left.  Any ideas?

Speaking of yarn, I went on a binge recently and bought a small mountain of it, mostly in lace but also some fingering in sweater quantities.  I'm told winters on my mountain get pretty ghastly, with storms and clouds enveloping the whole area.  Rowan berries are already turning red, hazelnuts are almost ripe, summer (such as it was) is on its way out. One needs to be prepared, yes?  

Chores and deadlines

Can I tell you a secret?

I'm really not good at chores.  I'm supposed to be a proper, organised adult, with a 'to do' list, spotless house and a solid plan for life.  I have none of these things.  Sometimes I even feel guilty for not having them.  More often, I shrug and get over the fact that I won't be called the Housekeeper of the Year anytime soon. 

There are so many things I'd rather do!  I mean - look how uninspiring housework is.  You wash and brush and wipe and dust and polish and clean and two days later?  You have to do it all over again.  It's a never ending battle and you have to sprint constantly just to keep up.  Nauseating.  Wouldn't you rather be knitting?  Wouldn't you?

It's simple.  One day I have to be rich enough to be able to afford a cleaner.  Until then, I'll compromise.

I don't negotiate with animal chores.  Critters need to be fed, watered, walked, cuddled (whichever is appropriate at any given moment) and that's that.  All the rest?  I'll do it if there's no way to avoid it (having no clean underwear is a potent motivator).  I'll leave it for later if I can.  I'll try not to feel guilty about it.

Do you want one more reason to chuck housework? 

Knitting deadlines. 

I'm some 2/3 through Oceanspray.  Another 10 (long) rows and I'll be able to start the border.  I need to finish it by July 24 or the secret gift will not be secret anymore.  Anyone wants to take bets?  Or at least cheer me along?  I can do it.  I can do it, right?

My Oceanspray doesn't look like much at the moment, just a shapeless pile of grey (Puppy helped in the photo shoot).  I hope blocking will make all the difference although part of me wonders if silk/alpaca yarn isn't too drapey for this pattern?  I suppose I'll find out soon enough...

If you need me, I'll be knitting on the porch. 

Giant's socks and garden sheep

Remember my latest pair of socks?  They were little on the large side, but now...  guys, my socks GREW in washing.  They grew a lot.  As in - they are some giant's socks now, not mine. 

Look, here's the Giant Sock pictured together with a fitting handmade sock and a commercial sock in my size (just for the joke):

As much as I hate the idea of knitting them anew, I see no other option than frogging the whole thing and re-working them with severely reduced stitch counts.  To start with, I'm going to work on 56 rather than 64 stitches.  I'll probably make them shorter, too... hell, I think I'll change pretty much all there is to change because in hindsight, the pattern does not really work that well with this particular yarn.  I'll use Rebecca's pattern as a springboard, but what I'll end up with, only time can tell.    

I'm also going to start soon because I know that if I leave them be for now they'll remain untouched for years, lurking in some dark corner of my stash. 

That's the Plan.  The Plan may be influenced by two things:

1) suddenly I'm flooded by a shitload of work (you know, work, the nasty stuff that keeps the bills paid and gets you all that yarn.  I don't like it either)

2) deadlines for Oceanspray (end of July) and one more - unbloggable - knit gift (three days from today?  I'll need a Tardis for that one...) are approaching fast. 

I'll keep you posted.

By the way, did I ever mention that my neighbourhood is full of sheep?  Look what I saw through my window this morning:

Apologies for the crappy picture, I had to be very sneaky because I didn't want my SHEEPdog to notice and chase the visitors away.  The more grass they eat, the less there's left to mow for us :) 

Could anyone tell me what breed sheep are they?  I strongly suspect that only meat breeds are kept on my mountain but you never know... 

Shawl addiction

My friends, shawl addiction is a terrible thing, especially from the blogging point of view.  Shawls take long time to complete - laceweight shawls, that is, and my brand new obsession seems to be confined to just that kind of yarn.  They also look like nothing much before blocking. If the shawl in question happens to be grey, the battle is lost before it even begins.  There is no way in hell I could possibly take a pretty/interesting picture of a grey shawl-in-progress, on a cloudy Irish day, with a smartphone.

See?  A boring, shapeless pile of mostly stockinette, because in this particular pattern - Oceanspray - all the fireworks happen at the end.  I've actually finished the plain stockinette bit and now bravely knit through part two: stockinette with an occasional yarnover or k2tog.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining.  I'm enjoying the simplicity, daydreaming a lot and caressing the softer-than-soft yarn. 

I swore I'd never let 'posh' yarns steal my heart but I have to confess a little love affair with silk nowadays.  I found a place that sells laceweight with high silk content for next to nothing so I bought over a kilogram in grey, cream and yellow/orange. I'll probably buy more, too, as soon as I spot a bargain I can't resist.  I have enough laceweight to last me a decade but I'm on a binge.  Please don't judge me.

Anyway, I'm under a self-imposed ban on sweater knitting.  See, I quit smoking last February, after 15 years of heavy puffing.  NOT the easiest thing I've ever done, but it looks like victory is mine.  My lungs might be grateful, my waistline, however, does not like the change at all.  I've put on tremendous amount of weight (so much that for a while I seriously thought I'm pregnant!), despite significantly reducing calorie intake.  To tell you the truth, I'm horrified by my new shape and I refuse to knit a garment to fit the huge, flabby me.  There'll be no sweaters until I can step on the scales without screaming.  Howgh. 

Shawls it is, then.  Oceanspray is for my partner's Mum, whose 60th birthday will coincide with her upcoming visit next month.  After that?  Normally I don't wear accessories, but all that lace I knit for other people got me greedy.  Let me tell you: next shawl is mine! 

Any suggestions for a cool, free pattern?

Hey, do you want to see a sock?

My wee orange socks are all done.  Let me present socks no. 5:

Pattern:  Simply Sweet Toe-Up Socks by Rebecca Bailey.  They are sweet indeed, and simple, even if you're attempting any of the techniques involved for the very first time.  Oh yeah, I learned a bunch of stuff with this project.  Let's see.  These are my first toe-up socks, also first time using magic loop method. 

The pattern is written out for 64 and 72 stitches and I went for the former.  If I ever knit this design again, though, I'll resize to 60 because...

That's where my toe is if I stretch the sock ever so slightly.  Despite going down from 2.75mm to 2.25mm needles, using thinnish yarn and frogging quite a lot, I ended up with socks that are simply too big.  They're wearable, but definitely not perfect.  Perhaps as an extra, to put on top of another pair? 

I'd give them away but I know neither a man who would wear those colours nor a woman with feet this large.  See, I'm size 41 so I'm guessing you'd need a foot size 43-44 to have these fit comfortably.  Oh well, lesson learned.  If your sock looks massive when you're knitting it, it will most likely stay this way when you're done and NOT FIT YOU.  Who would've thought...

On needles these days - Oceanspray.  I've barely begun and already had to frog a day's worth of knitting because I spotted a forgotten yarnover 20 rows on.  Depending on how you want to view it (glass half-full of half-empty kind of choice), this either doesn't bode well for the future or used up my quota of mistakes for this project and guarantees success.

Luckily, I'm loving the yarn.  Silk and baby alpaca, what's not to love?  It'll probably be a nightmare to care for but my goodness, isn't that thing soft! 

Stay tuned for updates!