Hey Look! It hasn’t been a month!
Only a week. But it’s been a very busy week.
Last week I had 5 projects on the needles. This week I have 6, and lots of progress on lots of fronts.
Liesl has seen the majority of my time this past week. I’ve had lots of “I need to sit and think” moments, and lots of “I need a few minutes to decompress before I…” chunks of time. Those stolen moments, combined with my boycott of yesterday, means that Liesl is currently 9 inches past where you set aside stitches for the sleeves. I’m hoping to have this sweater hit mid-hip-ish, so that means I’m going to work for another 6 inches or so before binding off.
I found out yesterday that I’m going to be at Rhinebeck this coming weekend, for Sunday only. But this means that Liesl has become my Rhinebeck sweater, along with being my first wearable sweater, fingers crossed. (I felted the first sweater I ever knit for myself before getting to wear it. We don’t talk about it very often) So Liesl has been receiving almost all my attention lately.
But only almost, I have worked on other things. (Told you this week was busy).
Bella is past the garter stitch base, and I’m only a row and a half away from being done with the first section of the ruffle. I think I’m going to take this to Rhinebeck as walking around knitting, and hopefully make lots and lots of progress.
That scarf I mentioned in the last post? The one that only needed a few tweaks before casting on? I also needed to buy needles for it.
So I bought the needles, I tweaked the charts, I cast on.
Then I ripped it out, tweaked it some more, and cast on again.
Lather, rinse, repeat a few times.
I’m finally through the first repeat and a bit, and I’m going to rip it out and cast it on once more. I’ll probably do that before this weekend so that I can take it for car knitting on the way to and from Rhinebeck (I’m not driving).
At the moment I’m calling it Gothic Spires, as it’s got some interesting lacy columns and spire action going on in it, but if you’ve got any suggestions I’d love to hear.
Even Icy Fields got another round and a half added to it. While this doesn’t seem like a lot, please keep in mind that as of right now each round is about 1,000 stitches long and takes forever. On the plus side I’m about 12 rounds from the end. Next is some sort of crochet loopy bind off, and I’ll be done.
After I’m done I’ll probably hid the rest of this yarn for the next few years, or maybe just trade it (or give it) away. There’s nothing wrong with the yarn (Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud), I’ve just had it in my life since 2007, and will have knit 2 completed shawls, (and one ripped out shawl) from it. There is also only so much grey lace that one person needs.
Now that I’ve said all that, right after I bind off Icy Fields I’m going to cast on some more grey lace. Just watch.
Walk in the Woods, and Celtic Forest haven’t seen any progress at all. Celtic Forest is still sitting in the closet as of this writing. I need a good block of time to work out the kinks in this pattern, and I just haven’t had the time yet. Maybe this week. Maybe.
There’s no reason I haven’t worked on Walk in the Woods other than I’ve been distracted by my new and shinier projects. But I’m planning on taking this along to Rhinebeck for car knitting as well.
Once I get a few of my current projects off the needles I have two more projects waiting in the wings to be thought out and swatched. The cowl that I mentioned in the last post, and another pair of fingerless mitts.
I’m hoping to have the pattern for Bird of a Feather released soon (tomorrow???). I just need to tweak a few things to make one of the charts easier to follow, but after that it’ll be ready to go.
This has already gotten longer than planned and I feel Liesl calling, so I’m going to go work on her, and hopefully have a new sweater soon. Fingers crossed.
Ruffles and Lacy Leaves
This is going to be a bit of a whirlwind post where we’ll fly at light speed through what’s on (and off) my needles in an attempt to get everyone caught up on what I’m knitting. How does oldest WIP to youngest WIP sound to you?
First off we’ve got Icy Fields. I’ve showed this on the blog before, and I haven’t really touched it since August, so it doesn’t look any different. Bad designer, no cookie.
Next up we’ve got the four Crisscross Caps. All of them are off the needles and ready to be washed and photographed. I feel a large-ish photo shoot coming up soon (not in August this time around. Yay!)
Celtic Forest is currently hiding out in the closet until I can get a free afternoon and beat the second half of it into submission. This is a sideways knit lace shawl, with a band of cabling along the neck edge.
The braided cabled and ribbed mitts for my sister’s birthday are done and gifted. Now I just need to procure another skein of Cascade 220 superwash, to whip up pair for myself, and maybe tease out the matching hat.
Walk in the Woods is a lacy scarf without clearly distinguishable motifs, but that still invokes an afternoon of walking through a forest in the Northeastern United States. Down the center of the scarf there is a lace leaf, but that blends into the much more organic trees on either side. I seem to have leaves on the brain a lot these days. I’m guessing it’s the cold weather that we’ve been having.
And now the baby of my knitting family. Bella is a skinny little scarf knit side to side, with a small(!) ruffle along it. And at just about 12 hours old, this morning, I’m feeling confident in the direction she’s headed.
I’ve also got another scarf that only needs a few tweaks before casting on, and the yarn for a cowl waiting to be swatched.
The pattern for Birds of a Feather Tam is almost ready to be released. I’m just waiting for one final test knitter to finish, then I can proof the thing, and make it available to you.
Now I’ve got to get ready for my day, so I’ll edit and post this later tonight.
(And right before heading out the door this morning I cast on Liesl by Ysolda Teague. I’m faulting the sudden cold for this bout of startitis.)
Long Over Due
I must say that I’ve been a tad neglectful of the blog lately, but my life had taken on a few more levels of complexity since the end of August. I’ve moved, started classes (4 this semester), started two costume design internships, all the while trying to more forward with my knitting design, at a relatively steady pace.
Speaking of crazy busy and moving, the place I moved to has particularly horrible lighting. So, I will try to get as many pictures as possible, but I can’t promise pictures with every post. That being said, I will still be focussing primarily on my knitting and will get pictures whenever possible, but there will be many more descriptions than pictures. I’ve also got some article idea brewing, and have been itching to get back into writing, so I’ll be posting those once they have been researched, written, and edited.
Now onto what’s on (and off) my needles. Right before I moved, I got bitten by the accessories bug big time! Most notably fingerless gloves, and hats. Since then I’ve started and finished a pair and a half of long fingerless gloves, about 8 inches long, and a pair of wristlets that are about 4 and a half inches long. As well as, starting and finishing two hats, at which point I started a 3rd.
The completed pair of longer fingerless mitts, and the completed wristlets are variations on the same stitch pattern, and will be released together (maybe as a freebie?). The backs of the hands are made up of a simple lace ribbing, and the palms are stockinette. The long size has two inches of 1×1 ribbing all the way around the cuff to keep wind from climbing up the wearer’s arm. While on the wristlets the lace ribbing begins at the cast on edge and continues all the way up the fingers, with 1×1 ribbing for one inch on half of the cuff to keep it from curling.
While the half completed pair of long mitts is more unisex. The palm, 2/3rds of the back of the hand, and the thumb are all knit in 3×1 ribbing, making them lie flat and stretch enough to accommodate multiple hand sizes. The last 1/3rd of the back of the hand has simple but elegant braided cable running up it. These are destined to be my sister’s, but I think I might need to knit a pair for myself (not out of the charcoal gray that her’s are out of though). I’ve also got a possible matching hat kicking around my brain, so this pattern might end up being offered as a set.
Now onto the hats. This November I’m going to be releasing a set of 4 cabled and ribbed hats (for individual sale, and as an ebook) just in time for not quite last minute holiday gifts. At the moment I’m leaning towards Crisscross Caps being the title for the collection, though if anyone has any other ideas I’m always open to suggestions.
I’ve also got a new lace shawl, and a new lace scarf on the needles, as well as Icy Fields. But I think those will need to wait until later in the week, because this post is already getting quite long.
On the design front.
The Dancing Girls Scarf became available on Ravelry on September 5th, but I haven’t gotten around to writing up the release post or adding it to the Original Designs page. Both of these will happen later this week, fingers crossed.
I’ve also got plans to figure something out for the About Page this week. But I must admit that this isn’t at the very top of the to do list so it might not get done until later.
The Birds of a Feather Tam (Ravelry Link) went out to test knitters over the weekend, and I’m hoping to have the pattern released at the end of September/beginning of October.
I’m going to end it here, and will post again before the month is over. (I hope).
