Snowdrop

I don't know what I'm going to do with it- wear it, gift it, drape it artfully across the end of a bed, or just stand back and admire my own handiwork (and the fact that I didn't mess up The Yarn Harlot's pattern too badly). But whatever else I do with the Snowdrop shawl, I will likely cart it around with me for a few days, accosting innocent bystanders and forcing them to gush over it with me (no sympathy for them- they're obviously not inocent, or they wouldn't be out and about when a dangerous woman is carrying a hand knit lace shawl).

Stats: 7.7 ozs pima cotton yarn (which did soften up after washing), probably about 1,200 yds, size 5 needles, blocked: 72" wide x 36" long. Free pattern from The Yarn Harlot (link to the right of the page). The pattern is well written, and I learned new things (like the I-Cord bind off, and adding a knitted edging), and though I will probably not knit it again, I am very glad that I found the pattern.

Up next: The Forest Canopy Shawl in some handspun. Pattern available here: http://ma2ut.blogspot.com/2006/09/forest-canopy-shoulder-shawl.html

Shawl and Butterfly...

... which should totally be a song by Heart....

And for Karen, here's a set of instructions forthe I-Cord Bind Off (scroll to the bottom of the page): http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall06/FEATfall06TT.html

The ladies in my knitting group use this bind-off all the time, but I'd never bothered to learn it. It looks wonderful on plain knitting as an edging for sweaters or slippers, etc, especially in a contrasting color. But it really looks smashing on felted pieces, and the I-Cord seems to felt at the same ratio as the rest of the piece, which is handy. I will be using it a lot more often now (the learning curve on this one wasn't exactly steep- I have no idea why I'd never searched out the instructions before).

The Snowdrop shawl edging is coming along a lot more quickly than I expected, especially since there are nearly 900 rows involved. I'm about 3/4 of the way around the shawl, and I've passed the dreaded lower point, which was scary because you need to be at a specific row in the repeat when you get to the point. I was only 1 row short, and that was easily fixed by picking up one more stitch and working that row. The next hurdle will be ending on the proper row in the repeat, but I think that can be pretty easily faked if necessary. (Go, Faker! Go!)

The Lace Fever has not abated. I don't know whether to turn on the echo machine and shake my fist at Karen (http://knitgeekery.blogspot.com/ ) Colbert-Style, or give her a great big smooch. I'm not sure which project to start next. I have handspun yarn and beads that were destined for a Ravelympics scarf, which was delayed by actual work (and since I planned way back in August to knit a lace scarf with that yarn, I guess it's not all Karen's fault). I have several other lace-appropriate handspun yarns (including the spindle spun bamboo/glitz 1st Place winner) waiting for inspiration, and lots of commercial yarn in the proper weight (including 3 skeins of Knit Picks Shadow in the Oregon Coast colorway). I have a lovely, huge cone of light brown laceweight brushed mohair, and a ton of wool/camel yarn that I bought on cones years ago. And I have 600 yds of wool/alpaca sportweight yarn which would make a lovely, heavier shawl too. So my options are wide open. I just know that I will not be knitting with cotton on the next one.

And here's an adorable little crocheted butterfly, sent to me by Bunny, who won some yarn in my last contest. You can't tell in the scan, but the butterfly is 3-d. She's adorable and I am going to hang her on my Christmas tree. Thanks Bunny!

Snowdrops, Shawl Pins, and Socks

Won't you be glad when I move on to a project that doesn't trigger my alliterative reflex?

Here's the gorgeous dragonfly shawl pin that I got on eBay. It's about 7" long and theoretically pewter, but it's pretty shiny (does pewter shine?), and I love it.

I finished the body of The Harlot's Snowdrop shawl. I'm embarrassed to say that I had never done an I-Cord bind-off before. What in the world was I thinking? It's super simple, and makes a fantastic edging. I'll be using that technique more often from now on.

I also picked up 438 (!!) sts around the outside edge of the shawl, and I started the lace edging. The repeat isn't difficult, but it's going to take awhile. The edging rows go from 9-18 sts, and it takes 2 rows to advance 1 stitch around the edge of the shawl. That's a bazillion stitches and not many fewer rows. I've worked my way through about half of one side. I am a little anxious about getting to the bottom point at the right place in the edging repeat, but I'll worry about that when I get there (which may not be for days). And if it's not exact, I'll do what I always do when it's not for publication: fake it.

And some sock progress- Christmas socks for an honorary Granddaughter: Twisted Playful (heavy fingering weight, superwash merino), Tulip colorway, with pink heel and toe yarn. I'm using up leftover yarn, which is why I am working on both at the same time-I have plenty of Tulip, but not a lot of the heel/toe coordinate. This sock has a very simple texture: Rnd 1: *K 1 P 1*, rep around, Rnd 2: *P 1, K 1*, rep around, Rnds 3-8: K. It's enough to keep the knitting from being boring, but not so complex that I need a chart.

Have a Safe and Hilarious Halloween!

Snowdrops and Spideys

The French translation of the We Call Him Spidey Mittens is up here http://christhalinette.canalblog.com/ . It's pretty cool to see my pattern in another language! Thanks so much, Nathalie.

I'm in the thousand-stitches-per-row (not really, it just seems that way) part of The Yarn Harlot's Snowdrop Shawl, so even though I only have about 30 rows left on the main portion, it's taking forever for progress to show. I should not complain about this part because the knitted border is going to go even more slowly. I suppose no one starts triangle shawls at the *big end* because casting on hundreds of stitches is a royal pain, but it would sure be nicer to have 2 fewer stitches every other row than the other way around.

But, despite a big honkin' hole that I'll have to fix (doesn't show in that shot- I must have dropped a YO), and despite having come to hate this yarn (Pima cotton on a cone- it feels like knitting string), its coming along beautifully. That's a 40" circular, so this is going to be a nice size when it's finally done. I'm ready to work with wool for the next scarf- something with a little bounce and grab. And color.

The lace projects so far have been process knits- I'm feeling my way into lace knitting, and can see working on something long-term with lace in the future.

Spideys and Snowdrops...

... and whiskers on kittens.... (sorry)

I got a lovely e-mail this morning from a French knitter. She made my Freebie Friday We Call Them Spidey Mittens for her son, and sent me a pic. Aren't they adorable? And she asked if she could translate the pattern into French and post it on her blog (with a link back here). I am delighted by the notion of my pattern being available in multiple languages. When she gets the translation up, I'll let everyone know. Here's her blog: http://christhalinette.canalblog.com/

As always, if you knit something from a Freebie Friday pattern and send me a pic (under 500kb please), I'll post it here.

And here are the Spidey Mittens, if you missed the pattern the first time around: http://kathleen-dakotadreams.blogspot.com/2007/12/freebie-friday-we-call-him-spidey.html

So, Karen, your Swallowtail definitely unleashed a monster. Here's the progress on The Yarn Harlot's Snowdrop shawl- I am almost to the solid-neck portion, and it's coming along pretty quickly, with a minimum of errors. I still can't keep track of the pattern without the chart (more than 2 rows and my brain boggles), but it's a pretty easy design. I suspect that the added border will take as long as the rest of the shawl, but it's going to be gorgeous.

My kids gave me an eBay gift cert for my birthday (do they know me or what?), and I used a portion yesterday to buy this pewter dragonfly shawl pin. Cool, no? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSAA:US:11&Item=250313133367