Hanami!

Ooooh, I'm absolutely in love with this one. It's just so ethereal!

Pattern: Hanami, Melanie Gibbons
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Lace, Natural White, 2 skeins
Needles: Addi Turbos, US 3, 32" circular
Started: August 4, 2007
Finished: August 21, 2007
Dimensions: 17" w x 65" l
Modifications: Added beads to the body, one fewer pattern repeats of the basket weave section, repeated the last 12 rows of Chart F twice , only knitted Chart G two times, and did a beaded bind off instead of the ruffle.

The reason for these modifications were: I got bored with the basket weave, I wanted the cherry blossom section to be fuller, and I don't care for the way all those repeats of Chart G look so I did as few as possible.


I'm very very happy with this! I'll probably wear it more as a lacy scarf than a stole.

What a great pattern!

I had so much fun knitting this. I feel a little bit guilty, though, as I joined the Hanami Knit-a-long but ended up finishing before the KAL even got started. Oops. Oh well, I plan to make another of the mirrored Cherry Blossoms sections - that part is my favorite.

More shots:

Swan Lake

It's done!

Ohhh, those last few rows of Clue 7 were torture. I had totally lost my momentum and just didn't want to knit it anymore. But I pressed on and finished last night.

And then blocked it.

Kittens, pinning this sucker out took four hours. I simply have to get blocking wires. It was just so difficult to get things to stretch properly in one direction so that they would stretch properly in the other direction. And the unusual shape of the body and wing combination made it that much harder. Luckily determination and stubbornness are two of my more prominent personality traits - I kept going.


Pattern: Swan Lake (Mystery Stole 3), Melanie Gibbons
Yarn: Ornaghi filati Merino Oro, white (used roughly 800 of the 1375 yards)
Needles: Addi Turbos Lace US 3, 32" circular
Started: July 6, 2007
Finished: August 19, 2007
Dimensions: 20" w x 65" l
Modifications: none

I'm a bit puzzled about the length of mine. It's supposed to be around 75-77" long. As you can see, I'm quite short. I didn't shorten mine, so I'm not sure where that length disappeared to. I had no trouble stretching it to the 20" in width (and with the join laying so wide between the wing and the traditional body, I had no choice but to stretch to 20"), but wow, it just wouldn't pin any longer. Come to think of it, it could be because the yarn I used is actually cobweb weight instead of the recommended lace weight. Oh well. It's fine the way it is.

I've decided I'm going to give this to Steven to have for the store as a lace sample. It's very beautiful, but it's not quite my taste. The assymetry is great, but the design as a whole is just a little busy for me. Hanami is more my style.

Here's the rest of the photos:


1. MS3 feathers, 2. MS3, 3. MS3, 4. MS3, 5. MS3, 6. MS3, 7. MS3 feathers, 8. MS3 beads, 9. MS3

As a whole, being a part of this mystery was so much fun. I'm so glad I joined.

Monkey Sock Swap Questionnaire

I couldn't resist.

I signed up to be a part of the Monkey Sock Swap. I think it will be fun!

So here's my completed questionnaire:

Do you consider yourself a beginning sock knitter, an intermediate, or have you been doing this so long you could probably knit a pair in your sleep? I'm somewhere in between intermediate and sleep-sockster. I have knit several pairs of socks (among other things) and always love to learn new things.

The measurements:

Shoe Size: US Women's 7
foot measurement from heel to tip of big toe: 8.5"
foot circumference measured at the ball of the foot: 8.5"

Yarn Preferences:

What colors do you love? Earth tones, jewels. Oh, and pink.

Do you prefer solids or variegated? Variegated or self striping (preferably hand-painted/hand-dyed)

Do you prefer wool, cotton or acrylic yarn? Wool, please.

What colors would you never wear? Yellow or orange.

What are your favorite brands of yarn? Koigu, Austermann Step, Jitterbug, Schaefer Anne...

Are there any new brands you would like to try? Fleece Artist, Socks That Rock, Wollmeise

Cookie A. Patterns:
Which of her patterns have you already knit? Monkey! I started Pomatomus once, but I hated the yarn I chose so I frogged them.

Which pattern(s) would you like to knit and don’t already own? Thelonious, Gothic Spire, Flicker, Baudelaire, and someday I'd like to complete Pomatomus.

Other pertinent information:

Would you be willing to have an international Monkey Pal or do you prefer one in the US? I'd prefer US, please.

Do you have any allergies? Yes, cats.

Will your knitting be exposed to smoke or animals? No smoke, but I have two dogs.

Are you on Ravelry yet? If you don’t mind having new friends, what is your Ravelry name? I'm waiting for my invite!

This should be fun!

Hanami

So um, I'm knitting something else among my enormous project list already.

I just couldn't resist. Hanami called to me and it's so utterly beautiful. It's designed by Melanie, the same designer of the MS3 (Swan Lake.)

I started this a couple of weeks ago and have been working on it pretty exclusively the last few days. (Read: have been obsessed with it.)

My yarn is Misti Alpaca Lace in Natural White. It's the leftovers I had after finishing the Striped Baroque Scarf for work.

And because of my MS3, I'm adding beads into the body of my Hanami. Why? Hell, I don't know. It's fun!













And to show the detail of the beaded cast on (which took F O R E V E R)


It's gorgeous, though.

I took this to our Starbucks knitting night last night. Everyone loved it.

Only 3 1/2 charts to go!

OMG Ya'll

The helicopter ride was so. friggin. cool.

We went up around 1:00 and rode for maybe 20 minutes. It was exhilerating.

I thought it was just going to be the pilot and I, but Hubs worked it in where he could go, too.

Ok, let me tell you about this. It was one of the coolest moments of my life. We get to where they were giving the rides and told them that we were there to do the aerials. (They of course recognized Hubs.) They said, "Yup, let's go!"

And then they took the doors off the helicopter.

Seriously! They said, "We figured you'd want to be able to shoot into open air." Hell yea!

So we board, and our pilot gave Hubs and I both headsets so we could communicate easily with each other. (Because if we didn't have them, we'd be reduced to tapping him on the shoulder and pointing.)

We're sitting on the ground and he starts it up, turns on the propeller, and gets the gauges all set. And then, lift off! Now, I've been in planes before, so I'm not afraid of flying, but man, this was just awesome. There are no words. It was smooth, seamless, and I had an unhindered bird's eye view of the ground below!

I started shooting, to my heart's content, the grounds and the areas of Hubby's show site (which is what I was there to do.) We circled around several times, each time going a little bit higher so I could get full shots of the whole show. (Which, by the way, is huge. It's an outdoor show, and wow. They use a LOT of land.)

I have never felt so free, so cool in my whole life!

We circled around once more, then we got positioned to land. Kittens, it was the smoothest landing I've ever felt. He got us to where we were hovering maybe a foot above the ground, then we went down as if we were landing on a huge cloud of marshmallows. There was no jerking, no nothing. This guy was good.

Hubs and I got out and I looked at him and said, "That was so f***ing awesome!"

And now I'll just let a few of the photos tell the rest. These may seem boring to you, because, well, you've got no real idea of what they're of, except that I told you they're of my husband's company's show site.

But I think because they're aerial shots, they're still pretty damn cool.

And let me just say one more thing: Thank God for fisheye lenses. Just sayin'.

MS3, Clue 5 complete

I finished last night and I'm already itching for the next Clue.

This is by far my favorite part of the stole. Such an original construction and the lace pattern in this "wing" is beautiful!

It's pretty hastily pinned out here.

This is the first time I've pinned my MS3 (Swan Lake) out. But it's just too unweildly to try to take a good photo now with detail if it's not pinned. With the unusual construction, it makes it hard for the knitting to behave and lay flat. But I didn't want to stretch it too far, yet. I'll save that for the final blocking when it's off the needles.





Which, should be in about 2 weeks! I can't wait to have this done!

Here's a close up of the feathers. I know Melanie suggested against using a halo yarn (such as Kidsilk Haze) for this, but I think this feathery part would look gorgeous with a yarn like that. Maybe I'll have to use this stitch pattern in something else.

Steven wants to set up a lace display in our store and at the same time, really showcase the gorgeous selection of lace yarns we have. He asked if he could borrow one of my lace pieces to display. I'll probably let him borrow this one, since it will be done soon. I've got Hanami on the needles right now, but it's at the v-e-r-y beginning and I've yet to cast on for a beautiful lace stole from the Rowan magazine #41. (Which is what this yarn is going to become.)

Hubby left today to go on one of his business trips for his company's outdoor shows. He'll be gone until Thursday, but I'll see him on Tuesday when I go there.

Why am I going? Well, that's an exciting thing. They have hired a helicopter pilot to give rides during the show. Hubby's boss wants some new aerial photographs of the show site and I asked Hubs if I could take them.

Me! I'm going to get to ride in a helicopter and take aerial photos! I have always wanted to do that but figured I'd never get the chance. I'm SOOO excited!

Well I'm off to work on Hanami! Later, kittens!

MS3 Clue 5 Tips and Pics

Exciting! A Wing!

Swan Lake! We're knitting a stole themed after Swan Lake!

I LOVE that ballet!

This section might be hard to wrap the mind around so I just wanted to offer a few tips to help.

Have any of you knitted Grumperina's Jaywalker socks? Well the double decrease found in Clue 5 (slip 2 stitches knitwise together, knit 1, pass slipped stitches over) is the same double decrease in the Jaywalker socks.

As far as the short rows... In this case, if any of you have knitted Entrelac, it's the same kind of principle. You have live stitches going one way, you're working stitches going another direction, and you're joining them with a p2tog where they intersect.

I'm halfway into Chart G, and it looks SO cool.

Basically, the stitches here will start working upwards like in this photo:













And a close up:


I hope this is helpful!

Striped Baroque Scarf

Look! A finished object! That's 1 for me and .... ah, hell, the WIP's are still ahead. Who cares?

This was one of my projects for the store. Steven gave me the pattern almost a month ago and had me go through the color card for Misti Alpaca laceweight. I chose these colors (which I *love*) and they came in last Saturday.

Details:

Pattern: Striped Baroque Scarf, an Ann Norling publication
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Lace, 6 colors: Melange Moss Grey, Melange Forest, Natural Dark Brown, Natural Dark Tan, Natural Tan, Natural White
Needles: Addi Turbos US7 24" circular
Started: July 28, 2007
Finished: July 31, 2007

There was quite a bit of yarn left over from each skein, which I offered to buy off Steven because I'd like to make one of these for myself - he told me just to keep them. Score! I'll probably cast on for mine in late August. It's such a light and airy (yet warm) scarf that it'll be perfect for the fall chill.

Another view:

I scrunched the scarf together for these shots to show the blocks of color. It lays flat in a rectangular shape with triangular ends (similar to the Mystery Stole that I'm working on right now.)

Speaking of that, Clue 5 comes out tomorrow AND the much anticipated release of the theme!

Major excitement is brewing on the board of all 6600+ knitters impatiently eagerly awaiting to see what it is!

___

I want to take a minute to thank you guys, for sticking around the last few days. I know my blog hasn't been the lightest read over this last week and I thank you for putting up with my darker post.

Checking In

I'm sure you've all heard about the 35W bridge that collapsed into the Mississippi River last night.

Click to watch video of it falling.

Just wanted to check in and let you know that my family and I are all ok.

The Blackest Day

It's been seven years.

The pain has lessened, but the wound is still there, still fresh at times. I still cry.

When my father told me, I remember feeling the walls close in on me for a second. And then I said three stupid words, out of shock. I still feel terrible about uttering them; he was hurting and in his own dark place, reeling with grief and loss. He told me and all I could say was, "are you kidding?"

Of course he wasn't kidding. And I knew it. But shock will make you say stupid things. Dad has since told me he doesn't even remember driving home that day, nor does he remember telling me.

But I do. I remember catching my boyfriend J, (now husband) just before he walked out my front door to go play softball. I remember seeing the darkness shadow his eyes just before I collapsed in his arms, wracked with despair and sobbing like there was no tomorrow.

We left my dad's house, listening to the sounds of him crying on the phone, delivering this most unwelcome news to my brother. I could feel my brother's reaction, though I wasn't the one speaking to him. I knew. I knew his heart was bleeding and shattered like mine was. I knew nothing would ever be the same, for any of us.

J and I drove without words to my grandmother's house. She had to know, and I couldn't bear the thought of telling her over the phone. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do - to break an old woman's heart that way, to see the disbelief in her eyes, the anger, then the sorrow. And then the emptiness through desperate tears. She ran to call her firstborn son. J held me in his arms as we listened to her shouting into the phone, her voice thick with anguish.

After staying with her for a while, trying to comfort her the best I could, J and I left to go back to my dad's. My brother was there by this time, his face red and eyes shining with tears, so much like mine. Dad was pacing the driveway like he did on so many occasions when he needed time to think. But this time, I could tell his mind wasn't there, not really. He was lost in his own grief, closed off from everyone.

Though I knew the reality of the situation, I still had trouble believing it. Surely this couldn't be happening. There had to be some mistake. I started making phone calls. The endless phone calls to friends and family that needed to hear the news. I guess I thought the more I said it, the more my heart would start to accept it.

Those phone calls were torture. I never ever want to be the bearer of that kind of news again. It's absolutely heart-wrenching to hear the pain in the voice of someone you've just saddened in such a way.

Finally, I'd had enough. It was almost midnight and I was emotionally numb. J stayed with me that night, holding me in his arms we slept. His shirt was soaked with my tears throughout the night. I kept waking up and it would all come rushing back, the bitter pain, the agony, the loss. I couldn't control my mind - it kept going back to that moment when my father's words changed my life forever.

Something in me broke that day, the blackest day. I haven't been the same person since, though I've tried.

She was my best friend, my confidante, my mother.

I miss you, Mom.

Projectitis

Kittens, it's time to come clean.

I seem to be suffering from projectitis. Not necessarily Startitis, which is the desire to start objects just to work with the yarn and/or a specific pattern. No, Projectitis is the deisre to have different projects for different moods, areas to knit in, whatever.

Not to mention the projects I'm working on for the shop. It's craziness. To quote Bill Murray as Dr. Peter Venkman from Ghostbusters: "Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together - mass hysteria!"

This will be a very photo heavy post. ...Er, sorry.

We'll start with socks. Socks are harmless, they're small, and perfectly portable. Both of these went with me to the Minnesota Twins' Stitch N' Pitch game a week ago. (Which was really fun, by the way.)

The far left is a Monkey sock in Cherry Tree Hill Supersock. You know me, I just love those Monkeys.

The immediate left is a Jaywalker sock in Austermann Step. I really love the greens in this yarn.


Next up is my Mystery Stole. I finished Clue 4 last Thursday night and now have to wait until this Friday for Clue 5. (Melanie gave us two weeks for this clue so Harry Potter fans would have time to read the new book and work on this super-sized clue.)

A bit of a boring clue was this, but at the same time, it was one I could speed through without having to really concentrate on it. Very beautiful, I think.

Melanie has said that Clue 5 will finally reveal the theme (oh yay!) She also said that we should trust her and just knit what's coming next with full faith in her design that it will work out ok. Say wha? I've got no problem with that, but MAN does she know how to set the mind racing!


And these have been placating me during the downtime between clues for my MS3. I guess I am enjoying knitting lace right now more than I thought because when I finish the clues I miss it.

The far left is Kid Silk Haze in Cream (in a pattern I'm just messing around with) and the right is ArtYarns Silk Mohair in aquas. That one is a free pattern from Elann.

Both use a provisional cast on, which I absolutely love for lace because then you can just bind off both sides and the top and bottom will match perfectly. Finding a stretchy bind off that you like (and actually works) is the trick.


And in keeping with lace (though not with laceweight), this is the same pattern I used for the scarf I made for Brandy. I'm using ArtYarns Silk Rhapsody in greens and a taupe/camel brown. It's just heavenly soft and it's a great mindless knit. I took this to the Stitch N' Pitch game, too! (And it was actually the project I knit the most on when I was there!)



Moving along to projects for the store. This is the back piece to a Chevron Waistcoat (Vest) that is in a knitting magazine Steven had at the shop.

There are all kinds of yarns in this one! Nashua Vignette, Be Sweet African Bead Ball, Misti International Alpaca Hand Dyed, Kollage Captive, two colors of Tilli Tomas Simply Heaven Silk, and Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock (doubled). It's quite busy for my taste, really, but the shape of it is very flattering.

This is also my first true garment. So far so good!


My other project for the shop is this seed stitch scarf that uses two strands of laceweight together. You start off with two of the same color, then mix the first color with the next one. The scarf will softly gradiate in color from one end to the other.

The only problem is: miles and miles of seed stitch. Wow. I started it Saturday night and I'm into the 5th block of color (out of 11) but wow. That's a lot of seed stitch.


Lastly, is this beautiful skein of laceweight mohair. It's not a project yet (as you can plainly see), because I'm on a mission to find just the right project for it. I think I want to make a lace stole/wrap, but I haven't found a pattern I like.

It has to be rectangular (I will never wear a triangular shawl) and it has to be classically beautiful. But at the same time have elegance through simplicity. I think I'm going to have to buy a book to find the perfect pattern for this one.

I'm guessing that there's maybe 800-1000 yards of laceweight mohair here. And it's super soft. We're talking softer than Kid Silk Haze. Really.

I'm thrilled to pieces to have this. It came to our store about a week or so ago. When Steven went to TNNA in Ohio, he saw something from one of the designers there that he fell in love with and asked her to send him the yarn for it. Well, this is what she sent him, but he said this is not the yarn he meant. I asked what he was going to do with this (meanwhile already loving it and squeezing it and calling it George) and he said he wasn't sure. He guessed he'd probably sell it in the shop, but couldn't until he found out from her what it was so he knew how much to price it at. Relief! He wasn't going to send it back! (Which I feared.) I told him I for sure wanted to buy it. Reluctantly I handed it back to him (read: he practically had to tear it from my hands) and went on with my day.

Long story short (I know, too late) I went into work Saturday and he handed it to me and said I could just go ahead and take it now and when he found out the cost, I could pay him then. Oh happy JOY!

So you see, it has to be just the right project, as this is special yarn.

Ahem. So there they are. All my projects, out for the world to see. I'm telling you, Projectitis is a dangerous illness. I'm posting this in warning. Don't let this happen to you!

Or, you know, if it already has, can you post yours to make me feel better? Surely I can't be the only one?

A Rescued Antique

Guess what I got today!

Steven and I were talking at work a while back about spinning. I told him how much I love it and how it'd be great to have a wheel.

He said that he had an antique one in the basement that I could have. Sah-weeeet!

He warned that there was a broken piece, but he said I was welcome to it. I brought it home today - it's so cool!

There are a few more pieces he said he'll look for, but for the most part, it's all here.




Look at this poor piece. :( Makes me sad.

I hope I can still find replacement parts, or at least parts of some sort that will give it new life. It's a beautiful wheel and I'd like to be able to restore it.

And I like that it's an antique. It makes me wonder who must have sat at it, what kind of beautiful yarn they made, and what they used their handspun for.

Pieces like this have so much history.







And here it is. All those pieces on the left hand side are in the wrong spots. With parts of the flyer missing, it's hard to tell where the ones I have go. I hope Steven's successful in finding the rest.

As you can tell from the top photo, it spins. It creaks, too, as if it's moaning from being woken from a long slumber.

In a way, it is.

MS 3, Part III

Moving right along with the Mystery Stole. I finished Clue 3 yesterday afternoon and so far I'm pretty pleased with it.

I'm still no closer to figuring out the theme. I see so many things in the different patterns, but none of them are an "A-ha! That's it!"

Melanie (the designer) has said that everything will make sense by Clue 5. I'm anxious to get there!

And a closer shot of Clue 3:


I really, really like the look of this part of the stole. The honeycomb-ish area is very pretty and the beads in the center are a great touch.

Of course, it will look so much better once it's off the needles and blocked. There are several people in the Flickr group that block their's in between finishing each clue. That's dedication.

As for non-knitting news, my very generous in-laws came up Saturday from Illinois. They spent the night and then on Sunday morning they left to go home, taking my sons with them. For a week.

A week! Hubby and I are here, alone in the house (well, with the dogs, of course) for a whole week! It's so nice. I can come and go as I please during the day, I don't have to separate them because they're fighting over who-knows-what, I don't have little voices whispering me awake at 7 in the morning - it's heaven.

I knit all day yesterday. I worked on MS 3 until I finished the clue, then I worked on two different socks for a while.

And then, I got ready to go meet another knitter in the area who's a part of the MS 3 group! We met at Starbucks last night and had a lovely time chatting and knitting. It was fun! I think we'll probably get together after another couple of clues - it's really nice to get to see another MS 3 in person (not to mention meeting another knitter!)

I've also got to get a few things ready to take with me to Stitch & Pitch at the Twins game this weekend. I can't wait!

Ok, back to enjoying my peaceful house. ;)

Maggie's Secret

Kittens, I've come to a conclusion about my girl Maggie.

She's insane. You want to know why?

She chases her tail.

There, I said it. Out loud (kinda) to people other than my husband and sons.

You see, we've tried to keep this little... gem... a secret because, well, I didn't want people to think that Maggie was stupid.

But I can't hide it anymore because maybe she is a little stupid. But at the same time, she's incredibly smart.

She can learn things in an instant, figure out exactly where you're hiding something from her, read our body language that we're going to take her outside before we even move to do so, and she has never once fallen for the "fake throw." See? In some respects, she's quite brilliant.

Except that one thing. She loves to chase her tail.

I've never had a dog that did this! Granted, my Sam is a Rottweiler and they don't have tails. They have little tiny nubbins. I love Sam's nubbin. When she's excited or happy, that little bitty thing starts wiggling and omg it's the cutest thing ever. But it's certainly nothing she can chase.

But Mags? She's got a whopper of a tail and boy does it seem to piss her off sometimes.

And the funniest thing about it? (Just when you thought it couldn't get better.) When Maggie starts to spin around and around chasing that tail of hers and biting it (how that doesn't make her stop I'll never know), my Sam looks on at her like she's the biggest idiot known to canines.

MS 3, Part II

Yay me! I've completed Clue 2, all stitches are accounted for and all the beads are where they should be.

I'm one very happy knitter.

This has been such an enjoyable knit so far.

I even took it to our store's Starbucks knit-together last night and worked on it there. So many people asked me about it!

The beads are truly what keeps me going. The thrill of adding them on and seeing them glitter as light shines on them is exhilerating.

More shots:












And the obligatory backlit shot:


Isn't that just gorgeous?

Still have no idea what the theme is. Hopefully Friday's clue will make it a little more obvious!

MS 3

The beginning of my Mystery Stole 3. Two nights of knitting and I'm 3/4 of the way through Clue 1.

I had a minor setback the first time I started: I was up to row 25 and the stitches were off. :( Somewhere along the line I'd forgotten a yarn over. Man that'll mess you up! I hadn't inserted a lifeline yet, so rip rip it went.

Oh well. But now I'm cruising along nicely and I should be done with Clue 2 long before Friday brings Clue3.



I'm using Ornagha filati Merino Oro in a creamy white. I have avoided white lace weight thus far, but this time, this beautiful hank called out to me. I'm so happy with my choice!





For my beads I've got the most delicate sage. I wanted something very subtle: something that would add just an inkling of sparkle.






I must admit, this is a gloriously fun knit. If the pattern were readily available I probably wouldn't have looked twice at it. It's busy and fussy, yet at the same time, so incredibly beautiful. The allure of excitement of knitting something so exclusive (not to mention knitting with beads!) has won me over. I'm really enjoying it.



Do you know what my favorite part is?

Adding the beads. Those beads are wonderful motivation. Just when I start to get sick of yo's, k2tog's, sl1 k psso's, there's a row with beads!

And even more thrilling is where I am in the chart now. There's beading in the body of the knitting now, not just on the edge!

I'm in lace heaven.

Thank you, MS 3 goddesses.