The return!

I haven’t been posting much because I haven’t been knitting much. I had forgotten how hot and wool-hostile the summers are, here, once they really get going. Also, my life totally exploded: in the past couple of months, there’s been a death and a serious illness in the family, I started a new job, and I moved unexpectedly. And then, yesterday, I wrote the LSAT.  Suffice it to say, I’ve had my hands full.

But now the days are getting shorter, a chill has crept into the air, and I’m relatively settled in my new place. I, like many seasonal knitters the world over, find myself turning back to the needles and the wheel. Looking back at the last entry, it occurs that I actually have quite a bit of updating to do! First of all, that yarn I was working on when last I posed is finished:

This, remember, was that beautiful Panda roving from SweetGeorgia. I Navajo-plied the singles, which I love doing because it works with my limited bobbin supply. (And makes me feel clever, besides.) The final yarn is a fingering weight, and a good match to another bunch of Panda I spun up back in April:

(Colourway: Winter Camping. Dimes included in both pictures, for scale.)

In fact, the two yarns are such good matches, and the colours look so pretty together, that I’m going to have to come up with a project that uses them together.

Back in July, someone ripped off a bunch of people in the BPAL community. People were really bummed about it, but the BPALers bounced back with astonishing positivity: within days, Livejournal communities were awash with generous souls offering gifts to other community members. During this time, I was a BPAL newb with no perfumes to give away, but I was overwhelmed by all this generosity and wanted to take part.

Which is why I’m making this scarf for a BPALer:

Out of Posh Yarn Daisy 4-ply, an 80/20 superwash merino/bamboo, in their June sock club colourway.

The pattern is Anne Hanson’s Rivolo, which is a sweet, quick little knit. I’ve been knitting on it for about a day, and it’s just about halfway finished!  (I’m going to do 40 repeats, rather than the presribed 30, because I love length in scarves.)

There’s progress on Queen Silvia, and some socks, but they’ll have to wait: it’s time to make lunch.

Scarves and spinning and no club package

People started getting their May Rockin’ Sock Club packages last week, in the States, and I’ve been keeping my sock needles free in anticipation. Unfortunately for me, it still hasn’t come in today’s mail, so I get to sit on my hands until tomorrow, at least. Until then, I’m spending some time at the spinning corner:

I have almost 50g of Sweet Georgia Panda roving, colourway Sugar Shack. Here’s a gratuitous bobbin-shot:

oh yeah, baby

Last Friday, I drove up to Olds to see some family. It was a beautiful day, and I got to frolic with the alpacas on an adjacent farm. They are mostly sheared, and totally adorable. All gangly and awkward, like teenagers with big doe eyes. I kicked myself the whole day for not bringing my camera along: next time, I promise.

Meanwhile, the scarf grows and grows.

The joy of swapping

Over on the Ravelry Sundara Yarn Love community, there’s a sock/shawl swap going on. It’s really neat: people get paired off, send each other yarn, and use the sent yarn to make something for their partner. One person knits socks, and one knits something lacy. The idea behind it is that knitters seldom have other people knit for them, and some knitters are more inclined towards socks or shawls. I was paired with the very talented Jessica at Show Me Your Knits, who is making me a pair of Cookie’s Nebula socks. I’m really stoked, and will inundate the blog with pictures when they’re done.

In return, I’m knitting a Tudor Grace for her, out of a beautiful skein of Sundara Sock. The colourway is called Naval Officer, and is a beautiful denimy blue with value-based varigation. The pattern is so quick: the lace repeat is only 6 rows, and takes maybe 15 minutes to complete. I’m supposed to knit 43 repeats, but I’m sure I’ll be able to get at least 50 out of this yarn. (And long scarves, in my opinion, are an a priori good.)

Without further ado, I give you some pretty pretty pictures:

Brief sock interlude

The thing about lace stoles that I find so difficult is the repetitiveness. With triangular shawls or otherwise shaped pieces of lace, even if the stitch pattern remains the same, you still have the shaping itself to contend with. I’m primarily a process knitter and, to me, boredom is death. I can stick out some repetitive sections, but I need to have milestones in sight. And, even then, I sometimes need to knit on something else.

Maybe that’s why I end up knitting so many socks, and knitting socks so quickly: for cuff-down, it doesn’t take very long before you’re past the cuff stitches and into the leg pattern. Just as you’re starting to get bored with the leg pattern, it’s time to turn the heel. Then there’s gusset shaping to contend with, after which it’s just a hop, skip and a jump to the toe shaping and eventual grafting. Toe up socks have a similar progression, but in reverse. Everything moves quickly, with varied techniques. If lace is epic poetry, socks are like the action movies of the knitting world: fast-paced, engaging and just the thing for a brain vacation. I love knitting socks, and I don’t tend to worry about them clashing with my clothing or not being my personal style. After all, they’ll usually be hidden by pants and shoes, right?

This weekend, I’ve set down the Queen Silvia Shawl for a spell. Instead, I’ve been working on these:

Some Leyburns in STR lightweight, colourway Jewel of the Nile. (Rav project page.) I don’t tend to knit a lot of toe-up socks, but I’m doing these pretty much as-written, with short-row toes and heels. I love the way short-row heels fit me — I’m kinda lucky, that way — and the toes are comfy and free from rubbing spots. The only caution I have is that the stitches picked up from the provisional cast-on can be pretty tight and look weird, so, for my second sock, I adjusted the pattern slightly so they’d end up on the bottom.

I’m loving the shaping of these socks, and the stitch pattern is fantastic for variegated yarn:

It involves long floats, which help prevent the pooling and striping I so often get with STR. I may just end up knitting these again, which would be unprecedented.

So, until I muster the fortitude to once again stare down the stole, I’ll be knitting some cheerful socks. And, maybe, spinning a bit…

Lace Odyssey: Queen Silvia Shawl

EDITED TO BRING YOU PRETTIER PICTURES. Thanks to everyone who’s stopped by and commented: it’s really nice to be welcomed to the neighbourhood, so to speak.

I love lace. I love watching the designs emerge from YOs and decreases; I love the logic and flow of the pattern. I love the fancier manouvers: nupps and gathered stitches. I love the feeling of accomplishment you get when you pull it off the blocking needles: any lace shawl or stole is an Undertaking, and there are so many different patterns and constructions that you need never knit two similar objects, let alone the same thing twice. Lace projects make me feel cleverer than any other kind of knitting, and Estonian lace makes me feel cleverer than any other kind of lace. It is no secret, then, that I love Nancy Bush’s superlative book Knitted Lace of Estonia with an all-consuming passion.

For the past (long) while, I’ve been working on the Queen Silvia Shawl from that book. I’m using a lovely cobweb-weight merino-silk blend from Posh that I ordered last year. Here’s an older photo so you can see the pretty, pretty yarn:

And here’s another photo, more recent, that shows how the stitch pattern is beginning to emerge:

This pattern is nupp heaven. Only two right-side rows lack nupps or gathered stitches, and the delicate shapes they form put me in mind of elaborate crowns. I’m usually a fan of tighter-gauge lace — I take after Eunny, that way — but I like to knit at a looser gauge when there’re nupps involved. The textured elements, I think, show better when the matrix fabric is arier and more open.

I’m more than halfway done the centre panel, now, and can’t wait to get to the Lace Jellyfish stage. (Perhaps better known as the pick-up-all-edge-stitches-and-knit-in-the-round stage, but it looks like a jellyfish to me. Either that, or a foppish, floppy hat… Perhaps I spend a bit too much mental energy on this.)

FO the first: Kai-Mei

It’s an overcast day, raining intermittently, here in Calgary, which I think is quite strange. I’ve just moved here from Vancouver, and this weather’s more typical of there than here. I need to go jobsearching today, but first I knit a sock:

(Rav page.)

Started: April 30th, 2009

Finished: May 7th, 2009

Pattern: Kai-Mei by Cookie A.

Yarn: Posh Yarn Lei in Orange Grove

Needles: Crystal Palace 8-inch US 1 Bamboo DPNs

These socks are the prettiest, most delicate and spring-like, that I have yet produced. The bamboo and silk in the yarn gives enough stitch definition to make up for the slight variegation, and the pale oranges and greens are still vibrant enough to cheer even the dullest day.

As soon as I picked up Sock Innovation, (or, rather, stalked Three Bags Full until the shipment came in) I fell head-over-heels for this pattern. The lace panel, starting from the side of the heel flap and gracefully winding its way across the top of the foot? Stunning. The lace pattern itself, with its geometric roundness? Spectacular. The simple wide rib on the leg? Perfect.

This is not, by any means, the only spectacular pattern in the book: it actually exceeded my expectations, if such a thing is possible. My other particular favourites are Glynis, Rick and Cauchy, but, honestly, there’s not a stinker in the bunch. I’ll probably end up knitting them all, once I get some more semi-solid-ish sock yarn.

Hello, there.

I read so many knitblogs, and knit so much, that I finally decided to give in to the inevitable. Actual content to follow shortly: watch this space.