be sorry before

Lace Mania: MOI?

OK - so I'm hooked; so that doesn't mean that every day during the beginning of the summer doldrums I should have to buy a new pattern just because this wonderful designer is having a summer sale (ends 5/30) on her downloadable patterns.

It also doesn't mean that I have to go out and find new yarn just because I have nothing better to do here in the Big Apple.  But this pattern really called to me; and, since Instant Gratification might just be my middle name, I headed down the block to Knitty City ... mirabile dictu, they were open TODAY (Memorial Day) - good girl, Pearl!

Since I needed a laceweight yarn that approximated 500m per 50g, and I had one ball of this,

which doubled (meaning I needed about 2 more balls) would give me the hopefully correct yardage for the poncho,

and of course, there were its identical twins just waiting for me...

and then, I saw some more,


which I HAD to spring for (don't ask...)




so, my question to you, is:
which one? 

I'll swatch BOTH and see which makes me happier.



ps another kittypic from the Coco archives ... she's gotten so big that I really cannot tell her apart from her aunt Kiki!

SOLUTIONS

At some point in my Sea Silk mania, I started to make the Diamond Fantasy Shawl by Sivia Harding.  Here's a little picture of the beginning:

and, as is my wont, I put it down ... must be that AKADHD that I'm inflicted with.

While I was doing some reorganizing and sorting the other day, I happened upon a pattern for the Gothic Leaf Stole, also by the multi-talented Ms. Harding!  Eureka - a real garment that I probably would actually finish, and it called for the same amount of yarn - so, I ripped the DFS, and started the GLS, and have gotten through 4 repeats out of 12 for the first half and hopefully will continue on with it - the beauty part for me, at least, is that it's a very easily memorizable lace pattern, and it stays the same, i.e., doesn't grow widthwise, just lengthwise - (maybe that's why I have trouble finishing triangular shawls?)

I'm using my new Addi Turbo Lace Knitting Needles in 4mm/US6 - why oh why won't the Skacel people make them in at least 4.5mm/US7s and 5mm/US8s?  I find that a lot of my lace knitting yarn lends itself to that particular size of needle - maybe if enough knitters who happen to like the needles ask?

Also in my reorganization fervor, I found a really cute baby picture of Coco!

Continuing in the "all things round and beautiful" category, I also rediscovered this handy little item, which I had found at Brooklyn General when they first opened a couple of years ago...

BITTERSWEET....

   On 30 May of this year, I will have been married to my darling Froggy for 30 years - yep, count 'em; on 1 June, 1999, my darling Mom (who not only taught me how to knit in 1956, but also taught me a ton about life) left this earth - she was gracious and kind enough to wait until a day or two after what was and is a true celebration of our happiness ... but from now on, I will celebrate my marriage and then have to turn around and mourn her death ...  tough noogies, we all say, but, that's life!

Happy Memorial Day to all, whether you call it that or not -

Something I've got to learn how to do ...

Coco probably knows how to do this so I'm going to have to practice, practice, practice ...

There's something about Trunk Shows ...

At our last connection, I was working feverishly on the Great Adirondack multi-yarn thing.  Here's how far it's gotten since the last post: the US 10-1/2 needles got me ... my right hand is aching and needs a break from all that exercise! It's growing like kudzu  ; for all of you southern readers, you know what I mean!

Promise I'll get back to it at some point within the next one to twelve months.
What, you might ask yourself, could that strange pink thing be that seems to be attacking part of the shawl?  why, it's Hippy the Hippo , which I just had to have after getting Fergie the Frog - one cannot own enough "stuff" keepers, especially if one's a knitter.

So - now - where was I?  oh yes! trunk shows ... you know how a garment might not look so wonderful in the flat and then when you see it in person, you fall in love with it?  Happened to me on Friday.  Knitty City is having a trunk show for garments from Lace Style and, you see that cover sweater?  IMHO, totally unappealing from the picture - but in person, WHOA-WHEE ... something that I could totally see being worn by yours truly or some relative being my daughter - but of course, they didn't have the actual yarn used, so I did a little hunting and came up with this,
which happens to be a yarn called Peruvia by Berroco, 100%  peruvian highland wool, soft like butter, and the color is a fabulous dark, rich teal with a touch of black thrown in - it was hiding in one of the bottom shelves, in a myriad choice of colors, and, mirabile dictu, the perfect yardage/gauge/weight for the Tailored Scallops sweater by Joan Allen!
It met (a) with Kiki's approval

and (b) knits up beautifully!







of course, Coco was a bit envious:

I swear, it's getting harder to tell them apart on a daily basis - Coco's growing by leaps and bounds - this is the latest space of Kiki's that she's invaded:

which, from a distance, you can see how truly elevated it is:
yup, that's the old kitchen sink, and my ceilings are 9'3" documented height - those Siberians really know how to get to the higher ground, now, don't they?

ps- stay tuned for when the Kauni Effektgarn arrives in bulk in NYC ...

SCORE!! ??

OK, admit it, how many of you have become Magpies in your knitting life?  I fell into that trap yesterday (hasn't happened to me in at least a month or maybe longer, to tell the truth) at The Point , where I dropped in to spend a knitterly hour or so before picking up my daughter for the obligatory Mother's Day weekend visit.

Aside from the fact that they have the Addi Lace Knitting Needles in stock,  they are having a big MD sale over the weekend, and I was sucked in (albeit a day early) to an obscene ginormous discount on a 6-skein grouping of Great Adirondack (again, Patti Subik, you're a terrifically bad influence) to make either a shawl or a throw, a la the Colinette groupings ... 6 skeins of a combo of
1. "unknown"
2. evening fluff
3. plush
4. chinchilla
5. 1/4 dazzle
6. surprise ( ball of which is pictured here)


which is a straight-out copy of Prism yarns' "stuff" - which is OK, but, I got sucked in - hey for that kind of discount, you can totally understand, yes??

also, WHY oh WHY do these yarns always look better in the skein??? 

must be a marketing ploy, don'tcha think?

so, here's what (so far) 5 of the 6 skeins look like in the "flesh":

On Second Thought ...

While knitting away on the Forest Canopy Shawl, I noticed that the US7s were a tad too tight (the laciness of the project, that is), so I ripped and reknit with US8s (still the nylon circs, but these are aqua as opposed to lavender:








still loving the Fleece Artist Merino Sock,








but noticed something that perturbed me a bit:

sorry for the blurriness of the photo, but I just don't have the lens for extreme closeups yet. 




There have been about 10 of these so far ... if I were using this yarn for socks, I would definitely take the skein back to the lys - but since it's for a shawl, I don't feel too compelled to do so.

HELP ME OUT HERE ...

I must have ADKHD (figure it out, it has something to do with knitting, some might call it "startitis"). 

Having fallen in love with this particular colorway of Fleece Artist Basic Merino Socks ,


I looked around and found the Forest Canopy Shawl brilliantly designed by Susan Pierce Lawrence! 

Susan's a genius - so of course I started it:

and yes, those needles are some vintage Susan Bates circlons or something to that effect - they are almost bar none the best circulars around for doing shawls - perfectly long points (with some scoopish ends), and totally no humps in the joins, since they were probably created by extrusion, i.e., no stoppage between needle and cord ... why don't they make them any more?  Dunno ...

anyway, I may actually finish this shawl - a wonderfully simple and elegant pattern (i.e. easily memorizable).

Thanks to both Susans!

COLORS MAKE ME HAPPY

Having decided on the pattern for the Great Adirondack yarn, it's beginning to take some sort of shape:
kinda like new leaves, popping out all over the place around here during the merry merry month of May.

I don't know whether to block this one or not - once I get closer to the finish, I'll think about it - since the yarn has a 25% superwash part.

More color:

just a couple more skeins of Fleece Artist Basic Merino Sock yarn - probably will become another shawl... I dunno.