Nervous Nupps ~

I have never knit nupps before - never... and I must say that I was a little nervous about all the counting and yarn overs, in one little stitch.  The nupps for the Annis shawl have this all in one stitch: (k1, yo) 3 times and then k1, so we go from one stitch to seven.... and then on the wrong side, I purl all 7 together.... and hope that I have the correct 7, and not some of the side stitches that want to get into the nupp... as the nupp is a happenin' place with all those silky stitches just hanging out, being together... I would want to be in the nupp too...

I have knit the first row with nupps and the purl row back, and I am not sure if I have knit this correctly...but it certainly looks lovely! Plus, since this yarn came from I Knit London, it seemed appropriate that I be knitting with it at least once over Jubilee weekend! Cheerio!

Yarn Tour Inspiration ~

On Saturday, the JitteryKnitter and I did our Yarn Store Tour and were very excited to visit five shops out of the twenty one that were part of the tour.  We talked to several ladies that had been to all twenty one already, and some that would finish the twenty one by Sunday. Wow, that is a lot of driving and a lot of knitting shops, and free patterns and inspiration, and visiting with many many fun ladies!  My favorite part of the Yarn Shop Tour was spending it with JitteryKnitter, as we have such fun together. We get each other excited about more projects and more yarn and more patterns and....the need for more knitting time!!!

 

The items that inspired me the most were knit out of super fine cob web lace weight...perfect to wear in the summer as they seem to be made out of cobwebs... and best of all, I knew I had a project of my own made out of the very same yarn... yarn that JitteryKnitter had bought for me on one of her trips!  Hurrah!

Library Love ~

I am blessed by being part of the best library system in the world, well perhaps in the U.S.A. but I'd bet our library would be a contender for a Class A World Rating! After waiting patiently, these two books showed up "on hold" for me just before this holiday weekend.There is so much inspiration in these two books, it could tilt the world of an unsuspecting knitter. However, being a fan of Clara Parkes from 'way back, plus following Wendy Knits for many years as well, I fully expected my world to tilt a little, once I had these books in my hands. BE WARNED, they will both pull you into the delightful vortex of patterns, techniques, yarn and the yen to cast on some lovelies....

Qiviuk and coffee ~

Working on this lovely scarf made from this cobweb of fiber is a lovely experience. I find that it is growing bit by bit with each row of teeny tiny stitches.These green Signature Needles are so great to work with, even with the green needle against the green qiviuk yarn. All lovely!

Quilt Class Qiviuk ~

While my sister was taking a quilt class from 8:30 to 3:30, I was knitting outside in the lovely Oregon sunshine. I did many rows on the amazing Qiviuk scarf, and often wonder how I can put it down to knit on something else. The yarn is lovely and soft, yet so thin I get a little nervous that it will break. I always feel so happy, and relieved, when I get to the end of the row and have the correct stitches. Not sure why such a short pattern can be confusing...lots of knit-in-the-back-loop and knit2-together-in-the-back-loop and other many-word-instructions. So far, so good, and the lace pattern looks good!! I emailed my sweet friend that gifted me with this precious yarn to thank her again!

Meliae done ~

Also accomplished during Sewing Expo weekend, Ta Da! As soon as I arrived home, I took out the blocking boards and set to work.

Yes, I finished the knitting on the Meliae, out of the gorgeous Baroness colorway by Hazel Knits. Oh-so-lovely yarn, and I loved knitting every stitch!


A little scary was nearing the end of the shawl I was running very low on yarn, and ended up with a teeny tiny ball - perhaps one yard in length...enough to make me panic about perhaps needing an intervention with Annelie at my favorite yarn store! I'm glad that I can go into the store with good news of a finished project, instead of a problem!!

Tea with The Baroness ~

The Baroness is proving to be a lovely companion. She is interesting and lovely, and is able to be a part of discussions and stories.

I can take her everywhere and my friends love her. So I've even taken her out for some tea and a bit of knitting.... lovely lady, that Baroness!

My camera still can't agree on her colors, other than they are stunning no matter what available light is used. The lace pattern on the side is so beautiful, and my 15 year old thinks it looks very complex! Perhaps she is thinking that her mum is getting to be quite a good knitter....(or, perhaps not....)

Meliae wings ~

I'm enjoying the knitting on Meliae, as I can socialize and even listen to podcasts while knitting this. While knitting the Brandywine, I wasn't able to listen to anything (except my own counting!) so it is good to catch up on my favorite podcasts!

My camera can't get a true color shot of this lovely yarn - the Baroness colorway is a stunning set of purples. I'm so excited to be finally knitting with Hazel Knits!

Cast on SweetJazz ~

Another cast on for me, and this one had also been haunting my dreams...
"Cast on 300 stitches" and it seemed to take hours to cast on, and then knit that first row...but is is going to be beautiful. Sweet Jazz shawl out of Hazelknits, Chuckanut Drive colorway....Can you sense that we were shawl knitting machines while we were at Whidbey?!!!

Cast on Meliae ~

While making progress on our knitting, and casting off some projects....there is also a fair amount of casting on...


One of my cast on excitements is the Meliae, out of The Baroness, Hazelknits. I've been dreaming of this one....

and here it is!

Brandywine done ~

I'm sure you had to read the title twice.... how could the Brandywine be done?

Such is the magic of Whidbey Island...Such is the magic of the Brandywine...it is lovely and oh-so-magical..... I love it!

Three Traveling Women ~

While we were at Whidbey, Marion finished her Traveling Woman shawl. Perfectly knit in a lovely Hazelknits "Seattle Knitters Guild" colorway.

She blocked it with her nifty wires, and this shawl is stunning! Hurrah!!!!

Qiviuk and tea ~

This scarf is so beautiful. I'm happy to be working on it again. This qiviuk yarn is so fine that I'm thinking about getting some pointier size 5 needles for it - I'll check my Bass Pro Extreme Worm Binder for some Addi Lace needles...although I'm loving these rosewood needles too, but they just aren't pointy enough for the lace... The yarn is so fine and soft, it is like knitting a cloud....

11th Chart Brandywine ~

I made great progress on the Brandywine shawl this weekend. I'm getting near the end, and still love how the tightly twisted yarn works so well with these needles.


I still have trouble concentrating on all the counting in the middle, and still can't "read" where the pattern should begin...so I have to count out all the 22 purls, 67 knits....etc...


I'm so excited to finish this one!!

9th Chart Brandywine ~

Well, we've not discussed the Brandywine in many months...October, to be exact...so you should be happy to revisit this lovely shawl with the great needles and tightly plyed yarn.

You should also be fairly shocked to see that I am knitting the Brandywine in a coffee shop! This surprised me too, but I've gained much confidence since finishing Traveling Woman, and now I don't need 100% silence for Brandywine knitting. I am making deals with myself with this knitting, perhaps a pair of those Signature Needles could be mine if I can finish this?

Blocking Traveling ~

I've never blocked lace before, and this is the first time I've used my great blocking set given to me by the Jitteryknitter. The shawl looks beautiful!


I think I need to get another set of blocking boards, as my shawl runnith over!!


I can't wait to cast on another shawl! The hard choice is, which one?

Traveling Journey ~

Once my palpitations on the Traveling Woman being ripped back had subsided, I couldn't wait to begin Chart B, Row 9 and see if I could finish.


I worked into the wee hours of the night, and I did finish....I bound off, using that great purling bind off in the pattern. Here I'm happy dancing with my new shawl!


I can't wait to block it to see how it really looks!!!

Traveling Palpitations ~

I went to my favorite LYS to see what was new, and to see if there was any yarn there to match my very old Pagewood Farms yarn in my Traveling Woman shawl. One of the amazing knitters that works there, and was also the one that weighed my yarn the week before and thought I might have enough, said I really didn't need more yarn. She took my shawl, and looked at the knitting, and looked at where I was in the pattern, noticed there were no life-lines, and looked at it from side to side....and placed a marker on one of the purl stitches two inches back from where I was.... and calmly pulled the shawl off my needles!

After I sat down and started to breathe into a paper bag...I watched as she ripped and ripped and ripped out the yarn, and didn't stop until she was one row before the row she wanted to begin at. She said she needed to get to the purl back row so she'd be able to put the needle back into the shawl. She was amazing to watch, confident and sure of what she was doing. I told her about my dear Grandma Agnes who had ripped out my first sweater front in white angora that I'd knit so large that it wouldn't have fit my dad...She had said its easier to have someone else do the ripping out of one's projects... she was correct! When Annelie was done ripping and then putting my needle back in, she said, "You're on row 9 of Chart B" and I said, "That's where I was when I came in!" and her reply, "Well, now you have enough yarn to finish this time!" Bless her!

Traveling Detour ~

OK then, it was bound to happen. Knitting along so happily with my lovely yarn and delightful pattern that is going relatively fast....plus finally knitting something for moi....(sidebar note: did you notice in my 2010 Finished Projects that only two of them were for moi????? My Sedona Scarf using lovely yarn from our vacation in Sedona, and my Harry Potter Scarf...ahem@! we are changing those statistics this year!!!) Back to the detour...oh, you thought that was the detour...sorry....... ahem....

Well, we went to our favorite LYS and weighed my lovely yarn, and I had soooooo much left.... and....well.....now I don't have enough to finish....how would it be if I just kept knitting, and ended up with the border being just half a scallop? As they say in Zen wisdom, "Half a scallop is better than an unfinished shawl" (isn't that what they say?)

Chart B Traveling ~

Jitteryknitter and I went to our favorite LYS to get some advice on my Traveling Woman. The remainder of my skein was weighed, and I had almost 2 oz left, of a 4 oz (450 yards) skein. We were told by the knitting genius that works there that I could do one more Chart A, and then advance to Chart B.

So here is the Traveling Woman and remaining yarn as I start Chart B.... please keep your fingers crossed that I will have enough yarn to finish this lovely shawl!