Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Holidays

Okay, I know I said I wouldn´t be online at all this week, but it´s just SO HOT here that I had to take refuge in a nearby internet cafe. And of course, I knew you´d all be very worried and stuff, hoping that I was okay. I know. I understand.

Well anyway, apart from being in imminent danger of completely melting away (did I mention just how ridiculously HOT it is here?), me and my Botany Lace are doing okay...


This knitting-in-the-sun thing is thirsty work, I'm telling ya...

:o)



Friday, May 18, 2012

Icarus

So we've all hit that point where we get complacent  in our knitting, right? We think 'yeah, I know how to do that, I'll just wing it from here, who needs a pattern?'. Right?

C'mon, I KNOW it's not just me!

Anyway. I had a fantabulous skein of Malabrigo Sock...


...that I was going to turn into an Ashton shawlette. But after a lot of build-up and excitement (saving it as a 'special reward' knit - why do I do this to myself?), it just wasn't working, the colours were almost too variegated for the pattern. So I frogged it. :o(

I decided that a nice stockinette shawlette with a pretty edging was the way to go. I've done a few of them, but didn't want to do another Holden just yet, so thought I'd improvise. How hard could it be? Pick a nice edging off one of the shawls I've knitted, work stockinette til I'd the right multiple of stitches, then knit on. Right?

Well, urm...


...maybe not! Crash. And. BURN!

Stuff I learned from this...

(a) tempting Fate by using phrases like 'winging it' and 'ethereal' is not a good move. Fate is sometimes paying attention.
(b) not enough stockinette
(c) too much edging
(d) yarn is not quite as variegated as I thought, so maybe my original pattern choice was correct.

The edging is a modified version of Ethereal, a beautifully spectacular yet simply intuitive pattern. Pretty, yes. But too much here, I think.

However, I haven't frogged it. Yet. Cuz I has options. So what do I do now?

(a) redo above. More stockinette, less edging
(b) stick with original pattern choice. Knit Ashton.

Help? Please? Seriously need help on this one, as I'm beyond the point of making a decision for myself!

In other news...

1. I'll be AWOL for the coming week and not back at a computer til next weekend, so there will be no blogging or tweeting in the interim. My Botany Lace has been very good to me, so I'm bringing it on holidays! Yay!

2. Birthday greetings to two of my favouritest peeps, T.Bunny and Whirl123. Sorry I'm missing the shenanigans, but, y'know, holidays and crap. :o(

3. For those who are curious, no, neither myself nor Rubysasha are actually insane, we're just highly imaginative creative types! Following a clip on the Ellen show, we got to wondering how a nice alpaca hat could be made so sparkly, and decided it had to be because the alpaca had been cross-bred with a unicorn. Hence 'unipaca'. 'Alpacorn' sounds like something you eat, and while 'unipaca' evokes thoughts of 'unabomber' in this particular knitter's brain, it's probably because I spend far too long in front of the Crime & Investigation channel while knitting!

Anyway... this fibre has all kinds of amazing powers (waterproof, adapts to size, autocorrects lace knitting errors). Neither of us can spin, but to be honest, we have other hurdles to cross first. Though we have, at least, secured my brother's services as a unipaca herder. Baby steps, people, baby steps. Magical fibre someday. Maybe. Here's hoping!

So on that magical note, I shall bid you all adieu for the moment. Hopefully by the time I next talk to you, I'll have another Botany Lace FO. And maybe a touch of a suntan (though probably not. I'm a Factor 50 girl, all the way. I'll definitely have more freckles, though!).

Toodles!


Friday, May 11, 2012

The monotony of persistence

First things first. Some FOs I've been promising for a while...

First up is my Summer Flies, made out of Kidsilk Haze Stripe. Wasn't sure how the striping would work out, but the stripes fell very nicely on the pattern I think...


Pretty, no?  This one was finished a while ago (beginning of last month), and was a bit of a soul-destroyer, but I can tell you more about that another day. Tired now, and buckets to do yet, and seriously, where the hell did this day go?!?

Anyway, second was that fabulous Baby Silkpaca Lace I acquired a couple of weeks ago. I decided to try to break the obviously very clearly established pattern by knitting with it almost immediately. Into a Swallowtail. Yes, I know that's my sixth one. But I'll be honest, I loved this yarn, wanted it to be pretty, did NOT want to be chancing it on a pattern I wasn't familiar with and dreading the possibility of running out of yarn.

So it became this...



Please note that even though the sun was shining in, my faulty (really old) camera will not let me decide for myself whether or not I want the flash to, y'know, FLASH all over everything. The colours aren't as flat in real life, and the little beads are WAY more twinkly, don't look as dead or harsh against the yarn as they do here. Honest!


It's really pretty, if a little smaller than I was expecting. I've worked this pattern A LOT, but it's never come out this small. I know the silk in it is going to limit the stretch, and I'm fine with that, as it also makes it look pretty, and easier to put the beads on! It's a plenty-big shawlette, and I love it.

The only problem? Leftovers. I hates leftovers, and I have a LOT of them here (more than 10g, i.e. more than 20% of my total yarn). I'm guessing I may even have had enough for another bunch of budding lace rows to lengthen the thing. Ah well, I'll know next time! Question now, of course, is what to do with 10-15g of exquisite laceweight? Huh? Huh?

So after all that finishing of WIPs, I thought I'd try to be a good girl this week (well, as good as this girl can be. Turns out I have my limits) and work on a couple of things...

(a) I would NOT buy any more new stash this week at least (that decision was completely taken out of my hands by the fact that I do not have disposable income at the mo. A good thing, as I tend to spend it on yarn).

(Seriously though, when you find yourself stopping in the middle of your big grocery shop thinking 'but if I just skipped dinner on Thursday and Friday, I could buy a skein or two of such-and-such. Rice Krispies are okay for dinner, right?' you need to make your way very quickly to the nearest checkout, get your precious food out of there and home, and then and only then are you to permit yourself to even THINK about knitting again!

Close one. Skipping meals, in general, is never a good idea. When you throw in that this knitter is also an insulin-dependent diabetic, and that skipping afore-mentioned meal could leave her, quite literally, dead, then you can see it is NEVER a good idea to trade yarn for essentials. Well, other essentials).

(And yet, even with that crystal-clear, simple, life-or-death choice ahead of me, I still found myself thinking about the yarn. Really not sure that this is a positive development in my character).

Anyhoo...  

(b) knit like crazy to clear some of my current WIPs, so as I can start on the other projects in my queue.

(See above (i.e. Malabrigo Swallowtail). Also the third installment of my Botany Lace obsession is blocking as we speak, so that's done too).

This whole ''2012 is my year of the Stashdown AND the WIPdown'' thing isn't going at all according to plan. I will do a proper 'review' of the carnage to date in June, as it's the mid-way point, and as good a point as any to draw attention to my absolute lack of forward motion (while also, hopefully, theoretically, giving me the kick up the backside required to take control of things once again).

Ya see, it had all started out with my lining up the yarns I had. I then matched them to projects that were on my queue, then arranged my queue accordingly. Good basis, right? A project for everything, every project in its place?

Unfortunately, that 'pattern' tab on Ravelry is like my own personal rabbit-hole. Once I dive down there, I may not be seen for days. Of course, new patterns are going to be added to the queue. New patterns are being added to Ravelry all the time. I have even gone so far as to commit myself to some of them by actually printing them out. And making sure I've the needles.

Not all of these patterns have matching yarns in my stash. Which sometimes results in yarn being 'diverted' from a different project (Ooh, and leaving a poor, abandoned pattern, needing a yarn... well, I may just HAVE to go buy some so!).

Yeah, the plan is getting its arse kicked. I could be wrong (but in this case I doubt it), but I think my original plan was FAR too overreaching. So should I panic? I think not. And why, you may ask, with your plans in tatters, knitting all around you, do you not feel a total failure?

I'll be honest, I really really don't. I have a LOT of knitting here, and I'm getting to it. Honest. In my own way, in my own time. My plan was stupid, because it did not factor in that the person who'd be doing the knitting was me, and apparently I don't know me very well! We shall reassess next month, and give a more formal overview of progress, but I'm good.

No such thing as failure here. Why?  

Because knitting is a hobby!! It's SUPPOSED to be FUN and ENJOYABLE!!

The second it stops being any of these things for you, STOP. We've enough sources of pressure coming at us from all other areas in life, so why the hell would we be pressuring ourselves with our hobbies?

Go enjoy your knitting, people!

So if you'll excuse me, I've about four projects I'd like to go cast on for right now...

(and no, I'm not kidding. You know me better than that!)


Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Current knitting obsession

Yeah, I've kinda just realised how long it's been since my last post. Not strictly that long ago from a time point of view, but in terms of what I've covered, there's a bit to catch up on.

Today, however, I'd mostly just like to drooool about Botany Lace. I may have been smacking people over the head with this (metaphorically, not literally. I wouldn't do that to the yarn) on Twitter and Ravelry, and maybe even Facebook, but I've neglected my readers here and only realised that today. And I feel really really bad about it. No honestly, I do. Really!

(Aw c'mon. I've been working really hard on that 'sincerity' thing. You can still tell when I'm faking it?)

Anyhoo. Botany Lace. If you haven't knit with it, you really should. Now. Life's too short.

Acquired kinda by accident (translation: impulse buy stemming from 'ooh, pretty colours!' outburst in LYS. Yes, I am that easy).

My first colourway, the one that started it all, was bought entirely because of its pretty pretty colourway. The yarn felt nice and all, but I was mostly buying it for the colours. They're my kind of colours...


And I knew exactly what it wanted to be (which normally doesn't happen until well after I've brought the impulse purchase home. And therefore it doesn't count as an increase in stash, as it was bought for a planned project. Shut up. My blog, my rules).

So as anyone who has met me may well know at this point, I tend to, urm, kinda, like, repeat my shawl patterns. A lot. I find one I like and I knit the crap out of it. I knit more than one. Sometimes way more than one. Examples would include Heartland Lace (3 times), and Holden (5 times). Oh yeah, and Swallowtail (also 5 times, though I've just cast on a sixth).

And then there's this one. Luna Moth (6 times. This would be my seventh. I know, I know, I need to diversify!). The colours of this skein just screamed Luna Moth at me. Well, they did for a while. Quite a few days, actually. Then they started whispering something about another pattern that would also look fab in this yarn, possibly (probably) even better than it had looked when I worked it the first time in, urm, a different yarn (which I also love. Though maybe not quite as obsessively). Fabulous and all as it had looked , this could be even nicer. More to my taste. Oh, that, and my five-year-old niece had procured it on her last visit (because it made her feel all swishy like a princess - how do you say no to that?) so I didn't even have it any more. Obviously, I would HAVE to knit a new one. And maybe even with this yarn.

But what about the Luna Moth I felt it was destined to be? Well, as chance would have it, I happened to be back in the exact same LYS shortly thereafter. (Yeah. It was entirely by chance. I dare you to prove otherwise). And lo, another exquisite colourway, calling my name, and begging to be transformed into a Prairie Rose (note that I had only knitted the one at this stage. And that it had been abducted. So I absolutely needed to make a new one).

So I bought that one...


...and promptly (very promptly, actually) turned it in to this..


Pretty, huh? Exactly what this yarn was supposed to be! Except that now I had a bigger problem. Having actually finally knit with the stuff, and then gone through the spectacular blocking process (it expands like you wouldn't believe. Seriously, it's like four or five times its original size. Hanky to blanky in twenty easy minutes), I was completely in love with a hell of a lot more than the colourways. This yarn is perfection.

(Yes, it turns out that I am that shallow. Pretty pretty pretty is enough to get my attention. However, I think it says something for my character that it's only when I get to know a yarn really really well that it turns into full-on obsession. Aherm).

So anyway, I had been perusing patterns (as one does), and had found a nice one that I thought would also look particularly good with this yarn. So as the first skein was pre-destined for another project, I needed to get me another. So back to LYS. Except when I got there, I couldn't decide. I wanted the pretty bright colours, but I knew deep down they'd look like crap on me. But I went to the till with it anyway. Then changed my mind and ran back to get the more suitable colour. Then dithered, and lurched from yarn-to-till-to-yarn (while melting head of staff - sorry Jacqui) for some time, before eventually going for the sensible (though obviously still beautiful) colourway...


...soooo pretty! Except now the colours had me thinking of other projects again... Heartland Lace, anyone? And I absolutely could not get the exquisite colours of the pretty pretty bright one out of my head. So what if the colours weren't flattering? It would still be fun to knit, right? And how often was I going to have it, like, wrapped around my face? It wasn't like I was thinking of a cowl or anything (okay, I kinda was, but I changed my mind. Fickle like that. You may have noticed).

So you all know where this is going. One week later...



They are pretty colours, aren't they?

(Yes Jacqui, you were right, you agreed with me, they're absolutely not the right colours for me, they will not do anything for me, the blue-grey will indeed be way more flattering. But this was an entirely selfless act, I have no problem sacrificing personal vanity for the sake of the pattern (anyone who has seen me in a home-made hat can attest to that). This colour is good for the pattern. It is in the best interests of the pattern. And from an entirely business point of view, I bought both skeins, so what harm?). ;o)

It was a wonderful moment, as I was so sure that the pretty colours would have found a new home by now, but no. They were waiting for me. The little brother who'd had his ass dragged into the shop with me did not seem to share my enthusiasm, but I was undeterred. We showed my new yarn a good time...


...though he was reluctant to let me pose it with his Guinness. Apparently he knew some of the people who were cracking up laughing at me and wondering what the hell I was doing. I have to share a house with this guy, so decided not to push it.

Oh, and that exact same night? I blocked this...


Destiny. It's perfection. Where a project turns out exactly as you want it to. Which almost never happens.

(Also, the first ever shawl I made where I didn't make a mistake that was only discovered either several rows later or after bind-off. Not a one. Or at least I haven't found it yet if I did).

But now I'm back at square one. All skeins have a plan. I have knit the Prairie Rose pattern twice. However,  I still don't have one in my possession, as I happened to have it with me when I acquired the pretty brightly coloured skein. It was unceremoniously ripped from my grasp (by a staff-member who shall remain nameless. You know who you are. Happy birthday tomorrow, by the way!) to be installed on a shop mannequin.

So I have no Prairie Rose. What to do, what to do...

I think we all know where this is heading...