FOs for the FY*!

* Finished Year

It's almost the end of the year, and I have found myself wanting to wrap up a few projects. (Which is not to say that I haven't also been starting new projects, because I have, but it's been good to feel like I'm clearing out both my list of stuff OTN, and the mental space devoted to those projects.) Yesterday, after putting some solid hours of work into it, I finished up the Tibetan Clouds Stole (my Rav project here). I cast this one on at the beginning of March, so it's been a long-term project. That was mostly by design; I knew with the beads that this was not going to be portable, which always slows things down. I also had put quite a bit of effort into finding the perfect yarn in the perfect color with the perfect beads, and I was happy to take my time with this one, enjoying the process and the feel of the yarn and the fact that I never once wondered whether I'd made the right choices. However, as I approached the end, and started to see the number of pattern repeats decreasing, I began to want to be done. And then I began to badly want to be done. So it was nice to get to the end yesterday.

I soaked it and spent the better part of an hour wiring it up and pinning it out to dry. (As I did that, I thought about the fact that this is going to be one of those shawls that makes non-knitters say things like "You should sell things like this! You'd make a fortune!" and that they never never understand just how many hours go into making a shawl like this, and that no-one will pay what those hours are worth, let alone enough for me to make a fortune. I knit things like this for my own pleasure, and if I give them away, that is also for my pleasure. I wish that knitters were paid what such things are worth, but it's my impression that we, typically, are not.) And then I waited.
And waited.
And waited.
The waiting time was not wasted, of course. I put it out to block just before dinner last night (leftover duck stew and the last of the baguettes, retrieved from the freezer), and after that was done, we watched a movie while I worked on the second Silk Road sock. As of this morning, they, too, are finished.
They are even now soaking for their own blocking session. (ETA: These have blocked out even better than I thought; they may end up fitting me after all. Poor Younger Daughter...) I think I forgot to show you my absolute favorite bit of these socks: I kitchenered the toe shut in two colors so the stripes go right over the toe. I am charmed to pieces by this.
The project details for this one (on yet another Rav project page): my own pattern (which I will write up), in Spud and Chloe Fine, a silk/merino blend that I highly recommend - I loved working with this yarn, and I love that it comes in solids that are this bright and vivid. Knitted on two size 2 circular needles.

I wasn't the only one who spent yesterday playing with fiber. Older Daughter, she of the first FO, spent the day playing with dye pots. For Christmas, she received a natural dye kit (from us, but honestly, this is something she wanted!), and yesterday she dyed up her first batch (some undyed handspun that I'd been saving for just this purpose, some natural-colored wool I had in stash). The results?
Four ounces of lovely purple yarn. I wonder what she'll make with it (assuming I don't thieve it first)? I'll get the dye details from her, but I believe that lac was involved.

And then this morning, finally, the shawl was dry. And the rain had stopped (we're getting hammered with rain these days). I actually dressed up to take some outside shots of it.
The central motif makes me very happy.
It's like a mandala, isn't it?
The edges are just gorgeous, too, and I love the way that the beads run all the way up the sides, between those little eyelets (you can't see them well in that picture, but trust me, they're there).
It's long enough to wear with both edges hanging back over my shoulders.
Or hanging down. (Can you tell I'm not used to the sun after all that rain? Look at me squint!)

All in all, a successful project, I think.
Project details: Tibetan Clouds Stole by Sivia Harding. Knitted out of Sundara Yarn Fingering Silky Merino, which may be one of my very favorite yarns ever; every single stitch was a joy. The beads are dark amber silver lined glass beads. Size five needles. (In fact, finished on my brand-new Signature circular needles, which it turns out I absolutely adore - more on that later - thank you, beloved SIL!)

In case I don't manage to post before Saturday, I wish all of you a happy and peaceful New Year, filled with family and friends and health and fiber and time in which to enjoy all of them.

Veni, vidi, knitti

I either inspired or scared myself with my list the other day. The results?

Done.
Project details: Circle Socks (modified), Colinette Jitterbug, size 1 needles. For Younger Daughter, who danced around upon their receipt, singing, "I have fish on my feet! I have fish on my feet!"

Done.
Project details: Wool and Camel Down Ripple Scarf. Schaefer Nichole. Gifted to Older Daughter, who hasn't taken it off, even though it's pretty warm around here these days.

And done.
Project details forthcoming. This is a test knit of Anne's Pea Vines shawl, in the smallest size.
It has nupps, which charmed me to pieces, even though they're a bit fussy to knit.
I love this little shawl. And it was so much fun to knit! Because it's cast on at the long edge, every row gets shorter. I don't know about the rest of you, but shorter rows, coupled with charts that I get to cross off, makes for a very compelling knit.
(See the nupps there in the upper right quadrant? Aren't they fun?) And when the results are this wonderful, it's pretty hard to put down. I cast this on Thursday night. I would have finished last night, but I got tired, went too fast, and had to extricate myself from a small lace dilemma. So I finished this morning instead. It's drying now.
Modelling shots and project details to follow.

Now can I cast on something new?

Lace, and ramping up

I mentioned lace in my last post, and that's because I actually finished something, and that something is lace. A whole object (not just the first half of a pair), yay! It feels like it's been a while since I've done that; this whole summer has been about trying things out and playing a bit here and a bit there, practicing my dillentantism, but the school year approaches, and I'm finding myself slowing working my way back into a more disciplined mindset. (Slowly, I said, slowly; so don't go expecting any imminent miracles of productivity.)
This is the Pear and Trellis scarf (one of Anne's patterns). I hadn't knitted this pattern yet, and goodness knows why, because it's completely addictive, and very intuitive, and the results are lovely. It seems to work nicely with this variegated yarn (not all lace does), but I'm betting it would be equally gorgeous in a more monochromatic yarn (a silk blend, mmm...).
The ends are pretty all on their own, which is nice. And the lace pattern was intuitive enough that I had no trouble tracking what I was doing -- I knitted most of this while watching the Tour, with its many exciting moments between Schleck and Contador, not to mention the need to watch Cav come out of nowhere to take sprint finish after sprint finish. I miss the Tour already...
So, to recap, this is the Pear and Trellis scarf (Rav project page here), knitted for my friend Vivienne's birthday (she doesn't read the blog, so no spoilers here). I used Punta Yarns Merisock Handpainted yarn, on a size four needle. It knitted up quickly and blocked beautifully. I loved the yarn, and am very happy that I bought a skein (in a different colorway) for myself.

In other news, I'm ramping up for the school year, which starts for Older Daughter on Tuesday (an ungodly early date to start school, if you ask me; we're just starting to get our first beach-worthy days around here!). Although Younger Daughter and I don't go back until the end of the month, I put my syllabi together last week, just so I could see how all the dates work out, and I typed up all the end-of-chapter exercises from the new edition of one of my textbooks, so I could see how they go, and post them online for easy access. Of course, the posting part has been delayed by the fact that we are switching our online class support program again. This makes the third time since I started here. I always wonder whether our administration realizes how much time that takes; it certainly isn't something for which there's a code in our workload reporting -- just one more time sink that no-one acknowledges (like the difference between teaching the same class to 35 vs 45 students; no-one wants to admit that it takes more time to do that, even though it seems eminently obvious to me). Ah, well. I have a few more weeks to wrap my brain around that, and to build my containers before classes start.

We are also still hanging fire with regard to Older Daughter's orchestra, although it looks like the superintendent has succeeded in entirely gutting the middle school music program, as well as the majority of the high school music program. He has also cancelled the technology class (it's supposed to get folded into science; one wonders if those teachers are getting paid more for their increased workload), and he combined (get this) foreign language and PE (so students spend half of the period time during the week doing one, and the other half doing the other). He insists that it's to allow students to spend more time on the basics (because it's all about the test scores, doncha know). Furthermore, they've put Older Daughter into algebra again (the usual eighth grade math) even though she took that class last year and passed it. I've asked Rick to do battle on that one; there's only so many windmills at which I can tilt at a time. When did we become a nation with no regard for education? (Nota bene: I don't consider passing standardized tests to be "education"; I freely admit that this is a personal bias.)

I will defer the full-fledged rant for another day, I think, and go and spin some lovely BFL instead.

We're baaaackkk!!

Home at last, and home for quite a while, yay! Only two short weekend trips, in-state, before the summer is over, and lots of weeks between now and then (three, but don't burst my bubble). Although I should be honest and mention that when I say "we" are home, I mean "me and Rick"; the girls are still in Maryland with their grandparents.

Rick commented this morning that he doesn't think their rooms have ever stayed clean for this long. But it is really quiet around here. Just sayin'.

Washington, D.C. is such a fun city to spend time in. I only wish that it hadn't been 106 degrees on our first day there (not to mention 102 on our first night). We spent more time indoors than I generally like on a vacation, and the girls were heard to remark on a number of occasions (in tones of horror) that they were sweating. We pointed out that they actually sweat here, too, it just usually evaporates a little more quickly. Perhaps this picture of us waiting in line outside the Archives can convey how they felt about an east coast scorcher.
Snicker.

I suggested that they wouldn't know hot until they'd tried to sleep through a night like those in a third-story bedroom under the eaves of an old house with no air conditioning, with only one window per room (cross-breeze? we don't need no stinking cross-breeze). (Why yes, I have done that, why do you ask?) They were not amused.

We all really did have a wonderful time, though, and I'll share pictures of some of the many things we did (by my count: sculpture garden (ten minutes -- it was hot), American Indian Museum, Air and Space Museum, Textile Museum, National Archives, Spy Museum, Capitol, Library of Congress (fifteen minutes before we were driven out by a fire drill), Old Post Office, Eastern Market, Smithsonian, National Mall). In four days.

Rick and I have actually been home for a few days, but I'm in recovery. This means that I've done some knitting, and I've done some spinning. The spinning has, in my opinion, been rather more successful than the knitting, about which I need some opinions. I knitted a beaded tam for Younger Daughter, which looks absolutely lovely, but which is as limp as a wilted cabbage.
I'm going to try reblocking it on a smaller plate, with the brim pulled in tighter, but I think that this may be a bad yarn match. This is knitted out of a merino singles which was stretched during the spinning, making it silky and beautiful, but leaving it with no spring. I didn't really think about it, having never knitted with this particular yarn before, but I'm starting to wonder whether this is something that isn't going to work for a hat, and if so, whether to attempt to save it with some elastic in the brim (my best thought) or to frog it and try something else (if the singles would survive the frogging). Thoughts?

The other project I need an opinion on is the lovely bamboo lace I finished just before I left. This is Anne's pattern Les Abeilles, with some modifications at the end because I'd run out of yarn. It's the modifications that I'm not sure about. I haven't woven the ends in yet, so this could easily be frogged, and I could figure out something else to do with the yarn (or I could just throw it in the stash for a time-out). Basically, I had to bind off along the top, rather than decreasing away all the stitches. This has left it with a rather odd shape, and I can't tell whether I really like it, or really don't. This matters a bit more than usual, since I was thinking that I would give this to a friend of mine who is due at the end of the summer (people always give hand-knits to new babies; I figure mothers should get hand-knits, too, right?).
It does not in any way close. One could not tie it shut, or use a pin on it. But it does stay put, and it makes a rather nice shoulder cover, I think. I'm torn.
I would like to make it very clear that this is not a pattern issue; you should see Anne's photos of her finished shawlet. This is a problem of my own making, as I thought I'd have more yarn left after finishing my socks, but I didn't.
See? It does a reasonable job of covering the back of one's neck and shoulders. But I wouldn't want to saddle someone with something dorky.

So, opinions? Is this little thing due a visit to the frog pond? Or is it an interesting design choice? You decide...

Big yellow orb

The oddest thing happened today. The marine layer burned back, and lo and behold, there in the sky was a giant blazing orb. I was so busy trying to figure out what all those shadows were out in the yard that it took me a few minutes to realize the ramifications of orb appearance, but I got there. Yarn photos!

First, the socks I've been working on.
I've finished the first one, and promptly cast on for the second (this is my hard and fast rule for avoiding second sock syndrome). I haven't gotten too far with the second, due to a distraction of which I will soon apprise you, but I will.
I absolutely adore the fabric of these socks. The hand is drapey and heavy, in the most wonderful way. I made them on the tighter side so they wouldn't sag.
They're knitted out of South West Trading Company Bamboo yarn, using size 2.5 needles. The pattern is Lacy Cable Socks, from Veronik Avery's book Knitting 24/7, which I really quite love. I am not finding this pattern as memorizable as I might (this is not surprising, given my issues with chart memorization), but I quite like the results; I should mention that I modified the pattern (of course) to be smaller, using only three repeats instead of four.

I bought two balls of yarn to knit these socks, knowing in my heart that 250 yards of yarn really was enough for a pair of socks for my (smallish) feet, but worried nevertheless that I'd run out. When I finished the first sock, I weighed it and weighed the yarn that was left in the ball, and saw that I would, indeed, have enough (plus a titch more). So I wondered what I might do with that second ball of yarn (note that returning it to the store didn't even really cross my mind; am I the only one with this problem?). I was wondering along when Anne told me she'd just finished this beauty. (Remember how I said that she is a font of temptation? See why I said that?) The petite size takes 275 yards, each ball of this yarn is 250, and I should have some leftover from that second sock, so, throwing caution to the wind, I cast on.
I'm almost done with the lace part at the bottom. I'm hoping I'll have enough yarn; I'm pretty sure I will, but it'll be a photo finish for sure.
That middle bit just charms me to pieces (as such things often do). The best bit is that once I get done with the lace (tonight), it's on to the garter stitch section, just in time for tomorrow's long fieldwork day up in Tehachapi; with luck, I'll know before I drive home whether I've got enough yarn or not. Keep your fingers crossed for me, OK?

Knitting continues

I'm trying to alternate knitting posts with the processing-type posts (still doing a lot of processing from last week). I am actually knitting, so it seems like this just might be the place to share it, right?

In particular, I've been working on the Tibetan Clouds beaded stole, and I promised that when I got done with the middle panel and prepared to move on to the "wings", I'd show how that goes, so here it is.

The middle panel is knitted in the round, with increases at each of four corners, resulting (if all goes well) in a square. When I got done with all of the charts for that section, it looked something like this.
A giant blob. It was rather unsatisfying to try to see what was going on with it by this stage, as it looked something like a jellyfish.
(from the underside)

So the next step was to bind off the stitches along one side of the square, resulting in this (the bound-off edge is at the top there).
Then, I knit across the next side of the square, putting the stitches on an extra needle to be held in reserve, resulting in this (first bound off edge on the right, stitches held in reserve on top):
I then bound off the third side, and knitted across the fourth side, and ended up with a square, bound off on two sides (the top and bottom), and with stitches all ready to go on the other two sides (I will now knit back and forth from each of those in turn, to create the long "wings" of the stole).
I don't know if that's clarified anything, but I hope so. From now on, I'll be able to pet and admire the stole more easily as I go, as it can be spread out. This one is time-consuming, because of the beads, but the yarn is absolutely amazing to work with (I truly adore this yarn; silk and merino have to be one of the best fiber marriages in the world), and the results are making me so happy that I don't mind that it's taking a while.
(If you click to embiggen, I think you can see the beads on that one). It's just as well that I don't mind, because in the meantime, I went knitting at my LYS last week, and I appear to have started another stole. Oops.
It's actually much further along than that by now. There's a small part of me that would really like to finish it in time to wear it out to dinner for Rick's birthday on Friday night. The finishing on this one is easy; it's linen, so instead of blocking, it is, quite literally, wash and wear. This makes it marginally less impossible to finish in time than it would be if I had to finish knitting it with time to spare to soak and block it and then wait for it to dry before going out. It may still be a pipe dream, but hey, if it's not done, what's the worst that happens? I'll just have to wear Artichaut, or something, no?

In the meantime, I get to take one of my favorite young people (the daughter of a dear friend of mine) to my LYS tomorrow to teach her how to knit. I absolutely can't wait; I've been trying to arrange this for a while (such a converter, I am). So, any suggestions for a good first project for a 15-year-old? I think in the end that she might end up enjoying one of those beaded bracelets I was obsessed with some time ago, but I'm not sure that's a good first project, as it's a bit fiddly. Maybe the beaded tam, instead?
What first projects do you all use that will neither a) bore your student to tears, nor b) frustrate them to the point of giving up? Balance in all things...

Lace!

Today is all about lace. But first, thank you all so much for the feedback on the questionnaire. It's still in the last post, and I won't be putting it up until at least tomorrow, so please feel free to continue to comment. I've read everyone's suggestions, and written back to everyone for whom I have an email address. I'll be incorporating almost everything, one way or another, so thank you!

I think I mentioned that while in Scotland, I saw the potential for lace everywhere. I wish I were better at conceptualizing how to turn an image of lines and spaces into actual lace knitting, but, figuring that the only way to do it is to try, I took lots of pictures so I have some images to work from, and once things settle back down this summer, I'm hoping to have time to play. Play has been sadly lacking lately, and this seems like a good inspiration.

Lace carved in wood:
In stone:
In archways:
(That last one is the abbey on Iona.)

There was texture, too.
All kinds of shapes available for inspiration.
And, of course, there are the beautiful lace patterns available here at home.
That there is a Twinings scarf; I used three pattern repeats in the body, plus the edging.
(The pink above is much truer to the actual color.)

It's knitted out of Briar Rose yarn (Chris, it's SeaPearl, isn't it?) for Sock Summit, so if you're going to be there, you should definitely come and pet this one -- it is absolutely gorgeous, and so silky, it drapes beautifully.
I need to get a modelling shot, so you can really appreciate what a gorgeous bit of lace this is; maybe I can get Chris to model it for me at Sock Summit.

Meanwhile, other knitting continues. I got the latest of the Rockin' Sock Club shipments and cast on immediately. This is such a cheerful yarn; Tina says she was thinking of heirloom tomatoes when she dyed it up, and I can see all of the colors of my favorites in there.
Some folks also think it looks like chile peppers; I can see that, too.
This package also came with a sticker; a little swapping ensued, and I ended up with the one I liked best.
If only you knew how true this is. (We can't be the only family out there who constantly finds interesting dead things on the beach, can we? Can you say, dead octopus?)