BOO!

Happy Halloween!

Secret shawl progress and FO pictures

On the left is what the Secret of Chrysopolis looks like after 5 clues. It's now around 51 inches long with 3 more clues to go. It looks like this stole will be symmetrical. I like how the center medallion turned out. Dwight thought it looked like a monkey's face after clue 4.

On the right is what the Secret of the Stole looks like after 4 clues. Clue 4 is where we got to make some decisions about length. I decided to just do mine as the pattern/chart is written and not make any changes. After this clue, it measures around 40 inches long.

I can't wait until Friday. Maybe I should knit each clue slower and make them last the whole week. No, I don't think I can do that. Whenever I start a new clue, I get really focused on it. I usually don't like having two lace projects on the needles at the same time, so that might be a reason for wanting to finish each clue as fast as possible.

I have finished a few things on the side. I've made two more pair of socks for E. These were made out of Vesper in Strange Little Mama and Yarn Pirate in Primrose. The primrose socks were knit in the Baby Fern pattern from More Sensational Knitted Socks.

I've also done a bit of sewing too. My poor sewing machine has been very neglected this summer. I did give it a good dusting and oiling before sewing. It still gave me fits while trying to sew through three layers of vinyl. This bag is from the Vogue 8098 pattern. I picked it because it looks roomy enough for my regular stuff, my camera, and my knitting. I picked vinyl because I wanted a sturdy bag. I've tried using upholstery fabric with heavy interfacing, but those were still too flimsy for my tastes. This bag turned out to be very close to what I want. It's final dimensions are 12 inches wide x 9 inches tall (on the side sections) x 6 inches wide.

I did make some changes to the pattern. I added the rectangular metal rings to the handles. This is so the handles will fold over to the sides when I want them out of the way for knitting. I added an interior zippered pocket to the main section of the bag. I also added magnetic snaps to the two large side sections.

If I decide to make this bag again, I would make even more changes. I would also add some plain patch type pockets to the main center section of the bag. That part is so cavernous that my keys and wallet get lost in there. I would also only use the lining fabric for the lining of the side sections. See how there is vinyl on the inside too? Well that was a pain and I don't think it's necessary. The pocket seems too thick and bulky.

Up next, I'm working on another pair of leg warmers for E. She's been constantly wearing the other ones and they need to be washed. ;-)

When a fairy chases a pirate...

The pirate may look happy, but he isn't very happy when caught. Maybe it's because pirates shouldn't be caught by fairies? Maybe it's because he wasn't happy getting hit by the magic wand? Maybe it was because he's barefoot and stepped on many acorns while running? What did this pirate do? He dropped his leather belt and sword (maybe they were slowing him down) and kept running.

This year D wanted to be a pirate again. I was very cool with that idea because I loved his costume last year. He makes for a very cute pirate and loves to go around saying "arrrrrrr matey." I did add the foam sword and the leather belt across his chest. Everything else is the same as last year. There are "boots" that go over his shoes, but he didn't want to wear those for the pictures.

The hat is actually from a pattern for toddler hats. I used the basic hat pattern, but made the brim a lot larger. Then I tacked it up in three spots. The shirt, vest, and pants are from various sewing patterns. I bought them on sale for .99 and picked the pieces that I thought went together. The "hair" is just a piece of fabric with yarn sewed to the inside. Two strands of the hair have beads on them, very similar to the movie pirate.

E wanted to be a princess. Then she wanted to be a good witch. Whatever it was, she wanted to it to be pretty and in a girly color. I suggested a fairy since she's been into the Barbie movies lately. She has been a fairy before, but I was unhappy with the way the wings turned out that year. This year, I wanted to see if I could make better wings. So, we started with the wings and went from there.

For the wings, I used various tutorials over on craftster. I decided not to sew a dress. Instead, I went with a skirt that you can see with the Monica pattern at Knitty. The instructions for the very easy skirt are at the Barefoot Knits. The top was store bought and then I added some stones to it to match the wings. The crown was recycled from another old costume. It's actually a plain comb-like headband that you can find in the crafts section. On the headband section, I tied on some tulle that was cut from the ends of the skirt. To the comb section, I weaved in some beaded wire and formed the crown.

The lighting in these pictures changes so much. These were all taken on the same day and all around the same time.

In knitting news, I'm working away at clue 5 on the Secret of Chrysopolis shawl. I have 12 rows left of that clue. I'll work on the Secret of the Stole next. I have been sewing too! My poor sewing machine has been neglected this year. I made myself a new bag. I like it, but it's a bit bulky. I'm thinking of making it again, but using different fabrics.

Lazy blogger checking in...

I haven't felt like blogging or commenting lately. It must be the cloudy weather. I'm so thankful for all of the much needed rain that we've gotten the last few days, but it seems to affect my mood. I also wanted to wait until I had more sock pictures, but I haven't taken them yet because of the clouds. I finished two more pairs of socks for E. I need to work on a few for D now, but boy colors just aren't as fun to knit.

This is Secret of the Stole after 3 clues. I still like it and it's still fun. I do wish that there were more beads in it, but maybe I can just do another beaded project. The stole measures around 20 inches wide and 31 inches long to the points.

Secret lace knits seems to be the in thing right now. I'm working on the Secret of Chrysopolis and the Secret of the Stole. I also joined the Mystic Waters Lace Shawl and the Spring Surprice stole. The last one doesn't start until January 1st. That one looks very promising from the swatches posted on Lul's blog and the description says that it will be a "challenging" knit. I'm definitely up for the challenge. There will be another one by the designer of the Secret of Chrysopolis. There's a group for it on Ravelry already. That one won't start for a long time, but I'm in the group to keep an eye on it. (Or I would forget.)

I haven't started the Mystic Waters Shawl yet. It's recommended to pick a "watery" type color. I don't have any. I do have enough of black merino yarn or pink zephyr yarn. I'm thinking about going against the grain on this shawl and just picking whatever color I want. Both of my size 3 needles are occupied with the other stoles and that's the size that I usually use with laceweight yarn. The final measurements were posted today and it will be 50 inches long to the point and 98 inches across the top. That sounds huge! I may be able to use the merino wool as it is a pretty fine laceweight yarn and size 2 needles. I'll have to see how it looks.

Time....where can I get more...

It's not as if I don't have enough things to knit around here. I also want to do the Inky Dinky Spider Stole and the Paisley Stole from Fiddlesticks. There are also the countless free patterns from Magknits and Knitty. Then there's the beaded stole in the Holiday issue of Vogue Knitting. And then there are the books and books and books of patterns. Ack!

I have put the knitting away for a while, except for the mystery stoles. I've pulled out the sewing machine and the patterns. Right now, I'm still in the digging phase and trying to sort out what pattern I want to sew and with what fabric. The possibilities so far are a dress for E, pjs for D, a new camera bag/purse for me, more tulle skirts (no sewing for those), and possibly a stuffed animal or doll with it's own little wardrobe.

Ah, decisions....

Chrysopolis clue #4 complete!

Phew, that was fast! When I printed the chart for this clue, I had to start knitting right away. It was such a big change from what the pattern has been so far. I love the way it looks. It was so fun to knit. The pattern comes written out along with the charts. That helped me know how many stitches to knit in the large stockinette sections. It saved me from having to count all of those tiny squares.

I still really like this yarn, but I've ran into knots in the balls. There were two knots in the first ball and there has already been one knot in the second. What a pain, especially since this is a superwash yarn. I'll have a lot more ends to weave in and hide than I would normally have.

In other knitting news, this is another sock made from leftovers. These are for D and he took off with them as soon as he put them on. I take that as a very good sign that he likes them. They're made out of leftover Fiesta Boomerang in Sedona. I used size 1 needles for a very dense sock. They're meant to be house socks for D because I think they will be too thick for any of his shoes. I started and finished those on Wednesday.

I've also started another pair of leftover Vesper socks for E. These are in the Strange Little Mama color. I've gone past the heel and just need to finish off the cuff. I plan on knitting until the yarn runs out.

I also need to work on the next clue for Secret of the Stole. This clue has more patterning and less plain stockinette sections. It looks like another fun knit.

Fall is finally here. We did get a little bit of rain too. Not very much, but enough to ease my fears of forest fires a tiny bit. This is what I see when I go check the mail. Right now is one time of year where I actually enjoy walking down that steep hill. Walking back up is amazing if you go when the sun is starting to go down. The sun manages to poke through the trees from the sides and just lights up all of those great colors.

Finished socks and Chrysopolis clue #3

Here are the two socks that I finished for E recently. They're both made out of leftover Vesper sock yarn from socks that I made for me. The pair to the left is the Aqua Melon color and I used around 35 gms of yarn. These are shorter because there was an uneven number of color repeats left in this ball.
Details:
Yarn: Vesper Aqua Melon (used all of my leftovers for E's pair)
Needle: size 0 (2mm) Addi Turbo
Method: magic loop, two at once, toe-up with Turkish cast-on, short row heel
Pattern: 3x1 rib with 1x1 cuff
Start: October 6, 2007
Finish: October 7, 2007

Here is the second pair that was just finished today. E likes these better because they're taller. Now she wants knee highs. I'll make her some...eventually. There was an even number of repeats left of this yarn, so I really tried to use up all of it. How much yarn was left? Only around 2 yards. Heh, I'm pretty happy with that.
Details same as above:
Yarn: Vesper Venus in Furs (40gms of leftovers for E's pair)
Start: October 8, 2007
Finish: October 16, 2007

Wow, I'm always in awe when I pin out a work in progress shawl. With Chrysopolis and Secret of the Stole, I'm having a lot of fun. This is what Chrysopolis looks like after three clues. I've used around 60 gms of yarn and the stole measures around 30 inches wide and 32 inches long.

Between now and Friday morning I'm lace free, I've casted on another sock. This one is for D and is out of leftover Fiesta Boomerang in Sedona.

Vacation and Secret of the Stole progress

Isn't that pretty? I was lucky to get that shot on the morning that we were leaving for home. We slept in and missed the sunrise on all of the other days.

We decided to catch one last bit of warmth and picked a great week to do it. It was so warm on the beach and it really did feel like summer. We didn't do much besides play on the beach or in the pools. Well, we did go out to eat at a lot of yummy restaurants. E loves the beach and water. It was so hard to get a good picture of her because she was constantly in motion. She ran all over, dug in the sand, got buckets of water, collected shells, etc. It took a bit for D to get warmed up to the idea of all that water. At first, he was very content to just play in the sand. By the end of the first day, he was running everywhere with E.

I took a lot of knitting with me, but only finished one pair of socks for E. And that was done mostly on the car ride down there. It was nice to just relax. In the evenings, I just zoned out and watched tv. I really wanted to knit some lace, but didn't bring any along. When I got home, one of the first things I did was to get the next clues for the Secret of the Stole and the Secret of Chrysopolis. I worked one the Secret of the Stole first and finished clue #2.

It is a fast knit, but does require a lot of counting for those long stretches of knit stitches. You can see that it measures around 19.5 inches wide across the top. From the point to the needle cable, it measures around 21 inches long. I don't have a clue as to what the theme is, but the hints are interesting. It's fun reading what everyone else is guessing. It doesn't really go with the hints so far, but those things above the three vertical lines look like spiders to me. Hey, they have 8 legs. ;-)

I'm currently working on clue #3 for the Secret of Chrysopolis. I really like how these two stoles are so different in looks and design.

While on vacation, I picked up the Vogue Knitting's holiday issue. I love the stole in it. Yes, I know that I don't need another stole, but this one has beads in it too. I really like the beaded edges on the short ends. That one is definitely going on my must-knit list. I probably have enough yarn and beads around here to knit it too.

Coming home brought us back to reality. We really need water--again. It's been so dry this summer. The azaleas and rhododendrons look so sad and curled up. Even the dogwoods and smaller trees look wilted. We're trying to use as little water as possible. For now, we're still running off of our cistern. When that gets too low, we switch the whole house over to the wells. Our wells are usually reliable, but I almost ran one dry washing two loads of laundry in one day earlier this summer. For next summer, I want to have some kind of system that will use the grey water from our kitchen sink and our showers to water our plants and garden. We've tried washing dishes in a huge bowl/bucket and then dumping that water on a plant outside. It works, but it's a pain to do. We have all winter to brainstorm ideas.

A lot of shawl progress

This is my progress on Secret of Chrysopolis after two clues. This stole is going to be huge. So far, I've used 40 gms of lace weight yarn. The stole itself can stretch to around 30 inches wide and a little over 20 inches long so far. It can be stretched further, but I didn't want to take it off of the 32 inch circulars. Yeah, I'm lazy.

The yarn that I'm using came from China. Dwight has brought it back from a business trips twice now. It says Hengyuanxiang on it and it comes in 62.5 gm center pull balls. Other than that, there isn't a lot of information on it's label. Looking at it, it looks a lot like Lacey Lamb. I have six balls of this yarn, so I'm pretty sure that I'll have enough. I love this yarn. It's very soft, has a nice tight twist, and is very springy. I've used it on the Knitted Veil and Icarus.

I'm enjoying this shawl so far. I wasn't too sure about the heart, but it's small and cute. I really like how the center portion shrinks and grows and twists. I can't wait to see what's inside the center in the next clue.

This is the Secret of the Stole after finishing the first hint. Yes, I'm doing two mystery knits right now. It's a bit crazy that both clues/hints come out on Fridays, but it's a lot of fun. This one had a different start and I like it. I did knit them both at the same time. It was similar to knitting two socks at the same time on one circular.

I'm using the same kind of yarn as the other stole, but in a different color. I only have 4 balls of this color. This one is much narrower than Chrysopolis and 4 should be enough. This shawl also uses beads. I had a lot of fun beading the Seaweed Stole, so I definitely wanted to use beads on this one. I picked out a bead called rainbow transparent rootbeer. They look brown in the picture, but have an iridescent sheen. They really sparkle and shine, but the camera didn't want to catch that. Maybe it would be better if I didn't use the flash? I'll try that next time.

Both of those are done for this week, I'll have to wait until next Friday for the next clues. In the meantime, there are still socks around here...

Aren't they cute? I made a pair for D out of the leftover Lovesticks Trick or Treat yarn from my socks. There was plenty of yarn and I still have a little bit of leftovers--probably enough for baby socks or a cool headband for E. I'll keep knitting little socks until I get the next clues. These socks are perfect since they only take around a day to make. E and D love them too. That's a huge bonus for me.

Dancer's wrap complete, now it's shawl time

Doesn't she look thrilled? ;-) It was rather warm outside and I don't think the wool sweater was comfortable. E does like it and wants to wear it. She just needs to wait for actual fall weather to get here. I made the matching legwarmers that are also in the book Not Just For Socks for Kids. E likes them, but insists on pulling them up over her knees. I can see knee high socks in her future, if I only have the patience to knit socks that long. The Dancer's Wrap pattern was easy and a very quick knit. The yarn was scratchy, but does feel better after a Eucalan bath. E doesn't seem to think it's scratchy and she's been wearing the leg warmers before they got their bath.

Pardon the clashing colors. We just wanted to get pictures and didn't feel like dressing for a full on photo shoot. :-P At least we can see the leg warmers and sweater together. I'm thinking that leg warmers are the way to go for E. They will probably last far longer than socks would. If she had socks on in the picture, you would barely even tell that the leg warmers are separate. They're quite snug, since they're basically 2x2 ribbing in a tube with no shaping.

The sweater was made in the 6-8 size. E is around a 6 in store bought clothing, but I wanted the sweater to last this winter and next. She has the sleeves rolled up twice in these pictures.

Details:
Pattern: Dancer's Wrap
Size: 6-8
Needles: size 3 (3.25mm) Knit Picks Classic Circular for main portion, size 2 (2.75mm) Knit Picks Classic Circular for collar ribbing
Yarn: Lana Grossa Meilenweit Multiringel 5030 (2.1 balls of yarn)
Start: September 22, 2007
Finish: September 29, 2007

Pattern: Leg Warmers
size: big kid (that's what it says in the book)
Needles: size 2 (2.75mm) Knit Picks Classic Circular
Yarn: Lana Grossa Meilenweit Multiringel 5030 (maybe half of one ball)
Start: September 29, 2007
Finish: October 2, 2007

Now it is shawl time! I've been itching to knit some sort of lace all summer. The picture above is the first clue of the Secret of Chrysopolis. It's a mystery knit and mystery knit and most of the participants speak German. It is awkward being in a group that doesn't speak much English, but it is nice to see the world from the other side. I've lived in Germany before, so I know what it's like to be in a place where everyone doesn't speak my language. For this shawl, I just skim the postings and try to pick out a few words here and there. And if there are numbers, I try to decipher that post. So far, so good. The shawl is in charts and it looks like a beautiful design so far. The next clue just came out today. I've already printed it out and taped it together. Now, I just need to find time...

But there is also the Secret of the Stole. It's another mystery knit along. The first clue just came out today too. That one is also printed and taped together waiting for some free time. This one has a few beads in it and I always find those fun.

I'm still knitting socks.....Yes, it's true. You would think that I would be sick of socks by now, but I need to have a plain knitting project to work on during E's lessons. I've been working on little socks for D out of leftover yarns. He's thrilled. It's so cute seeing how much he likes the hand knit socks. They are so fast to knit and don't even take 50 gms of yarn.

Now, I get to knit a few minutes before we start the lessons of the day.

Starflower chart

Things are busy around here. I'm trying to finish up a few things all at once. The Dancer's Wrap sweater is finished, but still needs to be washed and blocked. I finished a pair of little socks for D in his favorite color-orange. But E's Halloween costume has taken up the most of my time. She's going to be a fairy. The wings are painted and finished drying. Now it's time to work on her outfit. I'm not sewing a dress, but I'm throwing a few fairy looking things together.

Enough of that, lets get to the chart. I wasn't sure how to write out a sock pattern. I'm pretty set in my ways about socks and I'm sure other toes or heels would work with this pattern. Keep in mind that this stitch pattern pulls in. I normally knit my socks 68 stitches around in plain stockinette, but I used 72 stitches around for this socks.

Yarn: any fingering weight-the yarn used here is Yarntini's Fig and Plum
Needles: size 0 (2mm)
Gauge: 8.5 stitches an inch

I use a Turkish cast-on (another good tutorial) with 12 wraps around the needles. I increase 4 stitches on every row until there are 40 total stitches. After that, I increase 4 stitches every other row until there are 72 total stitches. Knit two stitches, knit 4 repeats of the chart, knit two stitches, and then knit across the bottom of the sock.

*Edited to add: For the 2nd symbol, you hold the cable needle to the front.

Knit that section until the sock is around 1.5 inches shorter than your total foot length. Knit a short row heel. I don't exactly use this method, but this tutorial is excellent.

Then move two stitches from either side of the instep to the back of the sock. I use safety pins to hold them while transferring. Then you can knit the stitch pattern 4 times across the front of the sock and 5 times across the back. Continue until the sock height is to your liking. Then knit in 1x1 ribbing for at least one inch. Cast-off very loosely and weave in the ends.

Notes:

For a smaller sock, you can increase until you have 64 total stitches. Then you can knit 4 repeats on the instep and 4 repeats on the back without having to move stitches around.

I cabled without a cable needle, but it's much easier to write out directions with the cable needle.