Triinu scarf

This was a quick knit. It only took me about 3 days. The nupps weren't too bad to knit once I got used to them. I did try this pattern with 100% lace alpaca yarn and that didn't go too well. This was my first time knitting nupps and the Dream in Color Baby yarn made it so easy. You can't really see the nupps in the finished scarf, even though I did do 9 stitch nupps. That doesn't matter to me. This was mainly a test run with nupps. Now, I want to do the Queen Silvia Shawl or the Crown Prince Square Shawl with finer lace yarn.

Details:
Pattern: Triinu scarf from Knitted Lace of Estonia
Yarn: Dream in Color Baby in black parade--88gms
Needle: size 3 Knit Picks Classic Circular
Notes: knit only 27 of the 29 repeats of the main chart
Blocked size: 13 inches wide and 67 inches long
Start: November 11, 2008
Finish: November 13, 2008

A large shawl will have to wait though. I have other projects that need to be done. Plus, it's that crazy/hectic/fun time of year. I need to focus on smaller projects. Up next is a stole out of Noro Kureyon sock yarn. I'm using the One Skein a-Stole pattern. I found that while searching for non-sock patterns using this yarn in ravelry. The search function in ravelry is amazing and a lot of fun to use.

Today, we woke up to a winter wonderland. What?! In November? Yes...everything was covered in snow. I think we had at least 3 inches of the stuff. I try to take a few pictures of our house throughout the year. I like seeing how the trees change around it. Everything feels closed in during the summer when the trees still have their leaves. Now, it feels much more open....and colder. ;-)


Aren't these leaves pretty? My daughter collected them in a bucket while the trees were turning. Yesterday, she dumped the bucket out and used it to collect snow. I'm glad that I didn't tell her to sweep those leaves off of the porch.

One word for you...

Facebook. Yes, I got sucked into it by friends. I didn't think that I would be into the whole "social networking" thing, but it has been a lot of fun finding and catching up with old friends. One friend, I haven't talked to her since 9th-10th grade. That's 18 years ago! Okay, I'm aging myself, but I don't care. I've also found some college classmates. I've kept in touch with them on and off through the years, but the emails kept getting more and more infrequent.

In knitting, I'm working on small projects right now. I've knit and finished 3 cashmere cowls. Two of those are dark blue and one is green. I used a different stitch pattern on the green one and it's much more open. I'm not sure if I like it. Dwight has been using his cowl on his bike rides and seems to be happy with it. If anything, I should have cast on less stitches for his.

My Slow Bee #2 stole has been set aside for the time being. I'm working on the Triinu Scarf from Knitted Lace of Estonia. I'm trying to use up leftover lace yarn. I first tried to use some alpaca cloud (100% alpaca) and it was too slippery. I was going crazy trying to do those nupps with that yarn. I ripped that out and cast-on with Dream in Color baby yarn. Ah, so much better!! The nupps are super easy to do with this yarn. The yarn is a heavier laceweight, so I made adjustments. The nupps are 9 stitches big. Sounds scary, but it isn't too bad to do them. No pictures because I'm lazy. I'm too lazy to pin out what I have so far and I don't like taking pictures shriveled, unblocked lace.

I'm still getting to know my camera. I've been out more and getting more pictures of the kids. This one is one of my favorites. I think this might be our Christmas card this year. The cowls that they're wearing were knit with sock yarn held double. I used my default garter rib stitch pattern that I like for cowls. I like that it's interesting and won't put me to sleep. It's also not likely to fold on itself.


Back to knitting on the scarf...I'll have knitting pictures next time.

And now we return to knitting...

I ventured out to photograph my Fiore di Melanzana stole somewhere besides the front porch. This is a rock that is a short walk from our house. It's a flat rock in the middle of the woods. Dwight sometimes calls it our "thinking rock." He used to go there to relax and just think. The kids like to go there and have pretend picnics since the rock makes a perfect table. It's usually hard to photograph anything near the rock because of the leaves blocking out the sun, but this time of year is really pretty there.

This stole was fun to knit. It was surprisingly quick once I dedicated all of my knitting time to it. I really like how there was no grafting. You start with a provisional cast-on in the center and knit from the center out for each side. The long side edging is knit along with the center of the stole. The edge for the short ends is knit on sideways and there are only a few 10 stitches to bind off. I love this type of stole construction. It makes for a very fussy-free knit. There was lace patterning on both sides of the stole, but it was easy to do once you saw the pattern emerging after a few rows. Again, I can't say enough good things about Anne's patterns.

Details:
Pattern: Fiore di Melanzana by Anne Hanson (knitspot)
Yarn: Knit Picks Shadow in Grape (2.75 skeins)
Needle: size 3 Knit Picks classic circular for the main section, size 2 (2.75mm) for the edging
Size: tall width and petite length-blocked to 25 inches wide and 87 inches long
Start: September 27, 2008
Finish: October 29, 2008

Cookie A said that it was okay to give out this link. That's the layout for her book!!! The book comes out in April. I'm so excited. I did a sample knit for the book and it's the one on the cover. Cookie says that the cover is being changed, but those socks should stay. Those socks were fun to knit, but I was nervous knitting it to a size slightly different than mine.

I finished E's modified monkey socks. I did knit a little on my Slow Bee #2 stole, but decided that I should start knitting some gifts. I'm using some left over cashmere and knitting cowls. Dwight could use one, but who knows if he will actually use it. If not, I'm sure someone will appreciate it. My current plan is to just keep making them until the yarn runs out. I have some leftover navy blue and a dark green. I think that I have enough yarn to make two from each color.

I just got my order from Knit Picks today. I took advantage of their book sale and bought a few books. I had to get Nancy Bush's Knitted Lace of Estonia. I flipped through it when it arrived and could see myself knitting quite a few of the projects. The shawls are so pretty, but I will definitely knit them in something besides the neutral colors shown in the book. That will have to be later after the gift knitting is done.

I also bought Not Just More Socks. I love the gloves with the beads on the wrist and the convertible mittens. I have a ton of sock yarn and it's time to make something besides socks. This book is perfect for that. I've gotten good use out of the Not Just Socks for Kids book and thought this one would be just a good.

Enough typing and time for more knitting...