lace

Lesson learned: scarves need to be stored rolled, not folded.

This is the Double-bordered scarf with diamond borders from Victorian Lace Today, a scarf that I think looks much better at a closer gauge than pictured in the book. I made this out of the two skeins I rescued from the first project I posted to this blog. The pattern is a little strange (at some points you are reading the chart both backwards and forwards at the same time), but it makes perfect sense after you finish the first few repeats. I finished this months ago, hence the creasing problem. Seriously, roll your blocked scarves.

A few pages away in Victorian Lace Today is the Scarf with French trellis border. I think this scarf is only rarely made, since I couldn't find much evidence of it online, and I'm not surprised. The photos of it are not very appealing. In reality, it's a very interesting knit and only used about 2/3 of my skein of Crystal Palace Lace. The bottom border is worked, then turned sideways so that you are knitting the long middle section at a 90 degree angle to the border. At the end of the middle section, you again turn your work and finish it off with another border. Really very clever, and make the monotony of churning out long rectangles of lace a little better. I think the two scarves look like they should be worn together (especially with their fall colors), but it's hardly warm enough here to wear one scarf, much less two.

And finally, the bobbin lace. I found this Victorian lace forgotten in a box. It was absolutely filthy, but I thought I'd try and see what could be done with it. After a soak in some Woolite, lukewarm water and Borax, it came out wonderfully. I'm in the process of turning the lace above into a tablecloth by handsewing it onto green cotton. It's taking a long time, but maybe by the end of the year I'll have some finished photos of that.

When I first found the lace, I had no idea how it was made, only that it was marked "Cluny lace". About a week later, I was browsing a bookstore and found a book on bobbin lace sticking out of one of the shelves. The book is really dusty and a little bent, and I get the idea that it was there for a very long time. It must have been waiting for me, and I bought it right away. I've been trying my hand at making some lace of my own, and while I'm finally getting the hang of it, it's really rough going. It makes me appreciate the skill in my found Cluny lace even more.

Next week I hope to have a finished sweater to share, more Cluny lace, and maybe sometime in the future I'll be able to share my mother's found Edwardian era (I think) tatting. Lonely handcrafts seem to migrate to this family, hmm...

how to love your knitting, part two

It has been a hard few weeks around here, and especially for handknits.

Some personal events have recently made it obvious to me that too many people put themselves last in their own lives. We pile on lists of duties for both our professional and personal lives, ignoring the question whether those chores will make our lives better or worse. Seriously ridiculous things get added to these lists, like saving up piles of fabric for that mysterious day when we'll actually have the time and motivation to make that perfect postage-stamp quilt, or keeping disturbingly ugly or hole-y knitting around just because at some point you had thought it was a good idea. Not only is it mental clutter, but it can take a serious toll on the state of your living space, as well. Some things are just better thrown out or donated.

You can see where this is going.

After staring at my own post for a few days I realized that that mitten was a bad idea. It was the wrong shade of red to match my red cashmere winter coat, and frankly I'm not throwing away that coat just because the mittens aren't working. They were floppy. They were embroidered with little stars. Do I even wear things with little stars? Have I ever owned anything with little stars?

Goodbye, single mitten. I have warm thoughts of you becoming a little home for a mouse in a dump somewhere.

Throwing out that mitten suddenly made me feel much better. I no longer had to think about eventually finishing the embroidery or making the other mitten. In fact, I could now throw away the scrap yarn that I had made with it, anyway. Do you know where that yarn came from? It was 24" long pieces from when I frogged Crichton. I didn't deserve to knit with that kind of pilly, old, short yarn. Goodbye, yarn. And goodbye to the rest of the frogged Crichton, too. (It didn't end up being much - only about one large Ziploc baggie.)

Now that I was digging around underneath my bed, searching for the rest of the Crichton yarn, I came across a whole container of yarn that I'd been saving up for a tesselating fish blanket. It was all acrylic and from the 1980s. Enough said. The potentially useful and un-knitted yarn was donated. The rest joined the now half-full bag in the garbage. Suddenly I had a whole empty container for my worthwhile yarn, and thus a storage problem that has been going on for about seven months was resolved.

At this point I was tired and pretty dusty, so the knitting massacre was, for the time, done. Before the end of the week, however, I went through my drawers and threw out all of my stockings, these green socks and the red/white socks, all because of truly disastrous holes. I also donated some mittens that had been accidentally shrunk in the wash. I find that getting rid of things actually makes you feel like you have more, because now all your nice stuff is easily accessible. My sock drawer is looking pretty well-dressed right now. For good measure I unraveled the very first project that I posted to this blog, too, because I'm kind of over frost flowers and leaves and the whole double-thickness lace scarf thing right now. Now I have two skeins of laceweight to use for one of the Victorian Lace Today scarves.

And, finally, after months of procrastination, I ripped out my Hourglass Sweater. I think I wore that sweater three times before it stretched out of shape permanently. Alpaca was a poor choice for that sweater, especially since I knitted it kind of loose.

For a little bit of time it was turning into a Vogue Knitting sweater.


However, I wasn't really sure that those cables were going to do anything for me, and by the time I got to the sleeves and realized that the pattern was completely wrong, I really didn't care enough to continue.

So, frogged again, this time in favor of the sideways-knitted cardigan from Poetry in Stitches. And there we have success. Although right now it just looks like a whole lot of garter stitch.

And finally, I feel like knitting again.

Join me, knitters of the world, in ridding yourself of too many duties, whatever that means to you. You're worth it.

red

Mention Victorian lace, and it doesn't take me much more to get interested. For that very reason, Victorian Lace Today really piqued my interest. But I'll admit that I wasn't entirely sold until I saw this curved shawl.

It's rare for me to use the same color that the pattern calls for, but I thought the red was so perfect that I couldn't change it. I used Jaggerspun Zephyr and US size 0 needles, which were much smaller than what was called for but gave me the same gauge. I also did fewer pattern repeats, and attached the border with single joins, rather than double.

cap shawl

April showers bring lots of time to knit lace.

This is the cap shawl from Victorian Lace Today. It has not been blocked, nor have the ends been woven in. I have bigger plans for this shawl - I'd like to incorporate it into a quilt that I have planned. The yarn is an organic cotton that I bought at the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival in 2007. I wish that the store had put their name on the bag or the label, since I have no idea where I got it from. The only information I have is from the tag, which says on the front: 100% organic cotton / 18/2 / 100 grams - 1650 yards. On the back it is even more cryptic: 9871 Ring / Ne 18/2 / 8.3 TPI / 50% Pima / 50% Green. I'm sure 18/2 is the yarn weight, but for those of you who don't speak numbers, I can tell you that it seems to be cobweb. Regardless of yarn weight, the shawl itself is huge. In the picture it is resting on my full size bed.

little cat feet

It rains, and it fogs, and it mists, and it threatens to snow but hasn't quite yet.

So I knit.

Some of these are holiday presents, and some are just for me. I'm not saying which is which, just in case a recipient happens to read my blog.

These are the "English Dales Mittens" from Folk Mittens by Marcia Lewandowski. I'm still on a quest to get rid of my wool remnants in order to make more room, and these helped quite nicely. The pink is from Snow Sky, and the white and purple that peeks out at the bottom are actually from Crichton, if you can believe that. The cuffs have a double layer of knitting, which makes them stiff enough to stand up by themselves. When worn, they flare just enough for coat sleeves to fit underneath comfortably. I cannibalized the fair isle mitten from my last post because it turned out so small, and these were a nice solution.

I've been in love with the railway socks from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush for years now. I finally knitted a pair, using Scheepjes sock yarn and using up some scraps from my New England socks for the stripes. I'm already thinking of other color combinations for heels and toes, since I have so many tiny leftover balls of sock yarn, and I like those hidden stripes.

I also finally finished the Alpine Lace scarf from Victorian Lace Today. The Crystal Palace lace yarn washed and blocked beautifully. The minute it hit the water it opened up all by itself, and blocking only consisted of a few careful pins to keep the edges straight. I discovered that the way the pattern is written, the scarf will not be symmetrical on its ends, so I knitted one extra pattern repeat of the leaves before beginning the garter stitch. If you knit this you might want to do the same - I think it would look rather funny to only have 2.5 diamonds at one end, and 3 at the other.

Next week - more mittens, a sweater, socks...maybe sunshine, too?

finishing

After packing, moving, and then unpacking all my worldly possessions, only one question remains:

Where did I put the darning needle?

I did manage to finish the Railroad socks from Knitting Vintage Socks. One sock still needs its ends woven in, and until that happens they are both waiting for their turn in the wash. I also slogged through all 37 repeats on the Alpine lace scarf from Victorian Lace Today and then discovered that I had so much yarn left I might as well do a few more. That one is also waiting for a few ends to be woven in, and then a good blocking.The gray knitting and the gray weather started to get to me, so I found some scrap wool and started one of the mittens from Folk Mittens. I've just gotten past the thumb. Moving into an old farmhouse (read: there are only 2 closets) made me realize just how much space my yarn takes up. I'm going to try and knit up as much as possible and then tackle the quilting fabric I bought recently. The space situation is bad enough that I won't be buying any more supplies until everything I currently have is gone. Luckily, I have enough brightly colored mitten wool and skeins of lace to not make this too much of a chore.

And the bread is an Irish American soda bread from The Joy of Cooking. Most heartily recommended, particularly as toast.

procrasti-lace-ing?

If nothing else, I am the queen of procrastination. Throughout the years, I have managed to complete three week papers the night before they were due, applied to and practiced for concerto competitions the very week they were happening, and regularly I put off doing laundry for so long that I discover clothes in the hamper that I didn't even know I had.

Fortunately, nothing really bad has ever happened to me for being such a procrastinator, so I forge ahead, often looking over my shoulder and getting distracted along the way.

Enter, the Alpine Lace shawl from Victorian Knits Today. My Poetry in Stitches cardigan has been stuck in the slow lane for just too long. It took me about three weeks to get around to actually crocheting the steek, and then another week before I managed to sew one seam (three are left). I know it will eventually get done, but in the meantime it's nice to have something I will actually work on. This shawl is worked all in one piece, and so far I've completed the bottom border and have started work on the center section - you can see the double rose leaves that make up the center in the picture. I'm using Crystal Palace lace yarn, which appears to be discontinued. If anyone knows anything different, please share. The yarn is lovely to work with, and manages to have a really good stitch definition while still having a little halo that I think makes the shawl even look soft. I have about 30 more repeats of the double rose leaves to go, and then I have to knit the top border, so I have good faith that I will get bored with it and meekly go back to my cardigan soon.

I don't usually find yarn itself very exciting, preferring to share pictures of it when it is actually something, but this is just too cool to ignore. I went yarn shopping this morning, and in the very back of the store, in a basket labeled "40% off", and underneath a big pile of Rowan Polarspun, I discovered these three, literally dust-covered, little skeins of Jamieson & Smith cobweb lace yarn. They really are so small - each skein is 250 yards, but isn't even as large as my hand.

This is the first time I've ever seen cobweb yarn, and it just blows me away. The skeins weren't marked with the "X" that means they are on sale, and there was no price tag, so the saleswoman sold them to me for $6, total. I felt so lucky! I also managed to unearth a lone skein of the Crystal Palace lace yarn, so even if I'm never able to find it again, I will have two shawls out of it. The saleswoman wound that up for me, too, so I won't have to waste time winding the 850+ yards. For years I have staunchly kept to my hand-winding routine, but after seeing her crank the swift and ball winder, I might have to change my mind.

stripes and torchon, blocked

Daisy wanted a turn, too.

This is my finished Stripes and Torchon lace scarf from Victorian Lace Today. I used 2.5 balls of Rowan's Kidsilk Haze in "Marmalade", and US 0 instead of U 6 needles because I wanted the fabric to be more dense. The pattern calls for 5 columns of diamonds with 23 repeats, but I only did 3 columns and 21 repeats, to help make the piece smaller. I like smaller shawls and scarves. It measures 49" by 17", which is a perfect size for me.

It's hard to photograph just how much light comes through the scarf. It almost looks ethereal.

a new jacket

I finished the stripes and torchon lace from Victorian Lace Today this morning. Unfortunately, I seem to have accidentally thrown out my blocking pins, so for the time being it is still crumpled and kind of useless. I hate knitting things without a use, even if it is only temporary, so I searched around the house and discovered one thing that it can do quite well for now:

Super modern, attractive, warm and soft greyhound jacket. As an added bonus, it will make your dog so frightened that he will stand very, very quietly to have his picture taken. He wasn't so sure that men can pull of lace.

ho hum

This old thing again?



And, just for good measure, a picture of the original:




Sorry for the rotten pictures - it's still way too cold to go outside without a coat. But here it is, all knitted, sewed, cleaned, and dried. And it fits!


This is, of course, Snow Sky by Amy Swanson from the book Sweaters from Camp, for Rebekkah's knitalong. I modified the colors to Morehouse merino's two ply in chocolate and raspberry (yum). I worked out my own waist shaping, and changed the drop shoulders to set-in. I also added a v-neck. In the original pattern, the sleeves are done with crosses, but I liked them better in the same chart as the body, so I worked that out, too. There were a few blips - the body you see is the third attempt, as are the sleeves, and I had a steek unravel on me - but overall, an excellent learning experience.

While this was drying, I went on a mitten spree and made these. The gray ones are done in a simple baby cable pattern and are of my own design, and the orange ones are the Lopi mittens from Folk Mittens. The lone mitten at the bottom is the Turkey mitten, also from Folk Mittens. Its mate is about halfway done.These are made with the remnants of the Crichton cardigan - all Morehouse merino. The gray is charcoal, the white is the natural, the orange is persimmon, and the blue is periwinkle.

And, because it's been almost a year since I've done any lace, I picked up the book Victorian Lace Today. I really like the patterns, but I'm disappointed with the pictures. They're lovely, but they don't show as much detail of the lace that I would like. For a couple, it's difficult for me to understand which pattern goes with which shawl, too, which is unfortunate. It's still worth the money, though, in my opinion. I've begun the Stripes and Torchon lace in Rowan's Kidsilk Haze, using US 0 needles. I've learned that this is not a project I can work on without my glasses, and for me, it requires more attention than the colorwork I've been doing.

Isn't unblocked lace sad? I'm only doing three diamonds across, not five like the pattern says. I've got four repeats done so far, out of something like twenty. Luckily, it's getting easier the more I work on it.