Archive for July, 2007
Lately I’ve been obsessed with beads. For the past couple of weeks i’ve been trying to figure out a way to spin beaded yarn. I think I have found a way, but it’s kind of a long, tedious process. But this blog post isn’t about beaded yarn. This blog post is about knitting with wire! yes that’s right. I’ve been knitting with wire. And I have the gnarly blisters to prove it. Here is a bracelet I made over the weekend. I made it based on this article from Spun magazine. It’s super easy to do. It’s exactly as it sounds. For mine, I first strung the beads on my wire (24 guage). I used pink and black seed beads. Then I cast on 5 stitches using the backward loop method. Then I knit in garter, moving a bead up for each stitch, until the thing wrapped around my wrist. I didn’t have the clasp so I didn’t take the measurements of it into account, unfortunately. Next time I do this I will by a clasp first. You want to subtract the measurement of the clasp from the length of the bracelet.
I really had fun with this! And I like the way it looks, too. Definately going to play with this technique some more.
In other knitting news:
- Coachella is done. Blocked and finished. Total knitting time for this project? 3 days! You gotta love a quick knit. I don’t have any pictures yet but will get to that A.S.A.P. I’m not super sure how I like it. It’s kind of revealing. Maybe a bit too much so for me.
- After I finished Coachella I cast on for the Indigo Ripples skirt from IK Spring 2007. Depressingly, I realized that I had to make the largest size after taking measurments. So I cast on and knitted for a day on it. Then I decided to forget it. It’s too depressing for me to knit the largest size in this pattern. I am working hard at losign weight and when I do I won’t be able to wear it anyway so why put effort into it now? I think I will move this to the bottom of my queue for now until I get down to my goal weight.
That’s it for now. Stay tuned for Coachella pics.
July 31st, 2007
It’s done! Yay! I’m so happy! Here are the specs:
Pattern: Shoulder Shawl in Syrian Pattern by Jane Sowerby in Victorian Lace Today.
Yarn: Knitpicks Shimmer in the Stained Glass colorway. 1.5 skeins.
Needles: Size 7. Denise.
Started: June 16tht 2007
Finished: July 21st 2007.
I am happy to be finished with this. I got really tired of knitting lace after knitting on the Mystery Stole 3 the three weeks I worked on it. This pattern was VERY easy, though. A complete joy to knit (I think I was just getting tired of lace-weight yarn). The lace pattern for the middle triangle was memorizable (did I just make up a new word?). It’s nothing, really. Every other row a yo is placed at every 4th stitch, staggering the yos. After the center triangle is knitted a border is knitted on. This took a little more concentration for me since I have never done this before. But still, very easy.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the way it turned out. I was not happy with the pooling of colors and I didn’t really like the color combo while I was knitting it. But after blocking it and wearing it for a bit I have changed my mind. I LOVE it. The laciness really counteracts the color- poolage.
Now I’ve moved on to something completely different. I’m knitting Coachella from Knitty’s summer 2007 issue.
July 24th, 2007
Hi. How are you? Just thought I’d pop in since I haven’t been here in so long. To be honest, I haven’t been here because I’m bored. bored bored bored bored bored with my knitting right now. The mystery shawl, I’m afraid, isn’t doing it for me. I don’t like knitting this shawl. It’s not for me. In fact, it feels like some sort of torture to me. This is how it works:
Each Friday a new clue is released. Each clue is about 50 rows of chart. The chart wouldn’t be hard if I were an experienced lace knitter but I am not. Sigh. There are not gnarly k5tog instructions like that. But I just keep screwing up. It’s like my eyes can’t read the chart correctly somehow. And then, if I’m going to knit lace and read complicated charts, I need to come up with a better system. I have my chart on a little wooden t.v. tray and I cover the rows I’ve completed with another piece of paper. So when I am knitting a row I have to sit up straight and peer over the t.v. tray at the chart while I’m knitting so I can keep track of everything. So. Not. Relaxing. And then there is the pain I’m getting in my hand. And finally, I’m not sure if I like getting my instructions piecemeal like this. I don’t know why. It makes me feel a little claustrophobic. I know that sounds weird. But I am the kind of person, I realize, who likes to look at the big picture before I begin any kind of project (no matter what it is). When I can’t see the big picture I feel very nervous and uncomfortable. And that’s how I feel about this project. I think it’s a wonderful idea, but just not for me.
So I don’t know. I’m thinking that maybe I should set it aside for a bit and think on it. I had lots of other projects in my queue before MS3 so life will not end. I will continue to lurk on the MS3 forums for a bit to see how it’s going for others. But, sadly, I really don’t think this project is for me right now.
July 16th, 2007
This is going to be a quick post because I’m hungry. I did decided to do the Mystery Stole KAL and I finished Clue #1 this morning. Here is what it looks like:
Mine is far from perfect, but i like how the pattern is coming out so far! Stay tuned for more mystery 
July 2nd, 2007