Saturday, September 30, 2006

Saturday Prepositions

In the sky:

skyline

A beautiful blue sky viewed from the football field of my son's school.
Not a bad view, huh?

From the dyepot:

Picture 244

A single skein of Classic Elite Wings yarn that began as a yucky yellow color. I submerged it in a dyebath created with some Brilliant Blue ProChem dye that I got from Kate. I love the color now:

Picture 245

This is destined for my first project in the Lonesome Skein Knitalong -- the Fetching gloves from Knitty.


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Thursday, September 28, 2006

Lonesome?

Every year, around this time, I have traditionally posted a fairly lengthy list of holiday gifts that can be knit from 1-2 skeins of yarn in my sidebar. This list is apparently more popular than I anticipated because I typically receive emails beginning in August asking me when it will be available.

This year I’ve taken a different approach to helping you beat the stress of holiday knitting. Carole and I have created a knitalong that will hopefully provide incentive for you to complete your holiday and charity knitting and allow you to use up single skeins in your stash.

Behold:

The Lonesome Skein Knitalong

lonesome_skein_web

Don’t you just love Carole’s button!

If you have a house full of stash and a holiday gift list as long as your arm, join the knitalong by clicking on the photo above and completing the sign-up information. Guidelines and further information can be found on the group home page.

But hurry, because membership sign-ups end on October 16th!


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Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Something In The Air

Teri mentioned at Stitch 'N Bitch last week that her husband had recently asked her to knit him a sweater. She was floored because he's never requested anything before. In a similarly strange turn of events, DH, who barely happily tolerates all my knitting and yarn-buying adventures but rarely asks for anything, made a "request" on Sunday for a pair of fingerless gloves. Oh, and could he have them by Friday, please.

What gives? Is there something in the air spawning many manly requests for hand-knit goodies?

So, what's a grrl to do? Drop everything, of course, and tend to the crisis knitting. I still need to weave in the ends (oh, the ends!) but I hope to get that completed at Stitch 'N Bitch tonight:

IMG_1953


I used bits and pieces of instructions in Ann Budd's, Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns. I've said this before, and I'll say it again, those patterns are waaaaaay oversized. I adore the book, but I think there's a bit too much ease worked into the numbers. I knit these gloves using the instructions for an 8-year-old and they fit DH, well . . . like a glove.

More Finished Shawls


Teri, Birdsong, and Heidi have all finished their Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawls. Way to go, grrls!!


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Sunday, September 24, 2006

Huh??

Okay, which one of you got to my blog by Googling:

what color candle runs out fastest


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Saturday, September 23, 2006

Wednesday's Sky on Saturday

OK, this photo was taken on Wedneday, not Saturday, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share it with you. I actually went back to the house for the camera when I saw this at the top of my street.



Compare it to this photo of last Saturday's sky taken from nearly the same spot:

Crazy weather.

Patons SWS


Several people left comments and questions in my post about the little felted bag I made from the Patons SWS yarn.


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Thursday, September 21, 2006

Success!

Not only did the Patons SWS yarn felt, it felted like crazy!

Picture 241

And look at how fabulous the felted fabric looks with all its cute, little swirls:

Picture 240

The yarn itself is very dense and, accordingly, the finished fabric is also very dense. I will surely be using this in the future for more felting projects.

Has anyone used it for a non-felted project? As I knit with it, the yarn developed a definite halo and I wonder if a non-felted item pills when worn.
Any experience with that?


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Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Kids, Don't Try This At Home

While perusing the shelves at Michaels, searching for a pair of scissors to replace the innumerable pairs I have lost in the last month, my eye wandered to the Wall 'o Yarn. There, among the fun fur and acrylic/nylon blends, was a bin filled with skeins of beautiful-looking yarn in fantastic colorways. Further investigation was in order.

I plucked one from the bin and checked the fiber content--70% wool and 30% soy.
Hmmmm . . . Must.try.the.new.Patons.SWS.yarn.

I brought the skein to Stitch ' Bitch last night and cast on for a small felted bag. I only had the one skein (110 yards) so it worked up quickly.

Picture 233

See that teeny, tiny, bit of yarn? That's all I had left. Talk about cutting it close. I couldn't have planned that if I tried.

It's in the washing maching, felting, as I type. It's pretty loosely spun so if it felts at all (crossing fingers) it should happen fairly quickly. Hopefully I'll have something fun to show tomorrow.


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Sunday, September 17, 2006

Random Sunday

The weather has improved somewhat after yesterday’s snow. Here’s the second photo I took yesterday. This one is from the front of my house looking West (the opposite direction from yesterday’s photo).

saturdaysky

Depressed by the sudden onslaught of winter, DH and I took a ride up to Ogden in the afternoon. I finished the wimple in the car on the way back.

Picture 229

FYI, the pattern called for 300 yards of lace weight yarn or 200 yards of fingering weight yarn. I used Rowanspun 4-ply and followed the instructions for the lace-weight version. I used about 2.5 skeins; each has 160 yards. So that’s about 400 yards.

I blocked it only lightly since I want it to remain stretchy. And I used a really stretchy bind-off and blocked the bound-off edge so it flares out slightly. That will be the bottom edge; the part that sits on the shoulders.

This is for my pal in the International Scarf Exchange. Hope she likes it!

Searching For


These people have ordered my Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl pattern but the email message with the pattern attached has come back to me as undeliverable.
Christy Ann Flynn
Maryanne Cooper
Mary Alice Tinari
Bridget Gordan
Eileen Noel
If you see your name listed above and you haven't received your pattern, please email me by clicking on this link.


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Saturday, September 16, 2006

Saturday Prepositions

From the front door looking East:

Picture 225

Yikes, snow way down in the foothills. Looks like it's time to break out the hand-knit socks.

On the needles:

Picture 226

a lace wimple out of Rowanspun using this pattern. This has been my project-of-choice since last Friday. I'll be sad when it's finished; I just adore working with this yarn and the pattern is easy to remember so it's been a great take-along project.

In the planning stages:

Picture 228

another lace shawl. But I won't have much time to devote to this for a few weeks.


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Friday, September 15, 2006

Winners

Thanks to everyone who played along in my quick and dirty contest.

The winners of the shawl patterns were:

Lisa

and

Joan

Congrats! I'll email your patterns to you on Saturday.
If anyone asked me a question in their contest email, I'll try and read through them tomorrow and get back to you.

The yarn I used for the Lombard Street socks was Brooklyn Handspun Signature Superwash. And now that I think of it, Marie's "Soft Spun" yarn would make a fabulous Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl. Hmmmm . . . I'm off to see what colors Marie has available.


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Thursday, September 14, 2006

More Shawls and a Contest

Woah, thanks to everyone for sending links with photos of their Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawls.

Birdsong is knitting hers from some lace-weight yarn hand-dyed by Margene (under Teri's supervision). She claims to be at the half-way mark, but she's gauging that by the number of stitches on the needle. Sorry, hun, that's not how it works. Good try though.

Sunflowerfairy is knitting hers from a beautiful pink yarn. I think it's her first lace project. Excellent!

Lorette finished her first and already has plans to make a second from laceweight. That's the spirit!

Joan finished one, too! She's dubbed the shawl, "the easiest pattern ever."

I really enjoy seeing the finished shawls so make sure you send me an email when you finish yours.

And here's the contest part. Tomorrow I will give away a free copy of the Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl pattern to two knitters, chosen at random, from everyone who sends me an email that correctly answers the following question:

What yarn did I use for the sock pattern I designed for MagKnits?


I even linked to the issue so you have no excuse not to enter.
Good Luck!


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Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Variations On A Theme

I don't intend to turn this into a "confessional" post, but suffice to say I've been buying a lot of yarn and starting a lot of projects lately. The finishing part . . . well . . . not so much.

But I did complete my contribution to this years' Utah Legal Aid Society Fundraiser. It's a square lap blanket based on my Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl pattern. I've already submitted it to the organizers of the fundraiser but I forgot to take a finished photo. So all I have is this crappy photo of the blocking stage.

Picture 220

It was a fairly fast knit (on size U.S. #11 needles) and took 6 skeins of Berroco Mohair Classic to complete. Unfortunately, I only had 5 skeins of Berroco Mohair Classic. And that's where the uncontrollable stash came in handy. I just dove into the stash and came up with a nice, contrasting shade of yarn with exactly the same fiber composition and exactly 1/2 the weight of the Mohair Classic. So I just doubled it and used it for the bind-off row.

It's a nice size, about 50 inches across on each side. Do you think I should call it a "lap blanket" or is that too old-fashioned? My friend suggested that calling it a "throw" would help with the bidding during the auction. Thoughts?

I also finally uploaded a photo of the Forest Canopy Shawl that I knit from lace-weight yarn. I used one skein of Knit Picks Shadow and worked Rows 1-8 of the Body Pattern until I had 259 stitches on the needle.

Picture 223

Oh, and check this out. Kate has already finished her Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl! Brenda cast on for hers; and Teresa revealed that she was my test knitter. Take a peek at her finished shawl; it's gorgeous.


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Monday, September 11, 2006

S is for . . .

Stephanie (and The Sock)

here in Salt Lake City!

Yup. After months of badgering the owner of Black Sheep Wool Co, arrangements were made for Stephanie to add Salt Lake City to her current book tour. I had the life-altering pleasure to be included in the group of local knitters who showed her around town on Friday afternoon.

We started at Temple Square for a photo shoot with The Sock ( Stephanie took the photos so you’ll have to check her blog for the visual evidence.). The day started out cloudy and dreary, but as Stephanie and I walked down Main Street from her hotel toward Temple Square, the clouds broke up and the sun started to peek through the haze. Holy cow! She even has the power to improve the weather.

After Temple Square, we picked up Margene and Miriam then all four of us headed up Big Cottonwood Canyon for lunch at Silver Fork Lodge and a walk around Silver Lake (a/k/a "The Margene Treatment"). The lunch conversation was hilarious and nonstop.

The walk around Silver Lake involved the taking of many photos and a brief stop so The Sock could take in a little rock climbing. The ride down the Canyon was spectacular, especially since the leaves are beginning to change colour (did I spell that right, Steph?).

Photographic evidence of my nearness to Herself:



In the evening, Stephanie played to a packed audience at the Salt Lake Art Center and then signed books at Black Sheep Wool Co. well into the night even though she must have been exhausted. Heck, I know I was exhausted and she was doing all the work.

It was a fabulous experience. Come back any time, Stephanie!


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Saturday, September 09, 2006

It’s Official – I’m An Idiot

Clearly, Her Greatness did not rub off on me.

Imagine my horror when I started to attach the fronts of this baby cardigan to the back by working a three-needle bind off at the shoulders and discovered the error of my ways:

Picture 213

Some neckline shaping would be nice, don't cha think.

Hello frog pond.

*damn*


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Friday, September 08, 2006

Teaser

Look who I picked up on the side of the road.

Stephanie

Yes, it's Herself in my car holding my knitting. *swoon*


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Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Picture Perfect Weekend

Saturday and Sunday I attended the first annual Great Basin Fiber Arts Fair and I'm happy to deem it a total success. I sincerely hope it becomes an annual event. Birdsong even flew in from California to attend. This post is photo-intensive. And if you want more photos, head over to Margene's blog.

Bright and early on Saturday morning, I headed off to Wheeler Farm for a dyeing class with Kate. Kate taught us her secrets to dyeing roving in stockpots. Here's Kate and Margene taking a breather; it was hot:

Picture 196

And here's my finished roving alongside Margene's. Would you be surprised if I told you the pile on the right is not mine?

Picture 205

Sunday's class was an advanced spindle spinning class taught by Elizabeth Daily, the owner of Greensleeves Spindles. What a fascinating class. Elizabeth gave us each a bag of assorted fibers and then let us try as many of the Greensleeves spindles as we wanted. It was interesting to see how different fibers behaved differently with the assorted spindles.

Birdsong and Margene like the class, too:

Picture 200

And while we were dyeing and spinning, Laurie was selling soap alongside Katherine who was selling her fabulous "Make One" t-shirts.

Here's blogless Val buying some soap from Laurie:

Picture 199

And here's Birdsong learning to spin on a Great Wheel.

Picture 203

I bought very little fiber:

Picture 204

Some trums from Spinderella, some yummy hand-dyed wool from THE Judy Jackson, and some hand-dyed superwash merino from The Sheep Shed Studio. The large, 18-ounce pile of green roving is the prize I won in the finished item competition.

But I did score some excellent back issues of Knitters for the ungodly sum of 50 cents each.

Picture 206

Psyched.


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Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Winners

Thanks to everyone who entered my contest to identify the ballpark in which I was knitting my Parade socks. Most of you got the correct answer which was Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. We had awesome seats, just 4 rows above the Oriole's dugout. And the source of those great tickets was none other than the effervescent Amber, a/k/a the woman holding the sock in the photo. Amber was the inspiration for my Amber hat pattern, the link to which is in the sidebar.

Oh, right, so who won???

Dana guessed the name of the ballpark correctly so she won the bar of Laurie's soap. Laurie's website is now fully operational so take a look and order your favorite bar.

Hillary correctly guessed that Amber was holding the sock. She won a copy of my new Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl pattern.

And there was one more winner this weekend . . . ME! Remember Kate's merino/silk/alpaca roving that I spun into this lovely lace-weight yarn.

Picture 166

Well, I knit it up into a Mountain Stream scarf last week and entered it into the finished item competition at the Great Basin Fiber Arts Fair. Here it is, adorned with it's First Place ribbon:
IMG_1878

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WooHoo!


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Friday, September 01, 2006

FOREST CANOPY SHOULDER SHAWL





The pattern is 6 pages long and must be printed in "landscape" mode. Once you have completed the payment process, you will automatically receive an email containing instructions on how to download the pattern. These instructions will be sent to the primary email address tied to your PayPal account so please check that email account. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open the file. If you do not have the reader, you can download it here

The cost of the pattern is $6.50 and all payments must be made through PayPal. To purchase the pattern, simply click here.

Please do not violate my copyright. This pattern is for your personal, non-commercial use only. You may not reproduce the pattern for distribution, sale, or any other purpose. Finished items made from this pattern may not be sold.

All pictures, patterns, text and content on this page are the sole property of Susan Pierce Lawrence ©2006. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this website (e.g., text, photos, etc.) is strictly prohibited.





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Running commentary on my unending quest to knit up my stash.