Seasons of Lace

So I’ve been spinning a lot this year as one of my goals is to knit more lace projects with my own hand spun yarns. I purchased some beautiful Madder dyed BFL from “A Verb For Keeping Warm” and spun it with the Majacraft Rose using the lace flyer/fat core bobbin combination. I am using the yarn to knit a stole from a Japanese book “Vintage Knitting in Tradition” and the pattern is captioned “Cloches a travers les feuilles” which translates into “Your guess is as good as mine!” I’m using US 0 needles.  Below you can see that I have finished The Saigon Scarf from badcatdesigns using hand spun lace weight yarn I made from fiber purchased from Spritely Goods. It came out pretty though my pictures don’t do it justice.  I only have 4 more rows for my International Shawl and though it is not for competition or for raffle, I will post when done since the Seasons of Lace is keeping me on my goal of finishing

I’m still in the final throes (or is it throws–as in “throws into the trash”…) of my Queen Anne’s Lace.  Row 140 of 159 and now it takes 1/2 ball of yarn to go one row.  I should finish it this week, maybe even tonight and then on to my next lace project:  Ornamental!!  Swatching has stopped with the size 4s.  I think I cast on 60 sts or so and then put it down to complete my commitment to QAL.  20 rows of knitting, 40 ends to sew in, big fat circle to block and then I already have a recipient–my friend Abbie.  She saw it last night at church and said that she’d be happy to have this shawl rather than the one that we designed last Sunday.  I guess a shawl on the shoulders is better than a shawl in th stash!

After some tidying up of loose end projects around here I am jumping in to the Honeybee Shawl by Anne Hanson of Knitspot.  I’ve picked the beautiful lacewight cashmere “Sophia” from Poshyarn in the “Finch” colorway and it is a joy to work with.  The very subdued yellow dances through the green as I knit it on my patio.  I will be posting pics soon of my beginnings, but for now my yarn is on my Raverly stash page.

I finally managed to get some pictures uploaded for my mystery shawl. I believe I had said before that I had finished the third clue. I did the first row of the forth clue last night. It’s kind of strange, I’m still on the first ball of lace. I figured I’d at least have started the second ball by now. I may end up having a ball left over after this. I can see it as a scarf in the future! Here’s a picture of where I am on this one:

You can kind of see the pattern in this picture. However, I think I am going to have to wait until I have it all nice and blocked before the true pattern shows. Here’s a second picture of the whole thing:

Despite a few oops here and there (I found another dropped stitch that I had to work and fix) I think this shawl is coming along fairly well. I also started second mystery shawl using different charts. This one is being knit up in Jagger Spun Zephyr Wool/Silk in Daffodil yellow that I picked up at my local yarn shop. I’m calling it my Sunshine Mandala! I’ve already completed the first chart using chart B.

The casting on went WAY smoother than the cast on for the first shawl! I had to redo the cast on like 15 times for the first one. This second one I got on the first try! That was pretty exciting for me! Anywho, I’m making progress little by little. I’m just glad it’s Friday! I’ll get to dome some good knitting this weekend!

~~HAPPY KNITTING~~

Yay, finished Peacock Feathers from Fiddlesticks. Instead of the triangular shawl, I went with the stole version, using the original pattern as guide.

What a lovely fun knit.

This took me a little less than 4oz of zephyr, and a tad under 2 weeks to finish.  I knit this by provisional casting on 128 stitches, and then when done with the one side, picking up and knitting the other side. I also added clear #6 beads. Here’s a pic of the join.

There is a disaster associated with the stole. My two year old beautiful daughter somehow thought it was okay to play with the ball of yarn and proceeded to bite into it like an apple (sigh). She broke the yarn at the needle, and several places in the ball mess. Here’s that picture:

Although I have a number of lace projects going (you can’t have just one), I finally have two that I actually started after June 21st so I feel I can include them in this event.

Please bear with me because I am not a blogger (even if I did software design for more than 20 years and have used the internet almost as long) since I tend to prefer my privacy.

About my two Sesons of Lace projects:

The first is a lace mohair scarf made using Karabella’s Lace Mohair in a very light pink. The pattern is also theirs (written by Nancie M. Wiseman) - Diagonal Knit Scarf - but in my usual way, I am modifying it slightly.  I had to start this a few times because there were some errors in the pattern and because I kept changing my mind as to what I wanted to do in the middle of the scarf (besides a straight knit).

The second is a quick project. I am using some laceweight Tencel yarn that I have to make a lace edging to embellish some hand towels. I am almost finished with the first strip and will make two before I sew the edgings onto the towels. The yarn is predominately green with some brown/beige, light blue, and red contrasts.

My other projects (all started before the start date) are large shawls which will get the majority of my time. I did put up pictures of the new projects but there are none of the other projects I am working on. I usually don’t take pictures until the project is finished.

Teri

Okay, I’m revved up and ready to knit for a Season of Lace.  I wanted to be fair and start and a logical place in my knitting.  I’m currently working on the Slow Bee I lace shawl (I guess I’m slower than a Slow Bee though).  Anyway, I had 4 lines to go to finish Clue I and I thought it was only fair that I finish those lines before I throw my hat in the ring for this fun!  Here’s a picture of my shawl thus far. 

I’m also doing the Mystic Light shawl, but it seems I haven’t worked on this one since I picked up the Slow Bee I bug.  But here’s the starting place for that one.

I think that’s it for now, but you never know with my disorganization!

I finally got a chance to take pictures of both Vkandis and Mystic Waters. They both are in 6/2 weaver’s cotton on US size 4 needles.

Hey all! I have started two shawls this weekend:

1. Goddess Knits Anniversary Shawl - Pi shawl using Dream In Color Smooshy - one different color for each clue, and size US6 Knit Picks Options circular (using 2 circs). I finished the first clue on Saturday, and the second on Sunday (both were fast due to not having a bunch of stitches and rows to do!). Clues 3 and up will be a little more time consuming!.

2. Slow Bee 2 - Rectangular shawl using Knit Picks Shadow in Hot Rod Heather, size US5 Knit Picks Harmony circular. This is a neat shawl- provisional cast on, knit center out (each clue knit on both sides of center). All I did with this one is cast on the first 181 stitches! This shawl will also have beads, Toho, 6/0, reds.

3. Goddess Knits Mystery Shawl #9 - will be cast on sometime in July, I believe. I am thinking of using Dream In Color Baby, but don’t have the color picked out, yet!

4. Slow Bee 1 - This was cast on in May, but I only have 3 clues finished out of 12, so this will work for my SOL, too. This is a faroese shawl, using Dream in Color Baby in Pansy go Lightly, and 6/0 clear beads. This is my first beading project using laceweight and a crochet hook - the going is slow but I have picked up tremendously!!!

I might work on a simple lace sock for portable work, but haven’t found a nice, easy lace sock pattern yet (actually, haven’t even looked for one yet!!).

I will be leaving for the U.P., Michigan (for all you Michiganders out there, around Deer Park/Newberry/Paradise/Grand Marais/Whitefish Point) with my brother on Saturday, June 28, and will stay up there until July 7. All I am taking with me are my shawls, a couple of books, and quite a bit of beverage! Since we have been to all of the sights many times, I just want to relax and knit. Hopefully, I will get a lot accomplished this week!!!

Darla - Detroit

So yeah, my Season of Lace got off to a rocky start over the weekend. I kept having “issues” with my goddess knits mystery shawl. I’m going for attempt number (I lost track) on magic loop this evening after work. I was doing great on Saturday evening, until I pulled the needle out the wrong direction and dumped all my lovely stitches! Oh the tears! After the arguement settled with the yarn and neeldes, we decided to part ways for the weekend and pick back up on Monday.

I did cast on and get a fairly decent start on an Arctic Diamonds stole from the Arctic Lace book. I’m knitting it up in Knit Picks Shadow Snorkel. I love this color!

I got the beginning edge done and am working on the main pattern rows now. That was a boost in confidence. Depending on how the mystery shawl goes, I may be working more on Arctic Diamonds tonight. I’ll have some pictures posted this evening, I need to transfer them off my camera.

I signed up for the most yardage knitted. This weekend put me behind I know, but I’ll do my best to catch up! I’ll probably also enter some of my individual projects into the size competitions. I hope everyone else is having a great time knitting their lace! I can’t wait to start seeing pictures rolling in!

~~Happy Knitting~~