Not a long weekend....

So I don't get a long weekend. Canada Day is tomorrow..... but today is monday and work must go on (for some of us)

I am supremely happy to report that I completed the shaw on time, but with out blocking..... she loved it! The size was perfect, the colour was perfect and she was trying to find one!!! Squeeee I am a happy knitter... I even got a hug (she is not a hugger)! I hpe to swipe a picture from her and show you later. I will pull up a completed pic for the next post.

Happily that means that I have again been able to work on my Watery Root. I have seperated off the sleeves and am knitting the body. I have decided to be very picky with the shaping, I do want to be able to wear this, it is so soft and lovely.... plus I adore the colour. I must be able to wear this!! LOL So an update with pics the next time.

James' afghan is not progressing, I still am without needles.... I will check at Knitopia on Thursday. The socks are evil and I am planning more shawls for other weddings this summer. Dam. I can't stop. Happy Canada Day. And for those of you south of the border.... Have a Great Fourth of July weekend.

Woe thy name is lace on a deadline.....

Yes indeed.... woe.

I added another ball last night... I picked it up last friday to make sure that I had an extra one "just in case" and it is a totally different dyelot!!!

I didn't see it last night, but in natual light... hoo boy! What a stripe! Do you see it? I bet you do. the part on the right is just a bit more creamy yellow.... V here.

So thankfully I have my final ball from the stash... so I must remove this imposter "bridal white" and return the proper one to it's siblings....

I guess that is my update. I have to have it done tomorrow.... I truly wanted to block it tonight... but if I try that I may not function at work tomorrow!

So here are some details about this shawl. I am using Royal Fashion Crochet cotton bought at my local Zellers (except for the imposter ball) I have a total of 4 balls, and it should be a good length after blocking. This is the same cotton that I have used on the other two bridal shawls that I have knit. It blocks LIKE A DREAM! I kid you not. and it costs about $4.00 a ball. I prefer to use 5 but 4 will have to do. (see I was unsure about the length... le sigh) I am using my basic shawl recipe. Garter stitch border and lace insert. I always base my calculations on the stitch pattern, and go from there. The first time I cast this on it was WAY to wide.

I am using a lace pattern form one of Barbra Walkers' stitch dictionaries A Treasury of Knitting Patterns the stitch is called "Vine Lace", it is a repeat of 9sts plus 4. I cast on 97 that gives me 6 sts on each side for garter stitch border. I knit garter stitch for 12 rows before I began the pattern and I will conclude with 12 rows as well. Without a back up ball I will have to be pretty careful. Hey, who says knitting is without thrill?!!? I think that this is a great stitch pattern.

This is not as easy as I thought though, I picked a 4 row repeat pattern that I thought was simple, and it is. This is not mindless knitting however. This is also not stressful lace knitting. This pattern requires you to be mindful, and yet still allows chatting and a movie or audiobook. but you can't be totally forgetful of what you are knitting. As lace goes, this is an easy pattern. If you have never done lace knitting this may be a nice stitch pattern to try out. (I am thinking of you Janey)

So once that is done I can finish my socks, and the Rusted Root, then I can finally cast on a vest for my honey, and finish the other two shawls!!

LOL I am crazy......
Hope you are having a great week so far. Feel free to leave me a comment and ask questions, I will do my best to answer. I have a hedache... time for tea and reading.....then off to knit with my gals at the coffee shop. Thanks goodness for Tuesdays!

Great sunny day!

WWKIP was a great day for being outside and knitting in a park. It was fabulous! New faces, passersby who were intrested and free cookies!! LOL

Sadly I forgot my camera, but a friend had one. Check out our pics at Star Gazer's place.

I knit on a new project that day. A bridal shawl for a co-worker. I think that although I would like this summer to be a "getting ready for winter" knitting time, I am going to be cranking out lace for the four other weddings coming up. Oh well, at least it won't be last minuite. I hope. LOL
This little gem is knitting up super fast though.... that is the great thing. I started it at the KIP and I added the second ball on Sunday. I will be knitting it at Knit nite tonight for sure, I hope to add on the third ball. It may take four or five, depending..... this is a new lace pattern.

I am still knitting the blue bamboo rusted root, but I want to try it on again, before I worry about it fitting again. I am pretty close to the sleeves being done. I will get an update pic.

I am trying to get the blue socks done too. (no they aren't done yet) dam.....

Hello weekend!

So here we are... some update shots on some of my current projects.

Here is the Rusted Root in a blue Bamboo., I haven't gotten to the end of the first ball yet and this lovely is almost 6" long! I love that, I may have to do some more work with this bamboo... it's silky, drapey, soft, smooth and lovely, and it comes in a great red! See... told you I liked it. I just hope that it holds up okay as a top, I hear around the bloglines that if something is too drapey then it can be not cool for garment shaping over time.

Also here are the socks that I have made for my Mom... in a new wool Knit Picks Palett, I thought I would like to try it out so I have it for a small project. Not bad, a bit splitty. The heel is done and I want to finish the cuff this weekend.

Last but not least on the project front, my slipper collection... I am using a pair as I type. Knit from Briggs & Little Regal and felted up nicely. I used the Fiber Trends clog pattern and loved it! The blue ones are also for my Mom. She knows about the slippers, but not the socks a nice suprise.
As you can see I am totally NOT in the proper colour ranget his month for Project Spectrum, but hey I do have an Icarus shaw in white happening... I just want to get a few other things finished so I can have less WIP's. So much to knit, so little time lately. I feel like I have to keep putting stuff on hold because all the knitting time that I get needs to be easy so I don't mess something up. For example, my Embers & Ashes blanket fro my pal James must wait until I get a new pair of addi turbos..... as my pair broke. Dismal, but true. I am using the 12mm size in 120cm, which means that it is a flexible tube of plastic.... and it pulled right out of the metal needle tip as I was shifing stitches to finish a row. Bummer. I will have them into my LYS this week to be replaced, but I have to root through the boxes of unpacked crafty stuff to find the envelope. oh well... the afghan isn't ruined and being stalled is where it's been for the last month at least, so it's used to it.

I am getting some fantastic free yarn tomorrow from a ravelry pal, on her way home to Nanimo. I am super excited... I want to make a CPH out of some of it... I may donate a bit to the Knit in Public day. but I think I am making a tea cozy for sure right away. I do have some other yarny news, but it must remain covert for a little while... you never know who may be reading.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to show off some more progress next week. Have a relaxing Sunday!