MS3 Clue #3

Here's my MS3 stole so far. (The white thread running width-ways is a lifeline at row 150.) If you see something that looks a little whack-a-doodle, that is because there are a few whack-a-doodle things going on here. I pinned and stretched this sucker to see what it would look like at 20" wide and blocked. The stitches really do pop out nicely, and 20" actually seems about right for my stole width. Doesn't it just figure: When gauge doesn't really matter; I get gauge!!


I'm still mulling over whether I'm significantly bothered by the, shall we say, "nonconformist stitches" (?) to rip back 45 rows and fix them. Currently I'm leaning toward "eh, screw it."

Here's a close-up. I really like how the size 6 beads show up, although I think the #8's on the edge are almost invisible.

Ravelry Hard as Nails, in Spite of Whining

You all have heard the Ravelry buzz, haven't you? It's the new web site, currently in beta testing, that is supposed to do for knitting what e-bay did for online garage sales. Some of these beta testers have reported tantalizing little crumbs of information about how truly beyond beyond Ravelry is. Some of us still on the 10,000-person waiting list to become Ravelry beta testers are feeling a wee bit pissy and jealous. And perhaps a smooch desperate. So I sent the Ravelry team this message:

I don't suppose begging and whining will help make me a beta tester earlier, will it? Just in case:

Please, please! I'll clean my room and mow the dog and feed the lawn!

But I wa-aa-nta be a beta tester! Everyone else is a beta tester, and if I'm not a beta tester soon my entire summer will be ru-uuu-ined! I WANT IT! I WANT IT NOW!!

Still stony and unmoved, aren't you? Heartless SOB.

P.S.: How about blatant bribery: kickbacks, payola, a load of Koigu that just fell off the back of the truck? Let me know.

So I heard back from them today. Apparently, they think I'm joking. Hi-jacked that truck full of Koigu for nothing.

Take this Shawl and FROG IT!

Last night I was listlessly pulling at the shawl I knit for my friend Eileen, and the darn thing started coming apart in my hands! Now is that God giving me a little prompt or what? And frogging it was not the nightmare I was afraid it would be, once I got started.

Everybody has their own system, but here's how I "freshen" used yarn. Wind it on to a long (24" or so) piece of cardboard, tie it off with figure-8 knots in 4 places, soak skein in Eucalan for 20 minutes, squeeze out water, wrap yarn in a towel, sit on it until it's as dry as I can get it, then hang the skein on a plastic coat hanger in my closet with a big bottle of something weighting it. This morning I woke up to this:

Oh, yeah.

Eucalan has restored my motivation.

Mojo-licious: Rich, gorgeous Helen's Lace

These aren't my colors, but Eileen is a green-eyed blond and I think they will look smashing on her. As for patterns . . .I still don't know what I'm going to do with this 1,200 yards of buttery-smooth loveliness. Any ideas? I'm afraid the variegated colorway would not show off a super lacy pattern, so I'm looking for a shawl designed for multi-colored yarn. I think I will be perusing Barbara Walker's 2nd stitch pattern treasury tonight . . .

Screamin' Green Victorian Shawl

I have heard/read so many stories of knitters who picked up Jane Sowerby's Victorian Lace Today and immediately knew which project they wanted to do first. For me, it was the cover shawl, aka the Melon Pattern Shawl. Here it is:

Ooooh. Aaaah. Just aglow with rich mohairy goodness.

I love everything about it, including the funky green color. The instructions call for Rowan Kidsilk Haze, but after seeing a gorgeous 40% silk/60 % mohair blend online at Sarah's Yarns (available in natural white only), I decided to try and dye my own. What motivated me? Price, for one thing. I could dye my own for less than half the cost of the Kidsilk.

If you would prefer not to discuss filthy lucre, please skip down 2 paragraphs. For everyone else, here's the straight scoop on costs:

• Kidsilk Haze, 3 skeins @ 13.50 per sk = 40.50
• Sarah's Yarn Kid Mohair Silk, 3 skeins @ $5.50 per sk. = 16.50
• Both yarns are 230 yards/25 gms per ball. I already had the acid dye.

In addition to cost considerations, I've been wanting to work on my dyeing skills. Right now I'm something of an "advanced beginner" -- smart enough not to use the dye as a margarita enhancer, but not a lot beyond that.

And, as much as I'm a flighty knitter, I am a serious-as-a-traffic cop dyer. A row of knitting goes bad, you rip it out; a dyepot of woolens goes seriously bad, and they can hear me cussing the next town over. I take my time, use separate "dyeing only" spoons bowls, measuring cups, etc., and pray A LOT. But nothing beats seeing a yarn come up the color you were hoping for. I wanted "CHARTREUSE" and that's what I got:

I'm about 22 pattern repeats into what is supposed to be a 62-pattern-repeat shawl, and there is a cloud on my horizon: Word out on the street is that this shawl is a "yarn hog" and silly me only dyed 700 yards (what the pattern called for). In other words: There is no getting more of this yarn! (Picture knitter hitting her forehead repeatedly with a tailor's ham. It was handy.)

One thing that makes this situation less nerve-wracking is my handy, dandy electronic scale. I don't know what I ever did without one. I can weigh my stole-in progress, see how many grams of yarn I've used:

• 15 grams for 23 repeats (I weigh the other needle & same # of stitch markers, so I can subtract that number from the working stole weight.)


• from this information calculate that there is approximately .652 grams of yarn in each of my pattern repeats, and
  
• multiply out .652 grams times total # of repeats (62) = 40.424 grams.

SO, based on this info, I should have enough yarn, since I have 75 grams and 35 grams (75 minus 40) should be plenty for the border.

Unfortunately, I was an English major and I never trust my math (you probably shouldn't either). Still, I will probably keep weighing my shawl-in-progress -- every 5 repeats or so -- to see if that .652 grams per repeat is holding true. Also (I'm not joking about this), run my calculations past my 16-year-old son, because I can trust his math.

So maybe I'll be okay. If not, 52 pattern repeats should be plenty.

Also, here are a couple of detail photos of the "Cathedral Window" lace pattern I used on the lambspun shawl. The pattern stitch can be found in The Knitter's Bible; If anyone wants more information on how I made my shawl just let me know. I'd be glad to write down my pattern -- it's super-simple.

Fear of Frogs

I was digging through my sundry pile of wayward knit goods today, looking for inspiration. *Sigh* What I found instead was this little number (modelled by Mitzy): . . .which doesn't look so bad until you get to the incriminating close-ups. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, here is your perp walk:

*The knitting police

Are coming my way ...

They're gonna take away my double points ...

Gonna sell them on e-bay...

*(Sung to the tune of "Bad to the Bone" by

George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers)

So here's the back story: About 5 years ago I wanted to make something really special for my friend Eileen's 60th birthday. (I know! A shawl!! ) No matter that I had never knit a shawl before, or that Eileen's birthday was in --oh -- 3 weeks. I ordered a lovely skein of Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace (50/50 wool silk) and started the pattern printed on the ball band.

From the get-go, this project was a cuss fest. Compared to what I was used to knitting, the yarn was puny, the needles were a matched set of hat pins, and the pattern . . . well, the pattern assumed I had a clue, which I did not. My motto for this project was "Just keep going!" (Wasn't that the last line in "Thelma & Louise" -- like right before they went over the cliff?) I had heard that many errors "came out in the wash" when you were knitting lace, and I was really, really depending on this little truism to save my bacon.

Alas, there is not enough "wash" in the world to erase this shawl's iniquities. I did not finish it in time for Eileen's party (finally gave up and made her a quilt,), and when I did finish it I didn't know what to do with it. It's not that Eileen would have even seen the mistakes -- she's one of the nicest ladies I've ever met, and would have worn the mangled thing with pride. Isn't that the way it goes, though -- the very friends who don't mind substandard knit goods are the people you want to give perfection! (Or as close to perfection as you can muster.)

So, I think I should frog it, wash it, and try again. It has been 5 freaking years, after all. I even thought about knitting another MS3 with this yarn, but I don't think its variegated colors would suit the pattern.

Yep, that is what I need to do. Frog it. But somehow I never get around to it. One of these nights I need to sit down with this wanna-be shawl, a glass of wine and a pair of scissors. Or maybe a bottle of Jim Beam and a machete.