Ring a bell?

If this speaks to you, you know you're a knitter.



One mate-less sock finished on the 24th.

Doesn't mean I can't have fun with it though! Hope everyone is well, and has a happy and safe year-end wrap up.





ooh, and in response to Diana (I'm sorry I didn't post sooner!) the error in the POTW stole is that as written, Chart B for the edging contains an error. The second-to-last stitch of rows 9, 11, 13 and 15 should be marked as a k2tog.

*sigh*

Just ripped the semi-secret project, and need to go and rip the super-secret project.

I try to avoid complaining, but dude? This week kind of sucks.


Ooh, also, thank you everyone for the wonderful comments on the shawl. My grandmother loves it.

FO: Print O The Wave

I cast off the stole yesterday and pulled it off the blocking mattress today.
Pattern: Eunny Jang's Print O The Wave
Needles: 120cm addi lace, 4.5mm
Yarn: just over 2 skeins (like... JUST) of handmaiden Mini Maiden
Start: mid-november, 2007
Size: 48x64"
End: December 11, 2007
Mods: Knit the body in one piece, didn't graft in the middle. Also the yarn weight, much heavier than called for.
Love it, really really love it. The yarn was a dream (even if the colour is elusive), the pattern was pretty well written, bar one error. I feel good about this knit.

Sorry, but the other project I have going is semi-secret!

The Sigh of Relief Heard 'Round the World

The Yarn Gods have smiled upon me! There was not only one more skein left at the shop, but three! (in their stash in the back)

Granted the price of the shawl just increased by 50%, when I'm going to use ~20 grams of the third skein. But it is worth it.

I may have proclaimed my undying love to the young lady on staff, oops.

Oh, and this means that for anyone who loved the colourway, there are at least 2 more in existence.

I'm going to go study now. No more posts until my next exam and shawl are done.

nail biting

Nearly halfway through the border! I am crossing my fingers that my remaining yarn holds out, but deep down... I fear that i may have committed the cardinal sin of not buying enough yarn (and there is no more available, as far as I know).

Less than a week to go!

Hello peoples!
First to address some questions form my last post:
Carly, I am indeed on Ravelry. Under the name 'michael'
And Heather, the shop I got the yarn from doesn't label the colourways (and they don't do it at the FA HQ as I understand it) and as always, I cannot find anything on their site even resembling it, I am sorry!

Now, knitting. I have finished off 25 of the called-for 34 repeats, and I think I will probably go until the full 34, I think I should still have enough yarn left for the edging then. It's getting close! (on a good day I get about 5 repeats in)

And you all know how unblocked lace gets me going, so have some photos for now. (also, I love how much it looks like cables at this point. And I am still waiting on a photo that really shows the true greens in this yarn.)

Swiss Watch? No...

Swatch! This is for Eunny Jang's Print O' The Wave Stole, in Hand Maiden Mini Maiden. The colour is pretty darn poor (I swear, it has a different personality for every slight change in lighting).





Umm, more talk later. Last push in the final two weeks of class this term.

Doo-doo-Doo!

Ok. News. I grabbed the 'Filigree Shawl' from Alpaca with a Twist, and enough skacel Merino Lace to knit it. I am not sold on the yarn, it's too... flat (the yarn is a beautiful sage green, but it is completely solid, and I need some variety, baby!) So I am going to explore the other yarn store tomorrow in hopes of finding something more to my liking, or, if not, I might try to overdye the yarn just to add some depth, nothing crazy. (also, I might alter the pattern a bit, add something to the main squares, because you know, it's not hard enough as is or anything). And I need to get the yarn for tomorrow, because the day after I am hoping to head on a mini road trip up-island (just overnight) to unwind for two days, no computer, just my knitting, good local food, and maybe a travelling companion.

Also, Tomten photos! I will sya now that I am not super keen on these photos, but they will do the job (and I will attempt to get more, we are just out of sun lately). Er, I will do a complete FO write up tomorrow hopefully (cross your fingers for at least oooooone good photo)

Hrmph

Geez, by the sounds of things, you might think I haven't been knitting at all!
In fact I am done everything on the Tomten except for zipper bands (for which I need the zipper, you'll see why), and seaming the second sleeve (which I intend to do tomorrow). Since it is so so so close, I want to hold off and give y'all a real FO.
Just so this space stays semi-active, have a little wintery picture (hope you don't mind, Miss Kaity)



Oh, and I have been doodling variations of these little guys for a while now, but I can't shake the feeling that they are not mine! If you have seen anything like them on any other artists blog, ever, do let me know, I can't find where I would have got them, but I would love to give due credit if I stole them.

Used

I have this thing about used bookstores. I just cannot stay away. Some used bookstores hold more interest for me than others, and while I have nothing against 'The Classics', seeing shelves full of nothing other really doesn't do it for me.

A good way to win me over is interesting cooking books. (I have a... compulsion when it comes to buying cooking books, I think it's glandular or something). So you can imagine my excitement when I founda book which claims to "[explain] things you need to know, and things to watch out for. There are plenty of things left for you to discover, learn, stumble upon." In my subsequent internet forays, I found that I did not stumble across some super-valuable holy tome of cookery, or some hitherto undiscovered work of genius. No, I found a very well known instant classic, apparently. But I do seem to have found a less common edition, because it has different cover art. And Oh! The art in this book! It is adorable, there are illustrations on almost every page (in a style reminiscent of my mother's, actually), and I would have nabbed this sucker for nothing else other than the pictures. It also looks to be a solid vegetarian guidebook (I am notorious for being poor at inventing good vegetarian dishes. They are usually... green, and kind of soggy.)





















Also, a book for sneaky organic cooks? I am so there! I am no nutritionist, but it seems to have at least a goodly amount of simple, sane, helpful health advice (it is about half chatter, and half recipes). It also has a chapter about reinvigorating one's... personal life through change in diet, not partners. The writer (Jane Kinderlehrer) seems to be pleasantly witty, and I am *so* sold on the idea of a culinary guerilla now.

Now, if there was one more thing I needed to cement this bookstore in my list of favourite time-sinks downtown, it would be books about knitting. While I didn't find any of those, I did find 'an introduction to natural dyeing'. I am not a dyer myself, but I know that there are people out there who are very much into natural dyeing, and this 37 page pamphlet from 1972 Santa Rosa, California looks like quite the little treasure. Oh, and if the colour plate doesn't lie, I wonder why people don't do this more, I am very taken by some of the colours shown.
















And lastly, it's sock weather!