Archives for June 2011

Here it is the last day of June. Where did the month go? For that matter, where has the year gone? It seems like it was just January.

My little scarf/shawlette thingie is done, see?

It’s really more of a scarf than a shawlette.

It used about 250 yards of fingering weight yarn.

Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in the Creme de Menthe colorway, to be exact.

I’m very happy with it!

Using the same construction technique and lace edging, I plan to make another one that is more of a shawlette — it’ll have a deeper “body” so it is longer from top to bottom. More about that on Sunday. I’ll offer the two versions together in one pattern.

Gotta love a two-fer.

Other things to love . . .

We Love Lynn Zimmerman

My buddy Lynn Zimmerman is doing her second annual Make A Wish fundraiser — all details are over on her blog. If you donate $5.00 via her donation page (linked to from her blog with detailed instructions), Lynn will send you a copy of Laura Linneman’s beautiful My Wish Shawl Pattern. You have until August 26 to make donations.

But wait, there’s more!

For every $10.00 you donate, you will receive an entry in a drawing for some wonderful prizes! Check out Lynn’s prize blog post for details on what you could win. There are some wonderful prizes!

Actually, I think I am being very altruistic mentioning this because if I didn’t, fewer people would know about it and I would have a better chance of winning one of those amazing prizes. Of course, the fact that the Knitgirllls talked about this on their last podcast means it is already out there. So I’m not being so altruistic after all.

We Love Vogue Knitting

Because they always send me wonderful books to review, and because they authorized me to give away free tickets to the upcoming VK Live market in Los Angeles to two of my readers. These two lucky readers, chosen at random from the comments, are Brenna D. and Cathie Jones. I have emailed you two and have sent your email addys to Vogue Knitting and they will be in touch with you.

We Love Potter Craft

A couple of weeks ago I got two advance-advance copies of my upcoming book (to be published August 23) Wendy Knits Lace from my publisher, Potter Craft. (I get a box of copies next month, but the printer sends a few on early and I always get a couple of those).

I kept one copy of course, and sent the second copy to my awesome tech editor L-B because after all the work she put in on this book, she deserved to be one of the first to have it.

Yesterday Potter Craft told me they are sending me another copy so I can do a blog giveaway now!

Who’d like it?

To be entered in the drawing for this advance-advance copy of Wendy Knits Lace, leave a comment on this blog post. I will draw a winner from among the comments using the Random Number Generator at about 4:00pm EDT next Thursday, July 7, so be sure and have your comment in by then!

Last But Most Certainly Not Least

We love Lucy!

Here is a more updated photo of my work in progress (taken with my new HTC Thunderbolt phone, Thor).

This is a short-row shawlette. I knit a lace edging, then picked up stitches along the long straight edge of the edging and am working back and forth in short rows for the body of the shawl. A different construction for me and a very fun one.

I’m using Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in the “Creme de Menthe” colorway and a U.S. size 5 (3.75mm) needle. Because I am working on an unbloggable project at the same time, this is commuter knitting only. The lace edging was easily memorizable and one I got into the body it’s almost mindless. In other words, great commuter knitting.

Speaking of Thor . . .

I’m still loving my HTC Thunderbolt! What a great phone.

One of the issues with the Thunderbolt that I knew about before purchasing was that it really drains the battery. Knowing this, I ordered an extended battery for it immediately — this one (Amazon link). The battery (and new back that accommodates the extra girth of the battery) arrived yesterday (love Amazon Prime shipping) and now Thor is a little hunchback. 🙂

There is a reason why this battery has all 5-star reviews on Amazon. It makes a huge difference in battery life. And as one reviewer reported, the extra girth does make it easier to grip the phone.

Yesterday at this time I had less than 40% battery left. Today:

90%!

I got Thor a Seidio case that accommodates his hunchback so he is stylin’!

Lucy could not care less.

ETA: Danielle at fibre space tells me that they are opening up 20 more spots in the Dyed Delights Club on June 29. (I mentioned this upcoming club last week.) Go here to check it out if you missed out the first time around!

I finished and steam-blocked my first Camp Loopy project, my Daybreak shawl, Thursday night.

I made the medium size and used Skinny Bugga! in the “Cuban Cockroach” and “Question Mark Butterfly” colorways on a U.S. size 4 (3.5mm) needle. This was a fast, enjoyable knit. I’m very happy with the colors I chose — reminds me of mint chocolate chip ice cream. 😉

I’ve started another shawl, with a different construction technique, just for fun. Here is a sneak preview:

I took the photo last Friday at the office. I call it “Still Life With Security Badge.” The yarn is Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in the Creme de Menthe colorway (yum). You can tell I am fond of green, can’t you?

Vogue Knitting Live

You probably know that Vogue Knitting is doing another Live event — this one in Los Angeles on September 23-25, 2011.

Vogue Knitting sends me lots of lovely books to review, many of which I pass on to my readers via blog contests. Now they are offering a VKLive giveaway: free marketplace tickets to two of my readers, and those two winners will be entered in a larger contest to win a basketful of VK Live branded goodies.

You can read more about the event here: http://www.vogueknittinglive.com/shows/la11/home

If you are interested in attending and would like to be entered in the drawing for a free marketplace ticket, please leave a comment to this post letting me know. I’ll draw the winners (via the Random Number Generator as per usual) on Thursday, June 30, so please get your comments posted by noon EDT on Thursday.

Why I did Not Get Much Knitting Done This Weekend

/geek mode on

My new phone! An HTC Thunderbolt, on the Verizon 4G network. It is fast! Here is the speedtest result for my phone:

And the speedtest result for my broadband at home:

/geek mode off

I’ve named him Thor. 😀

Meanwhile, Lucy is more interested in digging around for a nail file.

She has no shame.

I think the “Carry On” film people should have made one called “Carry On Knitting” don’t you?

That’s not the point of this blog entry, though. It’s just something that popped into my head, unbidden.

A couple of you have asked how I dealt with the color changes for Daybreak. Did I carry the color not in use up the side? And if so, doesn’t that add bulk on one side of the shawl? Or did I break  the colors off after each use? Good questions.

I carried the color not in use up the side, and very loosely at that. You need to carry them loosely so that you will be able to stretch the shawl out enough when blocking.

Added bulk? Because this is fingering weight yarn it is not really an issue.

It does, however, show a bit on the right side.

Does this bother me? Not in the least.

I could have carried the yarn not in use in a stitch or two from the edge on each color change, but then I would have had to carry it back out again. and worry about keeping everything loose enough at the same time. So I decided not to worry about it.

Nope, my edges don’t match. It’s a design element.

I did spend some time going through the Ravelry gallery for this project out of curiosity, trying to see what other people did on the edge, but got bored before I could find a photo of a Daybreak that showed a close-up of the edge.

Oh, and while I am in true confessions mode . . . I did not do left and right leaning increases. The direction of the increases are not noticeable in handpainted yarn so I did them all the same way — with the tip of the left-hand needle, pick up the bar between two stitches from front to back, twist it and knit into it.

I am binding off Daybreak even as we speak!

Dyed Delights Club

My lys, fibre space, today announced a new yarn club, Dyed Delights. It is described as “a sock yarn club without sock projects.” Click on the link there to go to fibre space’s website and read all about it. I may or may not know who one of the designers is. Did I join? Of course I did — there are only 50 spots available. And the description sounds fantastic!

Lucy sez:

“Get ’em while they’re hot!”

I have today completed the striped portion of Daybreak and have over 400 stitches per row.

No wonder it takes me so long to finish a row. But it has been a fun, virtually mindless knit so far.

The last section will be even more mindless since it is one color.  In other words, great commuter knitting!

For blocking, I plan to steam this only, instead of wet-blocking. I am not looking to stretch it out in size, just even things up. So I think a good steam is all it will need!

Between you and me, I am not a fan of stripes and never have been. This dates back to the days when I was a wee child and dressed without regard to my personal preferences (which I probably was not able to articulate at that point anyhow). There are two particularly heinous striped jumpers I had as a child that are seared forever in my memory (and as an aside, I will never, ever, voluntarily wear a jumper — see link above for American usage of the word — not a pullover sweater but a sleeveless dress over a blouse).

Anyway. Even though this scarf/shawl/thingie is striped, I think it is quite pretty. It’s all in the colors you choose, I suppose. That and the fact that it is not a fitted garment. Since I will be using this as a scarf, I can allow it to be striped.

And there you have one of the big advantages of doing a KAL-type of project. Daybreak is not something I would have ever chosen to knit left to my own devices. But since it was one of the suggestions for a two-color shawl or wrap to count as the first project in Camp Loopy, I gave it a second look.

Crochet Magazine Giveaway

Beth B. was chosen by the Random Number Generator to receive my copy of Crochet Accessories. Beth, I have emailed you. Thank you to everyone who left a comment!

Happy Summer!

Well, it’s been summer for over three hours now. And Lucy is already tired of it — I caught her mid-yawn!