Archives for August 2011

Insomnia: it’s not always a bad thing.

I’ve had a couple of sleepless nights this week, so my lace in progress is, well, progressing.

As I mentioned in my last blog post, this is another lace sweater, and it will be styled similarly to the last one I made. (I know I haven’t written up the pattern for it yet — too much going on for me to concentrate!)

This one differs from the last one in that I started by knitting a lace edging sideways, then turned and picked up stitches along the long edge and am knitting up from there. On my last lace sweater I simply knit up from the bottom.

I am planning on making this sweater rather long — I think I have 26 or 27″ so far on this piece (which will be the back) and I will likely knit to at least 32″, maybe more.

I’ll keep you posted. 🙂

Giveaway!

The other day firefly contacted me to offer a fun giveaway for my readers. Remember the adorable knitters’ eye charts we gave away a while back? Those were a collaboration between firefly and her artist son. Her son has an etsy shop here where he sells his vintage-y handmade subway signs. Like these:

He also does custom work, if you are looking for a unique gift for someone — check out this lovely sign created as a wedding gift:

This giveaway is for a set of three 12″ x 18″ signs that the winner will be able to select from the Flying Junction Etsy shop. If you’d like to be entered in the drawing, please leave a comment to this post by noon EDT next Tuesday, August 23 — my publication day! 😀

By the way, firefly asked me to tell you that her son knows how to knit. 🙂 We gotta support our fellow knitters!

Lucy Sez

“I wuz gonna model Momma’s new project but modeling is hard work so I took a nap instead.”

I am back at Camp Loopy with my third camp project, started in the wee hours of yesterday. (Sometimes insomnia is not a bad thing.)

Here is a lace edging:

That is the start of a sweater, similar in style to the last lace pullover I made. The edging is the bottom edge of the back of the sweater. I knit the edging sideways, then turned it and picked up stitches along the long straight edge:

And I am knitting a body pattern up from there.

This is Hand Maiden Swiss Mountain Silk in the “Boreal” colorway. The Camp Loopy Project III must use at least 800 yards of yarn — this will likely use more than 1200 yards, so I am good there. I’m using a U.S. size 6 (4mm) needle — one 0f my beloved Signature Circulars.

I cannot tell you how much I love Swiss Mountain Silk. I was very pleased to see that The Loopy Ewe got a new shipment of it and it went up in yesterday’s shop update.

There is a distinct possibility that I ordered more of it for another sweater. 😉

One Week

One week from today, Wendy Knits Lace will be published. It seems like I’ve been waiting forever!

Twelve Days

And in twelve days I’m starting a new job, in a different federal agency. This Friday is my last day at my current job (where I have been for ten years).  I am taking next week off from work. I have special friends coming to stay with me and go to my book release party with me on August 27. Y’all are invited to that as well! Then I’ll start my new job on August 29.

Lucy Sez

As long as she comes home so I can sleep in her lap, I don’t care what else she does.

My lovely friend Rachael is giving away a copy of Wendy Knits Lace on her blog. She will draw a name tomorrow (Monday), so there still is time for you to post a comment to enter the drawing.

Second . . .

My Winter Gauntlets pattern is now available for sale in my Ravelry store.

Third . . .

I’ve spent the weekend working on another Super Slouch, using yet another lace pattern. Teddy helped me.

And I finished it.

This is Madelinetosh Tosh DK in the “Grove” colorway. I used my Super Slouch pattern (available in my Ravelry store here) but, as I said, used a different lace pattern. The Super Slouch pattern currently has two options for lace. I will add this third option to the original pattern, so you will now have three choices — it’s a three-fer!

Those of you who have already purchased the pattern (thank you  very much!) will get an email from Ravelry when I’ve updated the pattern, so you can download the new version.

Here is my yarn for my Camp Loopy Project III, well, one of the skeins of it, anyway.

Hand Maiden Swiss Silk in the “Boreal” colorway. I’ll be able to start on this tomorrow! Can you guess what I might be making from it?

Lucy sez:

“I’ll help you wind it up, Momma!”

Reader GeniaKnitz asked in the comments:

Just learned about negative ease in socks at the Summit (No WONDER my socks are so slippy on my feet!), do you also put negative ease in mittens? And can anyone recommend a good basic mitten book for this mitten beginner?

You don’t want negative ease in mittens — at least I don’t. I think that mittens by their very nature are supposed to have a wee bit of positive ease. Since your fingers are basically going commando in there, you don’t want them smooshed too close together. Rather, let them have a bit of wiggle room. 🙂

As for the second question, can anyone recommend a good basic mitten book?

Speaking of Mittens

My mittens are done!

The pattern (which I am calling Winter Gauntlets) will be available for sale in my Ravelry store tomorrow.

I used The Loopy Ewe Solid Series in the Grape and Kiwi colorways — one skein of each. You do need more of the background color than the contrast color for this design because of the gauntlet cuff, but you can still easily make a pair of mittens with one skein of each color. I used a 2.75mm needle for a gauge of 9 stitches and 9 rows to 1 inch done in colorwork stockinette stitch.

Yikes — What Now?

I have finished my mittens and can’t start my Camp Loopy project until Monday — what do I do in the meantime?

The Loopy Ewe to the rescue!

I ordered this skein of Madelintosh Tosh DK (in the Grove colorway) to make another Super Slouch Hat.

A long-haired girl cannot have enough Super Slouch Hats. So say I.

Winner! Winner! Winner!

The winner of my review copy of Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi: More Than 40 Itty-Bitty Minis to Knit, Wear, and Give by Anna Hrachovec is Jen. Jen has been emailed and has responded.

Thank you to all of you who left a comment to enter the contest!

Lucy is overcome with excitement!

I’ve not got much blogging time today, but I wanted to check in to report that I’m making good progress on my latest mitten project. Here is the first one completed.

And here is the palm.

As you can see, I deviated from my nearly ubiquitous corrugated ribbing for two-color mittens and instead did a picot hem and a little band of colorwork above it. Then some plain 1×1 ribbing, and then right into the hand. Kind of fun for a change!

However, I do think I am a bit “over” mittens now, so when I complete the second mitten, that’ll be it for a while.

Besides, on Monday I get to dive into some Hand Maiden Swiss Silk in the Boreal colorway. It is the yarn for my Camp Loopy Project III, which I can start on August 15.

More on that later.

Even though it is hotter than all get-out, Lucy’s favorite spot is curled up in my lap. From the LucyCam:

All hail the mighty a/c!