Thursday, July 24, 2008

Thunder and Lightening and Kitties - Oh my!

One down…

Dad's sock



One to go :)

Dad's sock



I’m hoping to have them done by the weekend.

I also started a small experiment in entrelac lace.  It has not been notably successful as yet, but I think the problems can be solved with a different yarn.

Entrelac lace scarf



I was attempting to work a version of Cat’s Paw lace into the first tier of blocks here - and also working out placement of the stitch pattern within the blocks.

Cat's paws - take one



In this attempt, I think there’s too much space between the patterns.  It doesn’t look right and lacks balance.

Cat's paws - take two



Here, the spacing is better but I’ve got at least one more idea to try before I make a decision.  That will involve off-setting the patterns to the right and left instead of placing them one directly above the other.

The yarn is Schaefer Anne and I’ve had it in the stash for quite a while.  It sat so long partly because I bought it to use as sock yarn (Doh!  That’s what it was made for!) but it’s weight, which is finer that ordinary sock yarn, made me nervous.  So I stashed it thinking it would make good lace yarn - you know - when the time came where I wanted to knit lace.  I had never seen lace weight yarn at that time, so my logic seemed reasonable to me then :)

Of course I have some familiarity with lace weight now and the Anne doesn’t come anywhere near it.  Lace weight yarn will take care of most of my issues here.  A color change would help too.  I love the rich, saturated blues and violets of the Anne, but it’s not suitable (at least to my eye) for this piece.  Or at least, for what I envision this piece becoming.

The blue baby blanket is still in progress and the green shawl still isn’t blocked.  In the kind of humidity we’ve been getting, I don’t want a baby blanket in my lap and I really want a dry day for blocking the shawl.  Yes, I’m still working on the pattern :) 

See, our weather this summer has been very nearly tropical - not so much temperature-wise, though we’ve had our share of hot days - but in terms of humidity and precipitation.  It has rained nearly every day for a month.  Not all day, mind you.  Things will start to cloud over in the late afternoon/early evening and the wind will come up - somethimes quite violently.  Then it gets dark and the lightening and thunder start.  And then the skies open and it pours like water out of a bucket.  Yesterday and today, it’s been doing this off and on all day instead of only once in the afternoon.  Poor Goldie, who is not at all happy about thunder, has been spending a great deal of time under the bed.  Jade?

Jade asleep on my blanket



Doesn’t seem to trouble her in the slightest :) 

Up in the wee smalls again tomorrow to bring dad into Boston.  While he is doing better, his hands and shoulders are still bothering him some - enough so that he doesn’t want to risk driving any distance.  Around the corner to the market is one thing but driving into (and in!) the city is something else entirely. 

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Babbled by Robbyn on 07/24 at 10:59 AM
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  1. holy cow, look at all you’ve gotten accomplished! love the socks and can’t wait to hear how your dad likes them- the dk yarn will make them nice and smooshy-

    waay back in the dinosaur days, when i crocheted more than i knitted, i thought that working with size 20 or 30 thread and a wee crochet hook was such an accomplishment that i gave myself great kudos for doing it- then i found lace and cobweb weight yarns for knitting and realized that all crafts (artforms??) have their fragile sides- lately i’ve found myself looking over and over at some of sharon miller’s exquisite shawl patterns using the cobweb weights and feeling my fingers itching- yeah, like i have the time!!

    we’re suffocating around here- i never again will wish for any kind of storm, but i could certainly use a few nice breezy and rainy days- things just look brown and crunchy now-

    stay happy-

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  07/26  at  09:34 AM
    Location : right here practicing procrastination

  2. Barb - It’s sport weight, actually - but it does feel nice and springy :)  Based on how the first one fits me (just a little big around and about 3/4” too long), they should fit him perfectly.

    I had another abortive lace weight experiment this afternoon - so I’m still working on that :)  But I remember the fine crochet cottons fondly.  Sharon Miller’s stuff is amazing - definitely inspiration to get the lace-knitting mojo going!

    Posted by Robbyn  on  07/26  at  12:16 PM
    Location : On top of old smokey...

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