Not much knitting got done over the weekend which was hot and sweltery, though I did start a little cotton project which I’ll show you later, if it works out :) I did work on Picovoli some, but I have a minor problem..

This is a little fuzzy but I think you can make out what looks like (to me anyway) a very sloppy set of increases.  They aren’t sloppy - really!  I think it’s the thick ‘n thin yarn that makes it look that way.  But still… I’m being too sensitive here, aren’t I?  Yarn of an uneven ply isn’t going to look or act like something smooth and uniform.  That’s part of the fun - right?  Sigh…





On the other hand, I like the fabric a lot.  Certainly things are going smoothly and I’m not having any problems (aside of boredom - Colleen stop snickering!!) with the pattern.  I like the colors and the softly nubbly texture very much.  I guess I’ll carry on for a while and see what happens.





The cats aren’t awfully thrilled with the weather these days.  Goldie takes it reasonably well, amazingly well considering his thick coat.  Myria put some ice cubes into his water bowl last night and Goldie entertained us by watching them very suspiciously for quite a while.  Jade is personally affronted by summer and cannot understand why the world isn’t lap-friendly any more.  She’s spending a lot of time on the hard wood floor in the hall or on a cushion right in front of one of the fans.

I guess that’s about it for today folks.  I’m having a little trouble with the heat myself.  It will all work out, it’s just that transition issue.  Just a little while ago I was wearing socks and mitts to keep my digits warm and flexible and now I’m ducking into the shower every couple of hours or so just to cool off.  Once the weather settles down, I should be able to sleep again and my body will stop being so grumpy.  Of course, this is New England; it will never settle down :)

Note:  Here is a link to a close up of the stitch pattern.

I corrected a mistake in the Center section of the Make-up row instructions.  Where it read “SSK”, it now reads: ..."K across (slipping center marker) to 1 stitch before next marker.” This is correct as we want that increase!

Row 4 of the pattern has been corrected and the missing K1s added both to the beginning and the end of the row.

I started trying to figure out a way to incorporate the Dragon Skin stitch pattern (from Barbara Walker’s second treasury) into a shawl about two years ago.  It was then and is now one of my favorites, elegant and complex looking, but simple in concept and execution.

As you may recall, a friend gave me a glorious and generous gift of yarn for Christmas - Cascade 220 in a rich, deep red.  At that time, I was looking at the Victorian Lace Shawl and thought it was that I was going to make.  Reading the method for that shawl, however, made me giddy at the thought of being able to incorporate any pattern at all into a shawl and then I remembered Dragon Skin.

This stitch pattern is 26 stitches wide by 12 rows.  The chart for it looks like this:

You can see that it is a mirror symmetry in that one side exactly reflects the other.  The shawl shape is created by increasing 4 stitches on every right-side row, one at each end and one on either side of the center line.  If you were going to keep adding increases until you had enough for a full repeat of the pattern (at each of the four increase points on the shawl), you’d have to increase to 104 stitches before you even began the design!  Since the stitch pattern splits perfectly down the middle, I decided to do it that way, working in half patterns and adding the appropriate half every 13 increased stitches.

- Knit
M Make 1
/ K2tog
\ SSK

Both charts are worked from right to left.

The resulting shawl is, I think, very beautiful and it will certainly be nice and warm when the colder weather returns (and it was quite warm during the picture-taking session yesterday afternoon too!).  It is also very wide, proportionally, to it’s depth.  At first I was disappointed with this, but since blocking it, have came to appreciate that these proportions have their own charm and grace.  The shawl is about 72” wide and about 48” from top to bottom.  An equilateral triangle it ain’t :) It also has a notched neck though this would be easy to change should you so desire.

There is no edging - yet.  I haven’t entirely given up on it, though I’m a lot happier with Dragon’s looks since it was blocked.  Some little nag in the back of my head hasn’t given up annoying me about it (and I do have enough Cascade 220 remaining) so it’s still a possibility.  I intend to wear it whether it’s edged or not :)

So, with your kind forbearance, I give you Dragon Wings

Materials
Cascade 220 - 5 hanks in color of your choice (or the equivalent amount of any heavy worsted or aran weight yarn; a larger shawl or one with an edging or fringe will require more yarn).
Circular needle, size 9US (or 5.5mm) - I started on a 36” needle and ended on a 60” Addi Turbo.
Stitch markers (lots of em!)

Cast on 30 stitches. (Note: This will create the notched neck.  If you would prefer a more standard shawl top, cast on 6 stitches and work in stockinette, increasing 4 stitches every right side row until you have 30 stitches.  Then start with Row 1.)

Row 1 (WS):  P1, pm, P13, pm, P1, pm, P1, pm, P13, pm, P1.

Row 2:  K1, M1, slip marker.  Work Row 2 of Chart A, slip marker, knit into the front and back of next two stitches , slipping the marker between them.(Note: You will only increase this way - or any other way you prefer - on the center increases of Row 2 ) Slip marker.  Work Row 2 of Chart B, slip marker, M1, K1.

Row 3: (and all odd numbered rows): Purl across.

Row 4: K1, M1, K1, slip marker, work Row 4 of Chart A, slip marker. K1, M1, K1, slip marker, K1, M1, K1, slip marker.  Work Row 4 of Chart B, slip marker, K1, M1, K1.

The method is the same for all following pattern rows.  You will always K1, M1 at the beginning of the row, knit through the increase stitches, and then work the appropriate pattern row.  The center stitches will start with a K1, M1, you will knit through the increase stitches (slipping the marker in the center) and end with a M1, K1.  Then the other side of the pattern will be worked, the increase stitches knitted, and you will end with a M1, K1.

Work two complete repeats of the pattern, increasing on both ends and in the center as described.

Now there is a make-up row - Myria called it a leap-row :) You should have 13 increase stitches on each end and 26 stitches in the middle.  These are almost ready to be incorporated into the pattern but you also need fourmore stitches (one on each end and two in the middle) into which to start working the next set of increases.  So…

Make-up row : Right hand side of shawl: K1, M1, K to marker, slip marker, *K1, M1, K2tog, K to 3 stitches before next marker, SSK, M1, K1* Repeat for each section of the pattern chart.  Slip marker. Center sections: K1, M1, K across (slipping center marker) to 1 stitch before next marker.  M1, K1, slip marker.  Left-hand side of shawl: *K1, M1, K2tog, K to 3 stitches before next marker, SSK, M1, K1*.  Repeat for each section of the pattern chart.  Knit across increase stitches up to the last stitch - M1, K1.

Next row:  Purl.

Now you’re ready to add your next repeat of the stitch pattern.  This time you’ll start with Chart B, continuing to work Chart A as you did through the first iteration and continuing to do the increases as before.  Then the first half of the center increase stitches will be Chart B as well.  Add markers before, between and after the center two stitches.  The second half will be Chart A, then the Chart B stitches, worked as before and Chart A again on the end increase section.  You may wish to place markers between each section.  I did and I would have been lost (wailing in the wilderness) without them!

Continue increasing on right-side rows as established and incorporate the appropriate half of the stitch pattern when you have enough stitches in your increase sections.  Don’t forget the make-up rows between each two full repeats of the stitch pattern (every 24 rows).

Because the shawl is built from the top center out and down, the number of stitches builds up rather quickly and, once established, a section never changes - if it starts as Chart A that section of stitches will always be Chart A.

So if you take it in sections, it would look like this:

Inc - A - inc - inc - B - inc (two pattern repeats + make-up row)

then,

Inc - B - A - B - inc - inc - A - B - A - inc (two pattern repeats + make-up row)

then,

Inc - A - B - A - B - A - inc - inc - B - A - B - A - B (twice + make-up)

And,

Inc - B - A - B - A - B - A - B - inc - inc - A - B - A - B - A - B - A (twice + make-up)

And so forth.

You can make this as big or as small as you like.  I went through just over four hanks of yarn - call it 900 - 950 yards.  End after the purl row following a make-up row and bind off loosely.  Weave in the ends and block.

Then put your shawl around your shoulders and soar!

...or dream





This was a lot more awkward to explain that it was to knit :) I hope I have made things clear enough but please don’t hesitate to ask about anything and please, please let me know if something doesn’t seem right to you.  The concept might seem a little complicated but I promise - the execution is pretty simple.

Also, the color in the photographs is off quite a bit and I couldn’t find a way to fix it.  The yarn isn’t really orangey at all but more like black cherry.  However, it and the camera, abetted by the sun, seemed to do their own thing!

Sorry for the lateness, but Knitting Chatters is open. Drop in and say hello :) A link to the log on instructions can be found on the Knitting Chatters banner on the sidebar on the left.

I woke up at around 3:30 this morning to a brilliant full moon, streaming in the windows.  It was so gorgeous, I got up and went out to the kitchen (better view) to look at it for a while.  Both cats showed up hoping for an early breakfast, but that wasn’t happening :)

Yesterday I got down to brass tacks :) I realized that the longer it took to finish the hood/wimple (so I could acquire the size 4 circular for the new project) the more opportunity I had to talk myself out of attempting Picovoli.  It was happening - I’d caught myself doing it a couple of times already.  So there was only one thing to do…

...move the hood to a pair of stitch holders.  It’s not far from being finished and won’t take much time to complete but I felt that if I were going to get Picovoli done it was essential that I start immediately.

So, now the needle was freed up and swatching began with the sport weight cotton.  I was shooting for a gauge of 22sts/4” or thereabouts. First I got this:

This came out to 6 stitches/inch.  I wasn’t happy though I did discover that this Pure and Simple cotton is very nice to work with :) So I went up to a size 6 needle and got this:





This time we had 5 stitches per inch and a much looser knit than I would be comfortable wearing - if I wanted peek-a-boo mesh I’d go to Frederick’s of Hollywood :) Besides, at that gauge, this yarn looked pretty sloppy to me.

Great, I was thinking, Now what?

Then I had an idea!  Remember this?

It’s the perfect weight, all cotton and has over 200 yards per ball.  I was going to make a Mourning Dove Tee-shirt (a reference to the colors) but never did do it :) Surprise, surprise… It’s been marinating in the stash for a little over a year and I should have way more than enough to make Picovoli.





Just about perfect!

So, after doing the happy dance I cast on - my second attempt to cast directly onto a circular needle.  When I was ready to do the joining, I took the whole thing out into the kitchen where the light was better and told Myria I was doing something a little ticklish so not to mind if she heard any hearty cursing or pathetic whimpering.

And it worked…

...not that it looks like much yet :) And I can put the hood/wimple back on the size 4 circular and get it finished.  Yee-hah!

We have Chatters tomorrow night and Friday, at long last, the Tayle of the Dragon Wings!

Happy Wednesday:)

Oh thank heaven and saints be praised!  We have sun!  Not only that, but this is the second day it has been out.  Lawns and roads are actually drying out and, yesterday, there was a symphony of lawnmowers as the entire city rushed to cut it’s lawns while the sun was out, things having gotten very shaggy indeed :)

The baby blanket is finished.  I decided not to edge it yesterday, but it’s still possible :) I like it very much as is.  There’s a pleasant, almost optical illusion situation with blankets made on the diagonal.  Since they are not generally used diagonally, they are rotated 45º (so they resemble a square rather than a diamond) at which point the mind (well, my mind anyway) insists that the thing was made on the square and drives itself nuts trying to figure out how the effect of the stitches was achieved.  I enjoy this little conjuring trick that my brain plays on my eyes; it’s quite amusing.  It does make me wonder though - is this the only time this happens (when I’m doing diagonal knitting) or is it that this is the only instance I recognize?  And if that’s the case, how many things am I looking at cock-eyed and not seeing what’s really there?

I was contemplating a ball of cream-ish alpaca lace-weight (this lace weight in color “sunlight”) when it plopped into my brain that I could dye this :) I thought it might be interesting to see what happened.  I used exactly the same colors in the same proportions that I did for this (the pink yarn in the middle of the post) and used exactly the same method - my trusty and beloved crock pot :)

The original alpaca yarn was not an undyed product; it had quite a lot of yellow and a bit of grey in it.  It was very interesting to see the dyed yarn tend quite a bit more towards copper than the fingering weight merino had.  The alpaca is also (I think) a slightly deeper color and took the dye much more evenly than the wool.  Whether that’s one if the differences between alpaca and wool or whether that might be the result of , perhaps, the ways in which the alpaca had already been processed, I couldn’t say.  Further experimentation is in order.





The alpaca is on the left and the wool on the right.  Incidentally, the alpaca didn’t full/felt in the slightest.  Remember I complained that the merino had ever-so-slightly felted during the dye process?  Is this typical of alpaca, I wonder or did I just handle this batch more diffidently that the others?

Finally, I got the Japanese Feathers Hood back out to finish, as it should have:
(1) been done long ago
and
(2) is tying up the size 4 (US) needle I need for Picovoli. 

With any luck, I’ll finish this up today or tomorrow and then I can swatch for the knitted tee.  I notice that as I typed that commitment-type statement, my stomach did a leisurely roll :) It’s not the commitment, it’s the sweatery aspect of things that gives it the jitters.  All I can think is that once me and my nerves get through this there may be nothing we can’t do!

I made the Seraphina Shawl just about a year ago.  The pattern is written a bit oddly but the pattern isn’t difficult to get the hang of.  The shawl itself makes a gorgeous bat (or angel) wing shape that actually stays put on one’s shoulders without resort to tying, pinning, holding on or contortions - always a nice feature :) I gave this shawl away to someone who adored it because I didn’t like the yarn - an acrylic boucle that felt seriously yucky to me.  In fact I hadn’t bought the yarn because of it’s fiber content but because it was the first self-striping yarn I had ever seen and I was dying to see how it worked up.

But lately, I’ve been remembering the lovely shape of it and the fact that when I put it on, it stayed where I wanted it to stay instead of meadering around my shoulders and down my back without so much as a by-your-leave.  And I wanted to make another one so I dug out a ball of lace weight wool (of which I thought I had plenty) and a ball of rayon flake (of which I thought I had a ton) and went to work with a size G (4.25 mm) hook and the two lace-weight threads carried together.  Much smaller scale than the original than my original effort which was worked with a size J (6.00 m) hook and bulky, fluffy yarn.  And oh, was it beautiful!

But of course, while I knew I had 800+ yards of the wool, I’d forgotten I wasn’t working to the same scale.  Doing it this way was going to require substantially more yardage.  And while last night I was prepared to swear that I had at least 1000 yards of the rayon flake, I couldn’t find it anywhere.  I went through each cabinet and every box and bag.  Nada, zip, zilch, goose eggs.  Well, poop…

So I will need to rip this and start again with something I know I have plenty of.  If I wanted to put it off (which I don’t but which may be necessary) I could simply designate a box or a bag for “Seraphina” and collect sport/DK weight yarns in a particular color range and a variety of textures and then go to work when I have a sufficient quantity.  Anyone out there think I’ll wait that long?  Neither do I :)

The other thing I’ve been thinking about is sleeveless-ness.  For several years now I’ve been enviously eyeing all the pretty tanks and otherwise sleeveless tops that come out during the warm weather.  And there are a ton of patterns for these garments and, for the most part, they’re simple to do.  Two things have been stopping me.  For many years, I avoided sleeveless tops because I have rather broader-than-usual shoulders and felt that the no-sleeve look made me look like a line-backer :)

Well, I’ve lost 42 pounds (and counting!) and am beginning to wonder if I mightn’t take the chance rather than spending another summer consumed by envy of those who didn’t worry about having sleeves on their summer tops.

The other issue is that I abhor the bra-strap-peeking-out look (and don’t even get me started on those plastic “invisible” bra straps...) and because of the mastectomy (and that fact that I seem to have been built droopy in the first place - I’ve had old-lady boobs since I was fifteen), I can’t go without a bra.  Well, I won’t - not in public anyway :)

But I was looking around this morning and had another long look at Grumperina’s Picovoli and have been wondering if that wouldn’t fit the bill.  At least one modification would have to be made, of course.  I would minimize or even eliminate the waist shaping because I don’t have a waist...maybe in another 50 pounds :) But the rest of it seems good and I like the idea of it being top down and worked all in one piece.

I even have yarn, believe it or not!

This is Classic Elite Pure and Simple, naturally dyed, cotton sport weight and it’s been in the stash for quite a long time because while I love cotton, I don’t much love the color of this stuff (or lack of color - depends on how you look at it, I guess).  However, it’s not much to risk for an experiment and if the tops turns out to be a howling success that I love to pieces - I can dye it (or have it dyed).

So that’s what been on what passes for my mind over the last couple of days.  Have any of you had a stab at Picovoli?  Like it?  Loathe it?  Things to watch out for?  I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Yes, it’s still raining here and is likely to go on raining for at least another couple of days.  Here’s hoping all your weekends at least, are bright and sunny :)

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