Knitting Chatters is on - same time, same channel :) Click on the button in the sidebar to join us!  Come for the knitting, stay for the nuttiness.  Hope to see you there!

Announcing:

I had the thought a while ago that I would set aside everything else and work on nothing but Dulaan projects for a month to see how full I could stuff my Dulaan bag :) And it occurred to me that it would be fun to invite you good folks to join me.

Many of you are already familiar with the Dulaan project.  In brief, knitters all over the world create garments to help warmly clothe the desperately poor of Mongolia.  Materials can be anything you have to hand - acrylics, wools, blends - so long as they would knit up into something warm.  Likewise, colors may be any or all :)

In the first year of the project, 4,517 blankets and garments were collected and shipped to Mongolia.  In the second year, the goal was 4,518 but what is actually being sorted and sent are 12,085 items!  Next year’s goal is set at 12,086 but I’m betting the Dulaan brigadeers will swamp that figure easily :)

More information on the project is available here and here.  You can also click on the Dulaan button on my sidebar.  If you decide to participate, you might want to take a copy of the button for your own blog or home page.  Please do not link to the button on my site :)

Patterns for many types of items are available here.  This list is not meant to be an all-inclusive or restrictive list - these are simply options that the formidable Ryan, the mover and shaker (the one with the determined and generous heart) behind the Dulaan project, over at Mossy Cottage, has provided.  You may have other favorite patterns that you prefer to use.  Everything is welcome.

Now, on to the good stuff :) Here are the guidelines for the contest:

1.  Create at least two items (there’s no uppper limit - make as many things as you’d like or have the stamina for!) for the Dulaan project and send me a picture (address is on the sidebar) along with a brief note describing your items.  The picture should clearly show the number of items but should not be too big :).  I will make a Dulaan Kick-off Contest gallery to display the talent and generosity of all who participate - with appropriate credit, of course.  When your pictures are received, you will be entered in the contest.  You can knit or crochet any warm item you like (or make blankets - see the linked Dulaan information) - sorry folks, pairs of mittens or socks count as one item :)

2.  The deadline for entries is noon, EST, October 27, 2006.

3.  I will hold the drawing on October 31, 2007 - Halloween - to determine the winners.  This also coincides pleasantly with The Yarnpath’s third anniversary.  I’m afraid I don’t have a lot to offer as a prize, but the winners will receive one of these:

...or

Click on images to go to the production and notes pages for each color.

There will be two winners.  The individual who makes the most stuff will get their choice of the two yarns pictured above.  There will also be a random drawing (names-in-the-hat kind of thing) and that individual will receive whichever yarn remains.

These yarns are hand dyed (by me, heh...) and are heavy worsted/aran weight wool.  No promises are made as to suitability for anything in particular and what you see is what you get :)

So - anyone game?

Still thinking about shawls here and yes, still playing with shapes :) After last Friday’s post about the shape of an individual segment of Horseshoe lace, I spent some time trying to replicate it.  This got varying results :)

The first attempt was a center double-decrease effort.  Nothing else was done, no futzing around on the edges or anything.  I cast on 31 stitches and decreased two stitches in the middle on every right-side row.  You can see that yields a sort of delta wing shape - not unattractive, but not shawl-suitable either.  I need that bottom edge (as you’re looking at the picture) to angle up and in towards the middle, not down and out.





This time I tried increasing in the center along with some rudimentary lace work.  Actually, I really liked the pattern that was evolving.  In particular each right-side row started with a (K2tog, YO) x2 and ended with a (YO, SSK) x2 that lent a nice feeling (to me) of solidity to the edges.  Where I had suspected that I wouldn’t like the look of it, I wound up liking it quite a lot.  Unfortunately the overall shape still isn’t workable - but there are things here that can be worked on, or worked into another attempt.





The last major attempt was this one and it came out totally differently that I expected.  I had noticed on the horseshoe piece that the number of apparent stitches in the pattern increased by 4 on each side of the center line and so I took that idea with me into this swatch.  There were no increases or decreases in the center - the increases were all off to the sides.  However, increasing 8 stitches in a regular fashion on every right-side row gave me a circular shape.

Okay, it’s not what I was looking for, but at least it’s workable as a shawl :) Or at least it would be if it were large enough.  I would absolutely continue to do the increases in a mirrored fashion and I would be thinking about introducing a pattern of some sort into the panels as they grew large enough to accommodate some kind of lace design.

I can appreciate the beauty of a Pi-type shawl but to wear it, it has to be folded over (same deal with the traditional Shetland shawls) thus (in my opinion) obscuring the design work.  A shape that can be worn unfolded wouldn’t do that and an unjoined circle shape, it seems to me, would sit on the shoulders well and stay in place with a minimum of fuss and bother.

I’ve also been thinking about the mohair I have left from the lace blanket project.  There’s a fair amount of it, including some that seems like it would benefit from a color change (those two yucky pink ones on the right) - heheh...any excuse to break out the dye pot :) This includes a little better than half of the Purple Haze and all of the Oasis Sunset, which I never did use in the original blanket.  Of course I’m thinking about another blanket, since I am so happy with the first one :) If one is good - wouldn’t two be better?

Have a great week everyone!

New Post at The Dye Pot.  I got a little carried away this time and dyed a tartan!

Well, not really - but have a look at Black Watch, the latest in the variegated experiments.

I was playing around with the Horseshoe lace pattern last night, still thinking about a shawl :)

Multiple of 10 + 1

Row 1:  (WS - and all wrong side rows)) Purl
Row 2:  (RS) K1, YO, K3, sl2 knitwise-K1-psso, K3, YO, K1
Row 4:  K2, YO, K2, sl2 knitwise-K1-psso, K2, YO, K2
Row 6:  K3, YO, K1, sl2 knitwise-K1-psso, K1, YO, K3
Row 8:  K4, YO, sl2 knitwise-K1-psso, YO, K4

The double decrease in the center isn’t the one normally used.  Usually a sl1-K2tog-psso is the action taken but that always looks, I don’t know, a little clunky to me.  I like the centered double-decrease better.

I finished this swatch by eliminating the YOs and just doing the center double decrease until all the stitches were used up. But as I studied it, it seemed to me that this shape:

...would make a graceful shawl with the points coming over the shoulders to the front and the back being an invert red tear shape.  I need to play with this some more but the idea is intriguing.  Oh I know better knitters than I have probably already figured this out and I’m likely re-inventing the wheel here.  But there’s something to be said for working things out on your own - at least there’s something in it for me.  It’s fun :)

I’ve also got socks on the needles - ones I had to frog back to the beginning.  I had thought that the purl bump in the Broken Rib pattern would look interesting in a contrasting color.  No doubt they would but I couldn’t get past my fumble-fingers enough to make it work so the socks are being knit in plain 3 x 1 ribbing - nice and soft, nice and stretchy - plain, dull navy blue :)

Have a great weekend!

We’re knitting tonight as we commonly do -
We’re knitting tonight and we’re chatting too
We might not be able to cure the world’s ills,
But we try to help out as we practice our skills.

We’re knitting tonight - socks, shawls and hats
Sweaters and blankets and scarves and cravats.
We’re knitting for people we love and hold sweet
And we’re knitting for folks that we never will meet.

We knit to have afghans, doilies, a toy -
We knit for the sheer mathematical joy
Of playing with numbers - how they do entrance-
Of stirring them up and then watching them dance!

We talk about everythng, needles in hand
To new friends and old in our warm little band.
So gather your yarn and your needles so bright
And won’t you come join us?  We’re knitting tonight!

Knitting Chatters is on tonight from 8:00 PM - 12:00 AM EST.  Click on the button in the sidebar for access.  Hope to see you there! 

Hi folks, Moonwolf here.  You saw a little of my world last year around Halloween.  Robbyn has asked me to take you on a bit of a tour as she is tied up today.  So I thought I’d show you some of the sights of Tyria.

You have to bear in mind that many places on my world are either rebuilt, in the process of being rebuilt or just plain trashed.  It was very beautiful once…

I always loved this area and had thought I would like to live by that pond with the wheel and the waterfall.  But a few years ago we underwent the Searing.  How it came about and why are still being discussed but it nearly destroyed the world.  That lovely house and landscape?  They look like this now…





Tyria encompasses all kinds of terrains and climates.





Sanctum Cay is on the seashore.  That’s Abbey, my wolf, in the foreground.  People often refer to her as a pet but she’s not, really.  She’s a friend and hell, she’s stronger than I am.  Solid, dependable and, believe it or not, a wicked sense of humor.  I love when she runs back to me after a battle and goes into the play position, down on her front legs, still full of piss and vinegar after the fight.  She’s awesome :)

Those are drakes in the water behind Abbey - about six of them.  They’re kind of like small dragons and there are several types - ice, fire - these are lightning drakes.

Magumma Falls is in the jungle and is surrounded by poisonous spiders and scarabs - big ones.  There is also another local form of life know as a wind rider.  They float around in the air and will suck the life right out of you if you’re not careful!  Robbyn tells me they resemble something on your word known as a jellyfish.





Henge of Denravi is also in the jungle but it’s more in the nature of a rest stop.  This boat runs people back and forth but most folks just fight their way in.  Just business as usual around here :) There are shops where you can get new armor, improve your weapons and even acquire spells in the form of runes to buff up your skills and health.  You don’t use magic in your world - at least most of you don’t, I’m told - which is a real shame.  A spell to restore your health or boost your marksmanship can come in real handy!  Of course you all probably don’t risk running into monsters whenever you leave town either :) I sometimes wonder what it would be like to live in a world where magic wasn’t necessary just to get by…





There are still areas of major conflict that don’t involve monsters too.  The Deldrimor dwarves and the Stone Summit Dwarves are mortal enemies and will probably always be.  The Deldrimor War Camp (above) is right in the middle of the Shiverpeak Mountains and there are Stone Summit all around.  These yaks provide labor and fiber for the Deldrimor.  For the Stone Summit they also function as beasts of war, carrying their healers along whenever battle is anticipated.  You can see how big they are.  Robbyn has told me you have a similar creature in your world but not quite as sizeable.





At the other end of the Shiverpeaks range is Droknar’s Forge.  Droknar was a dwarf renowned among a race of quintessential craftsman for the strength of his armor and the sturdiness and keenness of his blades.  People come from all over Tyria to the Forge for the best armor in the world.  It is so cold in this area that ice ships are used to move between the Forge and some of the outlying islands around which the water never thaws.





Of course there aren’t just jungles and mountains.  There’s the Crystal Desert too - and quite a lot of it!  While there are ruins there, they are not from the Searing.  These ruins are ancient.  Many mammoth skeletons are scattered about and there are the remains of sailing ships everywhere protruding from the sand.  This was a great sea at one time but no one seems to know what happened to the water!  There were some records before the Searing but most of them have been lost.





This statue is, as far as I know, the biggest man-made thing on Tyria.  There are pieces of others like it partially buried all over the desert.  I know the picture doesn’t really give you a good idea of its true size but it is called the Colossus.  That figure in the bottom, right foreground is a desert giant who is about 10 feet tall - if that helps put things into perspective. 

Because of the very uneven terrain in the desert, there are transport platforms in various areas to help you get from one place to another.  There are four pedestals around each one and the stones have to be activated in a certain order to set up the right magic to activate the transport device.  It’s very quick - almost instantaneous, but a bit disconcerting.  You walk into the front of the thing and by the time you’ve reached the back, you’re someplace else.  Abbey hates them, poor thing.  I think it’s the change in smells from one area to another that confuses her.

Desert transport device


In the far south, there is what may be Tyria’s most inimical environment - The Ring of Fire.  These islands are all that’s left of what was once one of Tyria’s largest kindoms - Orr.  In fact it is said that Orr is where the gods used to live when they were present on this world.  In attempt to stem the cataclysm that was the Searing, Orr managed to blow itself up.  Almost none of its people survived and these islands are all that is left of the land.  Most of them look like this…

It’s a rough world, I guess.  Your world is different, not so dangerous or so desperate.  We don’t have what I understand is called technology in your world - but you know, that sounds an awful lot like magic to me.  Voices and pictures going through the air, hot water whenever you want it without having to build a fire first and food that comes in boxes and doesn’t spoil!  Not to mention being able to step out your back door in the morning without having to fight something with three heads just so you can get to the well.  Still, this is what I’m used to, where I grew up and what I know.  Besides, Robbyn says your world probably wouldn’t let me keep my wolf.

And that’s unthinkable :)

In my assorted wools bag I had several nice things - one ball each, of course :) There was a wonderfully soft wool/cashmere/angora blend - one ball each in baby-blue and very pale violet bulky weight.  It had a content tag but no label or brand.  Also there were two balls of rustic, sport weight alpaca in a deep blue-green color.  What to do with this assortment?

Make a scarf, of course :)

I used broken rib stitch which I have admired but never tried before.  The resulting fabric does tend to pull in the way regular ribbing does, only not quite as much.  Oh, and despite a garter selvedge, the fabric rolls.  But, that’s easily dealt with :)

Broken Rib

On an odd number of stitches…

Row 1 (RS):  Knit
Row 2 (WS):  *K1, P1; repeat from *, end K1

Variations could be introduced by changing the number of knits or purls on the wrong-side rows and it does make a handsome fabric though I was surprised to see how different the wool blend part and the alpaca part looked from one another.  I shouldn’t have been though; the wool blend was a very smooth, highly processed yarn and the alpaca was somewhat rough (in a non-elegant sense, not a next-to-the-skin sense), loosely spun and hairy.  I was also using two strands of the alpaca together to approximate the weight of the bulky blend and that further blurred the appearance of things.

This is smooth and clean - every stitch shows clearly.





This presents a much fuzzier appearance and individual stitches no longer stand out.  Still, the feel of the fabric is quite silky and the color is gorgeous.

I wound up knitting the colors end to end and finishing off with a crocheted border.  I like the end-to-end treatment because it makes for interesting wrapping possibilities as in the picture below - but I also didn’t want to be working in bulky yarn ends all over the scarf and carrying the yarn up the side never works the way it’s supposed to for me.  The crocheted border (one round of single crochet, one round of half-double crochet with increases in the corners) added a bit of necessary extra width and another touch of color.

Heheh...I’m beginning to sound pompous here.  Basically, all I was doing was trying to combine 4 balls of very nice but quite different yarn into a harmonious and usable whole.  I think it worked :)