The scarf is finished and so I present the pattern for your pleasure and, hopefully warmth!  The lace is very simple and the work goes quickly and easily.  The little kitty face lace comes from the agile mind of Jennifer Fleury (of JenLa fame) who very kindly gave me permission to use it.  The catspaw lace is old.

As I am currently owned by two members of the feline persuasion and as I know knittendom has a great many cat lovers, the combining of the two lace patterns seemed just the thing.  As always, if you find any mistakes or if you have any difficulties with the pattern, please let me know - I will be more than happy to help.

Notes: When uploaded, the number of stitches to cast on was off - considerably off :) Comes from having too many projects on my mind!  Anyway, it has been corrected.

9/19/2008 - It was brought to my attention this morning that the directions for the face-lace block meandered off into the seriously wonky.  This has been fixed and the pattern is as correct as I can make it now :) Thanks for the heads-up, Carla!

Enjoy!

Here Kitty, Kitty...

Materials

DK yarn - about 400 yards.  Yarn used for model was Peer Gynt.
Size 7 US (4.5 mm) needles, circular.
Size 9 US (5.25 mm), circular.

Finished (blocked) length - about 68”
Finished (blocked) width - about 8”

All stitches are slipped purlwise unless otherwise noted.

With the larger needle, cast on 22 stitches.  Transfer to the smaller needle to commence work.

Beginning triangles

First triangle

P2, turn.
K2, turn.
P3, turn.
K3, turn.
P4, turn.
K4, turn…

Continue this way, adding a stitch on each purl row until you have done a P11 row.  Do not turn.  Repeat procedure for second triangle.

First tier

Right side triangle

1.  K2, turn.
2.  P2, turn.
3.  Kfb (in the front and back of the first stitch - an increase), SSK, turn.
4.  Sl 1, P2, turn.
5.  Kfb, K1, SSK, turn.
6.  Sl1, P3, turn.
7, Kfb, K2, SSK, turn.
8.  Sl1, P4, turn…

Continue this way until you have completed a Kfb, K8, SSK.  Do not turn.

Cat Face Lace block

Pick up 11 stitches along the selvedge edge of next triangle (or unit)

1.  P11, (turn after each row except the last)
2.  K10, SSK (last stitch of block with first available stitch of next unit.)
3.  Sl1, P10.
4.  K10, SSK.
5.  Sl1, P10.
6.  K10, SSK.
7.  Sl1, P10.
8.  K3, yarn forward, sl5, yarn back (keep the float a little loose), K2, SSK.
9.  Sl1, P10.
10.  K3, yarn forward, sl5, yarn back, K2, SSK.
11.  Sl1, P10.
12.  K3, yarn forward, sl5, yarn back, K2, SSK.
13.  P4, M1, K3tog, M1, P4.
14.  K5, K1 inserting the needle beneath the floats created on rows 8, 10 and 12, knitting the stitch and drawing it back out from under the floats before letting the old stitch drop off the needle, K4, SSK.
15.  Sl1, P10.
16.  K3, K2tog, yo, K1, yo, SSK, K2, SSK.
17.  Sl1, P10.
18.  K10, SSK.
19.  Sl1, P10.
20.  K10, SSK.
21.  Sl1, P10.

Left side triangle

Pick up 11 stitches along the selvedge edge of next triangle (or unit)

1.  P2tog, P9, turn.
2.  K10, turn.
3.  P2 tog, P8, turn.
4.  K9, turn.
5.  P2tog, P7, turn.
6.  K8, turn…

Continue this way until you have 2 stitches left, P2tog.  Transfer last stitch back on to left-hand needle.

Turn work.

Second Tier, Catspaw Lace Blocks

Having one stitch on left-hand needle, pick up 10 stitches along selvedge edge of next unit.

1.  K11, turn (turn after each row except the last).
2.  P10, P2tog.
3.  Sl1, K10.
4.  P10, P2tog.
5.  Sl1, K2, SSK, yo, K6.
6.  P10, P2tog.
7.  Sl1, SSK, yo, K3, yo, K2tog, K3.
8.  P10, P2tog.
9.  Sl1, K1, SSK, yo, K1, yo, K2tog, K4.
10. P10, P2tog.
11. Sl1, K10.
12. P10, P2tog.
13. Sl1, K5, SSK, yo, K3.
14. P10, P2tog.
15. Sl1, K2, SSK, yo, K3, yo, K2tog, K1.
16. P10, P2tog.
17. Sl1, K3, SSK, yo, K1, K2tog, K2.
18. P10, P2tog.
19. Sl1, K10.
20. Sl1, P10.
21. Sl1, K10.
22. P10, P2tog.

Pick up 11 stitches along selvedge edge of next unit.

Repeat procedure for second block.

Turn work.

Alternate Tiers 1 and 2 for length of scarf, ending with Tier 1 and having worked Teir 1 fourteen times.

Ending Triangles

Pick up 11 stitches along selvedge edge of next unit.

1.  K11, turn (turn every row but the last).
2.  P2tog, P8, P2tog.
3.  Sl1, K9.
4.  P2tog, P7, P2tog.
5.  Sl1, K8.
6.  P2tog, P6, P2tog.
7.  Sl1, K7.
8.  P2tog, P5, P2tog.
9.  Sl1, K6.
10. P2tog, P4, P2tog.
11. Sl1, K5.
12. P2tog, P3, P2tog.
13. Sl1, K4.
14. P2tog, P2, P2tog.
15. Sl1, K3.
16. P2tog, P1, P2tog.
17. Sl1, K2.
18. P2tog twice.
19. Sl1, K1.
20. P1, P2tog.
21. K2.
22. P3tog.

Repeat procedure for second ending triangle.  End off and cut yarn, leaving a tail long enough to weave in securely.  Weave in ends and block as desired.

Oh yeah - the charts!





Notes:  The dimensions can be varied by using different weights of yarn and different needle sizes.  Sport weight on size 5 US (3.75 mm) needles would yeild something a bit more delicate while bulky yarn on size 11s US (8 mm) would give a heftier result.

I used Peer Gynt DK wool for this scarf because it’s what I had on hand.  However, this is a sturdy, rough-ish wool really intended for outer garments and is somewhat scratchy.  Something softer would be a better idea if this is going to go next to your skin - Knitpicks Merino Style is a nice soft yarn :)

I finally was able to finish the baby blanket this week as the temps have been quite nice - low 70s and even in the 60s overnight.  There wasn’t much to finish up really, the end row of triangles (which constitutes the bind-off in entrelac) and the edging.  I had thought I wanted a border on this, but I’m not going to have time.  The birthday of the child this was made for is this weekend.

Instead, I tidied things up with a half-double crochet all around the blanket.  It neatens the edges a bit but isn’t at all fussy.  And, with only a single row worked, it doesn’t separate itself out as something added on afterwards - I rather like that.  It looks integral :)





The pattern is very simple - basically worked in the same way as the swatch in All Aboard the entrelac Express.  The blocks are 11 stitches wide and the tiers alternate between stockinette (Row 1: Knit, Row 2: Purl) and mistake rib (Row 1: *K1, P1*; end K1, Row 2: Purl).





I cast 99 stitches onto size 8 US (5.00 mm) needles and just worked until the length was just a bit more than the width and the yarn used was Caron Simply Soft (worsted weight) - about 4 skeins.  The final measurements are approximately 40” x 49” - perhaps a little grand for a toddler, but he’ll grow into it :)

If anyone is interested in specific instructions for the blanket, let me know and I’ll get something written up.

See the “Knitting Chatter” button on the side bar for more information.

Drop in if you have time, bring your knitting and join the fun!

Have a wonderful weekend :)

The only problem I have with taking on a big and varied project, is that each discovery made, each nugget of information acquired and each new thing learned all open up tons of possibilities in addition to the ones you’re already considering.  Where do you draw the line - thus far and no farther!

I’m working on it :)

Remember the tree chart in this post?

Another possibility occurred to me…

I will have to play with them both to see if one or the other works better in situ.  Right now I’m thinking a combination of both might be appealing!

The scarf - she grows :)

I’m finishing up the third ball of yarn and I think another 100 yards after that should just about do the trick.

I realized the other day that Pop, the remaining gerbil of our original three is three years old.  At least that’s my estimate of her age based on her size and apparent age when we brought her home.  That’s ancient for a gerbil and, while she has slowed down a bit, she’s still doing quite well, climbing into my hand every night with eagerness and alacrity for her pumpkin seed :)

Cocoa also gets a bit excited about her evening treat - in fact a couple of nights ago she was so excited she dropped the seed which promptly vanished in the bedding and cardboard confetti on the bottom of her tank.  Then she panicked.  So I got her another seed, of course.  I’m well trained, I am :)

Finally, the next incarnation popped into my noggin a couple of days ago.

This is certainly not the yarn for this project, but it was available last night when I wanted to see how things might look.  I’m not sure this is the cable either, frankly :) But definitely cabled blocks would provide a ton of possibilities and design ideas.  And, of course, there are a dozen things circling around in my head, clamoring for attention…

Jade got us up earlier this morning than we would have preferred by insisting she was starving and then, when that didn’t work…

...tuning into kitty TV, channel 2 and trying to engage in the audience participation part of the program.

Hope you’re all having a good week!

I worked on the second sock all Tuesday and Tuesday evening so that the pair would be done and ready to bring to my father on Wednesday morning.  I even asked Myria not to let me get out of the house without taking a picture of them.

They came out reasonably well and I believe dad will like them.  I asked him to let me know if there were any problems - you know, the standard stuff: a little too snug, perhaps a hair too long, heel too deep or not deep enough.  I can adjust for any small issues in the next pair.  He’ll never tell me though, he’d think it was being ungrateful.

Oh and, of course, I walked out Wednesday morning and left them on the coffee table :) So he got them yesterday instead :)

I have also been working on a scarf!

The salmon color in the photograph isn’t quite accurate - there isn’t as much orange in the real thing.  Though there might be eventually - I’m not entirely thrilled with this pink and have been wondering if adding some yellow or orange (or both) with a smidge of green (to keep the color from screaming!) would give me a coppery color.  The yarn is otherwise quite nice - Peer Gynt DK - a little scratchier than I’d prefer but that may change after washing.





The lace patterns are via Jennifer Fleury’s Cat’s Face Lace Socks.  She tells me that the paw lace pattern is quite old.  However, the face lace is entirely her creation and she has graciously given me permission to use it for a free pattern (already in the works).  Very clever knitter, that girl, not to mention nice!





See the “Knitting Chatter” button on the side bar for more information.

Chatters is on for Saturday evening.  Bring your knitting (crocheting, what-have-you, etc.) and join the fun.

And have a wonderful weekend!

In observing my crafting tendencies, Myria tells me that she thinks I am trying to follow the thread of the universe to see how it works and how it shapes everything and that my pursuit of that, whether through beading, crocheting or knitting, is deeply mathematical.

Initially this came as quite a surprise.  I didn’t think of myself as a math kind of person and, in fact, had done abysmally in highschool geometry and algebra.  But, over the weekend, I fell over something that helped me to understand what she was getting at.  And it was the consideration of these types of patterns, dishcloths which incorporate a clever use of knit and purl to create a picture, that sort of illuminated things for me.

First of all, I doubt that I could have come up with anything as nice as some of the patterns I’ve seen - from things as simple as an apple to as complex as an Army Eagle.  But I realized as I was looking over the patterns that they are really very simple.  It’s simply a matter of knowing whether a stitch is a knit or a purl (which, of course, the patterns tells you).  There’s no math to it - just counting.

On the other hand if you take a look at some lace stitch patterns, you’re dealing with math all over the place - increases countered by decreases, symmetry, balance, shifting stitches, half-drops and so forth - it all has to be worked out properly - pattern on pattern from row to row - in order for the final fabric to look pleasing to the eye.  And hopefully, not just pleasing, but drop-dead gorgeous :)

It’s the pattern of the working that does it for me - the actual rhythm of the needles doing this and that in a regular, sequenced fashion.  I am in no way minimizing the validity of the dishcloth patterns, the picture knit/purls - I certainly couldn’t have designed them and many of them are quite lovely.  But I would have a difficult time working them (or picture lace, for that matter) because there’s no pattern to the working; I wouldn’t be able to focus on it and would never be able to keep my place without a dozen markers and a clout over the head :)

But give me something complex, cables or lace where there’s a real rhythm to the working and it’s like dancing - and I’m happy as a clam :)

Just how happy is a clam, anyway?

I have decided to go forth on a rather large project that I’m not going to discuss much for now - except for pieces now and again.  I promise that if I actually manage to pull it off, you’ll be the first to know :) It’s a lot of work, but it’s also fun - in a breath-taking, wet-your-pants kind of way.  These are what I’m setting up now:

This is picture lace and I’m nervous about using it because of what I was talking about above.  Still, it is exactly what I want so I’ll just have to cultivate the focus and concentration I need to do it properly.

This, however:

...should be sheer joy to work :)





Goldie begs to differ :)

One down…

One to go :)





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.

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.





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





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?

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. 

See the “Knitting Chatter” button on the side bar for more information.

Chatters is on for Saturday night.  Drop by if you have the time - you know you’re always welcome!

Dad and I went to a local Italian restaurant last Saturday.  Despite the fact that dad won’t eat onions, tomatoes or garlic (or anything made with those ingredients) - which disqualifies almost every type of Italian food for him, he is able to find enough there to make him happy.  For example, since it’s in New England it has clam chowder.  It seems to be a rule that any restaurant opening anywhere in New England is required to offer clam chowder - regardless of said eatery’s own specialization.  So you see things like: Minestrone, Pasta e fagioli, Clam Chowder or Egg Drop Soup, Hot and Sour Soup and Clam Chowder.

The restaurant is very good, the food is of excellent quality and is quite plentiful.  But the thing that really sets them apart is their bread.  This bread tastes like it just came out of your grandma’s oven - homemade doesn’t begin to describe it!

And they sell it by the loaf for the princely sum of $1.85 - about half what I would pay in the supermarket bakery for something of equivalent quality and taste :)

One of Dad’s problems has been an advancing case of rheumatoid arthritis which has made moving around very difficult and painful for him.  He has been wearing the socks I’ve made for him because, being hand made and of DK/worsted weight yarn - they have much more substantial body than the little nylon cheapies he’s been buying for the last 40 years.

I had thought he was just wearing them around the house, but a week or so ago, I saw him cramming them into his sneakers because it would have been too difficult and uncomfortable to exchange them for something lighter.

I asked him if he would like me to make him some more socks but he said not to bother.  What he had was fine.

Yeah, right :)

So I started another pair of socks for him - in sport weight yarn this time.  They will still have (I hope!) the body that makes them easy for him to put them on.  And, they will be lighter weight and less bulky than the ones he already has.

I had started a pair of Primavera socks with this yarn.  About halfway down the cuff, I knew I was never going to wear them because I didn’t like the colors - too dark and too masculine.  However, it seemed like the ideal thing for a pair of dad socks so I cast on Saturday morning and went to work.

And when I told dad that I had done so - he was so obviously pleased I had to laugh :)

I made an odd but interesting discovery while working on the sock.  This is sport weight yarn (Woolease, sadly discontinued) and I’m working the socks on size 3 US (3.0 - 3.125 mm) needles.  I had started them on an old aluminum set.  I like metal needles for socks and that’s what I almost always use.  However, these were a dark green color and the combination of them and the dark, variegated yarn made the stitches almost impossible to see - even with two lights on!  There were blue needles too, but they were also dark and there were only three of them anyway.

Aha!  I have bamboo needles in the right size!  Light colored needles would solve the problem nicely, so I switched the greenies for the bamboo and knitted on.

You knew there was a “but” coming, right?  I do like bamboo needles for some yarns - but this yarn clung to them (in my mother’s immortal phrase) like sh*t to a blanket.  I could move the stitches but only with some difficulty.  The combination of these needles and this yarn were not making for especially fluid knitting.

And then last night, rummaging around in my needle vase (doesn’t everyone have a jar/bottle/vase full of needles on their coffee table?) I found a set of nickel-plated brass double-points - size 3!  I had acquired them some time ago, had no immediate use for them, put them away and forgotten all about them.  So, I switched the sock over to them and… Well, it was like ice skating on new, sharp blades over clean, smooth ice - just enough friction to keep things manageable and otherwise - swift and easy :) You can see them in the picture of the sock above.

So now I’ve meandered to the point.

I don’t use size 3 needles very often.  Hardly at all.  In the smaller needle sizes, I’m far more likely to reach for 2s than 3s.  So how in the world did I wind up with four sets of them?

Knitters are certainly many good things, but I can tell you from first-person experience - some knitters are nuts :)