Kimono Shawl - to block? or not?

I've never been a very adventurous person. This was evident when I finally bound off the last stitch on my kimono shawl at 3am last night, looked at the blue squiggley pile that's occupied the past 4 weeks of my life, and decided that I will not block it.

Yes - you heard right. I just cannot bear to think of the multiple potential problems that might arise with blocking - what if the color ran? what if i used the wrong shampoo & the yarn felted or something? what if... what if...it stretched & stretched like the rubber arms on that Fantastic 4 guy? So in my sleep deprived state, I thought it looked very pretty just as it was and didn't need blocking.

This morning my inner Aries decided to show up, and I worked up my courage to block it. It wasn't easy as I had used 3.6mm needles at 1 end, 3.0mm in the middle, and 3.25mm needles at the other end. Long story .. see earlier blog entry. Let's just say I spent a lot of time on my knees arranging pins.

100+ pins later

Blocked size : 19inches x 70inches (I only did 23 pattern reps but it's definitely long enough)

Posing prettily with the paper gift bag that I happened to find that matches so perfectly

I found an entire row missing only when I took this shot - it's cropped out of this picture, no sense posting a permanent record of my mistakes now, is there?

I'm so relieved that this is finally done. Today for the first time in an entire month, I am not knitting lace. And guess what? My fingers feel funny when I pick up my 4-ply cotton. I miss lace, I miss the floati-ness of Zephyr yarn....... I cant wait to cast on for another lace shawl!

Sublime Service

Pattern : Flair from Knit and Tonic
Yarn : Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk Aran (75% merino, 20% silk, 5% cashmere), Shade 0017
Needles : 5mm Clover Bamboo circulars
Mods : Left out the buttons as big buttons look silly on me. Will use a brooch instead

When I first saw this pattern, I could almost see Kate Moss or Sienna Miller wearing this chunky swingy cropped cardigan atop their skinny black jeans, with boots, a beret, and a 'oh, i just woke up & threw this together' attitude. You see, I was on the hunt for my next project and wanted something 'of the moment' and fashionable, and this totally fit the bill.

There is a special chemistry between the Sirdar Sublime yarn and Clover bamboos - the stitches just hover above the needles and magically form an even fabric without me even trying. The yarn was very soft and yet it wasn't so insubstantial that the cardy would fall apart after a few washes. It was one of those magical projects where even plain stockinette was fun, and as a result, I completely lost track of the yardage and didn't realise that the yarn was being gobbled up. There was not enough yarn to finish the sleeves... Crap.

Abandoning my knitting, I googled "Sublime" (and got some mighty weird & definitely non-yarn-related searches in the process), sent multiple emails to any retailer who carried it, and waited anxiously, my mind frantically searching for other alternatives. Another colour, no sleeves......hmm...

One of the online retailers was kind enough to forward my request to Sirdar, and their sales manager sent me an email, telling me that he had sourced & found 3 additional balls of yarn - in that particular dyelot. YIPPEES. Plus, he mentioned that he would be dropping by Singapore & offered to bring it with him so that I could save on the cost of shipping. Seriously - isn't this the best service? To put it into perspective, Sirdar only has 1 retailer here... so our market isn't big, and yet he was kind enough to do that little extra for little ol' me. If I didnt already love this yarn, I will definitely buy more from Sirdar just for this.

Well, now that I have enough yarn, guess I better go finish the sleeves on this cardy before the trend for cropped jackets is over eh?

Crochet Bucket Hat & Bag

Pattern : Self-designed, August 2006
Yarn :
Four Seasons Cotton Quick in Fushcia, 1 and ½ balls (main body & base of bag)
Four Seasons Miami in Lilac, ½ ball (handles & big flower)
Scrap Yarn in Light Pink (small flower)
Hook : Clover Crochet Hook Size 5/0

Cost of Yarn : S$15; Cute smile on model's face : Priceless.

ahhhhhh....

Dear Customers, here is a sneak preview of the new knitting needle brought to you by iroiroknits. Ergonomically designed to assist knitters who enjoy the challenge of knitting with only one bent needle. Precision engineered to an angle of 12.9 degrees for your ultimate knitting pleasure. Sculpted to the most pleasing aesthetic - by my very own left kneecap.

Kimono shawl update

No pics today, just a quick update on the Kimono shawl. I'm onto repeat number 6 out of the 25 that's indicated in the pattern. I think there are little gremlins who sneak into my room & undo the lace while I'm asleep...

Heard some news today which made me a little down, and treasure my health, and the health of my loved ones. Ok - not so much treasure as 'start to obsess about'. It also gave me a huge sense of urgency to finish the Kimono shawl, so that it can be a source of comfort.

Given our tropical weather, I've always thought of a shawl as a frivolous accessory. But I hope that this shawl can serve a deeper purpose than that. Hopefully, it will warm up the cold, impersonal air of hospitals & waiting rooms. Hopefully, it will also be a reminder that 'you're not alone, we care'

Fetching is done!

It's done! It's done! These are the best photos I can do till I get actual on-the-road pics <hint hint>.

Great sense of satisfaction even though it may seem like a simple project. I learnt how to cable, how to use (and carry around) dpns and all about that mysterious hole in the thumb. Not bad for 2 days work.

I sailed smoothly along the first glove, encountering none of the problems that others seemed to warn me about. Hole? - nope. Difficulty picking up stitches? - nope. Feeling smug I quickly cast on for the second glove.

I didn't pay as much attention to the second glove (was chatting with fellow knitters over coffee & oogling shade cards...). And lo and behold, as I was picking up stitches for the thumb, I found not 1 but kind of 1.5 holes. eeek. I redid that about 3 times before I realised that I was stretching the stitches & doing more harm than good. So I finally left it alone & used my non-existent sewing techniques to patch it up.

So err Friend, if your right thumb gets a little cold.. just cover it with your jacket k?

Fetching is now taking a little bath in cashmere shampoo.... In the meantime, these are the modifications that I did, mainly to make the glove slightly longer.

Pattern : Fetching from knitty.com
Yarn : Rowan RYC Cashsoft Aran in Shade 003 (Mole)
Needles : 3.5mm dpns, Clover bamboo

Mods :

1. Added 5 more rows to the 18 rows before thumb

2. Added 1 more cable repeat at the top before binding off

3. Bound off in rib stitch instead of picot

4. Picked up 3 stitches one each side of the thumb instead of 2. Decreased 2 st in following row to compensate

Today is my Fetching day... doo da

Pattern : Fetching from knitty.com

Yarn : Rowan RYC Cashsoft Aran in Shade 003 (Mole)

Needles : 3.5mm dpns, Clover bamboo

Taking a short break from my Kimono shawl this weekend. A friend is leaving for Europe in a week (lucky gal!) and I'm knitting a pair of fingerless gloves to accompany her in style.

We oohed and aahed at the pretty lime & turquoise color combination featured in the Fetching pattern. My friend liked it (actually she liked the turquoise jacket. muggles) but I said "hmmm I've never knit with dpns before"....."I dont think I can learn cables in 5 days!"......"i dont even know what's a cable cast-on"...

All reasoning flew out the window the longer we looked at the picture (there's a strange kind of magic going on there.. Knitty team, what have u done...). I bought my very first pair of dpns, and this yummy merino/cashmere blend from RYC in Mole. Yucky name but the color is gorgeous, khaki with just a tinge of olive. Perfect!

Just a word on this yarn & the pattern... it's addictive. I was worried the glove would turn out all stiff as we were using much smaller dpns.. but the cashmere content has kept it velvety soft. The yarn went so smooth along the bamboo dpns, that I almost cried whenever I finished a round.

Oh, for those new to dpns? Uhmmm after u distribute the stitches on the 3 needles... you are supposed to use the 4th dpn to knit. Not...errr... ahem, try to knit using the existing 3 needles. Just so you know..

Learning to Lace

It all started with this, and this.

I had wanted to knit a thank you gift for a special person. Feverishly clicking on links, I chanced upon the sites above, and images of my recipient casually draping her handknitted lace shawl while attending a glitzy dinner, starting floating across my mind.

(Incidentally, I also started dreaming of a lace shawl softly floating behind me as I walked serenely along the beaches, the light-weight warmth of the shawl shielding me from the chilly sea breeze. Yes I'm aware there is no chill in the breezes where I live, but it's my dream, honey)

So despite the fact that I didn’t know which way a ‘yarn-over’ was supposed to go, I was determined that I would learn lace. And then I will go find a chilly beach to walk on.

This is the yarn I used. G-o-r-g-e-o-u-s. Jaggerspun Zephyr (wool/tussah silk laceweight yarn) in Aegean Blue, and when it arrived I was so excited. It was soft and light, had a slight sheen, had just the right amount of ‘spring’ to it, and the color was saturated and not at all Sentosa Musical Fountain Blue as I had half-feared. All in all, a very promising beginning.

I spent days scouring the web for the perfect beginner lace pattern. It had to be easy and yet look professional when done. A fellow knitter had shown me her Madli and she assured me that it was relatively easy. It was near the end of our conversation when she oh-so-casually slipped in, “oh & at the end you just graft it together”. Nonononono…. Grafting does not feature in my dreams, thank you very much.

So I picked a simpler pattern – Kimono Shawl from Folk Shawls, took a deep breath, cast-on, and knit. And knit, and knit, and knit – for 20 whole garter stitch rows. Where’s the lace!? I wanna learn lace!

By the end of the first lace repeat, I had a sore left thumb. I was using 3.6mm Clover metal circulars. Between the joint which kept snagging the lace weight yarn, and my tendency to strangle the stitches, I was shoving stitches past the joint more than I was knitting. But the times when I actually got to knit, was really really fun! I was hooked.

So I went to buy a pair of Addis (well, it’s either that or I spend the money on band-aids, and those are not as fun). The slight problem was that the shop only had Addis in 3.0mm. Well, I figured… I’ll just hv to learn how to knit looser.

Ouch. Wonky stitches and irregular holes

If I almost close both eyes and squint at the monitor, it looks quite pretty in a blurry way :)

I was assured that blocking would do wonders. I think people were trying to be kind.

The smell of color...

I never knew that color had a smell. Or maybe, it always had, and I had just forgotten it.

I had gone to the art supplies shop, intending to purchase pencils for my sketching purposes. Sometimes ideas pop in my head while I am listening to Cast-on or L&V while knitting, but the second I reach for a pen, the idea disappears. It seems that my inner muse doesnt like pens?

So pencils it will be.

I made the mistake of informing DH that I would be buying pencils.. and maybe, 1 or 2 color pencils.. just in case my muse prefers color. He immediately insisted on accompanying me to the art shop & helping me select the appropriately correct & optimal tools for the job. (It doesnt matter that they are just color pencils, it's a PROJECT to him). He convinced me that I really really needed to buy a full set of color pencils, because it would be disastrous if I wanted to draw a chartreuse top & didnt have the correct shade. I stood in the shop for an hour, testing out the pencils, rolling them in my palm, reading the box labels even though some were not in English... and generally pretending that I'm a real artist.

Back home, I carefully opened the flat metal container, and lifted out the 2 plastic trays encasing 36 different colors. I was immediately surrounded by that peculiar combination of woody, waxy smell that I used to smell in art class, many many years ago. I used my brand new fuschia battery-operated pencil sharpener (wanna guess who's idea that was?), and carefully, inserted each pencil in for exactly 3 seconds, trying to make each point just sharp enough but not too crumbly.

Then, I took out a blank sheet of paper & started doodling, tentatively at first, not sure exactly what I should be drawing. The scent of freshly sharpened pencils filled my nostrils and brought me back to days when as a child, I would sit &amp; draw & color the whole day away. It was a simpler, happy time... when we did things just for the enjoyment, not necessarily for a purpose.

This was a feeling which has been missing from my life for far too long. The smell of color has reminded me of that.

Here is my contribution for Project Spectrum 2.0 for the month of April