The Shawl with No Name

Is named Musings.

It is the November 2011 Mythology Lace Club pattern from Holiday Yarns.

Prototype shawlette knitted in the Aphrodite colorway, which is more green than the finished shawlette suggests.  Actual Muses colorway is blue.  A picture of the full shawl in the Muses colorway can be seen in the KAL thread (ravelry).

This is the 11th shawl I completed this year. 

Mother says I need a manniquin. 

Number 10

Number 10 is a test knit of the Faceted Shawl pattern.  I started it right before my birthday and bound off on Christmas day. 

The unblocked shawl is being modeled by little cousin E.  The colors are better in this pic.

The blocked shawl shows off the pattern, but the colors are a little off.

Sometimes

I may be crazy.

Way back in January, I decided that I would do 11 shawls in 2011.  I actually got off to a pretty good start.  I managed to get three done in January, 1 of them a big shawl. 

It's now the last week of the year.  I have only finished 9.  Number 10 needs blocked.  Number 11 -- about 1/3 of the way around the border.  The border.  I am not liking the border. 

Mortal keeps bugging me about the Pole socks. 

MUST FINISH BORDER.

MUST BLOCK.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate, cherish and be grateful for what we have. 

It is not the time to spend hours waiting in lines to maybe get a "hot" item.  Maybe, instead of shopping, people should stay home and enjoy more time with their families. 

And, for all those people that complain about the food, lines, etc at the restaurant they went to, they should prepare their own Thanksgiving meal.  Do you really think we'd rather be there than with our own families?

Well, they both start with B

The barbershoppers get together was this weekend.  Mother made a comment that she thought I didn't like them.  Apparently, she thought it was the banjo weekend.

Here's another peek at the shawl with no name.

Things

The fiends are back to normal after Rose's solo trip to the vet.

The shawl with no name may have a name, and it is progressing nicely.

Things

So, Rose has survived his sojourn at the vet. Of course, to Gil he smells all wrong, so Gil is having nothing to do with Rose. He's been hissing when Rose comes too close. I told the MPU that it was payback, as Rose did the same thing when Gil came back from a solo trip to the vet.

Gl did do better as only cat than Rose, ie he wasn't all clingy and needy. He basically did the same things he does every day.

I dug out the jersey knit sheets for the parental units, or I tried to. I found both fitted sheets and both sets of pillow cases, but no flat sheets. Hmmm, wonder where they went?

The shawl with no name progresses. I'm 2 1/2 repeats in. 1 1/2 repeats will put it at shawl être size, to get to full size, it will take another four repeats plus the border. The yarn is working well. I was not sure at first, but the accent colors are only showing up here and there and for just a few stitches, there has been no major pooling. Hopefully, I can make more progress today and tomorrow.

I dug out the recipe for the chocolate fruitcake that I have been meaning to make for the past several years. I am going to be making a few changes, I am going to take out the pineapple and swap the dates for cherries.

Now, I have to finish the laundry and make pie. Yum.

Not A Good Day

Dear humans,

Please tell Mom to bring Rose back. I'm lonely without him. AND, there was no dinner last night and breakfast was LATE. TRAGEDY!!

And, Mom won't let me help with her shawl.

Gil

Rose went to the vet to get his teeth cleaned.

10 Things that Make You Go Hmm

1. If "What" goes up, why does "Must" come down?
2. Why don't magazines include a number for customer service anymore?
3. What was the best thing before sliced bread?
4. Why do people ask the same question over and over?
5. Why is the darkest hour right before dawn?
6. Why are they cardinal points?
7. Why can't Comcast's website remember my zip code?
8. Why isn't there one website for the general public that will show all hotels in an area?
9. Why are there such things as "fat-free" sour cream and "fat-free" half & half?
10. Why does the state have a general ledger code for illegal drugs?

Random Stuff

A new mattress has been procured for the day bed.  It will be fiend approved shortly.

I finished the lace pattern for Oslo Walk and discovered that I don't have the correct number of stitches.


I finished a new pair of socks and have the pattern written.  It will be up for testing soon.  I'd post a picture, but the camera isn't working.

I need a new phone b/c the old one has a big crack across the screen.

Reservations have been made for Rhinebeck.

It is fall, my favorite season.  It needs to cool off and above all, STOP RAINING!

Ophelia will need new front brake pads.

Happy Birthday!

Devious and Dopey, aka Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are 6 today.

Stuff

The daybed came today.  It will not be set up today.  Stuff still needs to come out of the craft room.
I have decided I need to go through the stash and make sure that the destash page is up to date.

I got some new stash.

I also caught a cold.

The Way Things Go

So, I started Oslo Walk (rav) with the moldy pumpkin.  Got the correct number of stitches cast on and everything!  Beading is done on the wrong side rows.  The holes in the (insert favorite word) beads are not consistent and don't all fit onto the crochet hook. 
Now, these are size 8 beads (from a BEAD store) and it's a size 12 hook.  I used the same size beads and the same size hook for Sun In Glory, and had no problems. 
On to plan B -- which is to use size 6 beads - of which I only have 590.  Yes, I know that's a lot, but I need 664 beads.  So......more beads have been ordered.  I'm going to use a mix of Root Beer and Topaz. 
This was after it took me 2 hours to find the magazine that the pattern is in. 

I got a call from a vendor who shall remain nameless about not receiving payment for a purchase order.  They wanted to know why they had not been informed that the invoices were to be sent to a specific address.  Facepalm -- it's on the purchase order!

The daybed is coming soon and I am not ready to set it up.

Back to the knitting

Since TDF is done, I'm back to my knitting projects. 

I have set a fiber goal of spinning at minimum 8 ounces a month.

I've been working on the sockses with pocketses and am almost to the toe on #1 (still need to do the pocket)

I also decided on my next shawl.  I'll be doing Oslo Walk with the Moldy Pumpkin and some metallic gold iris beads. 

The Finish Line!

Week 3

LtoR: 

• Art batt, 1 oz, 60 yards (single)
• Crazy Ball, 4.5 oz, 190 yards
• BFL, 4 oz, 220 yards
• Peruvian wool, 3.5 oz, 110 yards
• BFL, 4 oz, 713 yards
• batt/norwegian top, .5 oz, 40 yards

Close up on the Moldy Pumpkin (That's a quarter).

Total for the Tour de Fleece:

69.5 ounces, 9,099 yards of singles

Day 22

Today I plied up the crazy ball and the BFL to free up the bobbins.  I now am halfway through the Moldy Pumpkin.

Days 18 to 21

So, I decided that a good goal would be to spin up 4 pounds -- and as of Day 17 (rest day), I only needed 12 more ounces to accomplish that.

This is a 4.5 oz crazy ball from Spinner's Hill.  It is now 2 bobbins of singles for a heavy worsted to bulky yarn.

This is BFL from River Poet, colorway Event Horizon.  This is some of my oldest fiber stash.  It is now 2 bobbins of singles to become a worsted weight yarn.

This is BFL Swirl from Gale's Art in the Moldy Pumpkin Colorway.  In a moment of insanity, I decided to spin this as fine as possible.  I have almost 2 oz of singles, and 2 more ounces to go. 

Day 17

Week 2 wrap up

LtoR:

• Falkland wool, 4 oz, 250 yards
• Merino/Tencel, 4 oz, 325 yards
• Merino/Tencel, 4 oz, 190 yards
• Superwash Merino, 4 oz, 460 yards
• Superwash Merino, 4 oz, 380 yards

Top:

• BFL/Seacell, 4 oz, 95 yards

Day 16

Today was a plying day. 

I got the merino/tencel plied and I also spun up and plied some bulky weight yarn. 

Days 14 & 15

The Twister sock yarn is done!  2ply, 460 yards.

I started working on these Merino/Tencel blends from Knitty & Color.

Days 11, 12 & 13

I've been working on some superwash merino from Fiber Fancy.  This is sock yarn.

Aprox 380 yards, 2 ply, colorway Burning Sunrise

This is the Twister colorway.  It is currently being plied.

I also started the sockes with pocketses tonight. 

Days 8, 9 & 10

This weekend, I plied.

LtoR: 

• Alpaca batt/Norwegian top, 6 oz, 700 yards
• Superwash BFL, 4 oz, 275 yards, chain plied
• Spinner's Hill Crazy ball & Little Barn Not so Solid Solid, 11 oz, 194 yards (2 skeins)
• Bamboo/Rayon, 3 oz, 100 yards

Bottom:

• Superwash Merino, 4 oz, 140 yards
• Superwash Merino, 2 oz singles will be plied with other 2 oz

Day 10 is a rest day. 

Today was not good

It started out well -- we got to explore the forbidden closet!  It was great fun.

But, then the NOISY thing came.  After the noisy thing went away, there was a great tragedy!  There was no food.  Not only was there no food, there were no bowls were there were supposed to be bowls.  To make matters worse, we were shut into the bedroom and not let out for HOURS! 

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

P.S.  Mom made string and didn't let us help.

Days 6 & 7

I've been working on 4 oz of superwash BFL from Spincerely Yours in the Delft colorway.  I'm planning to N ply this for socks.

I finished the wave socks with the February Sock Yarn Cinema.  Now I need to write up the pattern.

The Sun Also Rises

Pattern:  Sun in Glory, June 2011 Greek Mythology Lace Club from Holiday Yarns

Prototype knit with:
                       Yarn: Milk & Honey Colorway from the McMullin Fiber Company
                       Beads: Silver lined Orange

Available to the public:  Early 2012

                      

Mother thinks it would also be pretty in pale blue or gray as a moon shawl.

Day 5

Today I finished the single of the black Norwegian top

Day 4

I started this fiber Monday evening and finished the singles on Tuesday.  This is a 7 oz Crazy Ball from Spinner's Hill.  Some will be plied with the blue from Day 3 and the rest will be plied with itself.

I also started on this plain black Norwegian Top.  This will be plied with the Henry VIII batt.

Day 3

No plying yet, but I have some more singles!

This fiber, a Not So Solid Solid from Little Barn

Became these singles, this will be a bulky weight.  I'm planning to ply this with some blue from Spinner's Hill.

I also finished the Henry VIII batt -- I need to spin the black before I can ply.

Tiger & I went to lunch at the 'rents.  We had grilled items (veggies, shrimp, sausages) and cherry pudding.  Well, 3 of us had cherry pudding.

Day 2

I'm trying to decide which would take more effort.  Winding singles into centerpull balls so I can use the bobbins to make more singles, or switch out the flyer so I can ply. 

Decisions, decisions.

I managed to get the bamboo/rayon plied yesturday before I went to work.  About 100 yards of worsted weight. 

Today's spinning is 4oz merino, also from Fiber Fancy, for the Shaun of the Dead SAL.  This is the semisolid coordinating fiber for Now Who's a Pretty Boy.  The multi-colored has already been spun.  This fiber will end up as stranded mittens, and maybe a hat as well.

Also on the wheel, an Alpaca +  batt from Tomorrow Farm in the Henry VIII colorway for the Tudor SAL.  This will be plied with plain black.

Day 1

3 ounces of bamboo rayon from Fiber Fancy  (picture of unspun fiber is her's)

2 bobbins of singles to be plied together



Busy, busy, busy

I've been knitting like mad to finish a shawl.

I'm using this colorway and orange beads. 

I finished the bindoff last night and hope to block tonight. 

The test knitter was scary fast. 

The Fiends are Silly

Rose thinks it is time for snow.

Gil wants to help with the computer.

Playing with Food Color

So, this weekend, I went down to Mortal's and we dyed fiber.  We used Kool Aid and food coloring.

Take Two -- Wool, this was dyed useing the green that came off of the black.

Psychedelic Sunrise -- Wool, food color - a little of everything.  (Mortal said it would probably be brown.)

Berries & Cream -- Wool/Nylon, food coloring

Covet -- Wool/Nylon, food coloring

The New Black -- Wool/Silk, food coloring

Going Green -- Wool/Silk, food coloring

Poison Cherry -- Wool, Kool Aid

Blueberry Cheesecake -- Wool/Nylon, Kool Aid