January 2010 – Ms Lindz – My little corner of the internet

Hardenburgia Shawl

Posted on January 29, 2010 by mslindz

I’ve been putting off this post for so long. I think I was just so over this project I no longer wanted to talk about it again. So… here goes. The Hardenburgia Shawl. This is a free pattern available on Ravelry (here). My grandma received and loves it, so I’m glad I did push through and get this finished in time for her birthday. This was actually my first FO of the year!

Hardenburgia Shawl

Shawl Center

Pattern: Hardenburgia Shawl (My Ravelry project page.)
Started: December 20, 2009
Completed: January 8, 2010
Yarn: Aslan Trends Invernal, 2 skeins
Needles: US 8 Addi Lace circular
Notes: Warning! These notes are VERY long. The longest I’ve ever had for any project. The pattern is written okay. There’s no written instructions for the charts. Normally this isn’t a problem as I have no problems working from only charts, but the edge chart was so very wrong that I was wishing there WERE written instructions. Thankfully, because of Ravelry, I found someone else who’d knit this shawl and ran into the same problem with the edge chart and wrote out the instructions.

This shawl should DEFINITELY be started with a provisional cast on. If you do start this with a long tail cast on, it can be picked out so you get live stitches on the edge where the border should be knit, but it’s definitely more of a pain to do. A knitted on border has to be worked with live stitches. I imagine you could make it work on the cast on edge, however I don’t think it would lay as nice or flat this way and it doesn’t follow the instructions of a “knitted on border” that the pattern states to work for the edging.

The chart for the border is definitely wrong. It doesn’t take into account the adding and decreasing of stitches at all. Further, if you follow the chart, all the wrong side rows should be knit (based on photos the ws rows should be purled, but I haven’t seen this mentioned in the pattern for the border), which would make purls on the front, which would make the pattern not turn out as picture at all and then there’s those two rows that say purl. Not sure what that’s all about (especially since the chart doesn’t indicate “knit on rs, purl on ws” or anything like that). There’s also the border stitches (along the edge of where the border is knitted on to the live stitches) that are worked in garter (as the pictures of the finished shawl show) that aren’t mentioned at all. I also think that there should be some ssk’s in places there are k2togs and instead of the “slip 1, k2tog, psso” I think it should be just a k3. Well, where I’ve made changes, I think it makes the whole thing flow better, even if it is wrong (which I’m pretty sure it is based on the pictures of the original, but I’m happier with it this way). Here’s my written instructions for the wave border:

1. (WS) k2, p9, k1, knit last stitch together with border stitch
2. (RS) sl1, k3, yo, k5, yo, ssk, yo, k2 (15 sts)
3. k2, p11, k1, knit last stitch together with border stitch
4. sl1, k4, k3tog, k2, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k1 (13 sts)
5. k2, p9, k1, knit last stitch together with border stitch
6. sl1, k3, k2tog, k2, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k1 (12 sts)
7. k2, p8, k1, knit last stitch together with border stitch
8. sl1, k2, k2tog, k2, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k1 (11 sts)
9. k2, p7, k1, knit last stitch together with border stitch
10. sl1, k1, k2tog, k2, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k1 (10 sts)
11. k2, p6, k1, knit last stitch together with border stitch
12. sl1, k2tog, k2, yo, k1, yo, ssk, yo, k2 (11 sts)
13. k2, k7, k1, knit last stitch together with border stitch
14. sl1, k3, yo, k3, yo, ssk, yo, k2 (13 sts)

Here’s a close up of the border so you can see how it looks:

Shawl Edging

When I finished this shawl, I had about 2 yards left. If I had more yarn, I probably would have made sure to end each piece with a wrong side row instead of a right side row, so that when it was grafted together it wouldn’t be so obvious that they didn’t line up perfectly. I used kitchener stitch to get the two pieces together.

If I were to do this shawl again (very unlikely), I would add 3 garter stitch border stitches to each side of the main piece. It doesn’t curl a bunch, but enough that it kinda bothered me. If not a garter stitch border, then I’d add an extra stitch on each side that gets slipped at the beginning of every row to create an edging that lays better.

Next time I’ll update on all my current WIPs. 🙂 Have a good weekend everyone!

One More 2009 FO, Two 2010 FO’s, and Current Projects

Posted on January 20, 2010 by mslindz

I realized about a week ago that I still have one FO from 2009 that I never properly photographed or blogged! Whoops. I thought Liesl was the last FO of 2009 that I hadn’t blogged, but I guess I thought I’d blogged about it and never actually did.

Multnomah

Pattern: Multnomah (My Ravelry project page.)
Started: November 4, 2009
Completed: November 26, 2009
Yarn: 1 skein Cupcake Sock from Little Red Bicycle in “Princess Whatever”
Needles: US 4 Addi Lace circular
Notes: I had a little less yardage then the pattern requirements, so I decided ahead of time that I’d just do however many feather and fan repeats I could before binding off. I ended up being able to work a total of 8 feather and fan repeats before doing the bind off. I think I could have done a 9th repeat, but decided against it because I didn’t want to run out of yarn. I absolutely love this yarn! It feels so soft to work with. Pattern was easy enough to modify to less repeats (or more if you wanted) and was a pretty quick knit.

Multnomah – Front

Multnomah – Top Edge (points)

Multnomah – Bottom Edge (center)

There’s also another FO for 2009 I didn’t post because of the swap I did and now that package is lost in the mail. I won’t be re-knitting the same pattern or using the same yarn, but I’m undecided on if I should go ahead and post about it now (while I’m working on a replacement package and item) or wait. Thoughts anyone?

Since the beginning of the year, I’ve finished three projects. The shawl for my grandma has a LOT of notes. I had a fair amount of trouble with it, plus changes and other thoughts. I’ve been putting off writing about it because it seems like a huge task and definitely needs it’s own blog post. So, while you wait for that post to come, I’ll share the other two projects I’ve finished this month.

Porom

Pattern: Porom (My Ravelry project page.)
Started: December 24, 2009
Completed: January 9, 2010
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, color 63, just under one skein
Needles: US 4 bamboo circular and US 6 bamboo circular and DPN’s
Notes: This was a pretty easy knit until the decreases. You really had to pay attention because you have to move the marker a lot at the end. I like how it turned out and the pattern was a fairly quick knit. I think it would have been done a lot sooner, but I had to put it down to work on my grandma’s shawl. I love this yarn and the pattern.

Porom – Front

Porom – Side

Porom – Back

After I finished Porom, I started this little scarf and finished it with a quickness!

Criss-Cross Lace Scarf

Pattern: Criss-Cross Lace Scarf (My Ravelry project page.)
Started: January 9, 2010
Completed: January 10, 2010
Yarn: Berroco Lustra, just under one skein
Needles: US 7 metal straights
Notes: Very quick and easy knit. The yarn was really soft, nice to work with, and has a lovely sheen and drape to it. I’d definitely buy it again. Added a few extra feather and fan repeats to the ends to use up more yarn. (Did a total of 10 feather and fan repeats.)

Criss-Cross Lace Scarf (open)

I’ve been working on Matt’s socks, but not without a lot of bumps along the way! First sock I knit was too big. It was just a little too long and the ribbing around the ankle was far too loose.

Matt’s Sock, Attempt #1

The first one was knit toe-up with a slip stitch heel. I should have just gone with a short-row heel, but I thought this might fit better. Turns out I’m not so great at estimating when to start it! Plus, I think the gauge overall was a bit too loose. So, back to the drawing board I went. Started a new sock, cuff-down this time, on smaller needles, with more ribbing around the ankle and a short-row heel. I finished that one up last night, but don’t have pictures yet. It does fit a lot better, but I think it needs more ribbing. When I asked Matt for feedback on it, he said he did like it more and it fit better overall, but he did say that he liked the toe better on the toe-up sock (which you just can’t replicate top down) and it needed more ribbing on the ankle. I think part of the problem is the yarn. I’m using Berroco Comfort DK, which is a nice yarn, but really isn’t great for socks. It’s a 50/50 acrylic/nylon blend, so it doesn’t stretch well. It makes the foot fine, but the ribbing just doesn’t stay tight. For now, Matt will just have to live with one sock that’s a little too big and one that fits well, but doesn’t have enough ribbing while I make another pair out of wool!

After I finished the first sock, I took a break and cast on Haruni with Wollmeise 80/20 in Campari Piccolo. So far I like how it’s turning out and can’t wait to get to the edging, which is probably my favorite part of the pattern. I just love how the edging looks!

Haruni

At the end of December, I realized that I didn’t have any socks on the needles, so I cast on a toe-up sock (with a slip stitch heel – changing it up!) with a Vesper sock club colorway, Summer Breeze. I’m loving this colorway. It seems so cheery since it’s been rather dreary out lately.

Summer Breeze Sock

I think that brings all my knitting up to date (finally – I’ve been such a slacker!) aside from the shawl that needs it’s own blog post. Happy Wednesday! Tonight is knit night and after the crazy, thrown off week I’ve been having, I’m really looking forward to it. 🙂

Current Projects

New Year’s Goals, Socks, a Hat and Sweater Decisions

Posted on January 4, 2010 by mslindz

I wanted to post my goals for this coming year on January 1st, but the weekend seems to have got away from me yet again! I did have a great weekend, though. We went and saw Avatar IMAX on Friday. It was really good, but the 3D stuff made me really motion sick (3D combined with all that movement really did me in). We went to Hofbrauhaus after the movie and met up with a few friends for lunch. Lunch was great, but by the time we got in the car to head home, I was feeling really sick. Got home, took some Advil for the headache and took a good long nap. Made me feel MUCH better. The rest of the weekend we spend doing some housework. We finally put up blinds in the bedroom and computer room, unpacked and sorted Matt’s new tool box, I cleaned the bathroom, and Matt mopped and vacuumed. We even went grocery shopping for the week! There was plenty of “lazy” time, too, which made it all the more difficult to return to work today.

As for goals this year… my big two are to eat better and exercise more. I got a bit slack towards the end of the year (okay, a lot slack) about getting in any exercise. My back needs it if I want to stay out of the doctor’s office, so I absolutely need to do this. My plan is to use Wii Fit Plus and EA Sports Active Monday-Friday after work. As for eating, I’ve been reading The Eat-Clean Diet Recharged by Tosca Reno. I first saw the Eat-Clean concept on Wendy’s blog a few weeks ago. After reading up on it, I decided to get the book and improve even further on my eating habits. Overall, I think Matt and I eat pretty good, staying away from a lot of processed foods since we enjoy cooking, but I also think there’s room for improvement. For a long time I’ve wanted to eat better and have tried to get in as many whole, unprocessed foods as I can and eating clean really fits into my own concepts of what I should be eating. It’s not about losing weight for me (though I certainly wouldn’t mind), but about putting better things in my body and getting the exercise my body needs.

On to the knitting goals! Initially, for one of my knitting related goals, I was going to do the 10 Shawls in 2010 challenge. After being part of the Ravelry group for a while, it seemed to me like the definition of a shawl was becoming too broad for me, so I decided to drop out of the group. I know I’m not the only one who felt this way. Instead, I decided that knitting goal #1 is to knit at least 5 shawls this year. I have some ideas for patterns already and I’m counting anything that I finish in 2010 in this count (so the shawl that I’m working on for my grandma will be counted since it will be finished in 2010). Knitting goal #2 is to knit the Little Birds cardigan this year since I didn’t get to it last year. Knitting goal #3 is to knit with luxury fibers. I really want to knit with cashmere and maybe a silk/cashmere blend, so even if this means saving up my pennies and not getting other (cheaper) yarn, I’m going to do it! I already have some ideas for patterns and yarns.

So, there you have it. Goals this year:
– Exercise 5 times a week
– Transition to Eating Clean and keep it up
– Knit 5 shawls
– Knit the Little Birds cardigan
– Knit with luxury fibers

Not too bad of a list there! I might need to use that last one as a motivator for the first one, but I’m okay with that. Whatever gets me moving! 😉

This weekend, I started a pair of socks for Matt. Not too long ago, he asked me for a pair of socks to wear to bed. Of course, I immediately said I’d knit him a pair!

Matt’s Socks

I’m up to the foot now and since I’m knitting on 3 mm needles, I think it will go pretty quick. I’m using Berroco Comfort sport weight, which is an acrylic/nylon blend. I had it on hand and since he’s only using them to sleep in, I figure it’s fine for that. If he likes them, the next pair will be nice and woolly once I find a decent sport weight sock yarn to use.

I spent a fair amount of time working on my grandma’s shawl and it’s getting pretty close to where I need to knit the border, then seam it. I have 3 more repeats of the chart which should go pretty quick. I haven’t been working much on the hat I started since this shawl needs to be done this week, but I did take a picture of it to share.

Porom by Jared Flood in Elizabeth Lavold Sikly Wool

After the shawl is finished, I’m debating on what project to start next. I’d like to start a sweater, but can’t decide between starting Little Birds right away or Bernhardt. Hmmm, decisions, decisions! Maybe I’ll just swatch for both and then decide. 🙂

Happy New Year everyone!

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