• Knitting & Crafting

    FO: Lace Legs

    November 27, 2016

    This is the first of four knitting posts. Two of which I finished months ago so the commentary will be short on some of them.

    I recently started a new job which is great. However, is the most strenuous one I’ve had in awhile. As a result, I have less time and energy for reading, but knitting is more manageable. I have tended to knitting when work or school was occupying. I am aiming to stashdown as well. Hopefully more knitting posts to continue in 2017.

    Lace Legs

    A number of years ago, I made my first pair of legwarmers. I never wore legwarmers before that, but they are became very useful. I wear skirts and dresses through the winter and legwarmers are invaluable for that since I live in Canada. I use my legwarmers at least once a week if not more in the winter and I only had the one pair. When I read that other knitters had issues with this yarn felting, I knew the alpaca would make great legwarmers.

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  • Knitting & Crafting

    Hemlock Ring Blanket

    June 16, 2008

    Project 93/365 - Hemlock

    Even though I had start this twice and it gave me some trouble towards the end, this is the most beautiful thing I have made yet.

    Once I frogged back my first attempt after several mistakes of not being careful, it went extremely well through the knitting. I flew through the pattern doing up to line 55 of Jared’s chart (or 101 in the Extended/normal chart). I love the colour though the Cascade 220 dye can run quite a bit in the wash.

    Hemlock Warmth

    When I hit the bind off row, my troubles began as I realised that I did not have enough yarn. I had to buy more yarn, but I could not rip back to add a repeat because I had placed my life line way too far down. That discouraged me quite a bit because I thought I had enough yarn by going down a needle size and not doing the repeat. I accidentally broke the Emily Ocker cast on when I was weaving in, but I fixed it so it is not too troublesome. I did not enjoy the blocking too much, and only stretched it 9 inches.

    The camera does not capture the colour adequately; it is very lovely turquoise aptly named Caribbean. The edge/BO rnd was difficult to block and looks a bit unkempt, so I avoided taking photos of it. I may iron the edges lightly at some point. As usual, I blocked with a bath of Eucalan Lavender.

    Hemlock Ring Blanket, started May 19th 2008, finished June 13th 2008 Ravelry Project Page
    Pattern: Hemlock Ring Blanket adapted by Jared Flood Ravelry Pattern Page
    Size: 45″ blocked. 36″ unblocked.
    Yarn: Cascade 220 Wool – #8907 Caribbean – 100g/220 yards – 3.1 skeins
    Needles: US#9/5.5mm 40″/100cm bamboo circs with magic loop

    Project 94/365 - My Hemlock and I

    Modifications: Emily Ocker Cast On, I often ssk instead of sl1k1psso, and with the BO rnd I k2tog, O, ssk.
    Tools/Notions: Stitch markers, lifelines, and row counter are all necessary.
    Lessons Learned: Emily Ocker Cast on.
    Cost of Project: approx. $28
    Would I knit it again? Yes! I would make it bigger. I would love to make this in Cascade Eco wool. It is not sold widely in Canada, but one day though.

    Tactile

    Helpful Links and Tips: I used The Rainey Sisters‘s PDF of the pattern as it is updated with the errata and uses ssk. It uses Jared’s chart, and additionally, I paired it with the Hemlock Ring Knit Along Yahoo Group‘s Extended Chart which has helpful numbers of YOs and stitch counts (though there is a small error in the one I got). Being a member of Ravelry’s Hemlock Ring Doily Throw Knitters group also gave reassurance.

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  • Beauty & Skincare,  Knitting & Crafting,  Photography

    Shetland Triangle

    March 8, 2008

    Shetland Triangle

    One of my best knit items yet. Last summer, I tried making Evelyn A. Clark’s other popular pattern Swallowtail Shawl and ran into a lot of problems so it has been hibernating. I am ready to tackle it again after this wonderful project. Popularized by Brooklyn Tweed’s version of aran lace, I decided to do some stashbusting with my Patons. This was one of my most enjoyable knits; it’s easy to knit up and remember. It’s also very classy and great pattern for gifts. Usually, I make a few noticeable mistakes and due to my never ripping back policy, I don’t fix them. With this project, I made one or two mistakes, and I don’t even know where they are. Even the invisible/provisional CO worked out, and I hate provisional COs. The heavier yarn makes the knitting flow better. Good signs for my lace future; other than Branching Out, I’d never done a real big lace project until now. I am going to be making BT Hemlock Ring Blanket as well. Hopefully it’ll turn out as beautiful as this project.

    Shetland Triangle bottom edge

    Shetland Triangle, started February 26th 2008, finished March 5th 2008 Ravelry Project Page
    Pattern: Shetland Triangle by Evelyn A. Clark from Wrap Style Ravelry Pattern Page
    Size: approximately 65″ wide x 35″ long blocked (unblocked, it was 10″ less wide)
    Yarn: Patons Classic Wool Merino (100g – 204m/223yds – 100% wool) in 00240 Leaf Green – 2 skeins and a bit
    Needles: #9/5.5mm 100 cm bamboo circs and 7.0mm circs for BO

    Green Shetland Triangle

    Modifications: Subbed yarn from 2ply lace weight to worsted weight, skipped last two rows of edging chart, 10 body repeats instead of 8 in pattern. Brooklyn Tweed apparently did nine repeats with 400m aran yarn. Doing nine reps would probably be enough with 2 skeins of this wool if you don’t mind using stretchy and bouncing merino. I BO on a 7.0mm using this lace nameless BO I found on Ravelry forums: “k1, k1, sl. both stitches back on left needle k 2 tog. through back loop, [k1, sl both stitches on left needle and knit tog. through back loop,] rep across row.” It looks okay so I may or may not use it next time.
    Tools/Notions: 4 stitch markers
    Lessons Learned: The aforementioned nameless BO
    Cost of Project: $15 (though I only used a tiny bit of the third skein)
    Would I knit it again? YES! Good for gifts, and I would love to make this in a silk/wool mix or with non-merino wool fabric such as alpaca. I’d prefer to stick to the heavier weight yarn rather than lace with this project.

    Shetland Triangle closer up

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