More knitting. Hopefully faster.

Well, I've started another shawl, finally. It's one of the primary 16 on my internal set - and my queue on Ravelry.

I'm just happy right now. I have been in a foul mood for a few days and I'm gratefully through the other side. I'm hoping that it's going to last a few days and I can knit in emotive peace.

The shawl is a beautiful Orenberg shawl "Olga's Indiski [Indian] Shawl" designed by Galina Khmeleva (in Piecework magazine May/June 2009) and it's glorious, honestly glorious. I'm using Fyberspates Scrumptious Lace (55/45 merino silk), colourway 501 (cherry). It's a ripe cherry colour, with hints/shadings  of brown and blue that change as the light source changes. At this time, I'm sitting under an energy saver bulb and the colour's a medium/dark blued-pinky-red. Hard to name.

I think, if there's one bad thing I can think of about this shawl, it's that I've got a Kindle, and I want the charts on it.. So, I'm having to type up the charts into text (.txt) files so I can upload them to the Kindle - I don't have a way to transfer them to pdf files. But, luckily for me, the body chart had an error, so Interweave press re-pubished it on their website as a .pdf file, so that was a sanity saver *whew*. I'm only halfway through typing up chart 1 - and that took a day. Eek.

Anyway, I'm going to fix the last row of the edging (I accidentally pulled the needle out), finish up typing chart 1 (and start on chart 2) then I'm back to knitting on the shawl. Yum

I'm itching to knit, and so off I go.

Later.

SOPA shelved

SOPA's been shelved!

I had no idea it was making me so uptight until I read the info via a google search and I jumped up and down with the news. Unlike my impetus before the news, I'm very happy to knit now - and I've a lot of projects to catch up on.

Whew.

I hope SOPA never leaves the shelf, and disintegrates where it is. . .#


Later.

Re-starting a project.

A while ago - a LONG while ago, I started a colourful mitred jacket/vest with removable sleeves. I wanted it a bit big, so I made the squares 18-20 stitches wide and long.

This picture is an early shot of the bottom half of the left front.

At the time I started it, I was on the way to becoming a size 18 (quite happily, as I just wasn't seeing my body change, and had things continued, I might have gotten to a size 22.). Later that year, I walked in front of an office building, caught sight of my winter glory in the mirrored windows and noticed I looked  like a weeble. It was quite the eye opener.
I've lost weight and inches since then and am at a size 14 (average). I'm hoping that eventually I'll (slowly) get down to a size 12 - I'm really not one for exercising like a fiend or starvation dieting (I'm using a mixture of exercising 3 times a week and removing 95% of all dairy products (I'm now lactose intolerant) and it helps that I'm a pescetarian.
Since I'm 47 now, and only 5'4", I'm most focussed on reducing my waist measurements (more a ratio of waist measurement/height - I forget the exact ratio) in order to prevent me becoming (at all) insulin dependant or glucose intolerant. I'm determined NOT to become dependent on a regiment of pills to control blood pressure/cholesterol/glucose (I'm fine, and healthy, but I worry).

Anyway, all of this means that the mitered jacket I started is now big on me. I'm going to have to rip out all the knitting and re-knit the squares in a different size. It helps that I found a free pattern on Ravelry (Freyalyn's Modular Vest) with a different style of mitred square and I'm going to use it instead. The new squares are actually about half the size (I think) of the original ones and I like the orientation of them better than the ones I originally made. I don't know at this point how I'll design/engineer the sleeves - again, removable - but it'll happen one way or another.

So.

I'm off to frog a vest. I'm a bit sad and frustrated, but I'm not going to work on it as it is. So frogged it will be. The "yarn" deserves to be something nice/pretty.

Later.

A small change in Focus

  I'm still knitting. I think I'll always knit from this point on - not necessarily every day, but as often as my psyche is comfortable with. If it wants to take a break, that's fine too, as there's more than enough knitting to sew up when I don't want to knit. . .

  Anyway - the change in focus. I'm primarily a lace knitter and love, love, Love lace, but, I'm finding the beauty and delight in cables. Soft, squishy, textural cables. I want to knit more cables.

 I'm looking for patterns with cables. I'm not sure I'm quite ready to do a full cabled garment, but a persistant pattern is lovely. I'm delighted with the 6-piece plated cable accessory set I'm almost (about 2 weeks to finish the last piece, a gartered scarf) done with.
I'll be sad when it's finished. I've already been thinking about the next cabled piece I want to do, and at this point, I'm pretty sure there's going to be 2 - 3 of them - definitely a beret (piece 1) and a wrap/shawl with either a cabled edging or central panel (piece 2). I know for a fact I'll end up giving the beret away, but I want to knit one and why not one with cables. The developing pattern will be fun. (Yes, I said fun.).

Even as I'm typing this, I'm also thinking about knitting Eunny Jang's cabled yoke cardigan (I'm pretty sure it's in an issue of Interweave Knits). I've had it in my queue for what seems like ages, and I think that this is the year (not sure when, as is usual for me) I'll be starting it (- there's piece number 3) Whee!

One of the other "big" garments I'm planning on knitting and will definitely buy is a pattern for a moss stitch coat from Vogue Knitting (I'm pretty sue I've mentioned it in the past, but like the cardigan, I can't remember the issue or even the designer). As far as I know, it's for sale on their website, and they had it last month on sale, but I just didn't have the opportunity to get it (no credit card). I'll have it bought for me as I'll send the money for it with my Father when he goes on his yearly trip. Hooray!

Anyway, I'm off, as I'm in the process (slowly) of knitting a pair of toe-up sock-lets (no toes or heels) for yoga. I'm tired of my feet cramping because of the cold. I'll probably have them finished by spring *grin*.

Later.

Old Year, New Year.

Well, here's the overview of the knitting of 2011. It's what I've been working on the most. I've got old projects that haven't been finished, and I'm planning on getting a couple of those done this year, but here's what has been accomplished:

Projects completed in 2011:

Felted Slippers (DROPS Design)

Bamboo Circular Vest (Shelly Mackie/Elann.com)(needs to be adjusted, but it's wearable)

Wisp #1 (Cheryl Niamath/Knitty.com)

Cabled Kindle Cover (adapted from pattern by Emily Nimz)

Summer Shawlette (Wendy Knits/Ravelry knit-along)

Seafoam Shawl (Sarah Barbour)

Growing Leaves Shawl #2 (Lankakomero)

Iris Shawl (Krazee Kitty/Ravelry knit-along)

22 (BIG) Leaves Shawl (Lankakomero)(knitted with aran yarn)

Bamboo Dishcloth (own pattern)

North Roe Shawl (Aux Dentilles Dodile)

Nightsong (for the Day) Shawl (Nightsongs)

Thrummed Mittens (Stephanie Pearl-McPhee)

Amurigumi Cephalopod (own pattern, based on Tiny Mermaid pattern from Teeny-Tiny Mochi-Mochi Book)

Braidy Cowl (Maryse Roudier)

Braided Mitts (Tera Johnson)


Almost Finished in 2011:

Hooded Snow Scarf (Nikki McGonigal) (I decided at the last minute to make the hood detachable. it's been knitted and blocked. Buttons and loops need sewing on)

Clapotis #2 (ends -LOTS of ends- need sewing in) knitting finished 29 Dec. 2011 (started June 2007)

All Over Cables Hat (Lindsay Koehler) (just needs crochet edging)


Projects Started in 2011:

Cable-icious Ear Warmer (Scarf) (Kate Black)

Raspberry Dream Stole (Dagmara)

Mochi Mochi Tiny Elephant (Anna Hrachovec) (Tiny Chicken and Tiny Elephant from Teeny-Tiny Mochi-Mochi Book)

Mochi Mochi Tiny Chicken (a flock has been started) (Anna Hrachovec)

Eyelet Gloves (Cara Jo Miller)

Reading Shawl #2 (Danielle Landes)

Mariposa Shawlette (Dutch Knitting Design/The Knitter Magazine)

Moonlight Sonata Shawl (Shui Kuen Kozinski/Elann.com)

Growing Leaves Shawl #1 (Lankakomero)

Mermaid Jacket (Hanne Falkenberg kit, colourway #7)

Classic White Shirt (Sian Brown/Knitting Magazine)


Knitting Planned in 2012:

Shawls, a sweater, some baby clothes.