Saturday, November 21, 2009

Pix From Last Weekend, 11/14/09

Been a bit too busy to get the snaps snapped and then upload them, so FINALLY I got around to it today.

So I headed to New Jersey to attend a demonstration on how to do Hairpin Lace. Not really sure I learned anything more than I already knew (which isn't MUCH). I got the loops onto the harp/loom, but who knows if it's the way it should be. And I didn't get much in the way of what to do when the strips of loops are worked off the loom and how to join them into projects. In a sense, what I'm saying is, I'm a very technical person. If I know the mechanics of the stitches and composition, I then can do whatever the hell I want with the techniques (case in point, my little entrelac bags which are my addictive traveling projects). Here's a shot of what my loom looks like. What I'll ultimately do with this, I don't know, but had hopes of being able to work the hairpin lace into projects with oya and other lacy types of motifs.

The one thing which has eclipsed my love and addiction for entrelac in the round (at the moment) has been the Traveling Bivalves moebius cowl. In the last 10 days, I have started and completed FIVE of these things. They are addictive, and peacefully monotonous. This was my traveling project up until last Saturday when I headed into Jersey for the hairpin lace demo. I frogged a Tunisian short row pinwheel which was going to be the basis of a beret. It's worked in Dream in Color Yarn in colorway "Strange Harvest." I love it. I finished this Monday at lunch. I am now working on a cloche to match it, and this will be my 2009 Hat and Scarf ensemble. (Hat portion finished, just have to work on brim, picture will be forthcoming.)

I fortunately was able to meet up with a friend of mine at 'Bucks for some face time and good conversation. I wish I didn't live so damned far away from those folks with whom I am friends, or otherwise find truly interesting. So I worked a bit of the moebius and chatted up quite a storm.

I then became miffed to find out the LYS I normally frequent when I "pass thru these parts" no longer carries Malabrigo. Sure it pills, but imho, it is a pleasure to work with. The shop had a few "stragglers," aka orphaned skeins of 'Brigo for sale jut to get rid of them. Had the colors been remotely pleasant, I would have walked right out of there with them. But no amount of love for 'Brigo would have allowed me to buy these putrid colored skeins. Besides, I was running a bit late and could not stay for a full-on visit, so I hastily looked for a substitute for 'Brigo (blasphemy, I know), and settled upon a few skeins of Sheep Shop Yarn Company; two skeins in Sheep Number Two in color way G730 (a colorway reminiscent of, but not as intense/vibrant as the skein of Manos del Uruguay I got duped into buying a few weeks back); and three skeins of Sheep Number Two in colorway G017, which I can see in one small, masculine moebius for the husband (perhaps) and possibly a pair of slippers with the remaining two skeins.

It's time again for me to clean out my den. I literally live with a system of totes. Each project has its own tote (cheap bags from the Dollar Store which I also use for grocery shopping). So it is with GLEE I TELL YA that I found the bag from my Columbus Day jaunt into NYC to attend an appointment, and found the Katia Bombay cotton (as well as the little entrelac bags I used as traveling projects). I totally forgot about both of them!


Details regarding my little entrelac bags can be found in my projects section on Ravelry. If you're interested in buying or swapping something for one or both of the bags, let me know either here in the comments section or PM me on Ravelry.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Good Times: Doozers

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Oya: Emulation/Simulation

Granted, the weight of the yarn and hook size is different than what Rengin used, but a good first attempt at emulating one variety of her oya. Whaddaya think?

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Inspiration Piece: Oya

Posting this pic as a reminder for myself, and to be used as an inspiration piece
for a very special piece of wedding "jewelery" for a friend.

The picture is one variation of Oya, Turkish Lace, which my friend Rengin creates. Please take a moment and visit her online shop or her blog. What she is able to create is, in my opinion, utterly beautiful, and I aspire, one day, to be able to re-create what she does!

Monday, November 09, 2009

One Skein + 24 Hours = Mobius!

So it's like this...

I had some chunkier weight Malabrigo at home and started working on a Traveling Bivalves mobius cowl and ran out of the yarn for the project. So Sunday, I drove to the nearest LYS (which isn't to say much, we've got slim pickin's here in southern Westchester) ISO either the same color (it's a variegated) or a color that would go with it, but it had to be Malabrigo.

So I get to the LYS only to be told by the owner she doesn't carry Malabrigo, because "it's so similar to Manos del Uruguay" that it doesn't pay to keep both in stock. So out of desperation, I bought two skeins, hoping that my gut was wrong.

Let's just say I should listen to my gut more often. But I was desperate! I'm sure any other knitter or crocheter would have fallen prey to the wiles of the Manos.

There are only three things Manos shares with Malabrigo:

1. It's wool;
2. It's single ply;
3. It's from South America.

Right there, that's it. That's all they have in common. Plus with the chunky-to-thin type of spin on the Manos, it's inconsistent to the Malabrigo I was using. So what to do? Use it up! Get it out of mah house, that's what!

Don't get me wrong. It's perfectly good yarn. But it's no Malabrigo, and there's no way I could have mixed the two yarns without it being visible.

Hence: Traveling Bivalves!

I very rarely follow patterns, as I like to trouble shoot and figure things out for myself, even resorting to counting stitches:) But I was so glad to learn about Traveling Bivalves from a friend who was wearing one at Rhinebeck a few weeks back.

Within 24 hours of getting the Manos, I finished up the first cowl tonight, and already started the second one:) They'll be holiday gifts for friends, and if you're seeing this now, act surprised when you get it!

This is how far I got as of 9:30 a.m. today.

And this is as of 9:30 tonight. Done. :)
This project really satisfies the "immediate satisfaction junkie"
in me:)

I highly recommend this pattern for anyone;
from a seasoned intermediate/expert down to
a novice starting out.
Other than twisting the foundation chain before joining,
it's nothing more than clusters of 2DC 1CH 2DC.
Relatively mindless crochet, pure enjoyment:)

Blogs I'm Eyeballin' This Week: 11/9/09

On Pegs and Needles
The Craft Brigade
Yarn Craft Revival
Yarn Tails
Fat Cat Crochet
The Crafty Apple
Maskerade
Textile Fusion
Iron Needles

Saturday, November 07, 2009

PhotoDump #2, 11/7/09

Yet another pic of what is amounting to the baby blanket from hell...

The "Baby Blanket From Hell." For more details check my projects section on Ravelry.




Unfortunately I realized my mistake several rounds after...
I'm just leaving it in.
Any further difficulties with this blanket, I'm just
going to frog the damned thing and give up on
baby blankets entirely.
Though to be honest, this sucker is now
getting to the point where it's going
to be too large for a "baby" blanket.

PhotoDump #1, 11/7/09

Got a new camera, so it's taken me a bit to get some photos of what's been going on here. So, in no particular order:

A close up of the one row of broomstick lace which is on an afghan I'm workin' on which is sort of a "stitch or technique sampler."


An overall view of the afghan in question.
By the way it's chock full of mistakes. I love this!

Some stitch markers and a book mark
I received from Stargrrl in a swap box from Bubbo's Pants.

Some Rowan Yarn in aforementioned swapbox.

A full view of contents of swap box.


More pictures coming from my major league photo dump!

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Thought I'd Share: Caron Yarn Give-Away

For more details: Click here.