MaggieBKnits

Merry Christmas, all. Hoping yours was as wonderful as mine. We are now in our new home, it is wonderful and feels like home right from the git-go, and I simply cannot think of anything to be unhappy about. (not like I'm trying to be unhappy or anything.) Room for my stash, my books, my knitted objects, my lace-blocking... oh yeah, and room for my family too! ;) I would like to suggest that moving into a home on December 22 can be a trifle stressful. However, when the home is as yummy as ours, even the stress is nice. I have promised to teach a lace knitting class after we get settled in, and am thinking about first-time lace knitting concepts. Looking for opinions for the following: Good yarn for first project Good concept for first project Remind me to tone down my expectations and class plans, since lace knitting comfort rarely arrives overnight I am thinking of a rectangular shawl (possibly a scarf for the nervous-of-too-big-a-project, quite possibly a very wise position c...

I just got this last night (it got snowed on, but luckily those USPS priority mail envelopes seem to have some Water Repulsion Capability). Yes, it's a Bohus Stickning kit. I purchased it from a friend, who did not want to/have time to knit it. It is my favorite, I think (though it's a tough league-- they are all stunning). Forest Darkness. This picture (of course) does not do the colors justice. Nor, of course, the texture. Half angora. Half Merino. Really, what is not to like in that? I am going to start it in January. My only nagging anxiety is the fineness of the gauge, in combination with the miles, and miles, of black stocking stitch. Not sure how I will deal with that...unless because this yarn is Luxury Personified and who can resist working with it, black or otherwise. Now, I am sure some of you can appreciate my falling off the wagon for a Bohus kit. At least, I would hope so. But what about the other 24 (or thereabouts, what's 5 or 6 more between friends) skei...

Howdy. You'll be glad to know that somehow, despite my yarn fast, and determined reassurance that I have Not Purchased any yarn, something came today. I don't know how these will appear on your screen, but none of them are quite right on mine. Regardless, son #3 says it's the most beautiful yarn in the house, and when are you going to start it, Mommy? I feel like a criminal when I look at the stack of costume sewing I have remaining but, humorously, (he well knows me) he pointed out that there are lots of places we go that the sewing machine can't go, so I can bring his sweater and work on it then... What a cutie. The other funny thing about this yarn is that, to me, it's Ordered Clothing, not really Yarn-- perhaps as a knitter you understand. So when my DH told me "here's the receipt for your yarn order, sweetie," I gacked. "Yarn order? What yarn order? I haven't bought any yarn!" He just looked at me, a bit astonished, and hande...

Knitting done in last 4 days? A big fat Zero. No, not a slump, a time crunch. I have promised (and yes I freely acknowledge that my promise was foolhardy) to make the costumes for a Christmas drama that our church is putting on. Deranged, that's me. One of the actors is not a small man. I have two large bags of fabric staring at me (reproachfully: why have I not yet been cut out?) and a household that is moving into our new house in 16 days, and clearly I am out of my mind. In case you did not already know. No longer knitting on, but looking crabbily at fabric...

Here is my second son, on the back deck modelling what he terms the best sweater in the house. That's nice to hear! It is not yet blocked. Here is a (sideways) closeup of the cable up the center front. It is one that seems to have become my favorite (it has been somewhere on my last 5 cabled items, if that gives you a clue!) It is called "Four Rib Braid" and is, I believe, in Barbara Walker's Second Treasury. This shows the roll neck and front a bit better. On the topic of cables, I did get my latest issue of Twists and Turns (Janet Szabo's quarterly newsletter on cable knitting). Janet is beginning the option of receiving the newsletter in PDF form, and enclosed was a mail-in form to request the hard copy versus the electronic. Except that the name and address on the form was for someone else :) I think something went awry on the envelope stuffing side of things. Anyway, if you don't receive this newsletter, and you like cables and texture knitting, I hi...

Lest you think I am still be-bopping around Yosemite and San Francisco, on vacation Just enjoying the mountains and never knitting, just check this out: Yup, on the Angel Island Ferry, knitting away like a madwoman on my #2 son's sweater (a sleeve, in case you wonder). Here, body and sleeves are attached: This is in Santa Rosa, the night before our flight home. And here is the happy boy, finished sweater on, warm and happy, airborne back to the east coast. I always struggle with the necklines for this son. He has a slender neck and a large head. (Physically, not personality-wise) If it fits nicely around his neck, it won't go over his head without a battle. If it fits over his head without a battle, it flops all over the place at his neck. This time I conquered the problem with a k2p2 ribbing, topped with a roll neck. Perfect. Yes, that is The Return of the King that he is reading. Not only am I home, but our whole internet setup is finally fixed, network setup, and ...

Here is the back of my son #2's Malabrigo sweater. Not exciting, and the color is totally wrong (it is a rich lovely green) Here is the front. One panel of Four Rib Braid up the center front. Finished Estonian Shoulder Hugger details of teh Hugger! Knitting on!

Here is a really exciting package I received last month: It's from Mongolia, and not surprisingly contains Mongolian cashmere. Lace weight. The red is incredible, but I have no idea if that will come thru on this picture. Fingers crossed... As you see there is also some salmon-ish (again lace weight) cashmere. The pale one, which is really more of a cross between beige and gold, is (I think though my memory may be faulty) part silk. The sheen on these yarns is astounding, and the hand gloriously soft. It is from Yubina and Fleegle introduced it to me. I cannot praise this stuff too highly-- but--caveat-- though I have done some serious fondling of it, I have not yet knit with it. I know that is shocking. Believe me, massive self-control. (My children get most of my fall knitting time in order to replace their outgrown sweaters. I am so delighted that they love my knitting that I am happy to do this. Currently on the needles is a greenish pullover for number 2 son, in ...

I think it's my computer that is keeping me from doing more than one photo, but whatever, here's a detail shot of the Kid Seta Estonian shawl. I neglected to point out in my previous post that this is unblocked in these pictures. I thought I'd taken some blocked but I guess I was wrong. I need one of it being worn, as it is really a delight. (I think, anyway.) Warm, drapey, flattering. OK end of this one, trying again. (really, what is the deal here?!)

OK, here's the finished shawl. Knit from Madil's Kid Seta (I think it is the same essential yarn as Kid Silk Haze, but I could be wrong). The color is a rich red, the mohair fluff is wonderful and warm, and the silk sheen is eye-catching. It was knit during multiple soccer games and practices this fall, and finished a month ago. You are probably wondering "what has she been doing since and why didn't we hear about it right away?" Answer is: because. I refuse to fill this blog with a probably rant so you'll just have to trust me on this one: posting has not been possible. (I am sorry, however!) Since Blogger has gone berserk, or perhaps it's my (brandnew!) laptop, I can only load one picture so the great ideas I had for LOTS of pictures have gone the way of all flesh. I'll just have to do multiple posts, eh?

I am so sorry. We have just finished a fairly stressful move, I am still surrounded by boxes, and we have been attacked by a Vengeful Verizon (or so I suppose) and are struggling along on dial-up, with no certain end in sight. Now, we had dial-up for a long time, but I have decided that blogging about knitting is dullsville without photos and, well, have you ever tried to upload a decent photo on dialup? Right. That said, I decided to try. Guess what? Camera has gone berserk, can't even do that. Truly berserk. Won't do anything, acts possessed. Maybe it doesn't like knitting? (Ban it!!) Talk about aurgh! Anyway, I have to tell you about my knitting without photos, which is rather dull, but I'll try anyway. Red shawl, kid seta. Various Estonian patterns and some self-generated Nupp-filled patterns: Almost done (5 rows from cast-off). And being inspired by Estonian shawls, it has a genuine cast off, which they do with doubled yarn. It adds some heft to the edge, as well a...

I know that is a crazy name for a post but it's the most descriptive thing I can think of. How did I get thru nearly a week with only one post? You just don't want to know. Truly! Here is my kid seta shawl. I have to say that, true to form, the more I invent and knit, the more complex it becomes. This is no longer an easy-knit-for-beginning-lace-knitter. I'm really really sorry. It just happens to me all the time, I get all excited and pretty soon, well, it gets interesting. To me. So I have decided on a perfect first lace project. It is based on a shawl I knit for my daughter almost 5 years ago (really. She is almost 7 now, and regularly clamors for shawls just like Mommy's) (She calls them "Shawlies" but you probably didn't need to know that.) I will show you a photo tomorrow (she is in bed) and I promise to knit it next, and out of the red Kid Seta. Just a general description-- a roughly Faroese shape, but top-down, and all garter stitch, w...

Lest I leave you thinking my property is still a parking lot for huge power equipment, let me show you the new high point in the state of NJ: Mount Septic. The ski lifts go in next week. That's one loose end. Here's another, but it's not tied off yet: I have made some progress, thanks only to soccer games and practices. Progress has been hindered by the design method I am using on this shawl: chart and knit. Contemplate an even better idea; chart madly; knit madly; stop and contemplate, chart, imagine... and knit madly again. Because I want it to hug my shoulders, I have worked in extra increases, which wreaked havoc on my charts (wait, I forgot to leave room for these extra sts) and I invented all sorts of odd ways to show them. Surprisingly, it has been an easy knit. I apologize for the photo, I enlisted a son to hold some parts as the (short) needle is overwhelmed by the sts which keep trying to escape. This is another loose end: a sweater I finished in the early part o...

While one son was cheerfully practicing with his team, this morning, I thought I would swing by the lys in my small town. Oh, and get a cup of coffee across the street. Just swing by, no real plan in mind. Ha. Actually I did truly need to purchase some more of the Kid Seta since I haven't enough to finish the shawl I am making. Not that I'm running out, exactly. In fact, here I am (I cannot stretch out more of it or it will all come off the needles): Not awe inspiring progress, I know, but I have been messing with graph paper and madly charting and trying things and that can be time consuming. Especially when you're outside in the wind, which has its own ideas about what my charts should look like. Anyway, I did get my yarn, and had a great conversation with one of the owners-- which is where the serendipity comes in. Turns out there's a knitter in town who wants to use Kid Seta to make a special shawl and would like some help with pattern and just lace knitting i...

I promised knitting...! A few days ago I mentioned some yarn my husband brought me, from Collective Yarns . He was innocently delivering one of the owners' sons to her, after soccer practice, and he said something about lace weight yarn (he has been well trained, but he's also a real hero since he truly believes I need no more yarn. Can you imagine? He must not have noticed the stuff under the bed.... ;) Anyway, Megan of Collective Yarns handed it to him and said, "here, see how she likes this." (So she's a hero, too) I like it. The best part is, both of the owners of the shop are lovely local women. My husband works with the husband of one... and coaches both of their sons in soccer. It's a net, drawing him into More and More Yarn Purchases! Anyway, I am delighted that they opened a lys in our town, and I do promise to go buy lots of yarn from them. Even if it means the personal sacrifice of breaking my own Yarn Fast. Rats. ;) More knitting: Here we h...

Here is my 13 foot deep hole, in which we are burying a Mercedes, I mean, a septic. This is one of the 40, yes, I did say 40, massive dumptrucks that brought the Special Australian Sand which is so important to the success of a septic in NJ. (I'm kidding. It's not really Australian sand; it is priced as if it were, though) This scene? That used to be my backyard. They built a road so the trucks wouldn't sink into my nice yard when they brought their multi-ton loads. (Too bad they couldn't do the same thing for my driveway) Here he goes. (The guy running things was looking suspicious so I hid behind my window on this one, which is why the white stuff is there. Rookie, here.) Dumps away. You thought this was a knitting blog, didn't you? I just wanted to share the joys of installing a maniacs-run-totally-amok DEP septic in the state of NJ. Those logs? Two enormous ash trees-that-were. The bulldozer? That would be parked on my present septic system (despite my request...

Very little knitting makes Boring Blogger. And after that kerfluffle of completed objects, I have had very little knit time. You really don't want to know why, do you? I didn't think so. But soccer season has begun, so there will be some periods of enforced inactivity when I will be able to knit. (When I can be spared from cheering) A very interesting thing is that my DH works with the DH of a woman in my town who has opened a knitting shop. I have been struggling with the need to go in and buy from her (like it's a sacrifice?! :) and the need to adhere to my "No Buying Yarn/Knit from Stash" policy. However, I think that exceptions sometimes are mandatory. To encourage me in this thinking, something interesting happened yesterday. My Dear Husband sashayed into her shop and came home with this: First of all, it is a glorious deep and rich wine red not this whacky orange color in my photo. But it's Madil's Kid Seta (a Kid Silk Haze lookalike) and it is lovel...

Here she is. Her body is composed of Spider stitch, which is very useful for shawls that drape nicely. A triangle results from 4 increases every 2 rows. Spider stitch lets you increase 4 sts in two rows, and 8 in the next two rows. The extra increases spread the shawl out more rapidly, essentially, which produces more of a crescent shape at the front edge. Here the shawl is blocking on my rug, and you can easily see the more-than-triangle shape. A close up of the spider stitch, as well as the border. The border increases quite rapidly. In twenty rows it almost doubles, twice, going from 300 stitches to nearly 1000. This produces a bit of a ruffle-- which produces a blocking challenge! Normally, each loop of crochet chain gets stretched straight out at the bottom of the shawl. You can't do that on this one-- there is not enough room laterally, due to the sheer number of stitches, and the scallop. Here's a picture I took while I was pinning it out. Each of those little points ...