This will be my last blog post for a little while. I'm not sure when I'll next be able to post, but I did want to, at least, let you know that I WILL be back. When, and if, I have the chance, I'll upload files to Mediamax so they'll be available again. I'm just not sure when that will be. Thankfully, all my knitting files are now on a finger drive, so I'll have them with me wherever I go.
Today, we're moving the bulk of our belongings into storage. I'm not sure if the computer is going today, but I do know that I won't have much time to be online this week, and by this time next week, we'll be on the road (or in Gibsons already) for sure. I'm hoping we can spend at least a little time with family.
Once I'm back up and running, I'll post all sorts of progress pictures, both knitting and move related. I promise! In the meantime, stay safe, everyone.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
Keeping My Fingers Crossed
I need your help. I have found an online file sharing web site and I'm testing it out on you. Let me know whether or not this works, please??
Triangle Check Hat (click here)
Well??
Triangle Check Hat (click here)
Well??
Sunday, October 14, 2007
The Shrug
Last night, on Chatters, we were talking about my shrug and how it's constructed. Up until yesterday, it was a difficult project to photograph because of what lace does naturally... scrunches up and looks like nothing.
Today, however, it's a little easier to see how it's all put together. To that end, I did this...
With this picture, you can see the construction of the shrug. The cast on is at the neck edge. It incorporates four "seams", the raglan shaping, worked down with increases on every right side row on the "seams" and every fourth row at the front edges, giving it the V-neck shaping. Right now, I'm working down the left hand sleeve (right hand side of the picture); once that sleeve is finished, I'll pick up the stitches for the second sleeve and work it to match the first.
After that, I'll pick up all the remaining stitches, fronts and back, and continue on down. The pattern says to work about one inch without shaping, then to decrease on every right side row on each side of the front until no stitches remain. That will create the point at the back. The best part of this pattern? No seams!
Incidentally, the colour in this picture is much closer to the actual colour of the yarn that the shot in the previous blog post.
Today, however, it's a little easier to see how it's all put together. To that end, I did this...
With this picture, you can see the construction of the shrug. The cast on is at the neck edge. It incorporates four "seams", the raglan shaping, worked down with increases on every right side row on the "seams" and every fourth row at the front edges, giving it the V-neck shaping. Right now, I'm working down the left hand sleeve (right hand side of the picture); once that sleeve is finished, I'll pick up the stitches for the second sleeve and work it to match the first.
After that, I'll pick up all the remaining stitches, fronts and back, and continue on down. The pattern says to work about one inch without shaping, then to decrease on every right side row on each side of the front until no stitches remain. That will create the point at the back. The best part of this pattern? No seams!
Incidentally, the colour in this picture is much closer to the actual colour of the yarn that the shot in the previous blog post.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Time for Knitting News
Enough about the move for today. It's time to concentrate on some knitting updates. Even with the upheaval of packing, I've made it a point to find some knitting time every day, even if it's only to do a couple of rows. It definitely grounds me and calms me.
The only problem I'm having right now is a terrible case of startitis. Every day, there's something else I want to start, but I've been behaving. Although there are things I should be trying to finish, I've been concentrating on three projects, all recent additions to my works-in-progress.
The Luna Moth shawl (free at elann.com) is coming along nicely, but I've been unable, mentally, to work on it this past week. I'm finding that this week is for mindless, or semi-mindless, projects. However, I haven't shown you a recent picture of the progress I have made.
I'm really liking how it's turning out and I think this will make a great summer evening shawl. I like the hemp yarn so much, I've been buying more of it. This one is, of course, 100% hemp. A while back, I bought 50 grams of a hemp/cotton blend and this week picked up another ball of it. That will be a project for another day. It was called "stash enhancement". ;)
The other shawl I've allowed to rest for a while is the camel shawl. That's not to say I haven't been working on it; it still is the perfect tv knit, mostly mindless.
I've decided to change the shape somewhat, as you can see. That's the nice thing about working from the top down on a shawl like this; you can change the shape quite easily. This eliminates the point of the triangle, making it more of a........ what? I guess it's a triangle with the point cut off. I think this will be a fairly large shawl once I've used up both balls of the camel yarn. That was the intention; it will be the kind of shawl I can cuddle up in, light but warm. Perfect on those coolish, damp west coast nights.
The other project I've been working on is the Shawl Back Shrug from elann.com. I posted a picture of the shrug a couple posts back; I bought the yarn for it last week. I would show you a picture of the shrug in progress, but right now, it really doesn't look like much. I'm having fun knitting it, though.
It's worked from the top down (no seams... yeah!!). As of this morning, I've reached the underarm separation and have started working down one sleeve. The yarn I'm using is Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light, on 4.5 mm needles. I honestly thought I was using 4.0 mm needles, until this morning. Oh well, even though the needles are not what the yarn calls for, I love the way it's knitting up and the tension looks good. I'm not frogging it, that's for sure.
The pattern calls for two different stitch patterns, Flickering Flames on the sleeves and Fir Cone on the back. I've decided to go with just the Fir Cone pattern. It's easy to remember and recognize. The colour of the yarn is a little darker than in the picture, a lovely denim blue with a somewhat tweedy look to it. I've noticed some purple in it, as well as bits of white. All in all, I'm loving it!
As for the pattern, it really isn't difficult, but I do find the directions a little confusing in some spots. The author leaves a lot up to the knitter, as far as measurements, stitch counts and such, goes. Once I realized how it all fits together, it wasn't difficult to figure out what to do next. Once the sleeves are done, I'll be picking up the fronts and the back and working them down, decreasing on either end until I have no stitches left. Then, it's just a matter of picking up a hundred zillion stitches around the entire body and finishing the shrug up with a ribbed edging. Won't that be fun? (uh huh, right!)
And that's a knitting update. Now, it's time to pack up the living room. Considering we've only lived here for eight months, where did all this STUFF come from???
The only problem I'm having right now is a terrible case of startitis. Every day, there's something else I want to start, but I've been behaving. Although there are things I should be trying to finish, I've been concentrating on three projects, all recent additions to my works-in-progress.
The Luna Moth shawl (free at elann.com) is coming along nicely, but I've been unable, mentally, to work on it this past week. I'm finding that this week is for mindless, or semi-mindless, projects. However, I haven't shown you a recent picture of the progress I have made.
I'm really liking how it's turning out and I think this will make a great summer evening shawl. I like the hemp yarn so much, I've been buying more of it. This one is, of course, 100% hemp. A while back, I bought 50 grams of a hemp/cotton blend and this week picked up another ball of it. That will be a project for another day. It was called "stash enhancement". ;)
The other shawl I've allowed to rest for a while is the camel shawl. That's not to say I haven't been working on it; it still is the perfect tv knit, mostly mindless.
I've decided to change the shape somewhat, as you can see. That's the nice thing about working from the top down on a shawl like this; you can change the shape quite easily. This eliminates the point of the triangle, making it more of a........ what? I guess it's a triangle with the point cut off. I think this will be a fairly large shawl once I've used up both balls of the camel yarn. That was the intention; it will be the kind of shawl I can cuddle up in, light but warm. Perfect on those coolish, damp west coast nights.
The other project I've been working on is the Shawl Back Shrug from elann.com. I posted a picture of the shrug a couple posts back; I bought the yarn for it last week. I would show you a picture of the shrug in progress, but right now, it really doesn't look like much. I'm having fun knitting it, though.
It's worked from the top down (no seams... yeah!!). As of this morning, I've reached the underarm separation and have started working down one sleeve. The yarn I'm using is Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light, on 4.5 mm needles. I honestly thought I was using 4.0 mm needles, until this morning. Oh well, even though the needles are not what the yarn calls for, I love the way it's knitting up and the tension looks good. I'm not frogging it, that's for sure.
The pattern calls for two different stitch patterns, Flickering Flames on the sleeves and Fir Cone on the back. I've decided to go with just the Fir Cone pattern. It's easy to remember and recognize. The colour of the yarn is a little darker than in the picture, a lovely denim blue with a somewhat tweedy look to it. I've noticed some purple in it, as well as bits of white. All in all, I'm loving it!
As for the pattern, it really isn't difficult, but I do find the directions a little confusing in some spots. The author leaves a lot up to the knitter, as far as measurements, stitch counts and such, goes. Once I realized how it all fits together, it wasn't difficult to figure out what to do next. Once the sleeves are done, I'll be picking up the fronts and the back and working them down, decreasing on either end until I have no stitches left. Then, it's just a matter of picking up a hundred zillion stitches around the entire body and finishing the shrug up with a ribbed edging. Won't that be fun? (uh huh, right!)
And that's a knitting update. Now, it's time to pack up the living room. Considering we've only lived here for eight months, where did all this STUFF come from???
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Change is good, right?
I just got off the phone with my cable provider. The news is not good, at least it isn't what I wanted to hear.
It turns out that Shaw does not service the Sunshine Coast, where we'll be moving. That means that all my web space and email addresses will disappear. And that means that whatever information I have stored in those web spaces will no longer be accessible via my blogs. And THAT means I'll have to find alternate storage space for patterns and stuff. Anyone know of a safe document storage place online?
What it also means is that some of the links to photos (before I started using Photobucket and other photo sites) will be broken. In other words, a royal pain in the nether regions.
I've been trying to set up Strings 'n Things as a gmail account, but it seems someone has already beaten me to all variations of that name, so, for now, I'll stay with evskae at gmail dot com. If you want to email me, you can reach me there.
I'll slowly be starting to delete files from my web space and I hope it isn't too disruptive to anyone, including me!
Have I mentioned how much I hate moving?
Edited to add: I fear I've given the wrong impression. My blog won't be disappearing; it's a Blogger blog and isn't stored in my own web space. Some of my files, however, were stored in my own webspace. I used to store photographs in my own web space. My blog, especially older posts, will be affected in that pictures may have broken links. Thankfully, Blogger's not going anywhere! And as long as I have access to a computer that's hooked up to the internet, I'll continue to blog.
It turns out that Shaw does not service the Sunshine Coast, where we'll be moving. That means that all my web space and email addresses will disappear. And that means that whatever information I have stored in those web spaces will no longer be accessible via my blogs. And THAT means I'll have to find alternate storage space for patterns and stuff. Anyone know of a safe document storage place online?
What it also means is that some of the links to photos (before I started using Photobucket and other photo sites) will be broken. In other words, a royal pain in the nether regions.
I've been trying to set up Strings 'n Things as a gmail account, but it seems someone has already beaten me to all variations of that name, so, for now, I'll stay with evskae at gmail dot com. If you want to email me, you can reach me there.
I'll slowly be starting to delete files from my web space and I hope it isn't too disruptive to anyone, including me!
Have I mentioned how much I hate moving?
Edited to add: I fear I've given the wrong impression. My blog won't be disappearing; it's a Blogger blog and isn't stored in my own web space. Some of my files, however, were stored in my own webspace. I used to store photographs in my own web space. My blog, especially older posts, will be affected in that pictures may have broken links. Thankfully, Blogger's not going anywhere! And as long as I have access to a computer that's hooked up to the internet, I'll continue to blog.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
I Had An Idea
I was going to start this blog post with an artsy shot of one of my works in progress. Taking pictures, however, at 6 a.m., when you're not quite awake and thinking straight does not make for art. So, no artsy pictures. No pictures at all.
I had an idea... as the title intimates. There are a number of you who read this blog who live here in Kelowna. Some of you know me through Art of Yarn and you know that I no longer work there. You know that John and I will be leaving for Gibsons in about three weeks.
I thought it might be nice to have one last Stitch and Bitch at Blenz before we leave. Our last day of work is October 26, a Friday. Let's have SnB that Thursday, October 25, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. at Blenz. It will be your chance, and mine, to say our goodbyes, tears and all.
What do you think? Good idea? If so, join me at Blenz, October 25, 7-9 p.m. See you there, one last time!
I had an idea... as the title intimates. There are a number of you who read this blog who live here in Kelowna. Some of you know me through Art of Yarn and you know that I no longer work there. You know that John and I will be leaving for Gibsons in about three weeks.
I thought it might be nice to have one last Stitch and Bitch at Blenz before we leave. Our last day of work is October 26, a Friday. Let's have SnB that Thursday, October 25, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. at Blenz. It will be your chance, and mine, to say our goodbyes, tears and all.
What do you think? Good idea? If so, join me at Blenz, October 25, 7-9 p.m. See you there, one last time!
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
TV Knitting
Yesterday (or Monday? whenever!), I showed you my escape reality project. Today, I present my mindless, tv knitting project. No project is totally mindless, really, unless you're knitting a garter stitch endless scarf.
That's not what this is. It is, however, mindless enough that I can knit and watch tv without having to concentrate on what I'm doing.
The yarn is, of course, the camel yarn I wound up last weekend. Because I have two balls, I figure I have enough to make myself a nice cozy shawl to wrap around me on those bleak, wet, wintery evenings on the West (wet) Coast. For those of you who don't know what the west coast is like, it is part of the coastal rain forest. The temperatures are pretty mild in the winters (we can get snow there, not usually a lot), but it rains. And rains. And it's gray. But not usually cold.
Anyway, back to the shawl. It's a basic, simple, top down shawl for now. I'm thinking of changing the shape a bit for the sake of interest, but we'll see. For now, it's a basic stocking stitch, triangular, top down shawl. And it's perfect for working on in front of the tv.
On the moving front (hmm.... no, the front's not moving, we are... sorry, couldn't resist... bad!), there's been an interesting (read... arghhhh!) development. John found out yesterday that by the 15th of October, he'll be the only one left at his job. Right now, he's doing landscaping at the college. It's a 2 acre property. They're getting it ready for winter, but it's definitely not a one person kind of job. That means he won't have a lot of time or energy to be putting into getting the house packed up. In addition, he's trying to find the time to acquaint himself with the menus and recipes he's been sent.
On a positive note, I've been in touch with a lovely reader who lives in Gibsons (hi Siew!). She's already been an encouragement and a source of information. I'm looking forward to meeting her face to face. Already it seems Gibsons is a friendly place.
Shower time.
That's not what this is. It is, however, mindless enough that I can knit and watch tv without having to concentrate on what I'm doing.
The yarn is, of course, the camel yarn I wound up last weekend. Because I have two balls, I figure I have enough to make myself a nice cozy shawl to wrap around me on those bleak, wet, wintery evenings on the West (wet) Coast. For those of you who don't know what the west coast is like, it is part of the coastal rain forest. The temperatures are pretty mild in the winters (we can get snow there, not usually a lot), but it rains. And rains. And it's gray. But not usually cold.
Anyway, back to the shawl. It's a basic, simple, top down shawl for now. I'm thinking of changing the shape a bit for the sake of interest, but we'll see. For now, it's a basic stocking stitch, triangular, top down shawl. And it's perfect for working on in front of the tv.
On the moving front (hmm.... no, the front's not moving, we are... sorry, couldn't resist... bad!), there's been an interesting (read... arghhhh!) development. John found out yesterday that by the 15th of October, he'll be the only one left at his job. Right now, he's doing landscaping at the college. It's a 2 acre property. They're getting it ready for winter, but it's definitely not a one person kind of job. That means he won't have a lot of time or energy to be putting into getting the house packed up. In addition, he's trying to find the time to acquaint himself with the menus and recipes he's been sent.
On a positive note, I've been in touch with a lovely reader who lives in Gibsons (hi Siew!). She's already been an encouragement and a source of information. I'm looking forward to meeting her face to face. Already it seems Gibsons is a friendly place.
Shower time.
Monday, October 01, 2007
I Like THIS Moth!
One box has been packed. We've officially started 'the move' now. We've also given our notice here at the house. Now begins the list making, the organizing, the decisions whether to keep, toss or give away. Oh, the joy of it all!
I did warn John that it wasn't going to be all packing. I had every intention of running away to my knitting and that's just what I did. The Luna Moth Shawl is a joy to work on, now that I've got the chart figured out. I've completed Chart 1 and have completed two repeats of chart 2. I'm really, really liking this shawl. When done, it will be gorgeous!
When I bought this yarn, I wasn't really sure how much to purchase. Ann, who runs Kelowna Yarn & Needlecraft with her husband Stephen, suggested about 100 grams for a shawl, so that's what I bought. It wasn't cheap ($34ish), and I didn't know if I'd even like working with lace weight hemp, but I do. I can already tell that it will soften up with use. Lovely stuff!
I did warn John that it wasn't going to be all packing. I had every intention of running away to my knitting and that's just what I did. The Luna Moth Shawl is a joy to work on, now that I've got the chart figured out. I've completed Chart 1 and have completed two repeats of chart 2. I'm really, really liking this shawl. When done, it will be gorgeous!
When I bought this yarn, I wasn't really sure how much to purchase. Ann, who runs Kelowna Yarn & Needlecraft with her husband Stephen, suggested about 100 grams for a shawl, so that's what I bought. It wasn't cheap ($34ish), and I didn't know if I'd even like working with lace weight hemp, but I do. I can already tell that it will soften up with use. Lovely stuff!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
