Author: tabitha

Quick notes

Thank You
A huge Thank You to God who protected my family from the storms that passed through the area this weekend. We had tornadoes pass through the area, a small one touched down not too far from my house. We got a small amount of hail but without property damage unless the hail hurt some of the plants in the garden. Haven’t had a chance to check that since it’s still raining.

FAQ
A little clarification is needed about my Lotus Blossom shawl. Although the shawl was on the needles for over a year, it did not take that long to knit. It spent most of that time in the time out bin for being naughty lace. I made a couple of errors when I first started the shawl and as I loath ripping lace, I put the project in “time out” for far too long. Once I finally ripped and restarted it, the actually project knitted rather quickly. It was reknitted in under two weeks. Actual time spent knitting was less than 40 hours (probably a lot less) but I really didn’t time myself so I couldn’t say for sure.

Perhaps You Should Read the Instructions.

Warning – Kid Story

You know that it is going to be a weird day when the first thing you see in the morning is your husband in conference with the kids well before their usual wake up time. After a brief investigation, I discovered that my son had been indiscriminately pushing buttons on the old clock radio that my husband gave the kids. As a result, he inadvertently set the alarm on said clock radio. This morning before dawn, the kids were awakened by the radio blaring.

Since the ceiling fan was on they couldn’t turn on the light using the switch and they couldn’t find the pull-cord in the dark. They also couldn’t use the flashlight because my son had once again left it on until the batteries were dead. So my daughter was trying to silence the radio with a book light not knowing which button turned the alarm off. In their panic, they managed to turn on both alarms so not only was the radio blasting but it was also beep, beep, beeping at them. Did I mention all this occurred before dawn? Long story short, they did get the radio to shut up, but not before everyone in the house was wide awake.

Moral of the story: Don’t punch the buttons if you don’t know what they do.

Warning – Knitting Story

You would think that after the number of projects I had ripped out due to my own brainlessness, I would have learned my lesson. I really have knitted enough sweaters to understand the fairly standard placement for increases at every fourth row. I also really do know that there is a difference between “work 3 rows” and “knit three rows” as well as a difference between instructions for flat knitting and knitting in the round. I know these things. I really do. And yet I spent my evening ripping out 3 inches of sweater because I was too clueless to realize there was a difference between “work 3 rows” and “knit three rows”. I was also too blind to notice that the increases on the sweater were much too far apart until I had knitted three increase rounds incorrectly. Furthermore, I was too short-sighted to realize what a monstrous tangle three inches of ripped knitting would make if I didn’t rewind it as I went.

Moral of the story: Read the instructions, stupid. Twice, perhaps even three times.

Warning – Neighbor story

Later this morning, my dog was barking like mad. It took a few minutes to locate the source of her distress. My eighty-something year old next-door-neighbor was chasing another dog¹ from his yard with his golf cart and a pump action pellet rifle. About time that annoying dog got what was coming to him. I felt like applauding.

Too bad the neighbor was having such a hard time getting the thing pumped properly. Perhaps reading the instructions was in order again. He didn’t land nearly as many shots as I would have liked but apparently the ones he did land made an impression on the dog.

Moral of the story: Don’t mess with the old dude on the golf cart.

¹This is the same dog who killed my ducks and most of my chickens. The same one who poops on my front walk. The one who plays in the streets resulting in the neighbors plowing into my power pole. And the one who chases cars and terrorizes the postal carrier. The dog deserved far worse than a couple of shots with a pellet gun.

The Mystery and Miracle of Blocking

Lace, especially the effect of blocking on it, has always been a source of fascination for me. I am amazed that such puckered and puffed knitting can be turned into a wonderful piece of lace by wetting and stretching. I thought you might be interested in the journey of a lace shawl from the needles to wearable art.

In my last post I mentioned Lotus Blossom shawl that I started over a year ago.
Here is what it looked like on the needles

Not much to see, I admit. But I had faith in the power of the block so I persevered.

It was cast off on Sunday. Here is what it looked like right off the needles.

Nice color but rather puffy and puckered, don’t you think?

Now to submit it to a little torture. First, I toss it into a bit of soapy water. I used tepid water and a little bit of Eucalan for my soak.

While it is soaking, I collect the torture devices and set up the torture chamber.

Here are the necessary supplies

A cheap cardboard cutting board, some stainless steel welding wires, pins and towels.

First I spread the cutting board on top of my patio table.

Can you tell I have had this cutting board for a while?

Next, I covered the cutting board with thick towels – to protect the cardboard not the shawl.

Notice that I lined up the towels with one of the grid lines from the cutting board to give myself a straight line reference.

Now that the blocking table is set up, it is time to take the shawl out of the soak.

And gently squeeze out the excess water.

Notice that the yarn bled a little. Most of the darkly colored wools that I have used will bleed a small amount on the first wash.

Then roll the shawl in a towel to remove some of the excess water.

Don’t try to wring it too much because you want the shawl nicely damp for the blocking.

Here is where the fun starts. For the top edge of the shawl, I inserted two welding rods to get a nice straight edge.

To insert the wire, I wove it in and out of the stitching along the first row on knitting.

It is a tedious process but using the wire makes a much straighter edge than pinning.

I used two wires because one was too short.

They are crossed in the center back. Notice that the stitches are flatter and the design is starting to show already.

Time to start the stretching. Working from the center outward, I stretched the top edge of the shawl and pinned it along my straight edge.

Again working from the center down, I gently stretch and pin the shawl.

The process of stretching and pinning continues – always working from the central line outward toward the edges.

Once the center is pinned, you continue the stretch and pin process for each of the points of the shawl.

Notice how visible the design is becoming as the shawl is stretched.

The process is not a fast one. And it will require the occasional readjustment of a pin once the lace is fully stretched but do you see that miracle happening?

Shawl pinned, I realize that I need to make a couple of adjustments to the pinning.

Here is the shawl fully pinned.

Quite a difference from the way it looked right off the needles, huh?

Here is a close up of the center back motif.

Amazing the difference a little stretching makes.

Now allow it to dry for a couple of hours, remove the pins and wires and your beautiful lace is ready to be properly photographed.

Lighter weight yarns – this one was light fingering – dry pretty quickly. But do make sure it is completely dry before removing the pins. It might be tempted to pucker if you remove them too soon.

Gratuitous lace photo.

More gratuitous lace. Bear with me. This took over a year to get it off the needles.

The pattern by Dorothy Siemens and available from Fiddlesticks Knitting. It was a fun knit and I am very pleased with the results. The pattern is fully charted. The charts are big and easy to read. No need for the highlighter tape on this one.

This pattern was my first that was charted to the center stitch only. This required you to read the chart one way for the first half of the row and then read it in reverse for the second half of the row. This took a little getting used to – especially at the center back when you reverse the order of the stitches. But once I got the hang of it, the charts were really easy to follow. I found writing the row numbers on the left edge of the chart really handy.

The yarn was Schaefer Anne, a light fingering weight wool-mohair blend. It took under 560 yards to knit the shawl. I love the vibrant colors in this yarn and am very glad that this gorgeous skein became a shawl instead of socks that were originally planned.

Call the Doctor. I’ve got Finish-itis

Spring has sprung and spring cleaning fever has hit. I have been suffering from acute finish-itis lately in a desperate desire to clean all my knitting needles of the languishing UFOs.

My first UFO conquered was the eternal Bell Curve. Timing out at 1 year 1 month and 12 days from the date cast on, this is one of my oldest UFOs. Normally, they get frogged if they stay on the needles more than 6 months.

Mine isn’t quite as figure-hugging as the original design but my version is more suitable to my body frame and sense of modesty.

The wool yarn was less drapey than the yarn selected by the designer but my version provides a flattering, classic line that was more in line with my desires. Because my version is looser fitting, the bell shape is less pronounced. It does fit me better than Suzy but that is because she has no hips. Even though it doesn’t look like the original design, I still get lots of compliments on its flattering A-line look.

It looks great paired with my Jessica Scarf

and an ivory blouse.

So what do you knit after you have finished a monstrously large project (aka Bell Curve)? Dishcloths, naturally.

I cleaned out tons of leftover cotton to knit a stack of dishcloths for the Ronald McDonald House. It was fun mixing and matching the variegated yarn to see what color would result.

My current project is another languishing UFO. Originally cast on in February 2008 but ripped and restarted a number of times, Lotus Blossom Shawl is nearing completion.

Mine will be smaller than the design because I am using fingering weight yarn rather than DK. The yarn is going to be the real challenge for this project. I am using a gorgeous Shaefer Anne in blues and purples.

The problem is that I have exactly and only one skein (560 yards) and cannot get more since these are one of a kind colorways. There are others on Ravelry who have complete the shawl with one skein of Anne but I am getting nervous.
I have this much left

but I have two lotus blossoms repeats and the bobble bind off left to complete. It is going to be close.

I have actually been adding life lines in case I run out of yarn and have to rip back to an earlier repeat.

Keep you fingers crossed that the yarn lasts. Regardless of length, I should have a finished shawl by next post.

Today is Monday, isn’t it?

Ever felt that the old cliche “when it rains, it pours” had a lot of truth to it? We are definitely having a downpour at my house. In the last few weeks, we have had a number of things break or need repair in some way or the other(printer, laptop, phone). But this morning the pouring really started. I should have known that this would be an interesting Monday, when I woke with the theme song to Marvin the Tap Dancing Horse stuck in my head. But the day got more interesting quite quickly.

My hubby left for work at his usual and I sat down to the computer to check email and Ravelry while drinking my coffee. Fifteen minutes later, I heard my husband opening the door. I rushed downstairs wondering what he had forgotten. I asked what was wrong, he said he had crashed the car. Of course, my brain was not caffeinated thoroughly enough to process that sort of information that early. When comprehension finally hit, I panicked and showered him with about a thousand rapid-fire questions. Seems that a deer decided to play chicken with my hubby’s car this morning.

Thought you might like to see what happens when deer meets windshield. If you look closely, you can see the fur on the glass

It is raining here – literally and not just metaphorically, which is why the roof of the car has a bright blue tarp on it.

That big gaping hole is where my hubby was sitting.

He said it happened so fast that he didn’t even have time to break. The deer was apparently trying to jump over the car from a little hill on the side of the road. The good news is that my hubby wasn’t hurt. Thanks be to God. And that the windshield took the brunt of the collision so there is no body damage to the car.

This really doesn’t bode well for the rest of the week. I told my hubby that this was a really silly way to get to drive my Jeep to work and to keep my from going to buy the next book in the series that I am reading. I hope he just asks next time.