I've earned a D

so here are pic's of the finished "D" - it's been confirmed there are a few little "oops" in the pattern and again I will say that I'm a lazy good for nothing knitter and didn't take any notes while knitting, but if you go here there's a very nice knitter who actually took the time to note her changes! Her's came out lovely - mine came out tragic but wearable! Still have to say I love this new fiber combo from ColourMart! Nice drape, subtle sheen, and tweedy - check out the other weights - I'm sure there's something there you'd like!

Still thinking that the "tail bone shield" is so NOT attractive so if I were to do it again (which I won't) I'd make mod's to the bottom and sub in a different edging!

Engeln Symbols and Schultertuch D

So I've had Spitzenstricken Teil 5 by Erich Engeln/Editha Fischer Verlag laying around for a bit and thought I'd tackle Schultertuch D aka #96. Well after knitting Trachentuch A & B with perfect patterns I was expecting nothing less from C & D. Well can't say anything about C yet but D has proven to be a bit quirky.

I should have been suspicious when I first looked at the pattern key and realized it wasn't the same as A & B. It looks like (from my sketchy german) that this chart was redone by EF which I'm assuming is Editha Fischer. This isn't bad - just should have been a hint.

So I cast on 11 and had no problems thru Row 51 -as I looked at the chart the center section and full pattern repeats were fine but the right edge was off - I ended up refitting the edging by counting back from the center stitch and redoing the edge charts. Then by the time I got to Row 94 I knew there was something really amiss. I'm guessing there was some shading in the original that was left off in the Lacis version. On Line 94 there are six blank squares in between the 2 large diamond motifs - if you get rid of those squares you should be able to keep the continuity of the design. I'll post again after I finish with any more changes and a finished photo!

Now I'm no expert and if you'd like to do some more reading about this "German" stuff check out the Cromulent Knitter's Blog there is tons and tons of info there!

2 of 11

So this is Filigrano by Knitting-Delight. It's another freebie pattern you can download over on Ravelry (be sure to grab the English version unless you are fluent in German). I had 2 cones of ColourMart 2/28 Merino/Silk/Cashmere, used it doubled with a US size 6 needle. Finished size 62" across the top and 31" down the center spine. I added a slip one knit 2 for an edging to keep it from curling - other than that and going down one needle size I made no mods.

Now the fun news - CarolP sat my sorry self down and showed me how to do "links" in Ravelry which have baffled me for almost a year. So what I've been trying to figure out for a year she has me doing in less than 15 minutes. Gotta love a smart chick!

And since everyone seems to have a method - I knit my shawl using the 2/28 doubled - it was unwashed. Upon completion I worked in my ends but DID'T cut them. I then ran a kitchen sink full of water I could barely put my hands in and 3 squirts of Dawn Dish Washing Detergent. Came back 20 minutes later - wow there's some purple water - pulled out the shawl - emptied the sink - rinsed the shawl and shoved it back into some more hot water and Dawn - walked away and watched an episode of "Bones" on Netflix - came back - less purple - rinsed until clear. Placed in a salad spinner and removed most of the water. Pinned out on the guest room bed and used a medium speed room fan to get it really dry in time to show it off at lunch today. And I'm sorry for the not so great photos but somehow my rechargeable battery will no longer recharge - so I'll be using my cell phone camera until I can get it all sorted out.

Miss Martin

So this is the first small shawl for the 11shawlsin2011 group on Ravelry. This would be a challenge to knit 11 shawls in 2011 with at least two of them being over 400 yards. Well says myself that's not even a challenge so to please the six sigma guy in my life I've added to the challenge - I must only use free or existing patterns and existing materials in my stash. Hey it's a challenge right!?

So this is Annis - a free pattern over at Knitty. Made it with ColourMart Cashmere/Silk/Viscose/Merino in a 2/12NM 4 ply weight. This is the same fiber as used in the HoarFrost Cowl - some one asked about washing in the machine and using a dryer - don't unless you are looking for felt! I used a size 10.5 to cast on using an "H" crochet hook and then switched to a size 9 needle. I used up 1.6 tubes of olive colored size 6 beads (bought from Lady Bug beads in St. Louis during a 50% off sale) which picked up the olive tweedy bits in the fiber. Made it a little deeper by adding a couple of more pattern rows (change out the nupps for beads and make it into diamonds instead of the flying V's) then cast off using an I-cord edging which seems to give it a little more stability at the top. And finally I used the large size of HiyaHiya needle kit. Wow - my joins were tight and smooth, small enough to carry in my knitting bag and they were sure cheaper than the Addi's!! Be aware that they come in two different "tip" sizes 3" and 4". Both seem to work fine but I'm partial to the 3"!

So all that being said - it's on the way to Miss Martin - cause although I can knit - she trumps me - she makes better people!

with an H Jake - not a W

who knew that a little cowl could cause such a stir...

It started when I said hey beastie can you please find me the Hoarfrost pattern by Anne Hanson of KnitSpot. It was an "OMG Mom" moment accompanied with Coke shooting from his nose! Which led to the discussion of the H versus the W. This is the definition from the Arctic Climatology and Meteorology site. If you are looking for the "W" variation of the word - contact your nearest 16 year old male and ask - I'm sure they'll be happy to help you - I suggest bringing paper towels!

So then I had a this really great cone from ColourMart that I've been wanting to give a try and thought this would be perfect. It is a light fingering weight 5%cashmere/10%Silk/12%Viscose/73% Merino in a color called Tierra Tweed. Now the stir was because somehow my package got the magical mystery tour of the post office and took about 6 weeks to arrive - but it got here! YeAh! But I must admit that it wasn't looking really swanky - actually it looked kindda like string like lace weight string. But I have learned over time to not discount the ColourMart yarn on first glance!

Since my fiber was a little lite for the pattern I went up a needle size to a US 4 and made the larger size cowl. I just loved that lace stitch and it was totally new to me so I bought the pattern more to learn the lace stitch than actually to knit the cowl. Then low and behold as I was starting to knit my cowl my copy of knit.sock.love arrived, and there on page 67 was the same lace pattern!

So skip forward a 36 hours, 220 yards and I'm done knitting (yes I know I'm a little fast - but let's not tell my husband). Toddle over to the sink full of really hot water and a couple of squirts of Dawn Dishwashing Detergent and throw it in. Yikes that was one ugly colored sink of water. So rinsed and did it again. And again. And finally finished it off by giving it a good soak in some Pantene hair conditioner for dry hair. Another rinse and a trip to the salad spinner. Then finally I pinned it out to the bed to dry - which took about the same amount of time as watching Bucky and the Badgers get their butts kicked in the Rose Bowl and clean up the mess that was created by the men folk eating snacks in the kitchen.

It bloomed nicely and I was really happy about the subtle tweed effect. The color is a light brown with flecks of color - the silk and viscose give it a nice sheen and contribute to the drape the merino and cashmere are soft as usual.

As to all those who asked about swatching and shrinkage and stitch counts - gotta tell you folks my philosophy is if it doesn't work for the person intended then the cosmos was telling you to send it to someone who really needed it - which is what I did!