Ornament swap

I've been remiss. Thank you all who were in my group for the ornament swap. They are absolutely lovely. And I shall definitely do it again.

Happy Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Sheep!

too bad z doesn't knit, then it could be a family portrait in sheep...I guess I'll have to get busy knitting another sheep...

Rock Lobster

What a fun little knit.

I test knit this for Mahoney on Ravelry and it turned out great. It was a very easy to follow pattern and the best part was that it was knit in the round. yippee!

Go here for the pattern.

specs:
start - finish: December 2007
needles: US2
yarn: red acrylic yarn
amount: not too much

eyes were felt holes punched out with hole punch and sewed on.

I think I'm going to make another one.

Bobble hat sheep

Another one done. This is another.





start date: December 17, 2007
finish date: December 22, 2007

Timmy's mom

Hee. Here's Timmy's mom.


Specs:
Pattern: Shaun the Sheep & Friends Mobile
yarns: same as Shaun
needles: US2
time started: Dec 13, 2007
time finished: Dec 14, 2007

The curlers were sections of straw with yarn wrapped around. And you all know my pet peeve about glue so the curlers were sewn on using Cebelia #30 (left over from the doily). I was going to make a scarf, but I thought I'd make her a shawl instead. Here's a picture of the mini triangular shawl.



This is the pattern for the main portion of 0484/15 shawl. I think I may have to make a big one for me. And unfortunately, I don't know what this pattern is called. Please let me know if you've seen it elsewhere.

A rose is is a rose

I was just looking through my Burda E554 and realized that my table topper from the previous post (0896/20) is called 'FAN' in this "best of the 90's Anna"--probably for the fan things that I need to reblock.

This naming thing is pretty easy, just call it what it is. Altho' there's a lace page I was looking at where the lace pieces were renamed (or maybe translated). But I have no idea which pattern I need to find. So, I'm all for giving as much information as possible -- and not just 'old German magazine'. argh! I've got a bunch of old German magazines...which ones? Okay, it's now a toss-up among Filigree, Lyra, and Federolde... I just need a three-sided coin.

Another Xmas present done

I decided that my brother and sister in-laws needed a doily. So this is what I knitted up for them.

Does this look really familiar. Actually, I didn't plan on it. The picture in the magazine is white table topper on light pink background and I thought, hey, that's about the size I want to make for them...well, doesn't it look like Lotus Flower?

Anyway, I hope they like it. I shall have to reblock the little fan things, they turned out uneven. (it was done late into the night)

Specifics:
thread: Cebelia white #30
needle: US0 dpn and circ (2mm)
time start: December 9, 2007
time end: December 14, 2007
pattern: 0896/20 table topper from Anna magazine August 1996

Timmy

Timmy's done. Here he is.



I had a dickens of a time trying to get him to look right. For whatever reason, I had his ears too low and he was looking sinister.

I repositioned, and he looks much better. I had to redo his pacifer a couple of times. The loop was very funky. I ended up taking a jump ring and wrapping it with yarn, then sewing it to the pacifier.

Christmas Ornament swap

I saw it on Craft so I had to join. May I introduce "Team Korknisse"


I like how they're different colors.

I do hope my swapmates like them. Pattern is basically Korknisse . I played around with tension and stitch numbers etc.

stats:
start: sometime after Thanksgiving
finish: December 6, 2007 where I was putting on loops and coloring in eyes
needles: US9 dpns
yarn: Lambs pride
amount used?

Pixie Hat--Pattern

I had one ball of natural pink Patons SWS yarn and A needed a new hat. So, here it is:


Pixie Hat

Materials:
1 ball SWS yarn
1 set dpn US9
1 circular US9 16"

With ball of yarn, start with pink or white region. When you reach a region of green, cut yarn and wind off until color change, then resume knitting. At decrease -- k13, change yarn to green and continue knitting in greens only. This color scheme results in a little upside down flower. Of course you may disregard completely and just do stripes.


CO72 stitches onto circular needles
Mark beginning of round, and knit in 2X2 ribbing for 6 rows
Knit in stockinette for 14 rows


Begin decrease rounds:
*K16, K2tog* to end of round.
Knit one round
K15, K2tog* to end of round.
.
.
at the point of K13, change yarn to green.
.
.
.
*K1, K2tog* to end of round.
Knit one round
*K2tog* to end of round.
Knit one round
break yarn and with darning needle, thread through remaining loops and tie off. Sew in all ends.


start time: December 5, 2007
finish time: December 5, 2007


Here's the hat in action:

Shaun the sheep

I'm so excited. Look what came in the mail yesterday? What? why yes, through the wonderful world of Ravelry, I was able to swap some of my stuff for the the magazine (it's the Simply Knitting December issue). Why swap? Well, let me tell you that it's not available in the states yet. They didn't have this issue available at any of the bookstores, so what's a girl to do? I swapped with a very nice Raveler, socherry, who lives in Scotland!

hee hee. I immediately went to the LYS (Alameda Yarn Company) and asked her for sheep-like yarn. She obliged and here's the equipment list for my first Shaun.

These include:
the super soft yarn for the wool, Wendy Peter Pan's Velvet Touch
good ole Patons wool
black crochet cotton
white felt
US2 needles
hole punch and pipe cleaner

the hole punch for punching out felt eyeballs and the pipe cleaner for my Shauns legs.


What a fun easy knit (okay, as with all Alan Dart patterns, a bit fiddly). My only modifications were that I didn't use glue and hairspray and whatever else to stick things onto Shaun. I also knitted his legs as I-cords instead of flat. I did use skewers for the needles, but I didn't have wooden pony beads, so I raided my bead stash and these were the only beads that fit. I must craft, because except for the wool-like yarn, I had all the other stuff.




So, introducing Shaun, knitting, of course


Other views:


I should mention that Shaun's knitted piece is actually my first attempt at color-work. As my knitting friends have said, it's not that hard. I guess I'll have to go try some intarsia now. And the box he's sitting on is a can of oysters (for scale).


Oh, and then, well...I went 'doh' and changed out what he's knitting. hee hee . I am gleeful. I have to go make all the rest of them now.

A few pictures of the shawl

I actually wove in the ends and am pretty happy with the way it turned out. Well, it is gray. But they only had gray and tan and a marled available, so...I forgot to say that when it was looking wet and furry and a tad felted, I started thinking about how in heck I could salvage it (seriously looked like a sad wet giant mouse). But it blocked out and I might even wear it. Nah, it'll probably go into a bag to be put away.

Niebling shawl complete

I finished the shawl and didn't know which edging to use, the doily or shawl...so since I wanted to bind off and finish today, I posted the question and pictures to Ravelry.

That was the only place I knew where folks would instantly put their 2 cents in--and they did. The shawl bind off won. So, I spent some time and bound off the shawl.



Specs:
yarn: 2/18NM fine 4ply weight 51% baby alpaca 49% cashmere from Colourmart
Amount used: 70 grams = 677yds
needles: Addi lace US3 and US8 for bindoff
Start date: November 21, 2007
Finish date: December 2, 2007

modifications: I couldn't figure out the start, so I fudged that section. I also added a couple rows of garter before the edging, but it's hard to tell. The 3YO where 10 stitches went into was reduced to 2YOs, and the hole is still pretty huge.

This pattern rocks. I really like how it turned out. And from the magazine, you couldn't tell that it had such nice detail. You couldn't see the back of the shawl, and the tablecloth was a small picture insert.

My only 'complaint' shockingly has to do with the yarn. I love Colourmart yarns, but this one...the yarn was springy and tended to twist up when knitting (you know I use a yarn cone holder, so the yarn isn't picking up additional twists from the cone). And when I was washing the oils out at the end, I found that the shawl had started to felt. I blocked this shawl hard. Yes, you can bounce a quarter off of it. The edges are still a little stuck together. Tomorrow, I figure I'll go and try to tease it apart.

I might have to make the tablecloth, since even tho' I have to purl on the right side, I can knit the resting row (unlike having to purl for this shawl). Maybe maybe I'll start Lyra now. Or I might start Federdolde or Filigree.

I'll post more pictures when it's actually dry.

Wearable Niebling

I decided to work on this from an Anna magazine. If you look at the bottom corner, that's what a square would look like. It is in fact a Niebling tablecloth. Well, half a Niebling tablecloth. Instead of working on 4 sections for the square, you only work on 2 sections.

My complaint?! Yes. I have to purl the wrong side. Durnit! That's why I've been loving Nieblings. You don't have to purl.

What's even worse is that this pattern has you PURL on the front side too!

What yarn am I using? Colourmart got in a 4-ply alpaca cashmere. *

In a lovely grey. And it's lovely to knit with, even unwashed. I'm using a US3 needle (addi lace)
Reading the instructions, I was unclear as to how to start it the way they explained it. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how they got the number of stitches they got. I then battled, yes, battled the pattern and ripped it probably around 6 times trying to figure out how they got from 10 stitches to 24 stitches. I was ready to 'improvise' the start when I actually read the stitch legend that actually started on the page you see here while the rest (including square=k ) was on the next page.

Anyway, the 10 stitch row had ooo, which is a triple YO. Now, being the educated person I am, I figured that the next row must mean k,p,k into that YO? Right? Well. Had I read the pattern for the tablecloth, I would have noticed that ooo=knit&purl 10 times into the triple YO. duh. Read the pattern.

So, anyway, I'm now on row 77 and it's going pretty well. I'm hoping the color isn't too 'mousy'. Whatever.

start date: November 21




2/18NM fine 4ply weight 51% baby alpaca 49% cashmere (1450yds/150g)These yarns were spun in Scotland by Todd & Duncan, and have the nuttiness of high quality Baby Alpaca combined with the softness of the best cashmere. They are balanced yarns with a great thickness for hand or machine knitting.

Continuation of my Ebay rant

Okay, I've got to say this. There's a Burda E903 up on Ebay right now where the bidding is up to $78. I guess folks get swept up in the Ebay hype. If you searched for Niebling and scrolled down to the bottom, you could have used the 'buy it now' option for the same book for only $29.99

oy.

Holy Lyrabunga!

Altho' I've hit NABLE* status, I still check ebay once in awhile to see if there's something I haven't seen.

And oh, my goodness. A German copy of Anna with Herbert Niebling's amazing Lyra pattern in it is selling right now for $150 plus shipping! uhmmm. For one pattern. In German. And the auction isn't over yet. And it's over $150! Did I mention it's for a magazine? An old magazine. Okay, it's got the most awesome pattern.


Hey, I will sell my English version of Anna (I believe it's much more rare) with the Lyra pattern in it for that price and I'll include shipping and insurance if in the US. Hee. Not that any of my readers would be interested because you all have your own copies already.



Okay, I've got to get back to xmas knitting and another Niebling...I'm also a bit tired since I got up at 3:45am to hit the Black Friday sales. Unfortunately, they ran out of mp3 players 4 people ahead of me in line at Old Navy, oh well. But I did get a couple of nice presents for the family, so all's good...


*NABLE-Niebling Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy

Happy Thanksgiving

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!

Lotus Flower

I've finished Lotus Flower. Yes. Another Neibling. I probably should have been making my Christmas ornaments for a swap I joined, or Christmas presents, but instead, worked on this.

Stats:
yarn: Royale crochet thread #20-less than 3 balls in white
needles: 0 dpn and 0 circs (2mm)
start: November 1, 2007
finish: November 17, 2007

Observations:
As Nieblings go, this was pretty easy. I really like the way it turned out. Pinning it out was a pain. I really need to get this more exact. The size? there's a copy of Goodnight Moon next to the top picture.

For blocking, I had to 'borrow' my children's foam letter floor mat. Okay, borrow forever. I originally purchased it 4 years ago for my my son, but he and the cat decided they like to chew on the foamy material. The cat loved it to chew on and to scratch. He (that would be the human boy, not the cat boy) took off an inch chunk before we realized it. So, we packed it up and didn't even think about taking it out for A when she was starting to walk (we bought it so Z would have a cushion if he fell).

This works very well. And yes, I could have gone to Article Pract (or any other LYS) and purchased their $48 blocking mat, but hey, I had this and it works wonderfully. Now I can finally block out Frosted Fern.

Here's another shot of Lotus.


Oh, I think I'm going to rip Campanile. What?! Well, I was looking at the pattern, and it looks very similar to Lotus Flower. I think I'll use the cashmere/silk for something else.

What next? I started knitting for the ornament swap and I'm knitting my xmas presents (finally). As for Nieblings, I think I'm going to do Filigree or Lyra next.

Happy Birthday to me!

Yep, it was my birthday.

What did I do? Well, I started the day going to the gym, only to find that the roads were flooded and I couldn't actually get there. Okay, I ended up finally getting there after taking a detour through the local jr. college and did my Sunday morning spin class w/ Jean-Claude.

Then it was off w/ the family to a lovely brunch (my choice) where we had dim sum. And on the way back, I asked to be dropped off at a yarn shop (that was open only for this weekend for a sale for charity) where I spent the afternoon looking and purchasing some yarn. Uhmm...did I mention I was already there yesterday too?!

And I got to knit. And my children are lovely (except the baby is a tad sick).

It was a good day. The only thing is that I didn't get a cake. Oh, well. That would have negated the gym workout (and then some).

Pictures coming later.

I'm inspired

Today was another lace knitting group at Lacis. As usual, it was inspiring.

There was the most soft cashmere stole being finished -- from VLT. It was absolutely scrumptious. And then there was the shawl from GoL being knit by L in a gorgeous silk, for his wife, how lucky is she?! There were two other lovely shawls and then there were two Nieblings (mine being one).

I brought Lotus Flower (a beautiful Niebling). I'm working on it using #20 crochet cotton with 2mm needles. I'm presently at row 49. This is a lovely pattern that I purchased from doilyhead. (This is the picture from the front page of the pattern).

I first saw this pattern at Lacis (Mary Francis had a copy) and I knew I just had to knit it.

I'm going to knit this as a tablecloth first, and if the pattern is not too bad, I'm going to make it in zephyr as a shawl.

Lyra? I cannot believe I haven't cast on for that yet. But one thing I'm figuring out is that I can only work on ONE Niebling pattern at a time -- I can have multiple projects to work on (right now, there are about 10 projects), but only 1 Niebling. Why? well, switching from a Niebling to another Niebling doesn't make much sense, but switching from a Niebling to a single pattern scarf or a stockinette sweater is great.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Here are two of the awesome pumpkins z&a's dad carved. Cool.



Anyway, I managed to finish this doily tonight after the kids went to bed.



Specs:
Pattern: Burda (unknown for now) #32
yarn: lilac linen laceweight
needles: US2 Crystal Palace circs and dpns
time started: October 27, 2007
time finished: October 31, 2007

Modifications: I feared (correctly) that I would run out of the linen yarn. So I opted to modify the pattern substantially so that 14 rows were deleted. I played with the pattern and cannot replicate it again. During crochet cast-off, I had to rip it several times because it was looking too tight. I chained 10, bundled 5 st for leaves, and 3 or 3-5-3 stitches for the spots between leaves. Turned out nicely, I think.



Here's a closeup the the modification and the pattern. There's only three leaves. The original pattern had an additional layer of leaves.













Now, I've just got to block out Frosted Fern completely...

Spine envy

Now, back to our regular programming...


May I introduce Spinosaurus.


This is yet another dinosaur from Patons Dinosaur book. Again I took liberties with the pattern where I could (mostly converting flat pieces to round ones).

Observations:
-This is likely the most complex of the dinosaurs I've knitted thus far. Maybe that's why it took me so long.
-Making him incorporated many of the skills learned from the other dinos. Like what? Well, the fin is felted, this guy needed claws and I had to make teeth.
-The spine? Let me tell you about the spine. I actually knit 3 of them?! The first was a prototype to see if it could be done, then another that should have fit the dino (but it was way too small), and then finally a third much larger one. I did not want spino to have a wimpy small fin and have his dino friends mock him.
Specs:
yarn: acrylic of various colors and Patons merino for spine
needles: US3 for everything except for the fin. US9 for spine
started: September, 2007
finished October 26, 2007
fiddly pieces sewn together: 23


fin: The fin was knitted flat to achieve an oval shape. CO12 stitches, changed color every 2 rows, increased every row 1st and last stitch w/ M1 until 4 rows, then increase every 2 rows until 11th row, then no increase for 8 rows, then decrease (to match increase). The piece was folded over, seamed and then felted.


Okay, one final shot. Yes, Spino's a carnivore, but this cedar tree looks pretty good...

Why don't we just patent genes...oh, we do that already.

This post is in response to the post I deleted.

***

I was asked by the lawyers of Giant Microbes to remove all indications of knitted toys (microorganisms) because I called them Macro Microbes. The lawyers of Giant Microbes hunted me down and sent me an email telling me that this infringed on their rights and asked that I cease and desist.

I did not make the toys to sell, nor did I design the pattern to sell. Furthermore, as a scientist with small children, it's not a stretch of the imagination that I would knit microorganisms. I did get inspiration from their product, and I credited them with that, but they wanted me to remove it, so I did.

Anyway, it's not worth it. I did not hotlink their pictures, and the microscopy pictures I used to identify the beasties were from the intarweb.

I'm still a bit confused tho'. I can see that Macro Microbes might appear too close to Giant Microbes, but does that mean that their company cornered the market on any microorganisms made into toys!? The knitted items are my patterns, can I share them so long as I don't use the Macro Microbe term?

Mr. Lawyer, I know you've come back to my site to check that I've deleted the post. Could you leave a comment here and let me know? Thanks.

Others should feel free to leave a comment here too.

Frosted Fern Finished

This is also known as 'Oakey Dokey' on the Niebling yahoo group. After much knitting, especially the alternate border,I finally finished. Here's the specs on this doily.Start date: Sept 30, 2007
Finish date: Oct 20, 1007
yarn: Cebelia #30 in Ecru T
needles: 2mm dpns and 2mm Inox circs

Observations:
Many thanks goes to Priscilla on the Niebling Yahoo group. Without her charting it, I would not have knitted this beauty. That sea of words was way too daunting.

*This is the not yet completely blocked shot. See the edging. It's actually very beautiful. But it started drying out before I was done, so I pulled it to take a picture of it.

I love Niebling patterns.

I will cast on for another one after I finish Campanile and Spino. Actually, I promised Z that I sould make him his dino first, so that's what I'll try to do (at least while he's awake).

Oregon

I just got back from our (now yearly) week long vacation up to Oregon.

Why Oregon? Well, it's a lovely place to visit --I hated living there, but that had more to do with the miserable life of a grad student, and not so much to do with the state itself. It's a beautiful place to visit.

I must say that it's gotten a little more diverse since I lived there. When I first moved there in 1990, I couldn't figure out what was weird about the place, something was just a bit off --being from SoCal didn't help. Then one of my friends pointed out to me that there were no 'people of color'...and you might think I'm exaggerating, but seriously, it was the land of Caucasian. Hippy Caucasian, true, with all the rainbow colors only to be found on tattoos and tied dyed clothes.

Anyway, it's gotten much better there now. A little. What other changes? Well lots. There's several malls and even a PF Chang in Tracktown. We drove by the house my friend owned when she was a grad student. She sold it before she left town, but the funniest thing was that she bought the house (with a rentable detached room) for a mere $20K. Even back then, that was the cost of a midsized car. A car. She bought a house for the price of a car. I'm afraid how much the house is worth now.

Yarn shops? I was only able to break away for a little bit to go visit the famed Ben Franklin in Springfield. But that was fun. A Ben Franklin, you say?! Well, this one had Noro, Addi lace turbos, and even cashmere. I got a couple of hanks of yarn (it's a pink color for A), the Knitted Babes book, and several balls of Cebelia only because there's no sales tax.

Once in Portland, I wasn't able to get to any shops. Oh, well. Next time.

So, knitting. I worked on Oakey Dokey, got stuck on the end part, put that away, and worked on a top down cardi (boring but good on windy roads).I also started on Sarcelle. This is with red cashmere that I got in a destash sale. It's a pretty color. The pattern? Well, I'm not a big fan of purling e-cast on stitches. That's a pain. But it's turning out nicely, easy to remember, so I'll keep working on that one.

I also brought Forest Path, but unfortunately, that did not get worked on.

Oh, the weather? It was supposed to be raining the whole time we were traveling, but we were super lucky. We had a bit of sprinkling for a little bit one day. But on our way home, this is what it looked like (picture from moving car in pouring rain).

Oakey Dokey progress

What am I doing? My list of WIPs just keep getting longer and longer. Anyway, I've joined the yahoo Niebling group KAL for Frosted Ferns --which they've renamed Okey Dokey since it's supposed to be like Oak, except that something might have happened during translation and so...

Started September 30, 2007
needles: Inox 2mm
yarn: Cebelia #30

I started it Anyway, here's my progress. I had to stop to work on the present this week, but this was great to pick up after knitting a lot of stockinette.

L is for Library

Took A to the library this last weekend and met fellow knitter Renaissance Woman for a bit of knitting. I was hoping that A would decide to fall asleep on the way there, or at least while there, but no go. I did manage to get in about an hour of knitting (mostly untangling) on my take-around project (top down cardi).

It was very pleasant to sit and knit and chat a bit. I hope to be able to make it on a more regular basis. Not that I need more knit nights...On our island, there is now Monday night at Julie's (I go to), Tuesday night at Xtown, Thursday night Alameda Yarn Co., Friday night craft night at Julies, and now Sunday afternoons at the library. I only go to one knitting group a week, but I might make that 2 a week if Sundays continues.

Oh, the group is set up by Renaissance Woman on Ravelry.

TKGA on TGIF w/ MIL taking BART

G and I planned on attending 'The Knitting Show' a bit ago. I can never remember the name...knitting...crochet...something...something. Anyway, the confusion is that TKGA and CGOA do a knitting and crochet show together and they really like acronyms (apparently).

It's much much more smaller intimate than Stitches. I even risked not using a stroller for A. She was ergo'ed most of the time.

Even tho' we live a couple of miles away, we parked the car at the BART station and took public transportation there. Why? well, we had issues parking around there the last time we went and I didn't want to deal with the hassle. It's Friday with the Farmer's Market, Chinatown...yeah...we went public transport.

We got there and decided on doing a quick once through before lunch. Well, the first stall we came to, I made my one and only purchase for...yes...a cone of yarn. It was only $12. And it'll be nice as a shawl or a lap blanket doily thing...

And yes, you read correctly, after all that, that's all that I got (yay me!) I came really close picking up a ball of lace weight at Yarn Place, but as I didn't have a project for it, couldn't and didn't buy it.

We watched the fashion show, and that was pretty neat. There's a ostrich boa jacket that used yarn that I had so, I might make that (sans boa).

There was a lady there with a lovely Frosted Flowers shawl (Gathering Lace). That has moved up in my to do queue. Her's was lovely. The Lacy knitters group was there, I might have to join the guild.

Pictures? Well, like I said, I only managed to get one yarn, and it's not very exciting, so maybe I'll take a picture of it when I make something. How's that?

Oh, we had lunch at Caffe 817 and had a lovely latte in a big bowl (along w/ sandwich). And I picked up some apples from Farmer's Market.

It was a lovely day and many thanks go to MIL for a fabulous day! And A? She slept through a bunch of it.

Campanile progress

I have been knitting. I had to wait for this to arrive. This is Colourmart's cashmere silk in rosehip color. I was hoping for a darker red, but it's pretty nice. I did a miniswatch and decided that I'd use my US2 Knitpicks and bamboo dpns. Tho' as I look at the holes, they seem woefully big...

A slight aside, I love the feel and look of the cool metal dpns. They just seem cool and look deadly...but I can't knit lace with them. They are super slick and slippery. Did I mention how cool they look?! So, I've had to re-get the dpns that I swapped away when I had decided that sock knitting non-two-at-a-time just didn't work for me. Anywhoo, I love the metal, but I'll stick w/ my wood sticks for now.

The other reason I didn't blog about this for so long is that I, misread the chart! It is such a rookie maneuver that I am almost embarrassed to discuss it here. Oh, okay, please don't snicker too loudly. Niebling (and other chart writers, I suppose) use a convention where they put a number in front of a pattern group that they want you to do multiples.

Since I obtained a copy of the chart for this, I didn't look too closely. So, I of course, thought that it's the stitch next to the number that needs to be done. Well, if you do the math (and I didn't because that would be too sad), would result in almost exponentially increasing the rounds instead of increasing by one stitch per section.

At row 23, I thought maybe I should get a picture of this. Notice how many stitches are on the needle, and it's only row 23... And then I went shoot! and ripped it. Did I mention I've done the beginning a number of times already because I was using my super-slicks and not my bamboo? That was a crummy start too, so I didn't mind ripping. And when I took the yarn off the needles, it looked like a peony. Beautiful...bye bye.

Started over and here's the picture of the in progress. See the leaf emerging (row 50 something)?

Oh, I'm looking at it and am thinking I should have used US1 instead...

Thistle

My first Niebling is called Thistle. It's also seen in Burda E294 (just in case you're keeping score).

Yay, I don't have to call it table-top-from-Anna-magazine anymore. And of course it's a thistle flower. I love it! (the picture is from wikipedia)

While you were sleeping

I should have been working on several projects that I started, but instead, I picked this little ditty up, and could not stop.

This is #21 Table top by Herbert Niebling from Anna.

Specs:
pattern: Anna magazine
yarn: green lace weight linen
needle: US1 circs from Knitpicks and US1dpns
time: 9/2/07-9/13/07
blocked: 9/14/07

modifications/comments:
I think there might be errors in the chart at the end of the knit. I kept screwing up and not having enough stitches to k2tog and what have you. So, mine is wonky. And if you look closely the last bits don't quite match the flower. So, whether I managed to not read the pattern correctly, or there are errors in this Niebling, it doesn't really matter. 'Cause I like it. I really like it.

I'm not too concerned about pinning out the points perfectly because it's linen, it's pretty drapey and I don't think those points will hold. (this was my observation from making a book marker from the same yarn).

I will likely knit this pattern again. It was fun.

I'm really glad I did this before starting a large project because I was introduced to double yarnovers, knit 5 into one stitch and knit 5 stitches to become one stitch. Oh, and given all the mistakes that happened, I think it turned out pretty nicely.

Must get back to spino and blanket and decide on yarn for campanile. Altho' I might tag along w/ some of the folks now knitting Lyra...decisions...