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.