Blood Sweat and Tears for Birch Catkins

I finished my first #100 thread 0000/000 needle project. The knitting wasn't that difficult once I got into it. The trick? Don't switch back and forth between projects. My fingers got used to the thin thread pretty quickly, and it's not like cobweb yarn, that snaps when you look at it. This stuff is pretty tough stuff. But ultra thin thread with similar needles work your hands pretty hard.



So, the trials and tribulations of the Birch doily:

Snippet I:

I had set down the project right after I had first switched over from dpns to circs, and my lovely two year old darling little A (aka Creature), came running over saying 'momma, momma, yarn...' while pointing at her legs. Well, there was nothing there, so I shrugged and she sang me a song.

Anyway, I go back to pick up the knitting, and it's not there. I looked around and found it on the floor with the thread in a jumble. Aha. She had been playing w/ my knitting and the thread got tangled around her legs. (Yes, she had dragged it almost into another room).

Anywhoo. the point to this story? Severalfold.

One. I would switch over to circs as soon as possible. Had I left my 0000 metal dpns on there, the blog entry would be vastly different, and shorter.

Two. Listen to your child, really listen. They're not talking silliness. I promise to be a better mom and listen.

Three. That Cordonnet thread is amazing. That stuff is tough. I'm impressed.

Snippet II:

This form of charting greatly annoys me. Mostly because they use the same symbol for k2tog as Burda does for k2 into 1. That is a pain. And this pattern isn't bundled so you have to read all the way across the chart. Priscilla graciously recharted the pattern and it was awesome. But since the official start date wasn't until this weekend -- it being the 'summer' kal and all, I forged ahead. Anyway, I found a couple of errors/ommissions and since everyone isn't as far ahead as myself, well...anyway, there's a couple of move markers that aren't documented and there's a head scratcher (for me) that I had to knit by pure blind faith -- and given the chart errors, I still did that. There's a bit that might look wonky, but oh well.


Snippet III:

Oh my goodness was it hot this weekend. Whew. It was so hot we all hung out in our basement (it's a high basement Vickie) and I knitted on this doily while the kids played. The only thing is I have got to go find my little string holder because my ball of thread kept rolling around. Good thing it's thread, I'm sure it's going to get a tad less dingy when I actually wash it before blocking.


Snippet IV:

Total rookie manuver (or how I had to rewash and soak the doily). I pinned out the doily with the initial 16 pins, then was going through and pinning the other loops when I realized that mine's not circular. So, made a makeshift compass and drew some circles, then was pinning again. After half of it is done, I'm realizing that the doily is drying out --it's been warm here. I can get it done. Hurry Hurry. Sure.

Well, I went and poked myself w/ a straight pin, but still, plodded ahead. Yep, got a drop of blood on the edge. Shoot. Off came all the pins and back in cold water it goes. (See that little discoloration? yep, blood).


I've invested in the stainless steel pins, but sometimes, they bend. And I'm finding that I don't have that many left. I started pinning them 2 together to save pins -- man, I'm lazy. Note to self: go check out th pins that Lacis carries.

edited to add:


Snippet V :

As I was posting this doily to my projects page on Ravelry, I noticed that others listed the pattern as personal, and not Herbert Niebling...I did what a good volunteer editor does, I added the pattern and posted a quick message to the board asking folks to link to this pattern instead of 'personal'.

Well, I get back from picking up the kids only to find much badness. I am no longer a member of the Yahoo group. The group got Ravelry-ized, and I think my putting up this doily was the last straw. It is very sad. They have the right to decide who's in and who's out. I did really appreciate all the information and the lovely folks on that board and how helpful everyone was. I do wish everyone there the best.

In the following picture, in the middle, you see that wonky arch, yep that one, right in the middle. Yes. That's row 91.






Started: June 10, 2008
Finished: June 23, 2008
thread: Cordonnet #100 in white
needles: 0000 dpns, 000 32" circs
modifications: I added 2 extra rows to the edging. Oh, I changed how the doily started too. Using #100 thread, I thought it was too much of a PITA to do the 1->5->10 in 7 rounds.
It blocked out at 23 inches in diameter.

Niebling Summer KAL update

Well, the official start isn't until this weekend, but I am working away at mine. While I was taking a progress shot (I don't usually do this too much for a doily), I realized how thin my thread was, so I thought I'd take a pic for posterity.


This is left to right: #10 thread, #20 thread, and what I'm working with right now, #100 thread.

This is a needle comparison:
Top down: US8, US1, US000, US0000, US6X0


As for the update on the KAL, here it is:


oh, also, guess what I finally ordered....



Thanks for the present! This is a gift from my MIL. Love it!

Niebling Jan KAL finished

I'm working on another lace project too, but I got a tad bored with that since it's a stole and I've got another 1/3 of that plus figuring out border.



Anyway, so I picked up the January KAL for the Niebling Lace yahoo group and finished it. There are a couple of errors in it, but they were pretty easy to figure out. The look of this guy is odd, but it was pretty easy (there aren't any of the blasted slip 4 knit 5, slip 4 back over the 5 stitches).



The nice thing about this doily was that I was able to do 2 different k12 into 3YO and have found that I really like doing the k1-YO instead of the k1-p1.



stats:
start date: 2/17/08
end date: 2/18/08
thread: Cebelia #10 in color 519 (blue)
amount used: less than a ball
needles: US1 dpn and circs
mods/errors: there's an error on row 11 and on 39.
comments: not as boring as I thought it was going to be (there's a lot of straight knitting). Good break while working on other Niebling

This is a closeup:

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.

Doily

I lightly blocked the blue doily but didn't have enough pins for a full block. When z&a's dad looked at it, he said (and I quote) ' huh, I didn't know you were making a doily...'

Trust me, it was all in the tone...

The color's off. I've been reading the intarweb and trying to take better pictures. This is the doily without flash. And I was trying to play up the contrast, so it's not black, but a blue.

I did get rustproof pins and I've got to reblock so all the little loops pop out. All in all, a very nice knit. I do wish I didn't have to break into another ball of Cebelia for it, but oh, well.

Specs:
yarn: Cebelia #10 blue (1.1 ball)
needles: 2.5mm dpn and 2.5mm circs
time start: August 4. 2007
time finish: September 8, 2007
mods: none that I tried to do (eg. any mods would have been errors)

I did notice that my first center flower is a bit wonky where the round started. oh, well.

oh, well. Better get those pins out.

Doily and Niebling thoughts.

Are you tired of hearing about my doily? Well, me too. We ventured to Lacis yesterday in search of the blue thread to finish off the doily, but realized that I had left the tag for the thread at home. Hey, it's Lacis, and it's blue...how many different lots would they have?

Well, they had one ball in one lot and a passel in a different lot. After much pondering and hemming and hawing, decided to get the last ball with the rationalization that they might have restocked and I had grabbed the top one before, so this must be it. Right? Right?!

No. I came home and checked and it (I think) was the OTHER lot. I shall phone them today and just ask them to check for me. argh!

Oh, while at Lacis, I saw Mary Frances' finished Niebling. Oh, go and look if you've not seen it yet. When I grow up, I want to knit Nieblings like her...(wait, is that a noun? the Niebling? or a verb? Nieblinging)

Reminder: The next Lacis Lace group meets on Saturday, September 8, at 1pm.

Speaking of Niebling, Lacis actually had an old Anna magazine. It didn't have any Niebling work in it(that I saw), and the person working there was surprised they even had any Anna's available for sale. It was filed under their bobbin lace section, if you want to go purchase it. So, they might have misc. Anna's filed away in various sections if you want to go and look.

The other thing was that I actually won a few Anna magazines on Ebay. I'll show when I receive them. (I'm very gleeful because I got great amazingly fabulous deal on them.)

No, I did not go crazy bidding for Lyra. It amazes me that an old magazine would sell for $30-40 plus.

However, someone really really wanted this issue. If you know why, please let me know. Seriously, the bidding is up to $87.99 for an old magazine! It had better be autographed by Niebling himself. I suppose that I just have Mr. Niebling on my mind...they might have bid this much because they wanted the macrame section? Naw, the listing is titled Niebling. But still...if you really want to see the listing (which still has 3 days left), it's here. Well, best of luck to the bidders! I'll update in 3 days.

Doily angst

Well, it helps to read instructions...but it just raised my hopes and then proceeded to dash them to the ground. Here's my incomplete doily.

Yes, I have run out of thread as I'm binding off. I have almost finished one out of 8 wedges. Argh!

I read the instructions and I didn't have to do that extra knit row, so I thought aha, maybe maybe...well. No.

Just one more row...drats!

Can you believe it? I seriously have one, no, actually 2 rows left on my doily and I've run out of thread. I guess it's back to Lacis for more. I am trying to figure out what the scallop over the top and a 6 over it means...chain 6?

yeah. right.

But you know what? doilies are really cool and I'm liking them. Don't know what I'll do with them, but they are really fun to make.

Doily in progress

A doily (or doyley) - a small ornamental mat usually made of cotton or linen placed underneath a dish or bowl. (from Wikipedia)

Who knew that doily could be spelled with 2 y's...

This is the KAL from the Lacis Lace Knitting Group:
Lavori Artistici a calza No. 11 - Figura 66

Translation can be found on the Lacis museum forum site or originally found on the Yahoo laceknitters group. This is a beautiful doily. I'm enjoying this immensely.

The center is a single crochet over a double loop and pulled in tightly when a few inches into the doily. I started this project using 2.25mm dpns from Lacis, but then switched to US2 circs from Knit Picks because I don't yet have US1 circs. The blue is actually much darker, but my camera...what can I say about my camera?

A bit of it is a little confusing and I might have shifted over one, but hey, whatever. It's a doily.

Field Trip to to the Wonderful World of Lace

Saturday was fun! I attended my first (their second) lace knitting group at Lacis in Berkeley. What a lucky duck I am to live in such a wonderful area. Actually, I went on Friday to check out the beautiful knitted lace that's presently on display there. Gorgeous!

And on Saturday, left husband with kids and headed off-island to the Lacis, totally forgetting that there's the little thing called Berkeley swap meet going on. After acting land-sharky for awhile, finally found a parking spot on a side street. Extra bonus was that I now know where the Thai Temple is located. This is where you are supposed to be able to get the absolutely most delicious Thai food for very little $ on Sundays.

So, I met some wonderful folks and we knit lace and showed lace and it was fun. I know there are bloggers I read that were there, but I didn't ask (so if you stumble on my post, please leave a message). The two hours whipped by so fast. I finally had to dash because that parking space I got? Well, it's residential with a 2 hour limit. I really didn't need a ticket and I am pretty paranoid about Berkeley parking (ie. they tow cars parked too long--at least during football season).

Besides the knitting and all that amazing lace, I learned how to cast on for a circle using a crochet hook from Mary Francis. That is so cool. She also talked about the belly button cast-on. I think grumperina has a link to that (or she did it, can't remember).

There was also a Show-n-Tell. A swallowtail done in 3-ply loveliness. A hat inspired by GoL, a Red Hat doily hat, and the Elann aran lace sweater (you know the one that I have 3 types of yarn for). These are the ones I remembered, there might have been more. And the WIPs, wow!

Oh, and the yarn?! Lacis is carrying some amazing laceweights. I don't know if you remember awhile ago when I was lamenting on the fact that Lacis only carried shetland cobweb wool? And when I asked about zephyr they told me they'd might have ecru and black to start. Later, I got a phone call from the owner saying they didn't have any demand for it...hee hee. A year (actually 11mo.) later, they've got the full spectrum of zephyr and handpainted and linen and tussah silks and all sorts of laceweights.

So, I decided I'm doing the KAL with the folks. The info can be found at the Lacis site if y'all want to join. The magazine? spendy. But worth it. Beautiful patterns. And #66 is a Niebling (if you're interested).

The next meeting will be on the 2nd Saturday of September due to Labor Day.

Ha! And who says you can't take lace to a knitting group?! The trick is to make sure that EVERYONE else is ALSO knitting lace.

In my next post, I'll show the progress of my doily. I purchased some 2.25mm metal Inox dpns, but they're a tad fiddly. When I got home, I knitted on my US2 (2.75mm) 32in Knitpicks circs and they're fine for the doily. Gotta love magic loop!