post-Bahamas catch-up

It’s been a while since I posted. I just got back from vacation last night and am feeling rested and relaxed so I thought I’d catch up a little. I thought I’d need a lengthy break after my knitting marathon(s) but I found my fingers itching after just a few days. The only project in my vicinity at the beginning of the month was the Classy Slip Up Sock that I started ages ago and keep putting down.

I finished the heel flap and turned the heel a couple of weeks ago. Then the Thursday before my trip, I dug out the sock and a nice long movie and knit away. I got about halfway done with the foot and was surprised to see how much I liked the way the pattern continued down the top of the sock; it really does look quite attractive. You’d think the magic of turning a heel would have sucked me back in, but no. It was the possibility of taking a FO picture on a pretty balcony that did it. Who could resist that? Certainly not me.

As for the raglan? I started working on it pretty recently and then put it aside as my vacation knit because I knew its easy stockinette design wouldn’t make me think too hard in noisy airports, cramped airplanes, and the like... And I did get a LOT of it done.

Before I left, the back of the sweater was completed along with about an inch of the front. I laid the back out and counted how many rows there were between each increase or decrease (remember I said I had been doing that haphazardly?) so I could try to match it up to what I was knitting now. I got a lot done and am up to the sleeve shaping on the front. That makes for about 14” or so of airplane/airport knitting. Not too bad considering I only worked on it on travel days. All of those horrible delays yesterday weren’t quite as bad (at least for a while) because I was busy knitting and listening to my iPod. I plan on doing both sleeves at once, or at least attempting to. I figure that will make them symmetrical.

Sorry, no picture as it’s still just boring old curly-edged stockinette in need of blocking. This weekend I’m off to see my college friends. I’m using my shawl today at work so it’s going down with me. I know at least one or two of my friends are aware I knit but none of them has any idea how much of a capital-K Knitter I am.

Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting

Today a friend and I went to see the Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting exhibit at the Museum of Arts & Design. My favorite items were the little itsy bitsy gloves you see on their webpage and the little sweaters that went with them.* I was just floored by the skill required to do that--and the fact that they all had some sort of complicated design on them made it even more mind-blowing (they were knit with wire in 1:144 scale).

Other highlights were: Illuminated Veins (there, not the picture in the catalog), the dress made out of U.S. money, the skull tablecloth (almost because it was made out of yarn *wink*), Lace Meander (the piece hanging on the wall that was cut to look like lace), and the nylon net. I thought I'd see more items knitted or crocheted out of traditional fibers but completed in such a way that their message was subversive or radical. That wasn't quite the case but I appreciated the amount of work that went into each project. I felt like I was missing something with several of the exhibits but I'm really glad I went.

I wanted to show you all pictures of my favorite items but the museum guy yelled at me when I took out my camera. To distract you--and me--from the fact that this entry is very very image-less, take a look at these sites. There are pictures here and this teacher packet has some more images and some information. Information/reviews are here, here. and (NYT) here. Enough with links!


*Other people have lifted images from MAD's webpage but I feel a little weird about doing that myself... Just click on one of the many links I gave you and you can see some pictures. :)


----------------

I had my first knitting group meeting on Monday night. There were only a few of us, but I had a nice time. I brought Icarus to show to my friend and Red Raglan, which I knew I could knit while talking to people. There were supposed to be two women I didn’t know but one didn’t show up. The one who did, Danielle, was very sweet and we had a chance to get to know each other before my friend showed up. Danielle only knows the knit stitch and has been knitting scarves with all different kinds of yarn and different size needles. She mixes yarns up to make it interesting and has managed to lure some of her friends into our knitterly ways. Next time, some of them are supposed to come. My friend, Alecia, is the one who got me interested in all of this. A few Christmases ago, she brought a couple of hand knit scarves to work and I loved them. She never talked about any crafty stuff so it came as a surprise that she could knit and crochet (and do needlepoint and who knows what else). At our little SnB, she brought a beautiful crocheted blanket she’s been working on and looked through one of Danielle’s Stitch ’n Bitch books for something to knit. I also made sure they knew to look at their libraries for knitting books and told them about Knitty, MagKnits, and KnittingHelp.com. I think I might try to recruit some more people before our next get-together.

The Red Raglan is moving along swimmingly. I’ve been knitting away, increasing and decreasing a little haphazardly (sometimes every inch, sometimes more…oops) and am now doing the raglan shaping and the neck. It’s my first sweater with this kind of construction but I’m not too worried about it; I’m just enjoying its simplicity and the feel of the wool. It’s easy enough to do and--at least for now--I wouldn’t mind having to rip it out. I’m pretty sure I’ll feel differently when I’m further along. I was going to show you a progress shot but it’s really nothing too interesting as it’s just plain old red stockinette stitch.

Yes, I'm still knitting

Everyone, thank you so much for your kind words about Icarus. Some of you just recently got replies or comments from me because a lot's been going on in my personal life. I don't write about that stuff so I won't go into any specifics, but know that I truly appreciated your comments and emails. Thanks again. Here's one last picture of Icarus; it's actually a cropped version of one you've already seen, but you can zoom in on this one. ;)

I've been out of blogland for so long that I had to go back to the Yarn Harlot's May 25th post in order to catch up. How cute is that rainbow baby sweater? I totally want one of those kits. I'll wait until I read all of her newer posts to see if she gives any more info about it. Lettuce Knit doesn't seem to have an email address...

Anyway! I'm really dying to make another lace shawl. A dark one would have come in handy this week and it made me set my sights on Print O’ The Wave Stole by by Eunny Jang. But for now I'm making something out of my stash, the Red Raglan. Yes, I realize it's warm outside, but I spent a lot of money on Icarus-related things (the yarn was only about $20 but the shawl pin, blocking mats, pins, etc. really added up) and I promised my hubby I'd take it easy for a while since one of the things we recently dealt with was a dead car. Blah.

Red Raglan is being knitted out of the Knit Picks Swish Superwash that's been sitting in my stash since my Pullover Flair attempt. Its simple stockinette pattern (with waist shaping) is a perfect fit for my life right now; the wonderfully mindless knitting proved to be quite portable (no need to check out the pattern) and will come with me to my knitting group meeting (!!!!) in a couple of days. A while back I found some other young women who live nearby and knit and we're meeting up at a coffee shop tomorrow night. I'm looking forward to it!

Up, up, and away -- Icarus is done!

Pattern: Icarus Shawl, from the Summer 2006 issue of Interweave Knits (now on her webpage, and with errata)
Designer: Miriam Felton – she says, “This shawl was inspired by a lace motif in Sophia Caulfeild’s Dictionary of Needlework, first published in 1882. The top-down construction allows the design to flow downward, giving the feeling of feathers dripping from a stick frame, just as in Greek mythology, Icarus’ feathers melted from their frame as he came too close to the sun.”
Knitting Started: March 16, 2007
Knitting Finished: May 26, 2007
Blocked: May 28, 2007
Yarn: 3 hanks of Knit Pick’s Alpaca Cloud in “Sunlight Heather” (#23500)
Needles: 24” Knit Picks Classic Circular Knitting Needles in Size 3
Modifications: I did one extra repeat of Chart 1 to make the shawl 8" wider across the top and 2.5" longer


Yesterday was the wedding and Icarus went beautifully with my dress. It wasn't actually as much of an unveiling as I'd thought it would be because I ended up bringing it to work on Friday. I don’t know if it shows my youth or what but I tend to do a little show-and-tell with projects I’m proud of and I simply couldn't wait to show it to people. It helps that a bunch of my co-workers are knitters and that even those who aren't show interest in whatever I'm working on. (I guess this takes the place of bringing FOs to SnB to show to people who appreciate how much work was involved in something.)


KnitPicks’s webpage says, “The downy softness of the hollow core alpaca fiber makes it amazingly warm, but light as a feather, and therefore perfect for lace. The subtle heathered colors are like mists draped over your shoulders.” I have to admit that this yarn seemed perfect for this project, not only because I’d seen it used successfully in other Icarus shawls and wanted a yellow/golden color to wear with a specific dress, but because it’s light as a feather and in a color that has sunlight in the name. (Need to be reminded of the myth? ;) hehe. I know I’m a huge dork.



Anyway, this shawl proved to be quite difficult for me, mostly in the beginning before I got the hang of it. I thought I'd left plenty of time to finish it (about 2.5 months) but the rocky start really made me rush at the end to complete it before the wedding. Click on the "Icarus" tag of the post to see all the gory details.

I love love love the way it turned out and would recommend this project to anyone looking to make a lace shawl. You start at the top and work your way down to the lacy edge; you have to concentrate at the very beginning and at the end but that huge section where you just keep doing repeats of the same chart leaves you plenty of time to listen to audiobooks or watch tv.

Some advice: use lifelines! At the end, I made sure the lifelines were ridiculously long and I kept two in at a time (with ends tied together to prevent them from slipping away à la The Big Rip). The bind off looks great, but even with the streamlined approach that Miriam mentions, it still seems to take forever to do--which could have had something to do with the fact that I was dying to crawl in bed by that point.

And those interlocking foam floor mats that Jess inspired me to buy? They were *fabulous* and I plan to buy another box of 4 after Dennis gets over the fact that so many knitty things appear on our doorstep in such quick succession. To block, I laid the mats out as follows: 4 at the top where I pinned out the widest part, 3 in the middle, and 1 at the bottom where the shawl comes to a point. This worked well but I would have liked to have a 9th mat to make two rows of 4 mats... I bought mine from Amazon (shipped by Jack's Tool Shed) but I'm sure you could find them in any number of home improvement stores. I laid a sheet out on top of the mats and used blocking wires and about a million pins. The design just opened up and I fell in love with the shawl. As proof, here are some of the pictures I took. I just couldn't narrow the shots down to a decent number. ;)