She Knits By The Seashore

In the Pink

"It's pink, and scented." "Don't you think it gives it that something extra?"

-- Elle Woods from Legally Blonde, on her resume

Pink is my favorite color, and I always want to knit the pink sweaters or other pink projects in the knitting magazines.  It's not that I always knit items in the exact same color as they appear in their photos, and I wouldn't knit an item that I don't like, just because it's pink. But if the sweater or scarf or shawl that I like is pink in the pattern photo, then that's the color mine is going to be too.

This caught my eye immediately:

It's the picot camisole by Gina Wilde in the Spring 06 issue of Interweave Knits. I've never knit a camisole top before (I'm always cold and will probably need to wear a cardigan over it most days), and there are a lot of new techniques in this pattern I'll need to learn. It looks a little low-cut (maybe it's just the model?), but so pretty with the lace border that I couldn't resist.

The first challenge was to find yarn for it. The pattern calls for Alchemy Bamboo, which would make the project an expensive one for me. I love special yarns, but for a first time project that might not come out so well, I didn't want to risk it. The wonderful women at Yarns Down Under helped me to pick out a Rowan pink cotton glace that I think will work out just as nice.

My plan was to knit the gauge swatch earlier this week and post it here to show you. Unfortunately, I have knit it twice and it is still too big (once on straight needles, once on the circular ones I'll actually use). So first on this weekend's list of knitting tasks is to see if I can get the gauge fixed. I am encouraged by Pixie's success with her camisole and hope mine comes out just as well!

Another pink project that caught my eye was the skirt on the cover of Vogue Knitting for Spring 06.

This pattern calls for Koigu, and I never did find a good substitute for that. While I was looking, I also began to see comments on other blogs about how knitted skirts always sag out of shape in the back, and that scared me off. I would love to know what you think of this, and hear about any experiences you've had, good or bad, with knitted skirts!

Also in the "good intentions" category: I've been working on the Lace Serpentine Stole aka the sunset yarn, and was going to post a photo of that as soon as I finished the first repeat (16 rows). The pattern was just starting to appear, when I discovered I had too many stitches, and one disaster led to another...I'm three rows back now and still three stitches short. I think I've found two, but one is still missing. This doesn't sound like a big deal, except that when you have to knit the stole sideways, and have 303 stitches in one row, ripping back is awful. I did have a lifeline, but it pulled out on one side as I frogged the rows! I like this pattern, but I really wish it had been written as a normal scarf/stole pattern, where you knit the "short side" up. I'm sure that there are knitters out there that are clever enough to re-write it that way, but I'm not one of them. So, while I'm not yet driven to knitting homicide as Pink Pearls was (love your site color, by the way!), I'm pretty close. If I can't fix this, I might put it away for a while. I have to say that knitting two lace stoles at the same time, this one and the one for the Amazing Lace, is not the most enjoyable anyway. Perhaps it will be easier if I were to follow the pattern, which calls for a circular needle instead of my preferred straight ones? Do you think it would make a difference? Advice please!

To round out the pink color theme, I'm also going to start another Princess Snowball cat bed, as my "easy, knit when tired or in the car" project. It's for a girl kitty named Katie that belongs to friends in Massachusetts. I'm really excited about that even though I've already knit two for my boys, because this one will be all pink!

P.S. Pinky (aka Timmy, with his pink nose and ears) makes a play for my breakfast, during the planning of this post:

How the Lace Stole Summer (Amazing Lace entry #3)

Here is the next entry for the Amazing Lace Challenge #3, Poetry. I was going to go with John Donne, "Lace Be Not Proud/Though Some Have Called Thee/Mighty and Dreadfull/for, thou art not so..." I thought this might be more fun...

How The Lace Stole Summer

Every Knitter in Knitville

Liked lace a lot…

But the Knitter at the seashore

Did not!

The Knitter hated lace -

The whole summer season!

You don’t have to ask why.

You can guess the reasons.

It could be the mohair was incredibly small

And it took forever to knit up one ball,

But I think the most likely reason of all

May have been that it wouldn’t stay

On the needles at all.

But, whatever the reason,

The wool, or slow pace

She stood there just glaring

and hating her lace.

Other knitters in Knitville

The tall and the small

Were knitting so fast,

They’d be done with it all.

They’d knit and they’d knit

KNIT! KNIT! KNIT! KNIT!

While the Knitter at the Seashore

Was having a fit!

“Why for over three years I’ve put up with lace now!

I must hurry and finish this project, but how?”

Then she got an idea!

An awful idea!

The Knitter

Had a wonderful, awful idea!

She took out her calculator

And counted the rows

483 left before summer’s close

“If I give up work and forget about sleep,

Give up the garden, don’t go to the beach,

Don’t see my friends, give up all my fun,

I might finish the lace, before summer is done!”

All the windows were dark.

Quiet filled the air.

Other knitters were dreaming sweet dreams without care.

Her husband and cats were long since in bed

While she sat up and worked on the lace instead.

“I hate this! I hate this!,” the Knitter complained.

“My hands are numb; my eyesight is strained!”

“I want to frog this; I want to quit!”

“There are so many things I would much rather knit.”

But on another late night, the knitter blinked her eyes

And discovered a wonderful, unexpected surprise.

The knitted lace that had started so slow

And fell off the needles, began to grow!

And what happened then?

Well in Knitville, they say

That the Knitter’s motivation

Grew three sizes that day.

From the minute her eyes saw the bright morning light,

She knitted and knitted long into each night.

She’ll get to the end soon,

She’ll finish the race.

And She, she herself, will wear

the knitted blue lace.

Yarn Mail

Don't you just love receiving a surprise in the mail? Mixed in with the usual bills and advertisements today, I found this:

Three skeins of hand dyed Superwash Merino in the Monet Colorway, from Live 2 Knit. The best part is that they came all the way from Australia! If you are looking for some special yarn, I highly recommend a visit to this website. [Note to American knitters: the exchange rate is favorable to our dollar, which absorbs the extra cost of international postage -- the yarn will be no more expensive than any hand dyed yarn you purchase in the U.S., and you will have something special that no one else in your knitting group has! How fun is that?!]. When I saw the Monet, I just had to have some. (The color names always get me). Katie did an amazing job; it is just as gorgeous in person as on my computer screen. Since I can't knit socks, I'll be making a winter scarf with this.

Also in the mail from Australia (my friend H spoils me!!):

An issue of Yarn magazine, and the latest Creative Knitting. I'm not sure we have any knitting magazines here in the U.S. that I could compare them with for you. Yarn is a shorter magazine, than, say, Interweave Knitting, but it is very fun to look through. In issue 2, above, they have an article on blocking lace that arrived just in time for my summer lace project! I also love looking at the advertisements. There are all sorts of Australian yarn shops advertised that you can explore online, like Ozeyarn and Calico and Ivy. Yes, they both sell many of the same brands that we can find in the U.S., like Jo Sharp and Rowan and Debbie Bliss, but Calico and Ivy also has Heirloom Yarn and Ozeyarn has Rainbow Wools. I am dying to try both. You can order back issues of Yarn from their website via paypal, but I'm not sure about Creative Knitting.

Shazzas Knits gave a little mention of The Knittery in her post titled "Michelle's Socks." Guess what will be the next Yarn Mail coming to the seashore from Australia?! Thank you Sharon for the link!!!

It is so nice, in such a global knitting marketplace, to still discover unique things that I can't find where I live. Now, if I could just convince the postal service to create an inexpensive media-mail-type service called Yarn Mail...yarn, and knitting magazines, are a lot less heavy than books, and we want them to arrive much faster!

P.S. Links were fixed 6/28/06.

Rainy Day Blues

Here at the seashore, it's been raining almost every weekend since Memorial Day, and this one is no exception. If it keeps up, I might have to change the name of my blog to "She Knits in the Living Room."

The one good thing about rainy days is that they're perfect for catching up on knitting projects:

I finished the cat blanket early, and will send it off to Basil and Abner next week. I'm also making more progress on the lace, and might even cast on for a new project tomorrow!

Although I'm not a member of Project Spectrum (I didn't have my blog until recently; I'm hoping they'll do PS a second time so I can start from the beginning), I love looking at all the photos of blue knitted items and blue objects that everyone is posting. Since I have a blue knitted item above, I'll add some blue flowers too, in honor of June:

Here's hoping for a dry Sunday for everyone, and lots more knitting progress!

Inch by Inch, Row by Row

Knitting is like gardening, a slow methodical process, with (hopefully) a beautiful reward. Both have the ability to frustrate us like crazy, but also nurture our souls.

This post is for my dear friend H, The Knittin' Kitten, Lynne, Kristen, Rebekah, and other knitting bloggers who have been sharing their beautiful garden/nature photos with their readers. Your photos have inspired me and made me smile, and I hope mine will do the same for you.

First up, some knitting progress:

The Lace Dream Stole is about 18" now. A long way to go yet!

The Kitty Blanket is 5"-6" longer now that I've added a second skein.

Now the garden. Poppies, before the rain came:

  These are Coral Reef poppies, grown from seed by Thompson's. They keep spreading each year, and this year I had more blooms than ever! Whenever I see them, I think of the line from Keats' poem, To Sleep: "ere thy poppy throws Around my bed its lulling charities..." It's the only line I remember, but the language, like the flower, is so pretty. I like the idea of flowers lulling us into peacefulness (we will not think about the poppies' other use here!).

  Reine Victoria bourbon roses

Eglantyne roses (David Austin)

Louise Odier, a bourbon rose

Queen Elizabeth roses with Hidcote lavender

Monkshood

My garden has a pink and purple theme. It looks best this time of year. Next up are the lilies, and then things will quiet down in the main garden, except for some purple alyssum. My apologies if you now have the Inch by Inch song stuck in your head, as I do!

The Things You Do For Love (of Lace) (Entry #2)

Lace Dream and I on our sunset ride...

(click to enlarge photos...the sky was just beautiful!)

Charity Began at Home

When I saw the pattern in this book for the Princess Snowball Cat Bed, I had to make two for my cats, Timmy and Charlie. If you have cats too, you know that they will not give you the satisfaction of actually using what you knit for them. Maybe it was the name Princess Snowball that kept them out?

Or maybe Charlie felt his bed, which came out a wee bit too big (but is perfect for extra warmth in winter) was beneath his noble cat dignity?

In any event, their "thanks, but no thanks -- we like your bed better" was pretty clear:

So I have turned my knitting efforts towards other, less spoiled fortunate creatures. Abner and Basil are running a charity drive, and need all sorts of things for their local friends. And they have some neat prizes to give away too! So my other projects, except for the Amazing Lace project, are on hold right now while I work on this:

It's a "critter blanket" or "kitty snuggle," and I'm just waiting for another ball of wool to come in the mail so that I can finish it. It's a wonderful break from the lace knitting, and my boys are thrilled. Now they don't have to pretend to like the stuff I make for them anymore!

P.S. Just when they thought we weren't watching:

P.S. #2 If anyone can give directions on how to fix-resize the Abner & Basil charity button in my sidebar, I'd be deeply indebted! (Newbie blogger).

The Joys of Vintage Books

I love vintage books.

      

Especially when there's dialogue like this:

"I hope she [an aunt] won't be dull. She knits a lot -- white wooly things."

"People who knit are never dull," Blanche said wisely.

Knitting Cycles

Behind every great knitter (or in this case, an adequate one), there is usually a special someone to share in the knitter's "thrill of victory, and agony of defeat." This person not only supports the knitter through good projects and bad, good yarn sales and disappointing ones, but can also tell an uninitiated bystander intimate details about the knitter's current project (particularly impressive when he/she is not a knitter him/herself), as if it were his or her own. In my case, my knitter groupie is my husband, C.

Lap One: C and I met early in my knitting life (before the Great Knitting Resurgence). I was orienteering through the first few sweaters by myself when I decided it would be a great idea to make him one (I did not know about The Curse then, thank goodness!):

C. graciously accepted this gift, even though 1)it came out waayyy too long and 2)he can only wear it on the coldest day of winter, which he does once a year (that's the kind of guy he is), because he has a metabolism I would die for, and the bulky wool is way too hot for him to wear every other day.

Lap Two: Having failed at the first attempt to Express My Love in Wool, it was back to the Hometown LYS for something that would be even more insane impressive a Christmas present. A more intricate pattern than I'd ever attempted, but with lighter weight wool. He did not know what a great sweater he was in for. I did not know that exactly four days later, he was going to propose. I had to stop work on the sweater to plan our wedding.

Lap Three (or is that nine?): The Six Year Sweater:

First, the gauge was off. Second, the pattern was written in British English. How was I to know it needed a translator? (The name "Sirdar" still gives me shudders). The back went fast, a giant square. The front stalled at the neckline & shoulder area (the number of stitches never added up to the number in the directions, hence the translation problem). It wasn't until Special Agent C was home on break from college, six years after I'd started (before her mission to keep me away from the socks!), and could estimate diamonds on the sleeves (intricate math), that I was finally able to finish the sweater (I am forever in her debt). Husband C knew about the sweater by this time, as we had to measure it on him, but he didn't know about the proposal part -- I saved the original receipt from the yarn shop (and presented it to him with the finished sweater) as proof of my dedication to the concept "better late than never." He wears this sweater twice in a winter, and, since it fits correctly, out in public too.

Le Tour: Since that Six Year Sweater, I've returned to more feminine projects, and C has been ever more supportive. He spent several hours once helping me to untangle the mess that was New Zealand Woolpak when I tried to wind it in a ball, and felt my pain again after I had knitted up the front and back of that yarn's sweater and had to frog it all. (Note to self: do not use varigated yarn that pools on a sweater, no matter how many people tell you that alternating skeins will make it OK). He cheered me on to victory last summer when I hand stitched close to 200 pearl beads (!) on a scarf I made for my dear friend H's birthday, in record time. He stops at all of the knitting shops on our road trips and says, "Take as long as you need. I have a book." I am a lucky girl.

In return, I try to be as supportive of his new passion as possible. It helps that it lends itself well to mine. While watching Tour de France DVDs, I can knit a lot of rows on my lace. While waiting for his first race to start, I cast on for the new stole. Cycling might even provide an excuse for me to knit cute hand mitts that free fingers for Important Braking Maneuvers. A match made in heaven.

Happy Anniversary!

Hope in a Yarn

Back in February, my suspected Seasonal Affective Disorder was pretty severe. I had That Feeling of Desperately Needing Something To Get Me Through to the sunny, warm days that I love.

On a Saturday road trip, I stopped in here. The yarns were so cheerful and colorful all grouped together, yet I couldn't settle on any one in particular. I was not only looking at the yarn as project material, but as comfort and therapy and encouragement. After some time spent wandering around the store aimlessly, I conceded that perhaps no yarn on earth could do what I was asking of it: bring instant sunshine and 80F temperatures to a dreary, freezing February. So, I decided to call it a day, and stood in line to pay for a magazine.

Then I saw this:

Anne by Schaeffer Yarn.

Immediately it spoke to me: summer sunset. (Except for the green, but even that reminded me of the garden I was also missing). This was Hope in a Yarn for me if there ever was. I didn't care if it was fingering weight sock yarn (I can't knit socks)-- it told me that it would make a great shawl or wrap because it had all the same colors as my summer clothes. In March, I carried it around the house with me whenever I was feeling blue (in both senses of the word). It was hard to finally wind it into its ball. Several weeks later, I found this pattern, which is flexible regarding yardage, since I'm limited to the 560 yards of the skein. The 303-stitch cast on has been a challenge, but I'm hoping once I get used to the pattern that it will knit up fast.

The color? The tag wasn't marked, but based on some internet research, I think I have "Little Mermaid." I'm not a fan of Disney, but "mermaid" is definitely summer in a skein.