She Knits By The Seashore

FO: Rose Scarf by Louisa Harding

It's finally done!

 

 A happy accident that my outfit coordinated so well with the scarf! What are the chances?!

Pattern: Rose by Louisa Harding

Yarn: Thalia by Louisa Harding; Kimono Ribbon for rosettes

Pearl buttons from JoAnn's.

I always like to take Finished Object photos at the beach for the beautiful scenery, and always forget that Chris has to manage harsh sunlight, and the wind does interesting things to my hair and skirt. Today I thought we'd be clever and take the photos inside the pavilion, but that didn't seem to make too much difference, except that I didn't get sand in my shoes this time.

A close-up. The colors are pretty accurate here.

The pattern tells you to make 48 rosettes total, 24 of two colors each. I decided I could do 24 total, 12 of each, and think it works fine. The hardest part for me was to attach them "randomly." I'm obsessive, and though I pre-pinned the rosettes to be sure they were spread randomly, in a somewhat even fashion before I sewed them, I still keep looking at the scarf and thinking I should move some of the rosettes around: too many on one side? Not enough over here? Are the light pink ones too close together? I keep telling myself "Random! They're supposed to be random!" but it's not helping.

This scarf should work well with my jean jacket, and then my winter coat. The pattern photo shows the model wearing it with a skinny-strapped dressy blue dress, in a very stylized vintage look, but I think the yarn is too thick/rough for that.

The library function on Typepad hasn't been working, but I *have* been reading. I loved a fiction novel called "The Season of Second Chances" by Diane Meier, about a professor who packs up her things from NYC, moves to Amherst, and makes a real home and real friendships for herself at last. If you love old houses or "makeover" stories, you'll savor all the restoration details. I also recently finished Death in the Garden by Elizabeth Ironside. The story seemed to start slowly, and I didn't particularly adore most of the characters. But Ironside unfolds a 1920s murder mystery about a female photographer named Diana, her husband, and her bohemian artist friends, with a unique psychological twist. I love the way she mirrors that story in Diana's great-niece's life; she has some interesting things to say about a woman's need for independence to explore her artistic talents or career, and how relationships contribute to and work against that talent. The great-niece, Helena, is on a quest to prove her aunt's innocence in her husband's murder, long after most everyone has died, and through that process, she sees her own relationships from a new perspective. Much more going on here than in the mysteries I usually read.

Now I'm on to Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin. In this, her second book on happiness after "The Happiness Project," she focuses more closely on changes she can make in her home life. Have you read her books? If so, did you like them?

Our leaves are just starting to turn their fall colors here, and the mornings and evenings have a new chill. While I'll never turn into an autumn fan, I'm enjoying walking through the pretty scenery, noticing the animals making winter preparations, and making the shift from thinking about baking with peaches and berries to pumpkin, cranberries, apples, and cinnamon. We had our first fire in the fireplace last night, while watching the first episodes of Castle. It's a great time of year to knit, and read, and drink more tea. How are you enjoying the beginnings of autumn?

(And if you're lucky enough to be enjoying the first flowers of spring in the Southern Hemisphere, please give them an extra sniff for me. I'm trying to forget that autumn = frost = no more garden for six whole months!!)

And the Winner of the Button Survey is...

Pearls!

 

I really appreciate everyone's input, particularly since my question was apparently more confusing than I had intended. I meant to ask whether colored buttons vs. pearls was the better choice, not which of the two colors (cranberry & lt. pink) worked better. I didn't have the pearl buttons at the time of the last post to show you that option either.

After my allergy haze subsided long enough for me to finally make a decision, it seemed that the colored buttons were too close in color to the rosettes. I think the pearl buttons stand out more, and pick up the silver threads in the yarn. I hope to finish my final rosettes and then start attaching the pearl buttons & rosettes to the scarf this week.

Once I finish this project, I have to get going on a few gift items, though what I really want to do is start a sweater!

On Sunday we made another trip to the Book Barn with our friends. I am on a book fast, but there's always the exception when I find something I didn't know I needed, and it happened five times this trip. :)

 

The Rilke and von Arnim have been on my want list a long time. I didn't know about the Lewis, didn't expect to find the Benson, and, when I picked up the Collins and read a few lines of his poetry, I had to have that too. I'm really loving poetry again, trying to read a few poems a day in this book, and enjoy discovering new poets I've not met before. Do you like poetry? If so, who do you like to read?

What projects, knitting or otherwise, are you working on this fall?

Knitterly Opinion Please, Scarf Edition

I'm nearly finished knitting the rosettes for this scarf, twelve pink and twelve magenta. It's time to choose buttons that will fasten them to the scarf and serve as the flower centers.

In a cold-and-decongestant-induced haze (Hello allergy season! Are you here so soon?), I looked at what seemed like a hundred different buttons in the craft store before I narrowed it down to these...

...and pearls, which the store didn't have in the size I needed, so hopefully you can visualize them.

Which do you prefer? I think I know my preference, but would love your opinion. I'll include a pattern photo so you can get a better idea of the finished look.

Have a great weekend, and if you are in the U.S., Happy Labor Day. Hope you've got something fun and relaxing planned for our last day of summer.

Two Things Completed

The Pecan Pie Scarf is finished.

 

 

And my dad is home from the hospital. He responded well to his treatment. Thank you for your healing thoughts and prayers.

What knitting projects are you working on? What book(s) are you reading?

Out of Hibernation, Part One

How was your weekend? We had a hot, humid, but quiet one. We're enjoying watching the Tour de France, and Chris and Mr. SDC raced in a local bike race yesterday.

 

Chris on left, under tree leaves. Mr. SDC on right, also in red and black team kit.

 As I was looking through my WIPs last week, I picked up Wisp. According to my notes on Ravelry, I started this four years ago, but put it down because it's like knitting thread. Mohair thread, which can stick together pretty easily, making it difficult to frog.

Thread Yarn is from Habu Textiles. My friend C bought a skein of it for me as a gift, and then I ordered the cone to be sure I had enough. I cast on 100 stitches to make a wrap rather than a scarf. With variegated yarn, it's hard to see the stitch pattern, but I do love all the pink and purple tones.

Looking at the pattern again, it didn't seem too bad after all. It's nine rows of fishnet lace (yo, k2tog) all the way across, and then six rows of knitting. Repeat fifteen times. At the same time, you make an eyelet every five rows on the borders. As long as I keep a note for myself for when the next eyelet row is coming, it shouldn't be too bad. I've already had to frog two rows, and it was doable. Now I have two portable projects for hospital knitting, which will start again this week.

What project or book have you taken out of hibernation, and how is it going this time around? How is your summer going? Are you doing everything you want to do?

Pecan Pie Scarf

The first week of hospital knitting is done. We'll have a week-long rest, and then my family member will be admitted for three weeks for the second half of treatment. I'm already through the first of the two balls of the pecan pie yarn:

Our Lexy, doing her very first knitting blog modeling. In the four months since she adopted us, she's already reached her full-grown size. She's still my little bean.

I remember why I dislike the yarn. There are long sections with no loops.

In all fairness, this may be because when I tried to frog it last time, I pulled too hard, and those tiny white threads popped. I let the untextured sections hang, then cut them off, and wove in the ends. But other boucle yarns I've knitted were more easily frogged, and didn't have that annoying white thread showing through. Thankfully, the scarf is still looking good.

Miss Molly, waiting for winged visitors

My dad gave me this beautiful Miss Molly butterfly bush. Both of us try to make our gardens hospitable to butterflies, birds, and bees, with plants they love. It must be working; I saw a gorgeous yellow swallowtail on the bush when I left the house this morning to do an errand. The orioles, on the other hand, are completely ignoring my orange slices and grape jelly!

White sail + blue sky = summer heaven

Chris enjoying the ocean air

On Sunday, some friends invited us to sail with them. I love being out on the water; though my family never had a boat, it's something I've always been drawn to. Riding up and down on the waves beneath those huge white sails is so freeing and relaxing, a little bit of heaven on earth. I savor every moment. What did you do this weekend?

Little Gull Island Lighthouse

P.S. It's hurricane/tornado/brush fire/extreme weather season here in the U.S. I've posted an article on emergency preparedness for pets, and I hope if you live in an area where evacuation is a possibility, that you'll read it and gather necessities for your pets and yourself soon.

 

Not the Project I Thought

I finally chose a project for upcoming hospital knitting, when I'll be visiting a family member. It's not any of the projects I'd been considering.

During my cleaning and organizing, I saw two skeins of yarn that I purchased several years ago for a Christmas gift, boucle mohair from Farmhouse Yarns in Pecan Pie. When I first got them, I knit a swatch and discovered this yarn is not froggable. No ripping back if you don't like your sample (or make a mistake). Also, I discovered that a white thread runs through the yarn, forming the curls of the boucle, and it is noticeable in spots. I don't know why this white thread wasn't dyed to match the yarn itself?! Since I was feeling less confident about what I wanted to knit with it, and there were other things I wanted to finish, I put it away and moved on.

But now, the idea of a garter stitch scarf, where the yarn texture does the work and I won't have to follow charts where I can't concentrate on them, really appeals. I can crank out lots of rhythmic rows with lots of interruptions, and at the end, have a simple gift completed. I'll choose a more exciting, complex project after that.

The color is perfect for the recipient, and matches my cat Tim too. How are your summer projects going?

I had to pay up with a lot of treats after this photo was taken.

 

 

I discovered that a white thread runs through the yarn, forming the curls of the boucle, and it is noticeable in spots. I don't know why this white yarn wasn't dyed to match the yarn itself?!I discovered that a white thread runs through the yarn, forming the curls of the boucle, and it is noticeable in spots. I don't know why this white yarn wasn't dyed to match the yarn itself?!I discovered that a white thread runs through the yarn, forming the curls of the boucle, and it is noticeable in spots. I don't know why this white yarn wasn't dyed to match the yarn itself?!

Next Knitting Project?

I want to start something new. One of my family members will be in the hospital next month, and I'm looking for a project that is easily picked up and put down while I'm visiting.

Last month I took out the yarn (bought five years ago already!) and pattern for the Lace Ribbon Scarf. After three swatches with the substitute yarn, I finally got gauge, and started the actual pattern. You know what? Four rows in, and already know I'm not going to like it.

 

In the pattern photo, the original yarn (Classic Elite Alpaca Sox) has a fine texture to it, a more delicate look. My yarn does not. This is especially noticeable on the back, which is not reversible, and not pretty:

 

It looks a little too "homemade" to me, especially from the back side.

Nonreversible scarves didn't always bother me, but for some reason, they do now.

So, back to the queue and the stash to see what other possibilities there are. Annis and its larger version, the Buttercup Shawl, are possibilities, as is Rosewood. I keep going back and forth on the Sweet Lily shawl too. I want the project to be something I totally love to keep me motivated, and also something without any finish work, as I am still "finishing" the Vogue A-Line skirt embroidery and the little roses for the other scarf. 

I haven't ruled out a sweater, but I only have yarn for heavy winter sweaters, which I'm not ready to start just in case summer decides it is finally going to arrive. (Sixty degrees in June?! Really?!!!) And I still have the Noni purse patterns, but reading them is a little difficult even when I do have quiet to concentrate (nevermind a hospital!). So...I'll keep working on the little roses until I finally decide on something. Does this happen to you too? How do you decide what to knit, when you're not gift knitting and are making something for you? Maybe when I find just the right thing, I'll know for sure.

Last weekend, for our anniversary, Chris gave me an oriole feeder. I've never seen an oriole in real life, but, for some reason, they intrigue me, the way some people are captured by hummingbirds.

I haven't had any visitors yet, so today we're going to move the feeder to the backyard, away from the house, and see if that helps. This birdfeeding thing is pretty new to me; I've got a goldfinch feeder and have been putting out a few suet cakes too. We've seen some red-headed woodpeckers and bright red finches, along with a lot of grackles that I'd rather not feed. Do you feed the birds in your area? What visitors do you have? I'd love to hear about them!

Knitting Up Roses

Before I began the SDCs' baby blanket, I finished the Louisa Harding Rose scarf. All it needs are the rose decorations.

These are knit with Kimono Ribbon Pure, a discontinued Lousia Harding yarn. I've made about five of them so far. The pattern calls for twelve of each color, but I'll see how it looks as I go. To finish the flowers, I'll purchase buttons for centers and then sew them on to the scarf, maybe something pearly?

Twist Collective's Spring/Summer edition will be posted on Monday. I can't wait to see what the new designs are! What are you planning to knit for spring and summer?

Louisa Harding Rose Scarf (Almost) Complete

The Rose scarf is blocking on the dining room table:

I didn't do a tight blocking of every single diamond, because as soon as it dries, and I wind it around my neck, I'll lose the diamonds. I'm blocking to stop the edges from curling inward, and to bring out the picot edging. Here's a (not great) photo of the pattern close up:

All that's left to do are to knit some of the little flowers, and attach them to the scarf with buttons as their centers. I'll show you one just as soon as I have it done.

Some of you know that I have a freelance editing and writing business, Shoreline Writing Services. One of my New Year's goals is to better promote it, and to that end, I hope you will not mind a shameless plug. If you or anyone you know is interested in writing or editing their work, be it print manuscript, e-book, web copy, a resume, college or grad school papers & theses, I'd appreciate it if you would friend Shoreline Writing Services on Facebook. I also have a Twitter feed, ShorelineWrite. I'm happy to work for publishing companies or individuals, and have experience with both. I'll pass along tips for better writing that everyone can use, and helpful articles for authors of all types.

Since another goal is to stay in better touch with friends, please follow my personal feed on Twitter, under knitseashore, and I'm on Goodreads under Debby. I'd love to hear what you're knitting and reading!