Anisah and Rita Mae

Ya'll just don't know how much I appreciate all the positive knitting mojo you sent my way the other day.  It was the strangest, most welcome thing.  One minute I'm sitting there, staring at my new knitting toy with absolutely no desire to knit, then my phone starts dinging with incoming email/blog comment notifications.  I opened u[p the comments, read them, and as I finished reading the last one, Anisah popped into my head and my knitting mojo was suddenly back. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

There's a lot going on in that photo.  Let me explain.

During last fall's yarn crawl, I stumbled across Rita Mae Yarns.  Cortni, the dyer was having a trunk show and I instantly fell in love with her yarns. Her colors are just... well, fantastic doesn't even begin to describe them.  As I recall, it was somewhat painful to choose between them.  I considered knocking her down, grabbing an armful of yarn and running.  I'm fairly sure I could have taken her.  But there were an awful lot of witnesses and I don't really run anymore so... 

Cortni had a sample Anisah on display and it was my undoing.  I had to knit myself one.  Just HAD to!  Of course, as those things go, the yarn went into the stash pile as soon as I got home, but I did write it down on my Must Knit list first.

So anyway, after getting my knitting mojo back, I dug out the yarn and found the pattern and cast on.  Well, first, I wound the yarn into usable skeins.  Oh. My. Goodness!  The yarn (merino DK) is SO unbelievably soft. It is an absolute delight to knit with and glides through my fingers almost as though it's been greased. It's superwash so I'm fairly certain it doesn't still contain lanolin but it just feels so good!  And the color!  I'm using Blue Steel and as weird as it sounds to say gray is beautiful, it is The most beautiful deep slate gray I think I've ever seen.  There's just enough color fluctuation to make the yarn appear to almost shine.  I am SO in love with this yarn!

There's just one slight problem.  That is how I hold my working yarn.

And that is my hand after knitting only a few rows.

And there are my knitting needles that were the same color as the cable needle when I started Anisah.  Yes, the dye is seriously rubbing off.  I'm going to have to be careful not to wear anything white while I knit with this yarn.  Hopefully once the shawl is finished, a good soaking or two (or five) will fix it.  I've had other yarns dye my needles but never so quickly and I've never had it dye my hands before.

But despite the dye issue, I still LOVE this yarn!  Oh, and see that pile of yarn under those needles in that last photo?  That's not a tangle of yarn I'm knitting with.  That is the pile of strings that were tied around the three skeins before I wound them.  The tie job was quite impressive!  I've never seen yarn so well tied before.  The skeins weren't huge - they are only 250 yards each - but they were each tied six times.  There is something very special about a well tied, non-tangled skein.

Okay, so let's move past the glorious yarn.  Next, the pattern.  Anisah is awesome!  The lace and cable keep you interested, but the garter section allows you to make quick progress.  And then there's the pattern's directions.  They are so well written and both graphs and written directions are provided.  The designer, Dee O'Keefe, goes into lots of detail regarding modifying the shawl's size and/or using different weight yarns and she even explains a few little oddities that you might be concerned about in the beginning.  For example, in the top photo, do you see that weird stockinette lump that's formed near the point of the shawl?  She explains that that is normal and that it will block out.  It's nice to know that the weird lump is supposed to be there.  At least for now.

And last, but definitely not least, did you see my new toy?  I love my new chain row counter from Northern Swan Creations almost as much as I love this yarn.  And you know if I love something as much as I love yarn, I really love it!  In fact, I love it so much, I've already ordered another one in a smaller size.  

Have you seen these chain row counters?  The concept is just amazing!  The loops are numbered zero through nine and as you knit rows, you adjust the loop so that it is always on the row number you are on.  And since it also acts as a stitch marker, there's none of that getting to the end of the row and trying to remember to adjust your row counter.  You simply make the adjustment as you reach the chain.  

But it only has zero through nine.  What happens if you have ten rows you ask?  You simply put a marker on the one loop.  And when you reach twenty rows, you move that marker to the two.  

This chain row counter is so versatile!  They are advertised as being able to count up through 99 rows, but really, to count more than that, you could simply add another marker to indicate the hundred's place.  And, while I use mine to count rows, I also have a marker on the 7th loop to remind me to cable on that row.  I also have a third marker on the 4th loop to remind me which chart I'm on.  As long as you can keep up with what the different markers mean, you could add zillions of them!  And yes, I know myself.  I've already made a legend for what my different markers mean in case I ever set the project down for a while and forget what they mean.

Chain row counters are just so genius you must get one if you do any kind of knitting where you have to count rows.  As I said, I've already ordered a second one in a smaller size to hug smaller needles a little better, and just so that I can have two different projects going at once, and, I will probably order a few more for knitter friends' Christmas gifts next year.  These row counters really are the best thing since hand dyed yarn!

Three on Thursday - Lacy Socks

Continuing with the Soctober theme, today's Three on Thursday post is all about lacy socks.  Or socks with lace.  "Lacy socks" makes me think of those white socks with the scratchy ruffle around the cuff that I was always forced to wear at Easter as a child.

Anyway...  Three sock patterns that involve lace...

Diagonal Lace Socks from Wendy D. Johnson.  There isn't a Wendy Johnson pattern that I don't love.  Her designs almost always look super complicated but are actually quite easy to knit.  I also like the ways she writes/words her patterns.  She just makes sense to me.  You know how some bloggers find Blogger simple to use but struggle with Wordpress and vice versa?  Like how one platform just makes absolutely no sense while the other is super simple for you to use?  Well, Wendy's patterns are like that for me.  Super simple to follow and understand.

I am kicking myself though.  I recently tossed a half completed sock I found down deep in my yarn stash pile.  It was just a sock with its needles, but no pattern, no notes, no nothing.  I remember loving the yarn and being excited to start the sock.  I remember not loving the way the yarn was working with the pattern.  And I remember putting it aside.  But I had NO idea what pattern I'd been using and of course, I'd never put it into my Ravelry projects.  I deemed it too much trouble to try to figure out the pattern on my own, cut the yarn, pulled the knitted piece off the needles and tossed it.  Now, here I am, two weeks later, searching Ravelry for lacy socks and Presto Magic!  There's the pattern.  Doh!

By the way, Diagonal Lace Socks is a free pattern.

Here's another free pattern, Lacy Rib Baby Socks from Evelyn Skae.  These would be cute to make for Hayden although I might have to enlarge them a bit.  Poor Hayden.  She got her grandmother's huge, giant, boat feet.  And if I'm enlarging them for Hayden, I might as well do the math and enlarge them enough for me too.  Or not.  Wouldn't want to have to do a bunch of math.

And yet another free pattern - Lacy Mock Cable Socks from Kat (katinkorea).  I love free patterns.  I also love mock cables.  And if you go to the Ravelry page, you'll see photos of the sock knit in self-striping yarn too.  The design looks great either way.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends on social media. Until next time, Happy Knitting!

Scottish Highlands

Scottish Highlands Shawl

I feel like all I ever do is apologize for my photos... but please, accept my apology for this one.  I finished my Scottish Highlands shawl and celebrated by spending the rest of the afternoon sunbathing with a bottle of wine and I didn't think to photograph the shawl until the sun had gone down.

Hopefully I'll get the ends woven in and get it blocked today.  I'm looking forward to the lace section looking like lace instead of crumpled up, wrinkled fabric.  The yarn is So soft and squishy and despite it being only June 2nd, I cannot wait until fall gets here so I can wear it.

I guess I need to apologize again.  There are no links in this post because I'm working with VERY limited internet.  I barely had enough to open Blogger so that I could write this.  I'm afraid if I attach links, I won't have enough left to publish this post.

And with that, please note that it may be a few days before you hear from me again.  I've got a week to go until my Hotspot resets.  Yikes!

Madli's Shawl

I'm so proud of myself!

Way back in March I cast on Madli's Shawl.  It was supposed to have nupps but y'all know how I feel about them so I beaded it instead.  The pattern, from Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush, had me knit the border, then 31 repeats of the center lace section, cut the yarn, cast on and knit the second border, then kitchner the second border to the body.

I set the goal of having it completed by October 1st which had me knitting several lace repeats per week.  That doesn't sound difficult but considering my summer work schedule....  At one point I was 12 repeats behind schedule, but I've been on a finishing kick lately and I knuckled down and got her done.  

I knit the last row of the second border late Thursday night.  Friday morning, my daughter went off to school and my husband announced he was heading out for a few hours.  Perfect!  I'd have some quiet alone-time to kitchner those 101 stitches.  

Kitchner 101 stitches, with a two yards long piece of yarn.

Two yards.  Yards, not feet.

Have you ever tried to sew with a thread two yards long?

Let me modify that.  Have you ever tried to kitchner 101 stitches with a woolly thread two yards long that wants to felt to itself, on a Friday 13th?

Let me just say it is a VERY good thing there were no young children in the house because there was some very ugly language flying.  But, despite never having kitchnered anything longer than a sock toe, the fact that the woolly 'thread' wanted to felt to itself,  and it was Friday 13th, I got it done.  My two pieces of fabric matched up perfectly and you can't tell which end is which.  

I was so  happy with my kitchnering job that I immediately wove in all the little loose ends, soaked and blocked it.  I blocked something on the same day I finished it!

I am SO stinking proud of myself!

(So, I might not be proud of the photos, but I'm definitely proud of the finished shawl.)

The Boys

While knitting Out of Winter's lace border, I've been binge watching The Boys from my Amazon watch list. 

photo courtesy of wowkia.com

Have you seen it?  It's all about when superheros go bad.  It's shocking. It's scary. (It's not Boo! scary, but the concept is.)  It's funny.  And it's excellent.  And one of my favorite characters is a sexist pig and and gets sent away to Sandusky, Ohio as punishment for his deeds.  Sandusky is home to Cedar Point which gets mentioned in the show and Cedar Point owns the theme park where I work.  I fell in love with the show just a little bit more.

And about the knitting....

Out of Winter shawl

I'm a little more than half way through the lace border on Out of Winter.  I hope to finish it today.

Work has entered that Glorious time known as "weekends only" so I have a little extra knitting time now.  Yay!! 

Off the needles

Today, OTN is standing for off the needles rather than on.

The prayer shawl for Sue is finally finished.  Just in time for her last chemo appointment next week.

After asking for everyone's opinion about the contrasting border color, I went with the white.  I'm So glad I did.  Color-wise, I think it looks great and besides, it looks like waves crashing on the beach.  And since Sue loves the beach....  I think it's perfect.

Well, it's obviously not perfect.  There are several 'creative design elements' in the lacy border.  Oh well.  The shawl is not perfect and neither is Sue.  They can be perfectly imperfect together.  At least that's my story of why I didn't bother to rip and fix them.

Despite the those 'design elements' in the border, I'm very pleased with the way it turned out.  I'm also amazed at how much it grew during blocking.  Pre-blocking, the shawl barely went across my shoulders, much less wrapped around me.  Post-blocking...I'm going to have a very, very difficult time handing it over to Sue.

But hand it over, I will.  Sue deserves it.  She has done SO well with her chemo treatments.  She's had none of the horrible side affects you hear about and didn't even loose her hair.  I'm so proud of the way she's held her head up throughout the whole ordeal.  She'll have one more dose of chemo then go for another round of CAT scans to see what the next step is.  The doctor seems confident that she's going to beat it and be considered 'cured.'  Thank you for all your prayers and well wishes.

How I Follow Knitting Charts

Madli's shawl is coming along.

Madli's Shawl

Luckily I haven't gotten bored with all that orange yet.  So far I have knit ten of the thirty one center pattern repeats.  Not bad progress when my bare minimum goal was to finish seven repeats by the end of April.  For once in my life, I'm ahead of schedule!

While knitting on Madli at a recent Sit and Stitch meeting, several fellow knitters commented on my pattern graph/row tracker/check list sheet.  I'm sure there's a much better name for it, but whatever it is,  it's not coming to me at the moment.  Anyway...  since both newbie knitters and long time, skilled knitters both commented about what a clever idea I had, I thought I'd show you how I track my lace rows.  (And let's be honest - I want to brag when someone calls me 'clever.') 

knitting chart row tracker

Whenever I'm knitting from a chart, I photocopy the chart and mark up the copy rather than the original.  Because Madli's center chart is twelve rows repeated thirty one times, I cut out the 12 row chart and taped it to a sheet of graph paper.  Then I labeled the squares one through twelve on the y-axis and one through thirty one on the x-axis.  When I finish knitting a row, I scribble in the corresponding box on the graph paper.   And no, the ink color means nothing.  I just like colored pens and used whatever pen happened to be handy at the moment.

I also stick a Post-it on the line above the one I'm knitting.  The Post-it highlights the row I need to look at and allows me to see the stitches in previous rows so that I can 'read' my knitting.  And, I can use the Post-it to scribble notes to myself if necessary.   I know lots of knitters prefer Post-it tape but I like to use regular Post-its.  Besides being cheaper, I'm a bit of a Post-it hoarder, have thousands of the pads laying around and like I said, I like being able to scribble notes to myself.  By the time the Post-it looses it's stickiness, it's not uncommon for it to have multiple grocery lists, phone numbers and to-do list reminders scribbled all over them.

Also, not shown in the photo, I write any special stitch instructions on the graph paper.  I don't bother writing standard or common stitch symbols but in Madli's case, there's a weird little symbol for adding the bead and the first stitch of every row is slipped in an unusual way.  I wrote the instructions for both of those on the graph paper so that should I set the project aside for a month or two, I could easily pick it back up without having to track down the original pattern to know what I was doing.

old school paper row/chart tracker

And what makes the graph paper/chart/row tracker so easy to use, I fold it in half and lean it up against my yarn bowl, computer, phone, project bag, skein of yarn or coffee cup.... The fold makes the chart stand up so that it's easier to read and the row tracker part is flat and ready to mark after each row.

And because I'm weird and a collector of unnecessary things, when I'm finished knitting the shawl, I'll tape the row tracker into my knitting journal for posterity.  

And that's how I keep up with multi-rowed pattern repeats.  Do you have an easier way?

On The Needles - Madli's Shawl

Did you celebrate Pi Day on March 14th?

The start of a pi shawl

I celebrated by starting a pi shawl.  Several years ago I got the urge to knit a beaded pi shawl.  I even bought the yarn and beads for it.  Bright, pumpkin orange yarn.  Actually, it's Malabrigo lace weight in Glazed Carrot, not pumpkin.  And then I thought about the reality of a bright pumpkin/Glazed Carrot, beaded pi shawl.... and I set the yarn up on a shelf.  

Sometime last year, still thinking about a pi shawl, I took the yarn down off the shelf and balled one skein.  And then I  thought about the reality of a bright pumpkin/Glazed Carrot, beaded pi shawl and put the yarn back up on the shelf.

Then Pi Day rolled around this year and I'd finished the beaded cowl late the night before... and I couldn't stand it anymore.  I cast on for a bright pumpkin/Glazed Carrot, beaded pi shawl.  And I screwed up the cast on and ripped it.  And cast on again, and screwed it up and ripped it. Again and again I cast on and ripped.  It took me six tries to get the knitting going properly on the dpns.  Six tries!  It was an omen and I should have known.

I knit around and around, following some lacy pi shawl pattern I'd found on Ravelry.  I knit and knit some more and finally it was time to switch to circular needles.  

And then all Hell broke loose.  I have no idea how it happened or what I did but...  It looked like somehow, in the process of knitting off the dpns and onto circular needles, I yarn overed 50 - 60 times, very, very tightly.  The weird yarn overs were so tight they would barely move along the needle's cord and there was no way they'd slide up onto the actual needle.  I pulled and tugged and thought I was going to break the needle but those weird yarn overs wouldn't budge.  I ended up having to cut the knitting off the needle.  I still don't even know how or what I did to mess it up so badly.

And in my frustration, I ditched the pi shawl idea and started knitting a lacy stole type shawl that will be worn as a scarf, not a shawl.  The pattern is Madli's Shawl published in Knitted Lace of Estonia.  And I love it!

Madli's Shawl

I'm a little further along on the knitting than what's shown in this photo and I'm so happy I gave up the pi shawl idea.  While beads and bright pumpkin/Glazed Carrot yarn may not make for traditional Estonian knitting, I'm loving the result.  And yes, I'm beading instead of knitting knups.  Y'all know how I feel about knups.  Thankfully there are only two out of each twelve rows that are beaded.  It's not as time consuming as it sounds.

Now, let's see how I feel about this shawl design after I've knit thirty one, twelve-row pattern repeats.

On the needles

Thankfully life has settled back down and there's been no craziness for the last few days.  Thank you all for your kindness and cheerful comments on yesterday's post.  I was hesitant to put part of that post out into the world but since it all turned out okay in the end, and it was horribly and nerve-wrackingly funny in that 'how screwed up can my life be?' way, I thought, oh why not?

Anyway...

I am VERY slowly re-knitting the portion of blanket that I had to cut off the other day.  With 16+ inches needing to be removed, cutting it was a much easier route to take than frogging it would have been.  I'd hoped to have the blanket finished by the end of the month, although I didn't really expect that to happen.  Mid April would have been a much more realistic goal.  Now, that goal is more like mid November.  I'll be going back to work soon so less time to knit plus, the blanket will simply be too hot to knit on during the summer.

Larry the Lama modeling Jeweled Cowl

Besides very slowly re-knitting the blanket, I've been working on the beaded cowl.  Now that I've had a chance to refresh the beading muscle memory, it's knitting up a little faster.  The goal is to have it finished by the end of the month.  The cowl is supposed to have 51 rows of beads and I've completed sixteen rows.  So, finishing by the end of the month should be completely doable.  Knock on wood.

I'm also quite pleased with the beads on this version.  I'm so glad I frogged the first attempt and tried again with different beads.  These beads are perfect.  

photo courtesy of tenor.com

They show up enough be understatedly blingy, without being all Look at me!  Look at me!

The Jeweled Cowl

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I'm going to be a beading expert when I finish knitting my latest project.

blue & green sea glass beads

I'm knitting a Jeweled Cowl.  I started it, using blue & green sea glass beads I had in my bead stash.  I couldn't decide what beads to use and I'd asked my Wednesday night knitting group for help with the decision.  Everyone agreed with the sea glass but.... Turns out, they were a poor choice.  They completely disappeared into the yarn.  I frogged that version and started over.

Retro Blue beads on Preciosa

This time, I'm using "Retro Blue" with a few other slightly more sparkly beads thrown into the mix.  Although there isn't that much difference in the photos, there is a huge difference in real life and I'm much happier this go round.  Good thing because every other row is beaded.  There are only 14 beads per row, but with placing them every other row, it seems like I'm constantly putting on a bead.  

The yarn I'm using is Knit Pick's Preciosa and I'm loving it!  It's been in my stash long enough that I don't remember ordering it.  I absolutely Love the color and I've picked it up and thought about knitting with it 1,000 times, but I've always put it back in the drawer.  It's a single ply merino and my experience with single plies are that they tend to be splity (splitty?? One or two T's?? Spellcheck doesn't like either spelling.) and well, I've just never overly enjoyed knitting anything with single ply yarn.  But I had those sea glass beads and they looked so good with the skein and...  

And now I'm kicking myself for not knitting up this yarn sooner.  It's an absolute delight!   It is SO soft and not splity/splitty at all.  Even after frogging my first attempt and having to fight to get a few of the beads off, the yarn showed no wear at all.  I will definitely be ordering more of this yarn in other colors.

Drat!  But, Cool!  I just jumped over to the Knit Picks website to see what other colors the yarn comes in and... I see my skein of fingering weight Preciosa is so old, Knit Picks doesn't even sell it anymore.  They only have it in worsted now.  But that's cool because I was thinking I'd like to have a sweater knit out of this yarn and a worsted weight sweater would knit up a lot quicker than a fingering weight one.

Besides knitting, I'm also still on a reading kick.  So far, my Kindle is hanging in there although it looses 1% of it's battery life every six minutes.  That just means I need to read faster!
  

The King Tides

I'm currently reading The King Tides.  My Kindle is appreciating that it's a fast paced read.  I'm having a hard time putting it down.

Three on Thursday

I've had the urge to do some beaded knitting so today's Three on Thursday topic is, which pattern should I choose?

Fenberry Shawl

The Fenberry shawl?  This one is my favorite looks-wise, but not the type of thing I'd generally wear.

Smash

Smash?  I like this Pinterest version much better than the version pictured on Ravelry.  Besides, I don't think the Ravelry version is beaded.  There's only a tiny bit of beading so it should be a quick knit but...  I'm a little tired sick to death of garter stitch.

Charmayne

Or, Charmayne?  Looks to be a pretty simple design and it's the type of thing I'd wear, but that seems like an awful lot of beads.

Each of them would bring me joy.  

Aack!  I can't decide.  

On the Needles

Chevlace Hat

Somebody hasn't been keeping their fingers crossed.  I have 31 more rows to go and my tiny remaining ball of yarn is barely bigger than a quarter.  

So now, the question is - do I frog the whole thing and go buy some yarn in colors that I actually like?  Or do I rip the stockinette portion and reknit the crown in stripes?

Makers' Monday - Shawls for Mom

Welcome to Makers' Monday, a celebration of knitting designers, artists & creatives.

It's hard to believe but Mother's Day is only about four weeks away.  Do you knit for Mom?  I never knit a shawl for my mom but I wish I had.  I think she would have liked to receive, and would happily have worn, any of the following.  Perhaps in honor of Mother's Day & remembrance of my own mom, I should knit myself a shawl.  (Or maybe even six!)

Magic Spring Shawl courtesy of Katerina Bobkova

I will definitely knit myself this Magic Spring Shawl sometime soon.  It reminds me of a smaller & simpler version of a Find Your Fade and I think we all know by now how much I loved knitting that.  The Magic Spring Shawl is a free (gotta love that!) Ravelry pattern designed by Katerina Bobkova of Cathy-Cathy Designs.

Or perhaps you'd like a hint of lace.

Simple Spring Shawl courtesy of Michelle Krause

The Simple Spring Shawl has just a tiny bit of lace to break up the garter stitch monotony.  Designed by Michelle Krause of Leah Michelle Designs, this would be a great beginner's lace project or movie knitting for more advanced knitters.  The lace appears to be fairly simple & easily memorized.  You won't have to play yarn chicken when knitting the Simple Spring Shawl.  Just weigh your yarn before you start, then knit until you've used up half, then begin the decreases.  Simple!

Woodland Spring Shawl
courtesy of Christina Wall

Or how about knitting a Woodland Spring Shawl?  Designed by Christina Wall of A Knitter's Life, this triangular shawl appears to be about half garter stitch and half lace.  I really like knitting this style of shawl.  You start off with simple garter and you can make lots of progress quickly.  About the time you start to think you'll go mad from garter stitch, the lace begins and holds your attention to the very end.

Primula Spring Shawl courtesy of Linda Choo

Or how about this beauty designed by Linda Choo for Garden Canadensis?  The Primula Spring Shawl is crescent shaped with an all-over lace pattern.  The size of this shawl can easily be adjusted by knitting more border repeats.  And while we're talking about the border, those pesky border nupps can easily be replaced with beads.  (Y'all know how I feel about knitting nupps!)

Spring Flowers & Butterflies Shawl,
courtesy of Katherine Bryant

This one has the dreaded nupps too but once again, they could easily be replaced with beads.  And we'll forgive Spring Flowers & Butterflies Shawl for those nupps because look what else it has - Lilies of the Valley!   I LOVE Lilies of the Valley.  They happen to be my birth month flower plus they remind me of my mom.  She had acres of them growing in the yard. (Okay, "acres" is a slight exageration, but she had a lot.)  The house always smelled of Lilly of the Valley in the spring.  Even more exciting than the Lilies of the Valley, Katherine Bryant, the designer, is offering the pattern for free on Ravelry!  And, Ms. Bryant is kind enough to tell us in advance how many beads we'll be needing.  This pattern is definitely going near the top of my Ravelry que.

And last but not least, I wanted to mention the Sundae Summer shawl.  I wasn't able to obtain permission to use a photo but I thought it was worth mentioning.  It's a free Ravelry pattern, it appears to be extremely simple and quick to knit and you could make the pattern your own by changing up the weight and/or fiber content of the yarn.  The pattern is so simple, with the right yarn, you could probably wait until Saturday afternoon to start knitting and still have it finished by Mother's Day morning.

Will you be knitting for Mother's Day?  Feel free to share pattern suggestions in the Comments below.

Makers' Monday - Bridal Gloves

Welcome to Makers' Monday, a celebration of knitting designers, artists and creatives.

In keeping with the wedding theme, I thought I'd share a few patterns for lacy bridal gloves. Now don't get me wrong, all of these gloves could be worn anytime or place, but knit with white yarn, they scream wedding.

Fingerless Crochet Lacy Wedding Gloves courtesy of Nez Jewelry

This first pair are actually crocheted. As much as I dislike crocheting (mostly because crochet gives me Horrible carpal tunnel issues not to mention, I'm rather talentless) these were just too pretty not to include.  So, for the folks who can crochet.... The Fingerless Crochet Lacy Wedding Gloves were designed by Nez Jewelry and can be found on Ravelry.

Filigree Mitts courtesy of Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer

Or maybe you're planning a winter wedding.  I think these Filigree Mitts are stunning.

Filigree Mitts detail

Just look at the detail!  Another thing I really like about this design from Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer of Heartstrings Fiber Arts is that its Ravelry page offers a free link to the pattern's front page.  You are able to see gauge, needle & yarn requirements/recommendations before purchasing the pattern.  That's sweet!

Or perhaps your wedding is next weekend and you need something a little quicker to knit...

Lacy Hearts Wedding Gloves courtesy of Ellen Rich

 How about these Lacy Hearts Wedding Gloves from Ellen Rich of Knitters' Haven?  These would be super cute for Valentines Day as well as for a wedding.

Eryn Lasgalen Glovelettes courtesy of Maria Hytti

And last but not least, how about this beaded design?  Not only is the pattern for these Eryn Lasgalen Glovelettes free, but the pattern's Ravelry page shows them knit up in several different colors. I just love how different the glovelettes look in different colors.  The red ones are edgy & remind me of my punk rock days, while the blue are delicate & of course, the white scream wedding.  Oops. I got so caught up remembering my punk rock youth, I almost forgot to mention the designer.  Eryn Lasgalen Glovelettes by Marie Hytti of Cozy Cabin Designs.

And I have to mention.... The whole time I've been typing this, I keep picturing the lacy hearts on socks. You know those brides on TV shows who wear their fancy wedding gown with their grubby Converse sneakers? Well, I've never seen a bride do that in real life, but if I ever do, I'm going to knit them lacy heart socks to wear with their Converse.

Makers' Monday - Wedding Shawls

Welcome to Makers' Monday, a celebration of knitting designers, artists & creatives. 

It's that time of year when the postman seems to constantly deliver wedding invitations. While my kids don't seem to be the slightest bit interested in getting married, or even dating seriously for that matter, their friends are starting to take the walk down the aisle.  And it's got me thinking about how proud I'd be to have my daughter or, even though she'd never be good enough for my son, a daughter-in-law make that walk wearing a shawl or veil that I had knit.  So naturally I took a look around Ravelry and here's what I found.

In no particular order...

Le Bon Mariage courtesy of Tiziana Sammuri

Le Bon Mariage, designed by Tiziana Sammuri.  Gorgeous, right?  And it looks doable.  The pattern is in both text and chart format & Ravelry gives it an "average" difficulty rating.

Or how about 

Monica's Shawl courtesy of Meeli Vent

Monica's Shawl?  This shawl was designed by Meeli Vent for a 2012 KAL.  To knit this beautiful shawl, you'll need to go to Meeli's blog and download each KAL clue separately but it will be worth it as the pattern is free.

Next up is the Snow Queen Pi Shawl.

Snow Queen Pi Shawl courtesy of Bad Cat Designs

This beauty was designed by Andrea Jurgrau of Bad Cat Designs.  You'll need to check out the pattern's Ravelry page to see all the details.  It's stunning and being a Pi shawl, it's probably not horrendously difficult to knit.  One of the things I like about this shawl is how different it looks in different colors of yarn.  Knit in white it's definitely Snow Queen-y or wedding-y but the Ravelry page shows one knit in aqua that reminds me of a starfish or sea anemone.  I think this pattern could be extremely versatile.

Or perhaps something at an even finer gauge.

Cecilia courtesy of Rita Maassen

For this gorgeous shawl, you really need to check out it's Ravelry page to see all the detail.  "Cecilia" was designed by Rita Maassen and is knit with cobweb.  I love how the border is worked in a different direction from the body.  I'd have to make one slight change to this pattern if I was to knit it myself though.  Y'all know how I feel about knitting nupps.  Or is it knupps? I see it spelt both ways.  Either way you spell it, I'd have to replace them with beads.

Or maybe you're looking for something a little fancier and with a bit of history behind it.

The Princess Shawl courtesy of Sharon Miller, Heirloom Knitting

This heirloom shawl is a thing of beauty. The Princess Shawl can be found in the Etsy shop, Heirloom Knitting, or on Ravelry.  The pattern is so large it comes in e-book form and calls for gossamer or cobweb yarn. This one is probably way beyond my skill level but it's fun to dream about knitting it for my daughter to wear one day. 

And last but definitely not least,

Shetland Stars courtesy of A Passion for Lace

This shawl/veil/piece of art makes me want to get married all over again.  This gorgeous shawl leaves me a bit speechless. Blocked, it's six feet square and knit with cobweb or gossamer.  SIX feet square!  I'm still just speechless.  It's truly a floor length veil.  Just look at it!  See?  I'm so amazed, I almost forgot to name it and give credit to the designer.  This beauty is the Shetland Stars Square Shawl from A Passion for Lace.  I think it's pretty obvious Sarah won't be getting married in this veil but maybe if I started today, just maybe I could finish in time for a great, great granddaughter to proudly take the walk in it.

So what do you think? Are you knitting or have or will you knit a wedding shawl or veil?  Please share your experience in the comments.

On the needles

This Find Your Fade shawl may be the death of me. 

Find Your Fade

It may literally be the death of me.  I can't put it down.  Since I started it almost two weeks ago, I've barely eaten.  I keep feeling hungry but tell myself I only have ten more garter ridges before I get to the lace section.  I'll eat then.  Or, I only have a few more lace rows to go - I'll eat when I finish the lace.... Or I'll eat when I get to the end of this color.... But I get to that stopping point and can't bear to put it down.  I have to see what this yarn will look like in lace, or I want to finish the lace so I can get back to a garter section, or more importantly, I HAVE to see what the next color is going to look like....  And on it goes and I end up eating breakfast at 5:30 in the afternoon.  You'd think I'd have lost some weight from not eating, but no.  Of course not.  Maybe I haven't lost weight because I also haven't gotten up out of my chair.  I just sit and knit and knit and knit.  I've become one with my chair.

You'd think with all that knitting being done, I'd be finished with the shawl by now.  I'm not, although I have reached the point where I'm no longer increasing.  I got off to a slow start with the shawl because I was sick and had fever-confusion.  I also started binge watching Shameless on Netflix while I was sick so I kept finding myself just holding the knitting while I stared, open mouthed at the screen.  Have you seen Shameless? I didn't know anything about it when I started watching it.  I'd heard it mentioned by a few bloggers and Netflix kept telling me to watch it.  When I first came down with the flu, I thought it would be good background noise while I drifted in and out of consciousness.

Turns out, I LOVED Shameless!  I'll admit though, as the child of an alcoholic, it was pretty emotional.        It reminded me of a lot of the anger and frustrations growing up with an alcoholic parent, but it did it while making me laugh.  Well, most of the time I laughed.  Sometimes it was just too realistic to laugh about.  But I have to say, the show did a fantastic job of poking fun of some pretty horrible behaviors &  issues, while being brutally honest but in a comical way.

But this was supposed to be about knitting, not about Shameless.  I'm no longer increasing.  I only have three more color changes to go.  If I hurry and wrap this post up, and I skip my 5:30 p.m. breakfast, maybe I can finish it tonight.

And maybe monkeys will fly and the alcoholics will put down their bottles.

Hey - a girl can dream.

By the way, I'm knitting my Find Your Fade with Hawthorne from Knit Picks.  The yarn I'm using had all been in my stash but Knit Picks has put together several great yarn kits for knitting a Find Your Fade if you have trouble choosing colors on your own.  You can see them here.


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