Happy Spring

I recently had a birthday. My very good friend was in town. He was very festive, he even wore his 'Yellow Rose of Texas' shirt in commemoration of the trip.





He who will not be named fed me lavishly for three days and squired me across three or four counties. By the way if you happen to go to Marks on Westheimer get the fois gras appetizer. It rocks! The quail that goes with it is a little overpowered by the bacon, but once again... the fois gras rocks!

This is my attempt to capture the sight of bluebonnets as they begin to explode across Texas highways.




Kinda sorry, I know. But, we weren't about to stop to get a better view.

I did do some knitting. I've now finished 9 tiers of the Forest Path Stole. Even though the ninth tier of the Forest Path Stole doesn't look any different than the fifth tier, I will grace y'all with a picture.




That 'y'all' was in commemoration of he who will not be named.

Color me...



I haven't been knitting much the last couple of days, because I've become overwhelmed by the project of choosing colors for a fair isle pattern. I've read about color theory. I've looked at a lot of examples, but I am forced to admit that I just can't do it without laying out the money for some color cards. I know the color families I want to work with and I thought of just buying seven tones of each color and picking out my nine colors from them in person. But, I can't even tell whether colors are warm or cool from catalogues.

Why have I been so resistant to ordering color cards? Well it's money spent that could be spent on yarn. I know it's illogical, but I have a hard time spending money on knitting related items that aren't yarn. I don't have a full set of needles. Every time I need a needle I don't have, I go to my LYS and pick up a set of needles, but by the time I check out I've put them back and bought yarn instead. That's not cheap, that's irrational.



Here is my progress on the Forest Path Stole:




As you can see I have finished the fourth Tier. I t really is an easy project. The lace patterns are simple and easy to memorize. The only difficulty is the size of the project. I think it can be hard to maintain a commitment to a piece that will take several months to complete. I guess I've completed about one seventh of the project (21 tiers plus the border). I think I might try knitting one using different lace patterns after I finish this one.

I mentioned the quilt I am making for my friend's baby before, but I didn't show any pictures, because it wasn't ready. Well it still isn't done and the baby is a month old. Maybe if I post a picture of a section of the unfinished quilt top I will be inspired to finish it. This is for little Maxine:

I tried to choose bright colors that wouldn't make her mom gag, I even stuck in quite a bit of pink. The over all impression when you stand back is red, but its full of orange and magenta and yellow. This photo captures about one ninth of the top. I've been almost done with the piecing for two months now. I better get on with it.

All Hail Eunny Jang...

and ever may she reign as the new editor of Interweave Knits. I know it's going to be sad to loose her voice in blogland. Oh wait a minute I forgot for a moment that she has supernatural powers. If there is anyone in existence that can edit a major magazine and continue to design and knit spectacular garments and write about them it is she. It is unlikely that she will be able to do it in the current format, but she should be able to expand IK's design sensibilities and encourage them to increase their reach online.

There has been so much media backlash against the embrace of bloggers by the publishing and political worlds. Lots of stories on silly book deals and bloggers gone wild in political campaigns. This elevation of Eunny Jang to the top of the preeminent knitting magazine in the country should serve as a useful corrective.

Eunny Jang did not get this post because of her loyal fan base online, but because this medium allowed her to augment her published work with more in depth examples of her writing, design and technical expertise. It would have taken much longer for a woman in her twenties to convince publishers and the knitting public of her fitness for this position in the past.

Just go look at her blog. Explore the wealth of information on fair isle, lace, ...etc., all written in a clear and professional yet approachable tone. Her design sense is impeccable and I can only imagine that she will be the perfect person to shepherd IK as it moves through what may be a tricky period for the knitting industry. As large numbers of knitters seem to be yearning for more challenging patterns with contemporary styling, Eunny offers a perfect example of a knitter whose designs are connected to traditional techniques and yet utterly modern. I can hardly wait until winter when we will see the first IK develop wholly under her guidance.

Go, Eunny, go!

Knitting with a cloud...





Guess what came in the mail Friday? Why it's a cone of laceweight cashmere from Colourmart.






Isn't it gorgeous? The color is called lemongrass, which perfectly describes the tone. I had been warned that Coulourmart laceweight is considerably smaller than regular laceweight, so I was a little worried. But I shouldn't havebeen. Knitting with this yarn is a breeze. Its as light as a feather and so soft. Even covered in the spinning oil it's like knitting with a cloud.




I got the yarn in the mail Friday night and had to start the Forest Path Stole immediately. I've made some progress and am now just beginning Tier 3. The pattern (though not the most well written pattern I've ever read) is delightful to knit. Entrelac and lace may seem like an intimidating combination, but the actual knitting is really quite simple. It helps to have knitted entrelac previously, in order to understand the too brief instructions. I really like the extra touch of exposing the selvages on the surface of the stole. This highlights the lace patterns beautifully.






My favorite of the lace patterns is the lily of the valley. Why? I just love a nupp! I know purling all of those stitches together can be a chore, but on balance the depth they add to lace is worth it. They aren't really so difficult to make if you as long as you knit the stitches loosely. I'm so in love with the nupp that about ten minutes ago I ordered Pitsilised Koekirjad, a book of Estonian lace patterns, from Martina's Bastel und Hobbykiste. I've seen several nuppful patterns from the book and I just have to have it.

Check out this nuppliness :

This is Divine from the new Ella Rae book 7. I thing it's smashing. Of course, not on me. My chest is way too large for that to look attractive, but I wish I could wear it.


I'm current thinking of whipping up some gloves with a lily of the valley pattern on the back of the hand. I'm thinking very short, cuffless. I don't know when I'll have the time.

Well, I guess I should be knitting.

Oh Doily!



I've been practicing my doily knitting with two patterns from Marianne Kinzel. I definitely enjoy the process of knitting doilies. They are small and can be very intricate, but you don't have to invest a lot of time or money. I will say that knitting in cotton certainly does show off all of your imperfections.


Over the last two days I have tried to knit Azalea and Valentine from First Book of Modern Lace Knitting. Check out the mess I made of the center of Azalea.






Sloppy! I tried to fix it when sewing up the center, but it all looked so bad that I undid it. Now I don't know whether to finish the darn thing anyway. I used larger yarn than the pattern calls for (size 20) on the same size needles and I just don't like the way any of it looks.



Kinzel gives two methods for starting in the round. Cast on and join which I used for Azalea and pick up from crochet chain which I used for Valentine.






See how much better the crochet works for me. I still have to close the center, but the first few rows of knitting are so much neater. I still don't know if I like the doily over all. I have to order some size 60 crochet thread and see what I think. I've started the crochet bind off and it's a bit of a pain. I mucked up the beginning, because around midnight last night I decided to bind off and completely forgot how to double crochet for a little while. I think the first couple are half doubles. I didn't think it would make that much of a difference at the time, but now I know it is going to bug me until I frog back and fix it.

Things are getting lacy...



Look at what came in the mail this week.





That's right, Marianne Kinzel's First and Second Book of Modern Lace Knitting. I've wanted to buy these for quite a while. Now that I have them I don't know what took so long. While I certainly don't want to knit everything in these books, there are at least three tablecloths, one set of curtains, two tea cloths, one shawl and one doily I want to knit. These are very inexpensive books that give you quite a lot of bang for your buck. I still need to invest in a book with more round doilies. I found one at Amazon Germany, but I just don't know if I want to cough up the shipping.



As for knitting, the only thing I've worked on this week is Cookie A.'s Monkey Sock from Knitty. They are a very easy knit. The lace pattern is easy to memorize and a lot of fun. There are very few lace patterns that I like with variegated yarn. I know she designed this pattern especially for variegation and she did a swell job. I used Skacel Step which is a slightly mottled self-striping yarn with aloe and jojoba. I think it looks great. See for yourself:





I'm still waiting for the yarn for the Forest Path Stole to come in. I only ordered it a week and a half ago, but I don't have a lot of patience. The pattern came in yesterday. It has only made me more excited to start.