musindigo

Ok, I know we’ve had less than a month of true winter around here, but I must be thinking ahead to spring already.

The pattern continues down the heel for wearing with clogs and/or sandals. When naturally stretched it’s more lace-like and less ribby-like.

Ooh, eh… arch shaping… which I think I will carry across the toe… thinking… thoughts?

They do tend to get in the way… sigh. However, on the mend and back at my desk.

Wanted to post a pic of finished Ariann with buttons:

I just love this sweater, it’s so adaptable to just about every occasion.

And progress pics:

These are actually off the needles, now, Finished them last night (this morning?) around midnight. The broken rib pattern is cushy and just perfect for those around the house ‘warm and toasty’ type socks we all need in our sock drawer. The pattern for these will be published shortly, once I have some photos of the finished versions.

We also have:

… shows a bit better version of the finished edge. The ‘official’ version of this is progressing along.

In between being forced off my chair onto the couch, I managed to get a tutorial for tubular bind-off posted:

I decided to share my version of ‘how-to’ execute this bind-off because I often have trouble with the ‘as if to knit’ and ‘as if to purl’ instructions found in many knitting technique books. I knit using the uncrossed eastern method which mounts the stitches with the leading leg to the back rather than the front. Sometime, I may post a tutorial on this method, for interest’s sake. The long and the short of it is, when I see ‘as if to knit’ in knitting instructions, I need to think twice about exactly what the instructions are lol. So I wind up often working my way through a particular method a few times to find a rhythm and execution style which works for both my brain and my hands.

And so, in the case of tubular bind-off, I rewrote the technical execution to make sense to me. Perhaps it will make sense to some of you out there as well.

It’s a wonderful technique with tons of uses.

This was also a chance for me to do some graphic work which I haven’t done in a while, short of manipulating photos and creating logos.

Also, having finally been bitten by the Flickr bug, you can view more photos here of most of the ones you see on this blog and on Oceanwind Knits.

And, last, but not least:

NEW yarn. :) Here’s a taste of available colours:

Working on new colours over the coming weeks.

I think that just about covers it… hoping everyone out there is enjoying life and knitting madly and passionately. :)

i must be on a lace kick.

blocking… pattern in final test-knitting stage. this is the shawlette version (about 48 X 26 inches blocked. working on the shawl version. yarn is Oceanwind Knits hand-dyed merino; these colours were leftover bits from a few custom dyes for a client (i will probably be bringing out some similar colours).

:) i like it, if i do say so myself. thank goodness for spreadsheets lol. it’s not too complicated to put together [5 charts].

having a vision (in this case, water, ocean, waves) and turning it into lace is a bit of an accomplishment. working out the sneeky details like fitting repeats into repeatable sequences over x rows which then can be repeated after x rows so folks don’t need a distinctive chart row for each and every row of the shawl is a bit challenging.

but, when it all comes together… like they say on the M/C commercials… priceless.

and, may the Canucks win tonight. ;) it’s going to be a bit of a fight getting my fixes in tonight… ER, Grey’s Anatomy and Men in Trees… worked in around the Canucks game (and no, we don’t have multiple TV in this house, something I veto). we do have a satelite so there are some options available.

speaking of Men in Trees, have you noticed the awesome knits in this show?? cool stuff. i like it. i think the show has great potential as well. i know i’m hooked already.

in true Canadian fashion, the weather has turned around to bite us in typically fickle Ontario fashion. last week, 4 days ago, actually, it was spring around here and had been for weeks. but today…

ah well, it’s not forever. at least we haven’t had this stuff for months already. the kids are happy, and working from home often has the added advantange of not having to drive too often nor too far.

i was ever so cranky yesterday, however, being within driving distance of Kitchener-Waterloo and unable to unattend the Guild meeting where the harlot was guesting. bummer. :(

just slightly ironic when last week there was really nothing to drive to and the weather was clear and sunny…

ok, enough griping about Canadian weather…

i am, however, really feeling for the west, which is in the deep freezer of a blizzard and/or heavy winds. nasty. keep safe, everyone!

here, we have, Ariann - blocked, sewn and fits perfectly, except for the sleeves [too long] but i don’t have the longest arms around and i really should have calculated things a little better while knitting. if i make this one again (and i likely will, it’s a great knit) i will knit the 3/4 length sleeves. she was finished as the Vancouver Canucks battled the Dallas Stars for their 5th straight win

(another Canadian irony, it hasn’t happened like this for Vancouver for a lonnnnnnnnnnng while… it makes for a much quieter house during the games when they’re winning, i must say :)). since last wednesday, the Canucks have won two more… really, a novelty. i like it.

one of these days i will sew on the buttons… i love the ones i found, a perfect match for the sagey Cascade 220.

i used under 5 skeins. 220 always seems to have a lot of mileage.

it turned out wonderfully soft and i can’t wait to wear it, just need to get those buttons on.

and, Swallowtail is all blocked:

finished size, 58 inches wide at top by 28 deep. :) i love it.

i am feeling a bit scrunched…

ok, so i didn’t tell anyone about this project. it was kind of one of those ‘guilty pleasure’ type projects, but also had the motive of knitting something ‘big’ [vs. socks] in my hand-dyed merino. this is the Shiraz colourway (and yes i am dyeing soon!). it used about 125g [about 462 yds]. i suspect a shawl this size without ‘nupps’ would have used less than 100g. i knit it on 4mms, but i’m a loose knitter, so average needle size would probably be 4.5mms. if you don’t recognize it, it’s the Swallowtail Shawl from the Fall’06 Interweave Knits, by shawl designerista Evelyn A. Clark.

i began this shawl in the midst of a ton of other projects on the go during the ‘nothingness’ day of Dec 31st. i call Dec 31st a ‘nothingness’ day in reference to the transitional nature of time, ie. the year had not quite yet ended for me, but for others it was already the beginning of a new year by the time i crawled out of bed. the ‘nothingness’ concept always leaves me not wanting to get into anything concrete (ie. work!) nor finish up any loose ends, for some reason or other… so i started a project which had no real strings attached, simply to explore some beautiful knitting and enjoy the whole process. of course it carried over a few days, but i think i finished it in record time, considering everything else ongoing. i didn’t want it to drag out too long.

in the future i’m going to be offering 50g skeins [vs. the current 100gs] to minimize having to buy two large skeins for a project like this. however, i still have enough left for a pair of socks, so all would not be lost with having to purchase 200g in two skeins. but, i know some folks like to use up yarn rather than have bits of this and that around.

when she’s blocked, she’s going to be spectactular, i think. :)

and, yes, i’m back to working on ‘work’ things now that ‘nothingness’ is overwith. ;)

…january. ha. this weather enthralls and brings out the cynical side of me. its balminess turned out to be great for a game of back-deck hockey:

yes, he does look this cute at 4 a.m.; even when you are cranky, you can’t stay too cranky for long ;).

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Baroness Lori the Essential of Buzzing St Helens
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

bows are accepted but not expected. ;) i wonder if the ‘buzzing’ refers to tinnitis…

well, it’s not really new stuff; it was begun last year (last week, you know).

but it’s nice to start off a new year with some fresh new photos, i think.

first off, i want to thank Shelly, who forwarded pics of her Orca Tails Scarf.

i love the colour of Noro Silk Garden she chose.

fabulous, don’t you think?

if any of you out there have pics of finished Oceanwind Knits pattern knits, i would love to see them. :) i’m also going to set up a ‘knit by you’ gallery at the Oceanwind Knits site, soon. [sending them to musindigo AT gmail DOT com or oceanwindknits AT gmail DOT com tis cool, thanks].

the gorgeous weather here in Florida southwestern Ontario lured me and my KIP friends outside for some pics of my own. i was actually fighting with a fly or two while taking these, which is just too weird for this girl who is used to cold snow-squally winters. i really can’t recall this kind of extended warm stretch in any winter during my lifetime. trees are budding, grass is green… it feels like one of those early spring days where you throw open the windows to banish stale winter air; makes me kind of wait for the ‘other shoe’, as in, ’slam! mwahahaha, you thought you weren’t going to have winter? gotcha…’

anyhoo, here’s a few shots of Ariann, still in progress:

obviously she will need a good blocking once finished, but i think she’s coming along well. :) the colour of Cascade 220 is 2417. i think she’s going to look very much like Bonne Marie’s original photo (sans the model’s bod ;)).

and some swatches which show a bit of Oceanwind Knits merino knitted up (i know i need more of these so folks have an idea how it knits):

both of those are for projects in the final ‘test-knitting’ documentation stage which should be available very shortly. :)