Back in August, Karen convinced me that I just HAD to crocket the Raindrops Broomstick Lace Shawl (Ravelry Link)  from Interweave Crochet Summer 2009 for the store, and really, how could I argue. It’s crocheted in Valley Yarns 2/10 Merino/Tencel, has beads, and is really just stunning. I had also never tried broomstick lace before, and who am I to scoff at a craft challenge? :)

I watched some videos online and swatched for a bit to make sure I had the technique down. It took me a few tries to get the increase rows figured out. I had to do a lot of going back and reading and then looking at the close-up pictures and trying it out.

So, I set out with my G hook and HUGE vampire-killing-stake-sized knitting needle and a cone of 2/10 Merino Tencel and went on my way. This was back in August. I took a two and a half week break to work on my Mirth shawl, but other than that, I’ve been working on this one project. Now, that’s a lot of hours, but let me just say, it was totally worth it!

I’m so in love with this shawl. It’s going to be SO hard to hand it over! At least I’ll be able to visit daily if I need to. I know I could make myself one, but this project is the biggest timesuck, it isn’t going to happen this year! I’m already behind on my Christmas projects and I’m never good at making the same thing twice. I get bored. Maybe in a few years I’ll pick this project up again and make one for myself.

By the way, the color is Plum and I used just over two and half tubes of size 6 beads.

Maybe I’ll just let it sit on my desk tomorrow and admire it and hand it over officially on Tuesday. :)

I follow Stephanie Japel (glampyre) on Twitter and several weeks ago she announced that she was going to start offering classes online through ning.com. (http://stefaniejapel.ning.com/ for more info!). Her first class was for Mirth, a fitted raglan shawl. I’m a big fan of Stefanie’s patterns and have knit two from her book Fitted Knits. This is a rare thing for me…almost as rare as knitting the same pattern twice. I have a heck of a lot of yarn, love shawls, and was really intrigued by taking a class online. It was pretty affordable, so I signed up.

Next, I had to decide which of the many yarns I have that I was going to use. I knew I needed around 600ish yards, so I started digging around in the stash. I didn’t want to use two colors, but knew if I had to, I’m sure I could come up with something. Then, I dug out the Great Adirondack Lolita that I got ages ago. I actually had two giant skeins of this in Copper. One that Ed got me, and one I had gotten myself. I figured this would be a great way to use up the yarn…at least one of them.

I started a couple days late on the class, but I did eventually “catch up” (it’s an online class so you can totally go at your own pace!) and finished it and blocked it Friday night. When I was done, it was actually quite small and stiff and I was afraid what the results were going to be. (No, I didn’t swatch…it’s lace…it grows…I had faith. Plus, it was a shawl!) It let go of quite a bit of dye in the water and I was afraid it was all going to wash out, but it didn’t. I finally got it to run clear and had to set up some towels on the spare bed in the “yarn room.”

That’s a full size bed for size comparison. I could have probably used some blocking wires for this, but I don’t have any…also could have used the thread-yarn-through-the-edges trick, but I didn’t have the patience (it was Friday night after all!). It grew quite a bit and softened up nicely. It has a good weight to it, and I think that it will do a great job of adding an extra layer of warm when I want it.

Don’t I look so happy? :P

Here’s a “wingspan” picture. You can mostly see the shape on it.

I’m really pleased with the finished results. I love lace. It’s challenging enough that you have to pay attention, but it’s really taught my how to read my knitting over the past couple of years that I’ve been doing lace projects. Minnie liked it too!

As soon as I opened the door to the yarn room  she made a bee-line for the bed and was on the shawl!

Overall, I’d say the class was pretty great, and worth the price of admission. It helped me stick to working on just one project and took me just under the three weeks the class is running to complete. Stefanie posted many videos that were super helpful as well as some fantastic information on working with color that I’m sure I’ll be able to use in future projects. Having the ability to chat with the other class members was great too. Everyone could bring up and issues, see where classmates were on the pattern, and view their progress as they posted pictures. Since I’ve already knit lace and I’m familiar with raglan shaping, I didn’t run into too many issues, but it was good to know that the resources were there if I needed them! It was also good to have because there was the extra reminder that you have to do something different in parts of chart 2. (I needed reminding at the beginning!)

If I didn’t have so many projects on the list, I’d definitely consider taking Stefanie’s next class, which is re-purposing old t-shirts into yarn and creating projects with it.

I’d definitely consider knitting this shawl again, maybe even in the DK or worsted weight versions that are included in the pattern. While I was knitting this version, and feeling a little behind, I did wish that I hadn’t chosen a sock yarn because it is a bit more knitting, but of course now that it’s done I’m really happy with it! I actually have enough yarn leftover to probably make a scarf of some sort, so it didn’t totally meet my goal of killing a skein of yarn, but that’s okay! Oh, I used size 5 Addi Lace needles for this project. Love the tips – not too pointy like some other needles I’ve used, but they are a little too grippy for me. I generally like super slippery needles so I can go faster, even with lace.

Now, I have to finish the crochet project I’m working on for the store. It’s taking longer than I had hoped, but Mirth was a welcome distraction, and I’m glad I finished a project. It gives me the drive I need to keep going!

I can’t believe summer is unofficially over! Where did the time go? As I type this, I’m watching the Pats opening game (Monday Night Football) and I can’t believe football season has rolled around again.

I didn’t get much done over the summer. At least, it doesn’t seem like I got much done! I did a lot of baking, because it made me happy. I forgot how much I enjoyed baking. Of course, I had to share the stuff I baked to get it out of my house! The popovers were an experience and surprisingly easy.

Aren’t they beautiful? Then there was the Spice Blueberry Whoopie Pies from Good Housekeeping. They were quite delicious and a great way to use up the blueberries I had in the fridge!

Vanilla Malt Cookies from Martha Stewart

Did I mention I had blueberries hanging around? Good old fashioned blueberry muffins.

The central air came in quite handy! :)

And what about knitting? Well, I finally finished LAST March’s Rockin’ Sock Club Sock. I’m not in love with it. In fact, I pretty much hated knitting it, but I’ve received a lot of compliments on it.

I’m sure I MUST have finished other stuff, but I can’t remember what I did now. You think with Ravelry I would keep better track….no…

Now, I’m working on a crochet project for the store, a pair of socks (because my head thinks everyone is getting socks for Christmas because I HAVE GOT to get rid of some of my yarn….I’m pretty sure my head is crazy), and I signed up for an online class with Stephanie Japel. I love her patterns – top down raglans. I realized that I have knit two patterns from her book Fitted Knits…unheard of for me! :) Anyway, she created a Fitted Raglan Shawl and it teaching an online class through ning.com. I’m a fan of shawls, and I’ve got yarn to use up, so I signed up for the class. I’m already “behind” because I’m still working on Week 1 stuff, but hopefully I can catch up! This is my problem…I take on too many projects at once and then I can’t finish any of them. If I actually want to get projects finished by Christmas, I’m going to have to make a list/schedule and STICK TO IT. Here is my progress so far on the shawl. I found Great Adirondack Lolita in Copper in my stash and I’m pretty pleased with the results so far.

Happy Fourth of July everyone!
Here's a video Ed took a week ago on his iPhone of the Easthampton fireworks. They had to set them off early, and fast, but they were still lovely. The video doesn't do them justice. (That flash and scream at 9 seconds...yeah, that's lightning!)

Here's a picture of 2007's fireworks. I'm hoping Easthampton's fireworks don't get rained out this year.

Not sure if I like this as much as Windows Live Writer (the only Microsoft product I really enjoy and find super easy to use...)

Let’s pretend I haven’t been completely ignoring the blog with pictures.

January 2008’s Rockin’ Sock Club sock - (yeah, I’m over a year behind!)

Did not love the pattern, but that’s mostly the fault of the heel. I don’t love short row heels, because short rows drive me insane. They never come out as perfectly as I want them too.

And a February Lady Sweater knit in Dream in Color Classy. Let’s ignore the pasty, tired face, okay?

Oh, and there’s A LOT of birds in my neighborhood. They wake me up EVERY morning at 4:30 (thanks birds! :P) Here’s the cardinal…before all the leaves came in. (Yay leaves)

I’m going to try to be better at updating. March was a bad month, and April and May totally flew by. In fact, with all the rain we’ve been getting, I’m pretty sure it is still April!

Once again, I have lapsed in updating, but….eh, I have no real excuse. Here’s the collection of projects I have finished in the time since my last post -

Beaded Edge Scarf from Filatura di Crosa Superior Crochet

I really loved this project. The crochet was a nice, nearly immediate gratification kind of project. A nice departure from my knitting of late. It’s crocheted in Filatura di Crosa Superior, color 34. The beads are size 6/0 hot pink lined AB beads. I LOVE them! I wish there were more on the scarf. I have MAYBE a quarter of a tube left, so it does use quite a few. The toughest part of this project was the foundation single crochet that you begin with. The good thing about crochet, especially with a slightly fuzzy yarn like this, is that I can kind of fudge it, so I seem like I know what I’m doing. :)

This project took just about a week to finish. The edging was a bit fiddly, but totally worth it. Superior is so incredibly light that you need the beads on the edging to give it some weight to assist with the drape.

Next FO is one that was a “secret” project. Even though Anna doesn’t read my blog, I wanted to make sure she didn’t see it before her birthday,  which was Friday. Years ago when I made a knitted babe from the book of the same, Anna commented that it looked like Mr. Burns in the Springfield Files episode of The Simpsons. Basically, Mr. Burns looks like an alien and wanders around the woods saying “I bring you peace. I bring you love.” because he has had so many medical procedures done to keep himself alive. It’s amusing. Anyway, I give you…Mr. Burns.

He’s not perfect, but she appreciated him anyway. His hospital gown was created from an old white t-shirt. And his face and hair from felt…which, incidentally, Valley Fabrics does not carry, but they do have some pretty fantastic fabrics, so I will be going back in the very near future!

Finally, I was taken by the Berroco KnitBits pattern from Friday, March 13th. It’s a crocheted beret called Phannie. It was a great pattern…super easy and super quick. I’ve also fallen in love with Berroco Pure Merino DK. If I could get away with throwing it in the dryer, it would totally become a blanket I’ve been thinking about crocheting for a long time. My mom inherited a crocheted blanket when my grandparents passed away, and Ed LOVES it, but I haven’t been able to find a suitable fill-in for the (surprisingly nice) acrylic the original was made in. So, the search continues….

Anyway, the beret….I’ve never looked good in hats. I just don’t have a hat-head, and I’m not hip enough to pull off the look. Here, my friends, it me in a hat, forever immortalized on the internet. It’s a shame it’s not a good look for me because I can’t say enough good things about the pattern!

At least I only “wasted” a few hours on the pattern, and found out I love the yarn, so it’s not a loss or anything. And, I guess if I have a cold enough head next winter, I’ll be all set. :)

Since last night, I’ve been working on warping my rigid heddle loom and started weaving this morning. I have a harder time sitting down to the rigid heddle than to sitting down to knit or crochet (and someday I’ll find time to sit down to the spinning wheel I’ve had for a couple months, but that’s another post :))

Anyway, there was a valance in the latest issue of Handwoven (March/April 2009) worked in 8/2 unmercerized cotton. It’s a fantastic little valance, so I’ve started it in a natural color for the half bath (yes…start with the smallest window in the house!). It’s a little time-consuming because of how it’s done, but I think I like the way that it’s coming out so far.