FO: Sunset Aestlight

Pattern: Aestlight, by Gudrun Johnston, size large
Yarn: Corriedale handspun, dyed by Adrian, colorway Thrive, spun by me, ~500 yds/121 gr of fingering weight.
Needles: US 4/3.5 mm
Start/finish: August 20-September 1 (knitting)/September 15 (blocking)
Comments: This shawl was a joy to knit. I've blogged about the yarn already, so I won't go into details of the spinning, but the knitting was lovely. The only real modification I think I did was to use a smaller size needle, in the hopes of being able to knit the larger size and not run out of yarn. Finished, blocked dimensions are 21 inches deep and 51 inches wide.

It starts off with a big garter stitch triangle, with yarn over increases at the start of every row. These loops are then picked up to knit a garter/lace/garter border around the long sides of the triangle, and then it finishes with a lovely pointed edging that is knit sidewise and attached to the live stitches as you go along.

The pattern was very well written and presented, and Gudrun also has a group on Ravelry, with a KAL thread and lots of helpful tips. I had some issues with the last of the border sections, mostly because I was being an idiot, so there are no issues that I could find with the pattern. In fact, if you're new to lace knitting, this would be a great pattern to start with. Since it's largely based in garter stitch, there is almost no purling at all. And the lace patterns used are fairly straightforward once you get through a couple of repeats.

When I got to the edging, I had an OCD moment and started weight remaining yarn. I made it through 2/3 of one long side before I finished the first ball, so I started with the greeny-bluey-yellowy stuff for the section around the point, and then switched back to the yarn I had set aside partway up. In the end, I had plenty of yarn.

These are going to end up in the Sock Yarn Blanket

The transitions are somewhat abrupt on both sides, but so what. My OCD moment has passed and I'm happy with it.

As always the transition from blob,

through blocking,

to finished object is so, so satisfying. I got some blocking wires while we were in Maine, and this was their maiden voyage. They worked pretty well, although I chose to thread them through the shawl before soaking it, and then had a devil of a time trying to squash the thing together enough so that it would fit into the sink and actually get wet. Never mind, it all worked out well in the end.

It's definitely my favorite part about knitting lace. Devil showed continued interest in photography, and insisted on taking some of the FO photos. Girlfriend definitely needs her own camera.

Holy fuck I'm getting grey...

The colors of this shawl make me think of Arizona sunsets, and are sure to be a huge hit on those cold, grey London winter days that I know are just around the corner. I can't wait.

No, I'm not dead yet

Many apologies for the extended absence of new posts, but life has been a bit crazy of late. For one thing, my kids are now in school, and are completely exhausted/deranged when I pick them up, so computer time is somewhat scarce. And when they finally go to sleep, my only sanity-saving measure is sitting in front of the TV with the wheel or some mindless knitting and zoning out for a while.

You might be wondering why, if my kids are now both in school, I don't just blog merrily away while I'm relaxing at home eating bonbons. And the answer to that is, well, I started working last week.

Only part-time (which I think is going to work out really well), but it's a wee bit draining going back and forth to the end of town, trying to get back in time for tea (or picking Devil up, which occurs just prior to tea). I drop the girls off, hop on the train (I just notice yesterday that the Putney train station has a 4+ parked in a flower bed, in homage to this I suppose), go to Waterloo, get on the Tube, go to work for 5 hours, reverse the trip, pick up Devil, distract her for a while and then pick up Boo and truck everyone home. The last two nights I've voluntarily gone to bed before 11:00, which hasn't happened in 5 months.

Unlike Houston, my commute is much less knitting-friendly. I'm usually standing up, and it's only a 15 min ride on the train and 5 on the Underground, so by the time I've gotten things out, it's time to get off again. So production is certainly going to drop off a wee bit. But I have things to show you, like a finished/blocked Aestlight, an amazing sock book I won in a contest, a new sweater half-way done, and some spinning.

Just as soon as I take the pictures and upload them and write the entries. Hmmmm...maybe by next friday?

Make do and mend

I've been catching up on the latest Cast-On series, the focus of which is reusing and recycling stuff you already have. In that spirit (and because if I buy any more yarn I will move dangerously closer to SABLE territory), I've been doing a bit of recycling myself.

First up is a (gasp!) sewing project. There are a number of clothes lurking in my closet that have not been worn in a shameful period of time, because they don't fit anymore or the style isn't quite right or whatever. One of these was a nice skirt that I've had for years, 100% silk with buttons down the front, which I haven't worn in eons because it was a very unfortunate mid-calf dowdy length. I've been meaning to shorten it for a long time, and last week while Boo ventured off to daycare and it was just me and the Wee Devil, I did just that.

Much better. The picture is courtesy of Devil, who is showing unholy fascination with my new camera. Methinks she'll need one for Christmas so she can fulfill her destiny of being the next Ansel Adams.

The other repurposing project ongoing is the reclamation of 11 skeins of GMS Mountain Mohair from a sweater I knit long ago, and really enjoyed for a while, but put away when we got to Houston. And then I pulled it out and discovered this:

So last week I also turned that sweater into a pile of yarn cakes, which were then washed, dried and are in the process of being reknitted into Indigo Playmate, from one of my recent book purchases.

Blue spaghetti!

I finished the yoke Monday morning while both of my children were at (gulp!) school, and am making good progress on the body. It's stockinette with occasional increasing/decreasing, so it's perfect for TV knitting. So far it's seen "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Oceans Eleven". Quality cinema at its best!

Temptation

Someone (actually, probably more then one someone), somewhere (on the Internet) once said that sock yarn doesn't count as stash.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it, after yesterday's oops!

Regia Jacquard and Spindlefrog 75% SW merino/25% nylon

In my defense, the Regia was 99 p a ball at Oxfam, so that wasn't too bad, and I couldn't resist the Spindlefrog, yarn/fiber of the month at the oh so aptly named Stash Yarns. In fact, if I hadn't blown a wad in Amy's shop, I might have grabbed some BFL as well.

I think I will be hiding these for a while. Yarn? What yarn? Although Devil, who was with me, will probably blow it for me...

Fiber Friday on a Monday

I think this is the shortest period of time that any fiber has sat in my stash waiting to be spun up.

Blue Faced Leicester Galaxy in the Jupiter colorway, from Spunky Eclectic's brick and mortar store.

Spun up woolen-style at 9:1. I went down a few ratios because I wanted to experiment with "real" long draw. What I ended up doing was more like double drafting - using long draw to get a single, then going back and drafting out the lumps. I predrafted the top along the whole length, pulled off chunks and fluffed them out a bit more, then folded them in half and drafted out of the middle of the chunk. It was very much like spinning from the fold, but the fibers got a bit more disorganized as the chunk got smaller.

I ended up with some light and fuzzy, but pretty uneven singles! After a few days, the singles were plied at 9:1. One bobbin had a lot more on it then the other, so I waited a bit to let the twist calm down before I plied. This was my first time trying to ply from a center pull ball, and it worked out ok. The final yarn ended up overplied by about 2.5 twists/skein. After a soak in warm water with a bit of wool wash, the skeins were balanced.

This is probably the best representation of the colors

Final stats: 9-14 wpi (mostly 12-14), 258 yds, 3.8 oz/107 gr. A good fingering-sport weight. I think this, knit at a tight gauge, will make some good gloves for someone.