Composition of the Stars

You may have noticed from my last post that I have a new pattern up - the Gold Star For Effort Scarf/Shalwette.  I have to say I'm rather pleased with it, especially as it took a very long time for it to get to its finished state.  Yes, I know - a designer of such simple items is perhaps not supposed to admit to taking months to get from the original concept to the finished item.  I suspect it should appear more like the apocryphal stories about Mozart and his compositional style - where we're led to believe most of his works were written as-is.  No revisions, no piano score to begin with, just pure and utter symphony (for example) in full score first time.  (He did just that, it must be said, for quite a few of his pieces...) 

No, I'm no Mozart of the shawls, I'm afraid, but I am quite interested in reliving the journey my little shawlette took to get from its starting point (from a comment by a Ravelry friend) to its final testing.

I explained in the last post how a comment about my first shawl led eventually to the latest shawl, but I thought it would be interesting to map out the journey in photos...  So here, starting from the first swatch, is a cosmically yarny tale in (mostly) picture form...

1.the confirmation that a chevron stitch creates an
excellent lower edge for a star

2. but the horizontal points at each side are proving
a tad difficult to line up properly

3. but they being to work better in a smaller form...

4. but then all definition is lost through an
overzealous eyelet effort

5. which then changes to an effort at doubling the eyelet
line which leads to a different kind of messiness

6. as does the second effort

7. but eventually the spacing begins to look neater

8. although there are still a few odd eyelets to fix

9. and the placement of a the upper double line to widen

10. there is hope and beads

11. and garter stitch

12. and enough yarn

13. for the finished item

14. which is rather dapper, even if I say so,
myself!

Twinkle, Twinkle

...Little Star shawl,

How I wonder what you... 

What you... 

...are all...

about?

Poetry.  Not my forte, as is rather eloquently shown above.  What I can do, however, is turn out little cosmic creations like this:

rain's obsessive stitchery fred sock in 'telltown'

this:

aade lõng artistic 8/2 in 'flame'

and this:

fearless fibres lightweight superwash merino sock yarn in 'sloth'

More stars than there are in the heavens.  No, wait.  That's MGM.  Part of an Amazing and Expanding Universe.   Ah.  Eric Idle may have me for nicking that...  But I suspect you get the idea...

May I present the Gold Star For Effort (or Morning Star) Shawlette.

I was inspired to create this pattern by a friend on Ravelry who told me, after they saw my Cocktail Umbrella Shawlette, that I deserved a gold star for effort.  It was an innocuous comment that never-the-less took root somewhere at the back of my noggin, which was then jogged to the front after perusing some of my favourite cocktail websites for pattern inspiration, after finding mention of the Morning Star mocktail*. And the final falling in to place came when Rain of Rain's Obsessive Stitchery contacted me about a potential collaboration - her yarn, my pattern!  That plus a little bit of sparkle at the points of each star, and voilà!  A Star (scarf/shawlette) Is Born!  (Oops - sorry Barbra!)

*The Morning Star, by the way, can be a myriad of things: a medieval spiked mace; one of the many names for the planet Venus; a town in Western Virginia; a newspaper; a song by the UK band N-Dubz, but for my purposes, however, the Morning Star is a mocktail, or mock cocktail, and is one of the lesser-known non-alcoholic drinks in the cocktail firmament (see what I did there?!!)  There are a few differences in recipes, but on the whole it seems to involve one teaspoon of sugar, and one of honey, ten fluid ounces of pineapple juice, three pineapple chunks, and mineral water to the top of the glass.

The Gold Star for Effort (or Morning Star) Shawlette is a reversible crescent scarf-shawlette, worked from the star motif edging upwards, with some beads (60 to be exact) for a bit of added (optional) bling. The body of the shawl is worked in garter stitch using short rows.

My testers and myself have used varying amounts of yarn, from 400 yards, to 453, so to be safe, I've suggested that you have at least 450 yards of your chosen yarn before you start.  (The Fred Sock by Rain that I used for the gold version is 463 yards long in total.)

 

And where can you find this little gem?  HERE, of course.  Ravelry is again playing host and this link will take you through to the pattern page, which is available to all, not just Ravelry members.  Should you wish to purchase straight away (and why not?) feel free to click on the button below.

How much?  Only €4!!  (or £3.40, $5.40, ₪19, NOK32, ¥530.24..) and for the first month you can get 25% (or 1 euro) off with the code 'twinkle'.  Just apply it when prompted at checkout!

You know you're worth it! :D

Beethoven's Wingspan

I thought I'd start the new year with an actual finished object!  Yes indeedy - I'm a-hurrying with the old knitting this year because... well, because I've joined a 13 items for 2013 type thingy on Ravelry.  A glutton for punishment, I hear you ask.  It appears so...

 wingspan by maylin tri'coterie designs
noro 'kureyon sock' no.236

I actually started this just before Christmas when I was doing my first Beethoven 9.  (Beethoven's Ninth 'Choral' Symphony for those not it the know - the last movement uses four soloists and a massive choir.  I can imagine it caused a bit of a ruckus at the very first concert!)  Needless to say, I wasn't embarking on this new project while I was on stage of course (although having to sit through the first three movements...  the distraction would have been welcome!  I'm not a fan of sitting on stage with nothing to do except try not to attract the attention of the audience, especially as we soloists weren't hiding beside the choir at the back, but were placed off to the side in full view of the watching public!)  But I hope this at least explains the title of this post.  I'm pretty sure good ol' Ludwig wasn't of the feathery-armed persuasion.

Wingspan is really a shawl, and I first saw the pattern at the end of 2011 I think, and just fell head-over-heels with some of the projects on the pattern page.  It did take me a while to get round to it, but on deciding to make it using the DK pattern but with fingering-weight yarn to make more scarf-like in appearance, it turned out to be excellent time-before-concerts/tv-watching finger-fodder!  I snaffled another person's idea to add the eyelets and I'm glad I did as they add some really nice pinpricks of light over an otherwise muted scarf.  (The photo above is about as close to the actual colours as my camera would allow - in real life it's all really rather green, but the rest of the photos are rather orange-centric, which I (as a non-orange-loving person) would never use!  Do feel free to click on the photos to embiggen!

Not a bad start to the year, methinks!  It's a great (free) pattern that doesn't ask for much brain power or concentration, but still gives a great end result!  Just how I like it! ;-)

 

Shawls, Shawls Everywhere...

...And Not A One To Wear.

Well, okay, a slight exaggeration.  But only a slight one.  Only because there might be sock content, too.  And I can't wear those either.  Damn you Christmas.  You make me give my preshusses away!

Although 'tis true you've already seen a couple of my efforts - the LazyKaty I made for my Mum aka Amethyst and Old Copper, and the PaintedElly aka Malachite and Moss I made for my little sister, but there is more. 

I know.  I admit to the addiction.  Now that I can look back and see my madness.

Preshuss no. 3:  Sapphire and Sky.  Another Birgit Freyer design, this one is SilkyGarden and was made for one of my oldest friends who was in need of some hugs, so I made her a hug in shawl form for her Christmas.

zitron 'filigran' laceweight yarn in colourway 14 1605 - 

a pretty yarn that slowly goes from a pale to a navy blue and back again

Preshuss no. 4: Lavender and Quartz. Another LazyKaty, because really, it's ridiculously easy and not very time-consuming to make up this little gem.  This one, although I do say otherwise in the title of this post, is currently adorning my neckage area.  Hell, it's cold, and there it was, just lying on the table waiting to be put to good use.  Yes, yes, it does have another  eventual destination, but for the time being I'm quite happy to let it warm my cold shoulders.

 

lang yarns 'jawoll magic degradé' in colourway 86.0046 (greys and purples)

Preshuss no.5: The Sock!  A Twist For Sis socks, to be precise. Another of my own 'Twist of Citrus' pattern - easy to make and absolutely perfect for fast colour-change or self-striping sock yarn. Mmm-mmm!

lang yarns 'jawoll magic degradé' in colourway 85.0025 (blues)

But now it's time to concentrate on some preshusses for myself... oh... wait.  No, now I'm in the middle of a long scarf for my best buddy, and I'm working on a pair of socks for another friend.  But the good news is that I have several boozy and costume sock ideas fermenting in my brain...  There should be a good mix of cool and even more cool this year, I'm a-thinking.

Watch this space...

Notes On A Scandal - Shawl Edition

'painted elly' by birgit freyer

I know. Another asymmetric shawl. The LazyKaty I made for my Mum has tapped an unfathomable fount of shawl-lust.  A fount that SHOULD NOT EXIST.  Especially after the shawlicide of my first attempt. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Truthfully, I kind of got a little excited after finishing that first shawl and decided I was going to make a shawl/scarf for my sister's Christmas. She has chosen the colour yarn without knowing what it's for. I suspect she thinks it’s for socks, because that’s what I do!  I knit socks.  (And to be fair, when I was first learning to knit, scarves were all I made, but that passed once I discovered the joy that is socks.  I think my sister has received at least four scarves in differing levels of competence from me so far, so I doubt she'd be expecting another version.)

Anyway. The chosen colourway of Noro Kureyon Sock (236) is making me salivate. It’s the only ball I could find of this colour, and I'm slightly kicking myself that I promised it away. Never mind, I’m sure it’ll look gorgeous.  (And if it doesn't, well, what is knitted can be un-knitted and made into socks. possibly for me! Heh!)

Wish me luck…

Notes:

1 I’ve added a stitch marker before the first k2tog - the placement stays the same throughout the pattern (so far) and it means I don’t have to count the number of knit stitches to the edging stitches. WIN!

2 I still hate purling. If I didn’t dislike the appearance of garter stitch so much, I’d be knitting both sides like there’s no tomorrow!

3 Damn, but I want this green-coloured Noro for myself. WHY IS IT SO RARE, DAMMIT?

4 I’m replacing the skp with a k2tog tbl because it looks less baggy than my typical skp.

5 I’m going down a needle size to 5mm. I have suspicions this may be a good idea, length-of-wool-wise.

6 I HAVE to learn to knit backwards. Oo - nice video by the Knit Witch HERE! And another for continental (which helped me more, I must say) HERE.

7 Why Noro? WHY????? Orange. ORANGE? Just wrong. Wrong, I say.

:: rings bell :: 

Row 79 and all is weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell (apart from that damn orange. Yuck.) 

:: rings bell ::

8 I’ve realised that although this feels like it’s going slower than the LazyKaty, it’s not really - it’s just that the edging on one side is already being incorporated into the shawl. :: phew ::

9 I should never invoke the wrath of the Shawl Gods by stating things are going well. I now need to learn how to pick up lace stitches.

10 I’ve added stitch markers to show the 11 repeated sections in the edging. It’s that or forever counting, and I’m doing rather shabbily at that so far…

11 Yeah, the name keeps changing. I’m nothing if not whimsical. And mathematically challenged. I should maybe keep a note, because I'm probably going to name it something Autumn-themed to justify that rusty orange that infiltrated an otherwise beautiful set of colours… ‘Two Plus Two Equals Three’; ‘Oops, It Just Fell On The Needles’, ‘Autumnal Equinox’… But seeing the colours, I’m reminded more of malachite and moss. Oh. Well.  That'll do!

12 ETA D’oh. After frogging (oops - did that come as a surprise? Details further on at note 14/15…) I’ve realised (now that I’m back on track) that the stitch markers idea was great, but as a guideline only - their placement is not a rigid thing in the actual pattern contruction…

Things I Have Learned - follow the damn pattern.

13 I have to add that the colours are nearly as garish in real life. My flash is not conducive to a realistic, well, anything really.

14 I'm so crap. I’ve spent the entire day on 3 rows, making mistakes, counting, re-counting, jiggling about. I am so frustrated. ENTIRELY my fault. It seems this *easy* pattern is not easy enough for me. :(

15 Kill me.  Kill me now. I’m going to have to frog this baby. Way too many mistakes from which to recover.

16 I need a moment…

17 Maybe I can frog a little and pick up before the edging starts… … … … … WOOHOO! 1 day of ‘knitting’ lost, but I think I may have salvaged it.

18 Well, I am almost certainly going to run out of yarn before I reach the end of the shawl, so going to have to search for some contingency yarn!

19 I’ve reached the first of the individual edging points, so I’m going to have to figure out what the crochet method *really* asks for to connect one point to the next. Ulp... oh.  Actually - it’s a simple chain and slip for 8 stitches or so. My crochet is baggy as hell, but it gets the job done! (Poke the hook through the yo, pull through, then pull through st on hook. Make another stitch on hook, then poke the hook through the next yo and lather, rinse, repeat…! Please note extensive use of technical terms.)

20 WOOHOO! Finished with 4 metres of yarn left! FOUR METRES! Fabulous! Contingency yarn is not needed after all, which is grand, because I haven't found any yet!

21 Now the interesting part - blocking, and the never-ending questions of 'will it stay all nice and lacy, or will it ping back into a pretty-coloured tangle of nothingness...'?

22 There is nothing more sublime than taking out the blocking pins and the work staying blocked! No ping-back for this baby!  WOOHOO!

23 And finally, the really fun part - taking photos of the finished item!

malachite and moss - for my sister