Stage 3 (Warning: Picture heavy post.)

Chatelaine reached Stage 3, completion, last night. I've thoroughly enjoyed this exercise in design and will certainly undertake it again. I grossly underestimated the finished size and could have easily worked one less repeat widthwise and two fewer lengthwise.

It's harder than I thought it would be to part with this shawl. The fact that it will be raffled off to support two good causes for the Ladies of Auxillary of the Veterans of Foreign Wars makes it more special.

1. Operation Uplink which provides phone cards for our service men and women.
2. Cancer aid and research.

Specs:

Pattern: Chatelaine Shawl designed by Beverly
Sources: Chatelaine - Charted Knitting Designs - A Third Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara Walker
The Brand Iron Edging - Heirloom Knitting by Sharon Miller
Yarn: JaggerSpun Zephyr 2/18 in Real Red
Started: July 8, 2007
Finished: October 1, 2007

Modeled by the most wonderful mom in the world!

And a Ravelry We Will Go

I got my Ravelry invite this past week. I was still on the fence as to whether or not I wanted to join. I've got everything catalogued in knitable and the stash on the fiberitis stashblog. Man was I wrong!

It is too cool. I've been checking out designs, completed projects and wip's. Frecklegirl and the Codemonkey have done a fantastic job. I was wondering what the hype was about and now I know!

Stage 2

Stage 1: The Chatelaine shawl body was completed Saturday night.
Stage 2: The edging commenced yesterday as a picked up border. Today I ripped it out and decided to do a knitted on edging. I've done this type of edging only once and that was about 4 years ago. I couldn't make sense of it Sunday, but once I made up my mind that it was a better choice it seemed to flow.

I'm using the Brand Iron Edging from Sharon Miller's Heirloom Knitting. I thought this book was an extravangance when originally purchased. I've consulted it time and time again for this project. It has been a great resource for shawl knitting and I highly recommend it. I purchased my copy from the lys during one of the sales.


This project hasn't been without its' share of trials and tribulations. I am pleased with the look thus far and hope that stage 3, blocking, will bring out the true beauty.

I won't say that I see many more shawl designs in my future, but I feel more prepared for the challenge of actually charting out a shawl and writing the pattern. Next time I'll try my hand at either a triangular or square design.

Slackerville

I'll admit it. I'm a slacker.

It has taken me two weeks to get this sweater blocked and seamed. The sweater is seamed and then the collar added last. I finished the last bit at work this week and blocked the collar Friday.


No velvet on the edges yet. I haven't located any here in town, but I did find two sources on the internet. Their products are so drastically different from each other that I don't know which one is the correct choice. The saleslady in Joann's told me that although they didn't have velvet piping, they did have the cording so that I could make my own. I about peed my pants!

Don't get me wrong. I've made cording before, however I prefer not to do it in velvet.

As I've said before, I have a very strong aversion to making an actual baby-sized item. Don't know why, just one of those little quirks. It may be because they grow so fast and I want them to use it for a while. I made the 12-24 months size as planned since I didn't know the baby was going to be so tiny and I'd already purchased the yarn.

The Chatelaine shawl is eating up my time once again. If the original 10 pattern repeat plan works then I'm 69.40% finished with the body. Using 12 I'm only 58.22%. Still quite a ways to go. I won't be posting any pictures of it for a while as they all look the same just longer.

Trekking Along

I managed to start the second pair of SOS socks before I went on vacation. On the return trip I was about a quarter up the leg when I spotted an obvious error after the heel turn. The River Rapids pattern knits up beautifully, but I wasn't pleased with the look of the Trekking on the size 2 needles. The yarn is somewhat thinner compared to most of the others I've used. Saturday I ripped out the whole thing and cast-on using size 1's. It looks so much better



This time I'm knitting the foot plain and will put the patterning on the leg. SOS pair two on the way.

While I'm not in the running for most socks knitted during SOS, I've finished another pair. These were started before SOS began and have been languishing on the needles as I worked on and even finished other projects.


Specs:
Pattern: My Basic Toe-Up Sock
Yarn: Regia Cotton Top Color 4075
Needles: Size 1 US Inox dpn's
Size: Women's 10
Started: June 14, 2007
Finished: August 30, 2007

The City of Fountains

We're back home from the city of fountains, museums and barbecue. The Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Ladies Auxillary of the VFW convention was held in Kansas City, MO this year. We didn't escape the heat, it was just as hot and humid as Columbia, but it was an enjoyable getaway.

There was political campaigning. Hillary Clinton and John McCain spoke Monday morning. Fred Thompson and Barack Obama were there Tuesday morning. The President was there on Wednesday. I attended Clinton, McCain and Obama. It was interesting, but I was not impressed by any of them.

Sunday we visited the Negro League Baseball Museum and the American Jazz Museum at 18th and Vine in the historic jazz district.


In South Carolina we have Palmetto trees, Cincinnati has pigs and Kansas City has bulls.


Monday we visited the Studio Knitting and Needlepoint. I started knitting one of the fronts Sunday evening and realized I didn't bring the smaller needles I needed. jacket. I had planned to visit to other shops in the area, but with the busy schedule we didn't get there.


There was moderate stash enhancement with a purchases of Hand Maiden Sea Silk and Lace Silk. I also got some Louet Gems to try. The staff was friendly and there was a selection of yarns I hadn't seen, however a lot of their sock yarns were in colors that didn't appeal to me or there was only a single skein remaining.


Wednesday we went to Union Station and had a reception at the Liberty memorial on that evening. On Thursday we toured the WWI museum at the memorial. It was tiring but well worth it.


Thursday evening I had completed all the pieces for the baby jacket and was more than ready to return home.

GrowthThrough Travel

Still getting organized for the trip to KC, MO. I'm trying very hard to avoid weight problems with my luggage due to overpacking. Making sure all the necessary chargers and accessories are packed. I plan to see several museums including the Negro League Baseball Museum, the American Jazz Museum, the Nelson-Atkins with its' new addition the Bloch and the WWWI Memorial. Yarn shops scoped out, food binges planned, I'm ready to eat, drink and be knitty.

I finsihed the jacket backet earlier this evening. I can only hope that velvet-piping is easy to find this time of year. That's the one thing I didn't take into consideration. Around the Xmas holidays it's a cinch, but in the middle of 100+ degrees August, maybe not.

Donna asked about my shawl pattern. It's mine using the Chatelaine chart from one of the BW treasuries. More details here. It's still a work in progress design-wise. Slowly morphing from sketches, notes and calculations on a legal pad into to something tangible. The first of many designs making their way out of my head as I stretch my knitting legs.