Schneestern update

Icy Driveway and New Knitting Project

Just a few pictures to show what is new in my life.  The thaw has turned our drive area into an ice rink.

and ... I have started a new knitting project (Yet another shawl) It is about 8" in diameter/radius right now.

The pattern is Herbert Niebling's Schneestern (but done in half round instead of the round. I'm using Qiviut from Windy Valley Farm.

One Third Bound Off

Here's the state of the Niebling melange. I don't think it is going to stretch out right. Oh well! The edge I've done thus far is ruffly (not what I wanted, so I'm making a tighter edge from now on.

Löwenhängelotusblume

I bought some additional size 0 knitting needles so I was able to lay out my "shawl". It is only 27" in diameter at present and I couldn't fully pin it out, but here is what it is looking like at present.

 

I think I am learning a lot from making this shawl, but it is not turning out as well as I had hoped. I think next time I will put more mesh between motifs (and maybe stagger them rather than letting them be so even across the rows of the shawl.)

Doily Update

This will probably be the last picture of this doily for a really long time.  Every time I transfer it to other needles I drop stitches and I just don't have enough circulars the right size. Alas I have only done half the rows (which means 1/3 of the knitting - if you use your πrsquared  formula!!) Anyway here is the dandelion and you can see the little hanging flowers on either side (sort of.)  I'm putting a lotus above the dandelion and Glöckchen above hanging flowers, so this will be a veritable garden of Niebling motives!

Quick Update

The iris along the driveway are beginning to bloom. Spring is finally here.

As far as incidental projects, well I've been spinning cat hair again. I had to knit something with it to see what I thought and here is the beginning of a doily called Glockenblume.

 

It's about 7 inches in diameter right now and of course I am now out of "yarn" on row 20. I wonder how much more I can harvest before I have a bald kitty!

State of the Lace

So, I'm just about through with the first design. (The other one will go on a few more rows. I'm not sure what I am going to do now, but I thought looking at what I have might help. I'm binding off the  Fuchsia part of the pattern and will then pick up stitches to continue with the next pattern motif (haven't chosen one yet.)
 

I pinned part of it out on a cushion. I'm working on a dandelion flower  (Left side of image about 9:30) - It's just about to branch out into the blossom - or maybe the ball part.  Here is a close up of the Fuchsia part (which is done.)

My Combination Doily

 

It seems I am combining the patterns Dandelion and Hängeblume and not Schlüsselblume - Whoops - so it is a bit different than I expected, but here is what it looks like at 14" (about row 56)

Knitting Update Löwenschüssel

My Niebling-modified doily is coming along. I have knitted about an 8" diameter piece now. Here is a real picture of what it looks like.

On the Rack!

I am dressing my recent doily by Niebling - the so-called Trollblume.


It's 32 by 22 inches.

It turns out that I pinned it out upside down. Here is the finished version unpinned:

Trollblume Chart A finished

I think I'm using needles that are too small, but here is my Trollblume done through chart A.

Experimentation

After having knitted so many other people's patterns, I decided I would play with making my own. Although it looks exactly like Myra Wood's free form lace, it isn't really. I actually drew up a plan and hoped that I would produce something organic and curvy.

The product however is less than pleasing to me. It looks very eratic and poorly planned.

Here is a larger version done with a flash. You can see the beads better and the "pattern".  The cabled movements of stitches to broaden the swing of the ssk / knit two together lines has not worked too well, and I will have to figure out another way to do this (Maybe try it on the purled row instead of the pattern row.)

I guess I still have a long way to go to become a Herbert Niebling: