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.

Sternzopf again!

I test knitted yet another version of Sternzopf for someone and here is the finished piece. I'm not sure if I did the best job of blocking, but it definitely looks different fromthe two prior versions!

Recent Niebling Piece

Just finished my second version of Herbert Niebling's Sternzopf. Here's what it looks like.

Here's the first version. Not a very good picture of it alas!

Miscellaneous Activities

Today I don't feel so well. We've had three solid days of meetings and I was really looking forward to having some fun today, but it just wasn't meant to be. Basically I sat and watched tv and tried to keep my stomach calm. This blog is comprised of a variety of small activities that I have done intermittently over the last week or so.

I'm thinking a lot about my Renaissance festival costume. I have the base, but still need a wide assortment of pieces to complete the look. I've been doing some reading and had no idea there were so many decisions to make about sleeves, undersleeves, shifts, petticoats, farthingales, etc.  I have made a decision about my frontpiece and sleeves. Here is the fabric I have bought.

 

Now I need to decide how many underskirts. I am seriously considering putting my farthingale hoops directly into my chemise because who needs to be wearing four skirts in mid August!? In fact I'm thinking of just using a so-called bum roll for now and doing away with the hoops altogether. Somehow I just don't see how you can maneuver the farthingale in a porto-potty!

So, while I'm trying to commit to a decision, I started lace for my sleeves (which I can't make my mind up about either!! -Slashed? Cuttes? turned up? etc.)

I realize lace at the time was not knitted, but this is something I can do in my spare time, so I decided to go for it. (The picture should be just about accurate size-wise).

Then there's the carrot. I had to make chicken soup because my tummy has been acting up. I was fascinated by our carrots (which had evidently been in the fridge longer than I thought.)


It's beautiful in an odd and pathetic sort of way!



My mindless knitting has been a knit one below afghan using the techniques I learned from Elise Duvekot. I goofed and had to do a square between two other squares and decided the seam looked really bad. Of course I decided to rip it out and do it over. Can you tell which is which?

Here's a detail so you can see it better. I just didn't join the left squares to each other very well.

 

So after watching most of a season of In Treatment and knitting, here is what i have (each square is roughly 4 inches square). Of course this attempt to use up yarn has lead me to order more on-line so that I can actually do something useful with this.

This attempt to use up my stash just never seems to work!

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!

Doily Update

The bind off is complete - Next I'll pick up stitches and continue on with a new pattern. It looks weird!

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.

New Knitting Project

What is it? You tell me- It is about 5 inches in diameter and a mish mosh of patterns. I wonder if it will look like anything! I'm calling it Lion Bowl Löwenschüssel.


Here's a computer manipulated version to guess what it might look like right now!

Vampire W(h)ine - On the Rack

Okay - it is pinned out and will come with me to Chicago for Stitches Midwest. (Hope it dries in time!) Here are some pics!

Shawl Update

Just a quick update. I'd lost my (photo) card reader, so I haven't posted for a while! It doesn't matter though, I've mostly been working on the edging of the shawl. I have not pinned it out, so you can't see the points on the edging at all, but still one can get an idea of what it is going to look like.


You can see that at least one member of the family likes it. I am 11/16 of the way around and racing to get it done in time for Stitches Midwest at the end of the month. (I'm also really not looking forward to dressing it- There are hundreds of points on that edging and every single one will need a pin! I may have to do it in sections!

Oh and what the heck is this? I was digging in my garden and I unearthed this: about 2 inches by one inch and scary because it squirmed!


I'm guessing maybe it is a Cicada pupa because of the green, but the internet seems to suggest it's a moth. This one's a gypsy moth. So maybe mine's a luna moth. I couldn't find anything quite like it on the net.




So what would you do with something like that? Me, I buried it again. I didn't know what else to do with it.

Edging for Shawl

I'm definitely not happy with this edging - nor with the beads. I'm considering ripping the whole thing out and starting over. I'm doing far more repeats per section than I should be doing according to the pattern, ( I think I should be skipping every other stitch when attaching, but I'm not sure the edging would take that much stretching.) The beads are BORING too just in a basic row. I've done a good 8 hours of work on this much of the edging but if I can stretch it out twice as far (by starting over, then it would be worth ripping out), since I will take a lot less knitting (but then it might look too stretched out for the shawl.)

Here is a closer view, but unless you click on the image to enlarge it, you can't really see the beads in the photo. I hate the outer edge (that I redesigned) too - It looks sloppy - I may need to take a break from this project and reevaluate it later - I'm not sure I have a level perspective at the moment.

Progress on the Vampire Shawl

April 25 - About44-45" wide Middle of the ribbon

Progress on the Shawl

Here is how it stands at the end of the first chart. I like it

What's On the Needles Now

I've started two shawls. Here is MMario's Vampire W(h)ine:


I'm only on row 35, but it is coming along. Currently 240 mm (9.5 inches) in diameter. Since there are 225 rows without the edging, this will probably be a pretty large shawl (and I will run out of yarn before it is done!!) It will be more than 5 feet in diameter when done before the edging if size is consistent with what I have done thus far!! The yarn is KnitPicks gloss.

The other shawl is a Niebling variation called Frosted Ferns,

Update on Possum Shawl

Since I want a long triangular shawl and my pattern is a shorter oval, I am left to having to modify the pattern.  Here is what I have done so far (Not my favorite) but I think the long lines will be on the shoulder and thus not too obvious, I am getting ready to go back to figurals in the next few rounds.

And just for good measure, here is the new dog:

I'm glad I was able to get a picture without all the bulldog slobber all over him!

Rose Trellis Shawl Now Blocking

So here is the self-designed Rose Trellis Shawl. It's not perfect, but you can see the leaf and flower motif.

Click on the images for a larger view.

Shawl is Blocking and Drying

Whose shawl is this anyway?

I finished the edging last night and all that is left is the blocking.

I set out my blanket on the bed and started pinning the shawl out.

I'm very glad I skipped a couple of the middle clues because it turned out enormous. I couldn't even fit it all on the bed and had to find a chair for one wing of the shawl.

The shawl measures 114 inches across (almost 10 feet or roughly 300 cm) and it is 57 inches long. It will drag on the floor I fear when I wear it!

Unfortunately my blocking blanket has a strong pattern so it is difficult to see the shawl pattern, but here is a closer look at the pattern. The beads are much more prominent in real life! (almost too much so!)  You can click on any picture to enlarge it!