Braided Mischief

Okay, let's get this bit over with...I sent my lovely Deep off to Rowan yesterday, it's all out of my hands now. One thing which struck me as odd was they didn't ask for ball bands or proof of purchase or anything, oh well, they're the experts. I'll keep you posted.

In other knitting news I have finished a lovely present for my husband. No false modesty here ;-) Well, I say it's for my husband, it's a unisex style. As I was saying at the knitting meetup on Sunday- first up, best dressed!

It's Braided Mischief by Teva Durham from Scarf Style. I didn't knit it in multiple strands of tweed as recommended, I knitted it in a single strand of Debbie Bliss Maya, from getknitted. It is very long because I used three full hanks. I could have stopped sooner and it would have been long enough, but then I would have been left with oddments of the yarn just sitting there, taking up space. OMG, this yarn diet has really gone to my head!

It's a warm yarn to start with, and the basket-weave type cable pattern makes it even warmer. Good job J likes walking up chilly hills and braving exposed sea fronts. It is May after all. The reason this is for him is because he loved the Wavy scarf I did him in a different colour of the same yarn last year. Health to wear it.

And the shawl? The shawl is coming on just dandy. In fact if we hadn't been out enjoying the music of Dick Gaughan, folk singer, last night, I may have had two finished objects to show you. Watch this space over the next few days, I'm aiming for the weekend for proper pix. x K

Lovin' this brooch as a clasp for my Deep.
Got lots of compliments and sympathy at today's Glasgow knitting meetup at the Tramway. Thanks folks. :-)

Bought this brooch at Creative Stitches and Hobbycrafts last October. Sorry, can't remember the stallholder's name at present.

Another ball down the line. Ball one gave me seven rows of leaves, ball two just three. Up to row 100 now and 207 stitches. Starting to sweat now as I've only got one ball left. May be end up a "shawlette".  

Thank-you and boo-hoo.

Thank-you very much for al l the lovely comments about my Deep bolero, you are very kind.
The bad news is I'm going to have to send it off to Rowan for investigation because of the colour loss.
I'm not looking forward to this at all, but I'm trying to look on the bright side- guess it hasn't been weather for a summer top anyway, and won't be anytime soon.
They say that if there is a major problem with it they will refund the cost of the yarn and either give me a voucher as a good-will gesture, or my cardie back.
I want my cardie! I spent plenty of time on that and don't want to say goodbye so soon!
I won't get a chance to send it off for a few days anyway, but I'll keep you posted on the outcome.

To keep my mind off it, I have been....knitting, wouldn't ya know? I decided on some Rowan Kid Classic as the yarn of choice for my non-babyish version of the Fibertrends Lace Leaf Shawl. I enjoyed working with this yarn when doing Emmeline last year and I think I have enough in the stash. The good thing about starting with just a few stitches and then building up is that if you run short of yarn, or think it's big enough, or get bored, you can stop. At the moment, after one ball, it is "kerchief" size, but I'm definitely up for keeping going for a good while yet.
I am really enjoying this pattern, and am finding the chart straightforward to follow. I was never a great chart-lover, but I'm really warming to them.
One thing I love about this pattern is that it tells you exactly what to do, it doesn't make assumptions and it doesn't do that thing where lace patterns say something like, "if you do not have enough stitches to work the double-decrease then do not work the corresponding yarn over" and stuff. It tells you exactly how to work the edge stitches, which is just what I need.
Really enjoying it so far, and full of bright ideas for my Rowan International Hearth and Home exchange.
Thanks again for the lovely comments about Deep.

This (tiny version of Leaf Lace Shawl- the nearest thing I come to a swatch.) 

plus this (Rowan Kid Classic in purple, from Stash) 

equals this! One ball into Lace Leaf Shawl by Evelyn Clark at Fiber Trends. 

Now all we need is a summer

Ha, ha!
I have finished my first ever Rowan design completed while the magazine was still current!
Usually I am about five seasons behind. This featured in Rowan 39, Spring 2006 can you believe, and was designed by the former Rowan consultant at my local department store, Carol Meldrum. Now if Carol was still there she might have something to say about my (whisper) colour loss problem.

This is me at long last in my Deep bolero which probably only dried out because of my breath over it every two minutes to see if it was ready yet.

It was knitted on 4mm and 5mm needles as specified in the shades
Cape(6) , Ghost(1), Powder(1), Blueberry(1) of Summer Tweed.

It also looks nice closed with a fancy clasp, but for now it can just grip my form. The two sides do meet by the way, in case you're wondering, but it is nice open like in their picture.

At the moment I am ignoring the blue water problem as best I can. ;-)

Deep and a denim gypsy skirt. Summer 2006, here we come!

I added a couple of splashes of different greens here and there from oddments in the stash. This was just for fun, I wasn't running short of yarn. They're only on the front and sleeves. 

View from behind. A bit bunchy, but you get the idea. 

Damp and leaky

Thank goodness I'm not talking about my home, I'm talking about the Deep cardigan.

I can't take any pictures of me wearing it for a while yet as it is still taking its time drying. Unfortunately J was using the sweater airer (you know the wee trampoline thing for over the bath) which means the air can't circulate the same and I'm in for a long wait till it dries thoroughly.

Anyway, this is the least of my worries because the amount of colour which came out in the wash was really excessive in my opinion. It was so bad that one commenter, Jen, thought I had dyed the item myself. No, I'm afraid that was just a fraction of the dye which leaked in the rinsing process! I hand-washed it in cool water in Tesco washing liquid for delicates. I have contacted the yarn manufacturer for advice.

P, one of the members of the Rowan forum I chat on, had a similar problem and it turned out the dye hadn't been fixed properly. She did get satisfactory compension from the maker, but I couldn't face knitting it again. It may never get to that stage, maybe it was just a first-wash thing, or maybe they can tell me what to wash it in to stop any future leakage.

Today's picture is to show you how much yarn I had left when I was finished, thought that might be quite useful for the likes of Carol, who fancied this design herself. I was left with about 10g or so of the main shade and each of the contrasts. (I used a couple of metres max of three tonic colours from the oddment stash.) This could help anyone who is thinking of doing it all one colour calculate yarn amounts. I sewed it up using Rowan Cotton DK because I was sure the Summer Tweed would split when drawing up the slack when doing mattress stitch.

Keep your fingers crossed about my dye problem- this isn't a denim yarn after all!

Deep

DEEP!

Deep, d'ya get it?

Just a quick progress shot on Deep.
Hope to show you pix of me wearing her tomorrow or Saturday at the latest.

I hope to give you plenty of pictures because my next project will be for the Rowan Home and Hearth exchange, and I will have to be quite secretive about that.

So happy it's all done, and pretty pleased with the results.


Thanks very much for all the good wishes, thank goodness the migraine is ancient history now. x K

Read all about it!

Click on picture to big it up. x K

Sunny day= no knitting progress

It was such a glorious day yesterday we went out for a run in the car rather than stay at home doing things like housework and seaming.
We took a ride out to Linlithgow, which I had never visited before, although J had seen it from the train many's the time.
We had lunch and then had a good look at
Linlithgow Palace , birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots, as well as St. Michael's church which dates back hundreds of years apart from the 1960s yes 1960s spire, which I must say looks pretty good IMHO.
We had a lovely 2.3 mile walk round the loch then off to see a prehistoric burial site at Cairnpapple . J has a fascination for standing stones and all that sort of thing, and it was impressive. The views in all directions were amazing. Later in the day I had the migraine from hell, triggered by the bright light, but let's not dwell on that.
Deep still untouched! When it's sunny in Scotland, you gotta make the most of it! 

Old cross well, Linlithgow. I loved this guy carved in the stone. 

Scotland's own Macchu Pichu ;-) 

Cairnpapple Ancient burial site, Torphichen. Older than Stonehenge, according to the Historic Scotland Steward. 

Views out far and wide from every angle from the top of Cairnpapple Hill, near Bathgate, West Lothian. 

Busy tonight? Fancy coming to a seaming party?

Hiya,
Getting towards the closing stages of Deep now, although I don't know if it will be ready to wear to tomorrow's knitting meet-up.
Don't let the photos deceive you, I still have to seam all the pieces together, they're just sitting side by side at the moment.
Before I can do that I have to fix a wee last-minute mistake in the last four rows of the right front, which I did last. I was so engrossed in Green Wing I forgot to REVERSE the shapings for the second shoulder, shouldn't take too long to fix.
I also have to pick up and rib quite a long stretch round both fronts and the back neck in the main colour. I must never underestimate how long it takes for the set up row.

When it's all sewn together I'll show the little contrasts I added to give a tonic. I can see myself wearing this with one of my many denim skirts. If it fits...fingers crossed. x K 

Thank you all very much for your best wishes. We had a lovely anniversary.
Photos of Deep bolero very soon I hope. x K

Two years ago today at a church not far from here..... 

And afterwards in the grounds of the Muirhead Hilton.

Not always this tidy, unfortunately.

Chest of drawers
I've come up with another use for Ivy Bigelow's Midwest Moonlight pattern from Scarf Style.
I started making it in Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere and soon began to realise that the yarn and pattern were not exactly in perfect harmony - the cotton blend yarn was too crisp and lacking in drape for a scarf. (See what happens when you don't swatch....)
I knew I was beat but rather than rip it out I thought maybe it would be more suitable as a mat, so I persevered for a few more repeats and ended up with a rather fetching household linen. I'm sure I'll try the pattern again in the near future in a more appropriate yarn for a scarf.
Incidentally, this is the exact yarn Mrs. Twelfthknit @ Midsummer Night's Knitter ( see sidebar) is using for her top down summer top, if you pardon all the tops. Wonder if we have both been shopping at k1yarns!? (sidebar again)
If you are a regular reader of the Scarf Style knitalong blog you will already have seen this post, almost verbatim. I hear it's good to recycle!

Slanted shapes. On R/S rows you are working in sets of 8, on W/S rows, it's a combination of 9 and 7 stitches. 

The traditional white towel shot.