squeee!!!!! bumper sticker hides sin!

what I mean by that is:
a few months ago an evil bad do-er 'hit and run' me on my Kymco. leaving me with a broken foot & several mean ol' scratches on my baby jewel.......it was a sin!! It has put a black eye on what was just a beautiful scooter..(still is....but still)

Well, I received this bumper sticker for free that advertises my business & it just fits over some of the mean ol' scratches. :o) An added unexpected plus.....take that evil person!

she is finished!!!

for the past few days (and I stretch it not. It only took a few days) I have been knitting this jewel from "Victorian Lace Today" (one of my favorite lace books). Shoulder Shawl in Syrian Pattern (Rav link)

UNBLOCKED it is wider than I am tall. I can not believe how big this thing is. When I started out I wanted to make sure I used the whole skein so I did just that & ended up using a couple hundred yards finishing and putting a nice frilly crochet edging on it. I am pretty happy with it & I can't wait to see what it looks like blocked...but I dread doing the blocking. I just know I don't have enough pins as it is, and Lord knows I don't have enough wires...but I'm gonna try to "Hugh it up" and make it work *reference to my Daddy & how he can make anything work for him with just a little time & sometimes some duct tape* 

 

of lace knitting and happy gyms

the day before yesterday I started the Shoulder shawl in Syrian Pattern (Rav link)

I started out with 1 stitch and now I'm over 300 stitches. I can't wait to see it all frilly and blocked out instead of clumped up like that is as you are knitting it, you know?

and yes. I love it even with the mistakes I made. It's what makes it mine. It's not perfect.

In other news, I am having to send my Nutri-system food back 'cause my tummy hates it. (sad face here). but I did get the joy of going into the gym again today. I'm still not feeling 100% after everything, but at least I went & I'm so thankful the gym is nice and clean and cool!

a look at yarn

today I want to finish up my pictures (and show and tell) about different gauges and types of yarn used to create an item.

For me, The yarn size needed has always been open for suggestion. As long as you get gauge you are good. But, if I want a sturdy lace or a thin lace there are of course a difference in what I use

notice in the pictures above that this yarn would make a really good thicker weight shawl that would hold up to machine washing and hard labor and stand the test of time...you will see in the picture above how I do my last stitches. I don't thread them in until after I've finished blocking my project so that if I need more yarn to stretch I have it and don't have to worry about tightness in the yarn.

you will notice in the last picture my life line. Yes. I even do them with swatches. It helps me keep track of where I am in the repeat.

 unblocked v's blocked of the same yarn and repeat

 prime example of dk weight yarn v's laceweight yarn. Same pattern same number of repeats. Eventhough the curves of the lace don't seem as pronounced on the lace weight, I would prefer to knit this pattern in the laceweight simply because I love the delicate road you can see in the pattern, unless I was knitting for warmth in colder weather or something to hold up to machine washing (I never machine wash my laceweight yarn no matter if it says I can or not. I'm just  not that trusting of my machine)

in the 2 pics above you see how I use lifelines and stitch markers. I normally use stitch markers made of straws and opposite color of yarn, but this color of straw is all I had so there you go.

I  used a bright pink yarn to thread thru the last repeat of my 1st chart and that way if I need to tink back I don't have to do the whole thing over, just down to my life line. I made only 1 lace project without them, and I never made that mistake again....ever.

lifelines. Yeah. That's what they are. AKA How TO Monday on Thursday

If you are doing a new pattern, or a new repeat, or knitting something difficult, or especially with lace knitting life lines are a must have. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, a simple strand of any yarn any other color than what you are using in your product & the willingness to thread it thru the stitches or to learn how to thread them. Some people (like me) have needles that all you have to do is thread the base of the needle *and carefully remove stitch markers as you go* and then when you are at the end of the row it's already threaded.

Sometimes it seems that's all I'm doing is threading lifelines, but they really are life lines to keep you from messing up and tinking back any further than the repeat that you need to fix........and if you have to work on a certain section, then you can pin the stitches as you go down and pin the open stitch. Fix the error, go back & reknit up to your current row and go. (another day another time for that).

life lines are so worth the time. do it.

SURPRISE WINNER!! Knitwear Design Workshop

for my Facebook 'likes' I held a drawing for
Knitwear design workshop

CONGRADS TO BURROW!!!

please forward me your addy (you can send it via message on facebook)!!! congrads!

number picked by random number generator at
www.random.org

winner for our Jane Austen Knits summer 2012

Please contact me with your email information so that I can send you the digital copy!

winner chosen by random number generator at www.random.org