Mystic Lights Is DONE!!!

Well it's done and .....they were all right. The shawl really came to life once I started to block it. It's amazing the transformation that it goes through. In the end I'm pretty happy with my end result. I think it was a great introduction to lace and I'm super excited to dive into my next lace project.

Seventh Day Update

A.K.A Wednesday Weekly Whatnot
What’s on my needles? Mystic Lights is…but not for too long. Clue 5 was released today and I’m ready to go. I’m very excited to be finishing this up. It’s not that I don’t like the project because I really am growing to like it very much it’s just that I’m excited to get started on my next project. And since my queue keeps getting larger and larger I’m thinking it’s about time to move one of those projects into a WIP. I also am still trucking along on the basic 8 stitch per inch socks.

Which leads me into…
What’s off my needles? The first of the basic socks socks. I finished the first of the pair and now am working, not all that quickly I might add on the second. But it’s still exciting to have one off the old needles.

... I call him Octoknitter

Tit Knitting!

I've joined a new knit along. I'm a bit late to the start but I think late is better then never. Here's the link. http://www.flickr.com/groups/knit-tit-along/

Finally Coming Around

I'm really starting to come around to my Mystic Lights Shawl. After finishing clue 4 I really am starting to like the progress. I've heard (and read) now numerous times (and from multiple sources) that the lace work won't truly pull together until it is blocked so I'm going to take everyone's word for this and keep trucking along. The good thing I suppose is that I'm starting to love the look even before the blocking....so hopefully I'll be even more ecstatic once that final blocking really shows off all that lace work. At the beginning of this clue I was very intimidated by the patterning on both sides of the piece but I found this to be no more difficult and in fact this clue took me the least amount of time to knit. All in all this has been a great knitting adventure.

What Is IT???

While eating animal crackers at lunch today I stumbled on it. It may not be knitting related but its still kinda fun.

Not so Wednesday but still a Weekly Update

What’s on my needles….

The mystic lights shawl. I’m feeling better about the over all appearance of the shawl. I did get a lot of words or encouragement after I posted clue 3 and that was great. I’ve thought more and more about the project and this being my first lace project so I hope to learn as much as I can from this and take that to my future lace projects. Since I’ve already planned out future lace projects it can’t be that bad right.

My socks, A.K.A the never ending socks, this isn’t a bad thing though. It’s just with the KAL and my desire to stay on track (or my fear of falling behind & never catching up) and that annoying obligation to support my hobby by continuing to go to work each day, I haven’t been able to devote as much time to the socks as they deserve. But they are coming along. I have turned the heel and completed the instep and am now on the straight knit to the toe, and making some good progress too.

What’s off the needles…..

Off the needles??? What is this craziness you speak of? No but really nothing is off my needles.

Favorite things I’ve found this week. I’ve been listening to podcast’s for a couple months now and this past week I went on a search for new listens. I downloaded a bunch new knitting podcast, or rather “new to me”, and found some really great new ones. This week’s new finds are:

Stitch It!!
Knitters Uncensored
Sticks & String

Lots of hard work mixed with a little disappointment

So I’ve finished clue three and it’s feeling a little bitter sweet. I’m finding that I don’t have the stitch definition I would like. I see the other beautiful shawls being posted and I’m a little disappointed with my own. I like the yarn and I highly doubt that the yarn choice is to blame for the lack of stitch definition. I’m pretty sure that my lack of experience is at fault, but this being my first lace experience I’m trying to take it as a learning experience.

Wednesday Weekly Whatnot

Clue 3 is out today. I guess I won’t be leaving the house for the next few days.

What’s on my needles?
Mystic Lights Shawl of course.

My Socks: My first pair of socks; these are the socks in the Dream in Color Smooshy yarn in Happy Forest. The yarn is great, love the colors. I’m making a little bit of progress too. I turned the heel on the first one last night. This being my first time and it being kinda late at night it took a few attempts. At first I struggled at picking up the stitches at the heel flap. So I tried it once, I tried it twice and then finally the correct number of stitches and the spacing looked good, so I was just about to knit the stitches for the instep when it hit me. I had picked up the stitches to the right instead of the left. So after all those attempts I still had to pull out the stitches and try again….on the other side of course.

What’s off my needles?
The Yoga Bag!!!! I finally finished up the Yoga bag and actually used it for class on Monday night. I’m fairly happy with the final result. I’m dissatisfied with the color combination of my mat and the bag. So I think I may buy a new mat (Less time then making a new bag plus I had my eye on a really nice one at the store….) I followed the pattern and used the length suggested for the strap only its too long and too stretchy so I’ll either have to rip back some of the strap to try and make it shorter or maybe re-make the strap or even try and tie it somehow. I’m really not too sure how I’ll solve this problem just yet.

What am I just longing to put on my needles?
I’m just dying to cast on that Shibui self striping sock yarn. I really really want to see how it looks knit up. But I’m going to practice a little self restraint and wait until I’ve finished the Dream in Color Socks before I cast on the Shibui.

Two Down, Three to Go

It’s done!!!

So I’ve finished clue two. It’s getting so large I’m having trouble photographing it, and there’s still three more clues to go! It’s really a beautiful pattern. I can't wait for the next clue...but since I've been neglecting everything else in order to knit this clue its probably a good thing I have to wait until Wednesday.

Wednesday Weekly Whatnot!!

What’s on my needles???

First Clue Mystic Lights KAL

I’ve finished the first clue in the Mystic Lights KAL. The pattern is just gorgeous. I’m finding it’s really slow going and I have to pay extremely close attention but I’m slowly pushing my way through. It’s been a lot of fun too. The second clue was released today so I hope to get going on that real soon.

The Yoga bag’s body is complete. Only I fear it’s falling into the pit of UFO’s. I still need to complete to strap before I can put it to good use. This all seems very familiar….market bag??? Someday I’ll have to spend an entire day just knitting the straps for all the bags I’ve already finished. I feel less guilty about this bag versus the Market bag though because I actually have started the strap and have a good 5 or 6 inches done. Only 23 more to go!! I hope to finish this up before Monday’s yoga class.

The Sock (or someday will be)

I’ve cast on my first pair of socks. I absolutely love the yarn. It’s Dream in Color Smooshy yarn in Happy Forrest color way which is a beautiful array of greens. I’m using the Basic Sock Pattern from the Getting Started Knitting Socks Book by Ann Budd. I’m using the 7 stitch per inch sock directions. I’ve decided to do a K3 P1 pattern, as suggested by Knitty Nora on her Podcast “Knitty Nora’s Knitting Natter”. It’s a nice break to switch from the Lace Shawl that requires so much attention to detail and careful knitting of each and every stitch, to the relaxing laid back knitting of the sock.

What’s off my needles??
Nothing ….just more on my needles.

I did get a new book and it’s fantastic. It’s Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby. I’m looking forward to several of the patterns for future projects.

Yarn Buys:
I got two pretty skeins of ShiBui Sock Fluids in Spectrum 51301 as well as two skeins of Araucania Ranco in teal. I bought both at the Brand New Location just opened today Sit-n-Knit in Bloomfield CT. The store is great!! The new location has a much bigger store and a great new selection of yarns.

SHIBUI

Ranco

And that’s all for this weeks update.