Swallowtail Shawl is Blocking

I've been puttering away on a Swallowtail Shawl since February when I started it while we were in South Padre Island. This pattern was the first lace pattern I had ever knit back in 2008 and I was pretty pleased with the results back then.

I was so close to finishing this second one, that I decided to just put a push on and get the rest of it finished. Last night I nervously bound it off only having 2.4m of yarn left at the end. Phew!

It's blocking now and I'm very pleased with it so far. I used Zealana Ora Kiwi fingering yarn which has 40% Fine New Zealand Merino, 30% Organic Cotton, 30% New Zealand Possum Fibre in the Fern colourway.

It measures 60" along the hypotenuse and 30" down the centre 'spine'. I used 4.5mm needles for a nice, open lacy look. I really like the Lily of the Valley nupps (rhymes with 'hoops').

There are basically three sections to the shawl: Budding Lace (14 repeats for the small size, 19 repeats for the large size), Lily of the Valley border (mirror images are graphed) and the Peaked Edging. 

I added clear glass 6/0 beads using the crochet hook method to the peaked edging on the single knit stitches between the two yarnovers.

The stretchy bind off is explained well in the pattern.

Blocking is very easy. I just run the wires through the eyelet along the 'hypotenuse' and then through the points of the peaked edging. I also ran a wire through the eyelet down the 'spine' of the shawl.  I spent some time measuring and adjusting so the two sides of the shawl are pretty close in dimensions.

I hope it dries quickly because it's blocking on Scooter's bed and he'll be arriving for the weekend this evening.  I'll take some arty photos of it tomorrow once it's off the wires.

Ravelryversary

Sunday was my 3 year Ravelryversary. I almost missed it!

I finished the Sweet Eleanor hat. I'm not sure it would look that great on me (I don't really like hats that flatten my hair) but I like how it turned out.

 

The pattern was well-written and easy to follow - as long as my sticky note didn't fall off the chart.

I particularly like how the top looks like a star.

Another UFO finished.

One Last Look

I picked up my items from the Brooklin Fair last night. I almost forgot all about picking them up but remembered just in time. When I got there, the arena was completely empty except for a small pile of forgotten items. Fortunately, someone had put all of my items in a bag and they were just sitting on the floor waiting for me. Here are the entry tags with my prize stickers.

I'm pretty happy with that.

Spinning @ Gemini Fibres

Yesterday I made the very pleasant drive up to Mount Albert to attend a Spin In at Gemini Fibres.  There were 6 of us, including the proprietor, Tanis. It was very relaxing sitting around, yakking and spinning. I also met Emily, who is now a new Ravelry friend.  I enjoyed dedicating the time to finishing spinning the Ashford merino/silk fibre that I had purchased last October at the last spinning event I attended in Campbellford. I am using a borrowed wheel and had only half-finished spinning the fibre so I wanted to get it finished in case the owner wants her wheel back sometime soon. I got a lot done at the Spin In but finished the spinning later last night and got the plying done this morning. The result is 92g and 243yd. of mulberry-coloured loveliness. (If I do say so myself)

I also bought some fibre while I was there.

On the left is some Louet Merino/Silk in Princess Blue (more denim-coloured than the photo shows). On the right is some more Ashford Merino/Silk in Peppercorn. I'm trying to break out of my blue and purple fixation so a nice green with flecks of orange and black were my attempt at that.

And now back to my knitting...

I Got First Place!!!

At our last Trillium Embroidery Guild meeting, an invitation for two to the Brooklin Fair Sponsors' Wine and Cheese was won by my stitching and knitting friend, Jennifer. She invited me to attend last night with her. I got to not only sip wine and nosh on cheese and crackers but also got to find out the results of my entries in the Homecraft competition.

I was very pleased that every one of my knitted entries won a prize. Four of them won second place and my Moose in Winter mittens won First Place in the 'Mitts' category.

Here they are again. I like the way the palm pattern continues up the thumb.

And the two backs of the mittens.

I 'friended' the designer, Jorid Linvik, on Ravelry and will be telling her that her design (and my execution) won first place.

I was a bit miffed when I learned that I was only going to get a sticker on my entry tag; no rosette - no ribbon at all (sniff!!).

Another surprising thing was that this toque....

Won over this (my) tam in the Adult Hat category.

AND the toque had a pom-pom for Pete's sake!

Oh, well.


Generally, I was pleased with the results of my first time ever entering a Homecraft competition.

One very cool thing I saw was a knit wall hanging that was comprised of garter stitch squares knit and pieced together by ten Grade 4 and 5 students from a local elementary school.

(click on the photo to enlarge) I just noticed the tractor in black on the bottom left. It incorporates the theme of this year's fair "Put the Spring in Your Tractor".

Today I finished the first Filigree sock. I decided to do a solid star toe rather than the graphed two-colour toe.  The pattern wasn't at a good spot when I had to start the toe so the top of the toe (instep side) would have looked a bit strange when I interrupted the pattern to start it.

I think the solid toe looks just fine.

These Tanis Fiber Arts Hand Painted Fingering Weight yarns are very nice. If I switch the dark and light colours, there will be more than enough to knit another pair of socks.

Filigree Socks Update

I seem to have recovered from all the activity from the weekend. Tonight I'll find out what the judges thought of my Homecraft items at the Brooklin Fair.

I have made some more progress on the Filigree socks. Only a couple more inches before I start decreasing for the toe. The pattern even has a chart for the toe with an option to do a star toe. I haven't decided what I'll do yet. This is what it looked like last night.

And now...

This pattern is awesome for handpainted sock yarns. You can buy the pattern here.

Getting ready for the Fair

I have decided to enter 5 knitted items and my yarny Christmas wreath in the 2010 Brooklin Spring Fair Homecraft Competition for judging. I've never entered the Homecraft competition of a fair before but I've often wondered how to go about doing it.

The Homecraft Prize Booklet was available at all branches of the public library and a weed and feed store. The entry form deadline was April 23. A couple of weeks later I received my entry tags in the mail.

For the knitted items, I am required to attach yarn samples of at least 4 inches in length. It took me a while to locate the left-over yarn (and I fudged on one of them) but I'm all ready to go.

These are going to be my entries:

1. Adult graphed sweater knit - Icelandic Star sweater knit with Cascade 220 yarn.


















2. Adult cardigan - Must Have Cardigan with Patons Classic Merino Wool.

3. Adult hat - Brooklyn Tweed's Beaumont Tam using Alpakka yarn.

4. Mitts - Moose in Winter designed by Jorid Linvik using Sisu sock yarn

5. Any item not mentioned - Knit -- Evelyn A. Clark's Angel Lace Shawl.

6. Christmas wreath.

I didn't get Skip's St. Moritz sweater done in time. I wanted to do a good job rather than rush through and possibly make a heinous mistake so I substituted the Icelandic Star cardigan instead. I'll be surprised if I win anything for that but it was worth a shot.

I'm submitting them tomorrow evening. They will be judged on Thursday from 11am to 6pm. At 6pm Thursday, I'll find out if I win anything. Keep your fingers crossed!

The fair runs from June 3 - 6, so if you're going through the Homecraft section, keep an eye out for my items.