Too Close for Comfort

I just finished casting off the Gail shawl and only had this much yarn left!
Eeeeeeek!

Lots of Lace

I thought I'd knit a Citron shawl to go with my little black dress (LBD) on my upcoming cruise. We will be at sea for 17 days and have 3 formal nights. I actually have 2 neutral dresses that I'm taking, the LBD and a grey sequined shift. I'll also be taking an array of shawls/stoles to wear with them.

I picked up a couple of skeins of luxurious Estelle Baby Silk Lace - 70% Baby Alpaca, 30% Mulberry silk. It feels a lot like Classic Elite Silky Alpaca Lace. (Sorry about the crappy photos)
My rule of thumb about knitting lace is look at the recommended needle size on the ball band and go up two sizes. It recommended 2.75mm needles so I used 3.5mm. After 4 repeats it was confirmed that the gauge was not big and lacy enough and the resulting shawl would be way too small. I could knit another skein's worth but I really didn't like the look of it that much. It wasn't 'airy' enough for a tropical cruise.
So I started again with 4mm needles and knit almost as far again. Again, I really didn't like the look of it.

What to do. What to do.

Then I remembered that I had a Gail/Nightsongs shawl that was almost finished. In fact, I only had one repeat to do before starting the edge chart.
Fortunately, the lace was easy to read so I could find my place on the chart without too much trouble. I really like Jane Araújo's designs. I've knit her Dianna shawl several times and this is the second Gail/Nightsongs shawl I've knit (I frogged the other one before finishing it). But her charts SUCK!!!!! I had to read the discussion boards on her group on Ravelry to figure out how to make the transition from the main chart to the edge chart.

Only after having the instructions clarified did I discover that I was going to have to 'tink' back 1,500 stitches (6 rows @ 250-ish stitches per row)!!! I was not amused but I soldiered on (or back, I guess) and un-knit the lace. Once that was done, I found someone else's chart that made sense and carried on. I'm only 2 rows away from casting off. I'll be adding beads along the penultimate row. I'll be close to the end of the yarn when I cast off but I've weighed what is left and am pretty sure there will be enough.

I really LOVE the Handmaiden Sea Silk yarn. It's the Pansy colourway with greens, blues and purples.
It's going to look spectacular once it's blocked (if I do say so myself - ahem). The only modification was that I knit a stitch between the two yarnovers in the centre. I didn't like the look of the big hole two consecutive yarnovers caused in the original version.

I found my sock blockers!! (They had been eluding me since I returned from Florida). I got a shot of the socks that I test-knit back in the new year. These are my February and March socks for our Pull Up Your Socks group.
They have been hand washed and the yarn did felt a wee bit but the lace stitch pattern is still discernible.

I also got a shot of the garter rib sock, my April sock.
Its mate is nearing completion. I'm working on the foot now.

One of my BFFs (Best Fibre Friends), Marion, finished a circular shawl using the same Handmaiden Sea Silk yarn. I offered to block it for her so here it is in its 'blob' state.
Here's a closeup on the lace detail and beading.
It's going to be awesome once it's blocked.

I also still have my grey Rose Trellis Stole to block now that I've finished the leafy border.

Baby Chalice Blanket

I finished this baby blanket back in February when I was in Florida.

It's the Baby Chalice Blanket, a free pattern by Lykkefanten. I used
253g of Tivoli Classical DK - a washable wool blend, about 600m. I cast on 131 sts for this size.

I finally got it blocked.
Here's a closeup of the pattern.
It blocked out to 36" x 36".


I have enough extra yarn to knit another one.

Garter Rib Sock

I like a ribbed sock. I like the way it hugs the ankle and leg. I designed this one to have something easy for social knitting and whilst in the car. This one is my April sock in our Pull Up Your Socks group for 2011 where we are knitting a sock a month. I have its mate OTN and am now working on the decreases for the foot.

The yarn is Punta Merisock. I really like the colour. I couldn't find my sock blocker so I just bent a wire coat hanger into a sock shape.
Basically, I cast on 72 sts and ribbed k3, p1 for 18 rounds. You can cast on any multiple of 8 for a larger or smaller sock. Then I *knit one round then a k3, p1 round. Repeat from * for 7" - 8".For the heel flap, I knit my favourite "Eye of Partridge" heel as follows:

Put half the stitches on one needle and the rest of the stitches on the other needle(s).
Row 1: *sl1, k1 repeat from * to the end of the row. Turn.
Row 2: sl1, purl to the end of the row. Turn.
Row 3: sl1, *sl1, k1, to the last st, k1. Turn.
Row 4: repeat Row 2.

Repeat these 4 rows until the heel flap is 2" long or desired length.
End with a wrong side row.
Row1: (RS) sl the first st knitwise then, knit across to one stitch past half way. K2tog, k1. Turn.
Row 2: Sl first st purlwise and purl back 5 sts, p2tog, p1. Turn.
Row 3: Then, sl 1st st knitwise and knit to one st before the 'gap' . Knit the two sts together on either side of the gap, then k1. Turn.
Row 4 and all wrong side rows: repeat Row 2
Continue working Rows 3 & 4 until all sts have been consumed ending with a right side row. Do not turn.

Pick up and knit the sts at the side of the heel flap, work the instep sts in the pattern with other needle(s). With the heel needle, pick up and knit the sts on the other side of the heel flap. You are now ready to begin the decreases for the gussets.

Knit to the last 2 gusset sts and k2tog. Knit across the instep sts in pattern. Ssk the first 2 sts of the other gusset and knit across the rest of the sole sts.

Continue working the instep sts in pattern.

Knit the 'sole' sts until the last two sts then repeat from * above until you have decreased the desired number of sole sts to match the instep sts.

Continue knitting the rest of the foot by working the instep sts in pattern and knitting the sole sts until a couple of inches short of your big toe. (Just past my bunion in my case). Then start the toe decreases on the instep sts as follows.

Round 1: *k1, ssk, knit to the last 3 sts of the instep sts, k2tog, k1. Repeat from * on the sole sts, to the end of the round.
Round 2: Knit all sts.

Repeat these decrease rounds until there are 32 sts (16 instep sts and 16 sole sts). Then work Round 1 of toe decreases until there are 16 sts (or 12 sts if you need a bit more length) altogether; half of the sts on one needle and half on the other. Graft the toe closed.

A Collage

Skip and I drove through 9 states on our return from Florida: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York.

Here was our route. Why did we go so far east in NC? We stopped in to visit our friend Nick and his two kids, Sophie and Bennett. Last time we saw Nick was about 6 or 7 years ago when he came to visit us during a business trip to Ontario. The last time we saw Sophie and Bennett, was 1997 during a visit to NC. Bennett was about 4 months old.

We had fun stopping at information centres as we entered each state. I guess we missed GA and PA.

Sock Catch-Up

I am finally getting around to posting some pics of my February and March socks. I have misplaced my sock blockers so for now, these photos will have to suffice.
I used KnitPicks Chroma sock yarn in the Midwinter colourway.
The yarn is a bit fuzzy but very nice to work with.
It's a pattern that I test-knit but haven't been give the go-ahead to reveal the name or the details.
I was very glad to have them in Florida for those few cool days at the beginning of our visit. I also wore them the last two days of our trip home.
It's good to be home.

Our Environs

While in Florida, we've been staying in a 'manufactured home' community. On our daily walk, we go to a small pond and check out the turtles and mallard ducks that resided there. As soon as we show up, the turtles all come swimming over.

I like to think they're saying 'hello' but I think they really think I'm going to feed them. There is a sign posted that says not to feed the wildlife and to beware of the poisonous snakes. Ewww!

A mama mallard takes care of her 10 ducklings. There are 4 drakes that hang around but she's the only female. We walk over every day to take a headcount of the babies. (click on the photo to enlarge to count them yourself)
I could sit and watch them for hours as the little flotilla swims around the edges of the pond. There are always a couple of stragglers. In this video, the last couple of stragglers seemed to almost run on the surface of the water to catch up to the group.

I went back yesterday to take a headcount and they're down one duckling. It's the first casualty since they were born a couple of weeks ago. Mama's been doing a very good job of taking care of her brood.

The bottle-brush trees (aka Callistemon) are in full bloom now.They're at the same stage here as they were a couple of weeks ago when we were in Sarasota.

Skip's new camera takes great macro shots. You can see the yellow pollen on the tip of each of the 'brushes'. The bees love the pollen. Unfortunately, my allergies do not love the pollen and I've had allergies on top of a wicked cold for the past couple of days.Something I've never seen before is amaryllis in bloom in the ground. At home we force one or two bulbs to bloom around Christmas time. Here, they bloom with no apparent effort.
In knitting news, I have finished the lace stole and am now knitting on a border. I had only 60" (150cm) of yarn left after casting off, so am using the second ball for the border. I'm using the border from Eunny Jang's "Print o' The Waves" stole.
The unblocked stole is 62" long. I'm guessing it will block to about 78".
I'm sure it would have been plenty wide enough without the extra border but I had the extra skein of yarn so 'what the heck'.Right now it doesn't look all that impressive but I'm sure once it's blocked, it will look very spiffy.