Quickie

Until the laundry is done, and until I have answered important emails, filled the fridge, and gone through the mail, I won't have time to share with you the highlights of my awesome trip to New Mexico (think: art, food, yarn). For now just a quickie, in form of a photo mosaic:

I Heart Icarus

Yesssssss! It's done. Icarus is fixed. Whew! I took some tons of pictures... here we go:

This baby is big! (94" wide and 51" long, to be a bit more precise.) I tried to take pictures of myself wearing it (so that you can see how big it is), but since I was photographer and model at once, the photos came out, well, poorly:

And here one last shot:

Oh, I'm so pleased with the result! Happy happy happy. :)

Icarus Needs Mending

It should have been an occasion for joyous celebration. And for a while it was: I finished Icarus (sound the trumpets!). I finished the edging, I bound off, I wove in the ends, and then I took a couple of pictures before blocking it. This is how beautiful Icarus was, just a few hours ago:

Gorgeous, right? At least I thought so... I was thrilled... and a little bit pleased with myself... I had met the deadline...

Then I gave the shawl a good soak. In nice, lukewarm water. In soapy water. While Icarus was taking its bath, I covered the living room floor with three large towels. Then I blocked. The shawl grew. 52 inches long, and too wide to measure it with a 60-inch tape. It was beautiful, my Icarus:

But then I discovered this:

A HOLE! Because somewhere in chart three I HAD DROPPED A STITCH THREE STITCHES.

::*?#!f*)a!!::

I realize I need to stay calm and look at this mess tomorrow, when the initial shock will have worn off, when Icarus will have dried, when there will be decent daylight. There's no point in losing my mind over this tonight. I need to take a deep breath; I will be able to fix it.

The question, though: HOW, exactly, DO I FIX THIS?

Le week-end dernier

I watched the lilies bloom.
I knitted many Icarus stitches.
I took my silver clutch and went to a chorus concert.
I finished the first hexagon of the Basalt Tank.

And I learned how to create a photo mosaic:

1) Lilies. Fresh flowers remind me of my mother. She always has several vases around the house filled with them. One thing I immediately noticed when I moved to the U.S. was that fewer people care for fresh flowers. At home we frequently give flowers, certainly at all special occasions, but also when invited to dinner parties or when meeting someone new, and sometimes for no particular reason at all. With the exception of New York City (of all places), I noticed that flowers cost a lot more in the U.S. Hopefully my husband and I will eventually move into a house with a garden; I want a garden to grow my own herbs and vegetables, but mostly I want to plant flowers.

2) Icarus. The past few days occasionally made me think of Penelope, who, after a day's worth of weaving, spent the night unweaving her husband's burial cloth, in order to keep her suitors at bay (whom she promised to face once the cloth was done). Of course, my story is hardly as tragic, although having to tink (to un-knit) provoked a few dramatic scenes (in which I took the part of a sailor, swearing like one). In charts 2, 3, and 4, sequences of "2tog (...) ssk" suddenly become "ssk (...) 2tog," and I missed the change every single time! The shawl has developed its own geography: the pattern has grown little hills on the wrong side. Cute!

3) Sunday. I went to this season's last concert of Coro Allegro, my very favorite classical music chorus that performs several times a year in Boston's Church of the Covenant. Among other pieces by American composers, the chorus's very talented (and hard-working) singers performed Ronald Perera's "Why I Wake Early," which is based on poems by New England poet Mary Oliver and involves frogs, bats, crows, ponds and rain. I loved it!

4) Hexagon. Whenever tinking Icarus became too painful, I did a couple of rows of the Basalt Tank as therapy. The plain stockinette and garter stitches were soothing enough.

New Look

Yes, the look of the blog changed. I liked the old template (Blogger's template "Scribe") but it had a fixed width and I discovered that I like "stretchy" better. So here we go, new look, very clean, all stretchy. The white background is a bit boring, but it will inspire me to post plenty of photos. Here's one, not of yarn or knitting, but of pretty lilies:

I bought those yesterday, along with strawberry ice-cream and sparkling wine. Just trying to make the best of being home alone for a week...

Oh My Goodness, the Goodies!

I can't believe my luck! I clandestinely ordered a few little things while Hubs was still in the house, to be delivered after his departure to conferences in Utah, from that online mega book store that I wouldn't support if it didn't sell most knitting books 30% off (my apologies, favorite independent bookstore; I swear, I buy all non-knitting books at your place! Just last week Monsieur and I bought five books from your beautiful store, among them Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge, to be read and enjoyed on my New Mexico trip. Please, please excuse this little affair of mine with your competitor).

Unbelievable, but the mail man delivered the goodies already this morning! Three gorgeous knitting books. Which ones, you ask? Well, Wendy Johnson's Socks from the Toe Up (reviewed this week by Clara on Knitter's Review, as it so happens), Martha Waterman's Traditional Knitted Lace Shawls, and Nancy Bush's Knitted Lace of Estonia. The excitement doesn't stop here, though, since the mail man also brought something from Oregon: the long awaited Sea Wool, along some Cashlana, both by Fleece Artist. I ordered the Sea Wool several weeks ago, inspired by Clara's review and her suggestion to use it for a Clapotis. Apparently I wasn't the only one to be inspired, since Colorsong Yarns sold out of Sea Wool quicker than I was able to hit the order button. But now it's here: Sea Wool in Aurora, and, as a little extra, Cashlana in Fleur (possibly for a Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf; here is a pretty one, knitted by Carol Ann).

Gorgeous? Gorgeous! Happy? Happy!

PS: This is a test if Monsieur reads my blog. If I don't get in trouble for making secret book purchases, he gets in trouble for not following my knitting blog. If I do get in trouble, I'll blame everything on the need to know if he reads the blog. Terrific plan? I say so. He's a scientist. He knows about the need to know and having to test things and the costs involved in testing said things. :)

The Story of Icarus

...is well known. In spite of his father's warning not to get too close to the sun, Icarus, loving the thrill of flying, soars through the skies. Once he's up too high, the wax melts that keeps his wings' feathers together, and Icarus crashes into the sea. Although this wasn't the intended lesson, today the story is often interpreted to mean that we should know and respect our limits and listen to the advice of those more experienced.

Last week I proudly announced that I had completed all five pattern repeats of my Icarus shawl and was ready for the edging. Pride was my downfall. I hadn't been paying attention to the instructions. Between the five pattern repeats and the edging there were three more charts to complete. I was so excited about my progress I simply miscalculated! Rather than five, I had actually just completed four repeats, and since I was aiming at a total of six repeats, I had two more to do even before moving to the next chart. That was a difference of about 20,000 stitches! Only last night did I start with chart #2--the edging is still many hundreds (thousands, really) stitches away... I don't know if I'll meet my deadline, which is in one week: by then the shawl should be blocked so that I can take it on vacation with me. Don't know if I will make it... Hubs is conferencing all next week and is leaving today, which means I'll have extra time to knit by not making dinner, not talking to anyone at home, not doing dishes or laundry, not cleaning the house... I ordered heaps of movies from Netflix (all those "strong female lead character" movies Monsieur refuses to watch with me). Still, I'm worried. Will I be able to finish? (???)

Have I mentioned with just enough emphasis how much I love the yarn? J. Knits' Lace-a-licious!: I'm in love. It's fantastic to work with and cashmere-soft, the colors are gorgeous, and I'm particularly thrilled about the airy glow caused by very delicate fuzz. And I found it because I was looking for the most affordable lace weight yarn! (1,200 yards of hand-painted prettiness for just under 30 dollars; online it retails for about 25 dollars). Such a find!

Plan, Travel, Knit

Here's an update on those projects I'm planning to knit on my trip to New Mexico. (Mind you, these are not real WIP's yet... this is all part of the planning stage. I haven't actually started knitting yet. Nope.)

One...

Searching for a pattern for those toe-up, two-at-a-time socks, I played around a bit, trying Wendy's Sprucey Lucy design, among other things. However, since I want to take the socks on the plane and don't feel confident memorizing charts (not yet anyway), I ended up frogging and started over again. Inspired by the eyelet columns of the Icarus shawl, I decided on the same columns, with ribbing in between: for 33 stitches across the foot, the pattern is something like this: (p, k, 2tog, yo, k, yo, ssk, k) four times, ending with an extra purl stitch. A real no-brainer. I think it will look nice... the yarn is so pretty, a simple stockinette stitch would probably do the trick as well.

Now that I established the pattern I won't touch those socks until I'm on the plane Friday next week! (Promise! Really! Won't touch... no no no. Memo to self: no!)

...Two...

I figured out (duh!) that reading a chart is much, much easier than following written instructions, simply because the chart gives you a visual clue on what's going on, preventing silliness (i.e., mistakes). So I transcribed the instructions into a chart. Knitting the stole will be a breeze now.

...Three!

I cast on those 212 stitches for the linen tank (Norah Gaughan's Basalt Tank). Using the continental cast on method, the meaning of "measure the yarn, 2 cm per stitch" (for the tail) became clear: I didn't measure, and I met the end of the tail at around 190 stitches. So I cast on again... The yarn is a bit funny to work with, 'cause it has an almost plastic feel to it, but I love the color!

Now that all is good order, I can simply pack those three projects and go to New Mexico! (We'll see how much knitting I'll actually get done on the trip... I have a record of planning which five or six books to read while on vacation, returning home with a bunch of unread books. That reminds me... which books am I going to read on the trip...?)

New Mexico Dreamin'

This blog post is dedicated to my wonderful mom-in-law, who sent me an email this morning saying that she reads (and likes!) this blog and makes all the ladies in her office read it as well. Thank you so much, J. And greetings to the ladies in your office!

My hubs' parents live fairly far from us, and we don't get to see them very often. This year we've been planning a trip for the four of us to different places in New Mexico, where my mom-in-law will paint en plein air (she's a very good pastel artist). I'll knit on her side, and the men will engage in physically more strenuous outdoors activities (or so they say). At night, we'll count stars and share stories... I'm very, very excited about this trip, especially since it's coming up really soon: we're leaving in two-and-half weeks! (I'll get to pop by La Lana Wools! How cool is that?)

For a while now I've been daydreaming about all the knitting I'll get done on our vacation, and I've decided on these different projects that I'll take along:

1) A new pair of socks, toe-up and two-at-a-time (!!!), made with Malabrigo sock yarn in a really cool color (green-blue-purple; the colorway is called Indiecita); 2) the Children of Lir stole I discovered last week, in the purple Malagbrigo Lace yarn I brought back from Ithaca; 3) a summer garment made of a linen yarn.

As for 1) and 2), I couldn't help myself but cast on, just to get a feel for it... Here are a few pictures of my beginnings. Note that for the socks I only advanced as far as the toe caps: I still need to decide on a pattern (help me, please!). I've also done one repeat of the stole pattern to get an idea what it looks like.

I love to work with Malabrigo yarn! Although I must say that hand winding the lace yarn was a bit of a drama that took a whooping two hours. The yarn was full of little knots and a bit fleeced where it had been on the outside of the skein. Maybe that's why it was on sale. My big thanks to yarn stores that let you me use their ball winder and swift!

As for project #3: I've tried to knit one sweater-type garment before, and the result was disappointing (remember the cardigan that came out huge?). Now I'm slightly intimidated to give a second one a shot. However, I really love Norah Gaughan's Basalt Tank, and I have enough of Gedifra Korella yarn to make it. Should I... will I...? I need to build up courage to embark on this little adventure.

Those are the projects I'll be taking to New Mexico with me. I'd like to finish the Icarus Shawl before going there; after all, I had picked the yarn with the colors of New Mexico in mind, envisioning myself wearing it in Taos and Santa Fe... I've made decent progress: I finished five pattern repeats and could start with the feather edging, however, I'll add more pattern repeats before doing so, to make it a really big shawl.

I had a moment yesterday where I felt slightly guilty for casting on and planning three projects while having four or five projects on the needles already. Then I remembered the lady who works at my LYS: she told me she's had 47 projects going at one point. Let's spell this out: forty-seven. FORTY-SEVEN. I gave her a funny look and mumbled that I didn't have that many needles. She laughed and said she had hundreds of needles. Well, I guess, if you work in a yarn shop... How many projects do you currently have on your needles?

New Kittykats

That's what I brought home from Ithaca: five skeins of yumminess, rescued from the sale bin. My husband took on calling skeins little kittykats (WIP projects are, as of this week, our kittens. Please note the plural: our kittens, our kittykats), so here they are, the latest addition to the kittykat bunch:

The Malabrigo lace yarn wants to become a Swallowtail Shawl (if I understand kitty language correctly. I may have misunderstood, and it actually wants to grow into the Children of Lir Rectangle Stole I found in Martha Waterman's wonderful Traditional Knitted Lace Shawls book). The trio of Colinette Parisienne, Colinette Tao, and Rowan Kidsilk were first excited about turning into a normal-sized stole-type-of-creature. However, I think the Colinette siblings went off on their own and decided on a very skinny, diagonal stripy something that could potentially look like this (imagine several feet of it):

In any event, the trip to Ithaca was a success, and not just yarn wise! My grad school business went surprisingly well and the pats on the back that I received motivated me to finish that dissertation ASAP and get on with life. More importantly, my lovely hubs completed another revolution about the sun, and we celebrated with cake, candles, and--it was his wish--plenty of BBQ. (And ice-cream. And flowers. And bubbly. And presents. And all the good stuff.) We were in the company of good friends, which made the day (and the weekend in general) all the more special.

The long six-hour drive between Boston and Ithaca was less boring than normally, thanks to a mystery novel on CD and: knitting! I finished Wendy's lace socks:

Love 'em! I'm eager to cast on another pair of socks, but first I want to make some progress on the Icarus Shawl, which is growing, slowly but steadily.

When I went to the library to pick up the book on CD, I discovered the knitting section for the first time (which was totally bent out of shape. I'm certainly not blaming library staff for the lack of reshelving, but instead I imagine hordes of enthusiastic knitters who passionately pull books off the shelves and, out of excitement, leave the area a bit of a mess. I'm guilty!). I'm just sharing this with you because of the good finds I brought home with me: aforementioned Traditional Lace Shawl book is just the beginning! I also checked out Meg Swansen's A Gathering of Lace and, probably my favorite, Kari Cornell's For the Love of Knitting (not a pattern book, but full of great stories and wonderful pictures). Oh--did I mention that in Ithaca I found Marianne Kinzel's second Modern Lace Knitting for an unbeatable price of one dollar? I was quite pleased with myself. While I'm in love with yarn kittykats, I can't deny that I also love pattern books (and books on knitting). It's 'cause of my love for all things made of paper, books in particular.

And now off to bed (with a good book!). Sorry to have been rambling. Had such a terrific weekend, is all.