White Diamonds Lace Scarf

It's certainly taken me long enough, but I finally got around to publishing the pattern for the White Diamonds Lace Scarf on my design blog. It's free, so you're welcome to print out a copy and pass it around. Please leave a comment, however, if you do knit it.

You can also access this through Ravelry if you're a member (it's free, so if you're not a member and you knit, you should be!)

Enjoy!

- - - - - - - UPDATE! - - - - - - -

I just figured out how to put the pattern on a pdf file (to open with Adobe or other reader), so I can email it to you if you'd like. Just leave me your email address in the comment box, and I'll send it right off! Unfortunately, I can't upload the pdf to any free hosting sites, because it's too big.

International Scarf Exchange 5

(Special apologies, but I wrote this post for the ISE5 blog, and I'm just too lazy to convert it for this blog. That explains why some of the information is redundant. It doesn't explain why I'm feeling so lazy. Oh well, I'm off to make myself a cup of Earl Grey tea to console myself.)

Well, I finally got around to finishing my pal's scarf. Actually, I must confess that I finished it over a week ago, but haven't gotten around to packaging and mailing it. Bad me! Bad scarf pal!

In my defense, I went on a wonderful scrapbooking retreat (click on this if you want to get extraordinarily jealous of me). Then, there was Veteran's Day, which the post office rightly celebrates (because, as we all know, delivering mail up here in the Frigid North is like waging a daily battle with the elements).

Well, without further ado, here's my scarf (well, my pal's scarf, if I ever get around to mailing it). It's knitted with 100% bamboo yarn from Plymouth Yarn Company (it's Royal Bamboo), and the drape is just delicious. My daughter wears it like royalty, and I'm hoping my pal will feel like a queen with this draped around her neck.

It's my own pattern, and this is the second one I've knitted, but this time I added beads for extra glam. People have asked for the pattern, but I've submitted it to Knitty, so I have to wait to give it out until I find out for sure that they've rejected me. (They seem to like doing that). If you'd like the pattern, keep checking my blog, because I'll be sure to post my rejection there, and then I'll put up the pattern to show everyone that I'm not a complete failure.

One last shot of the edging details. After all, it's the details that we knitters (a-hem, knitters and crocheters, sorry) love. I promise, secret pal, that I will get this in the mail by the end of the week. I promise. If I don't, I won't do any more knitting until it's packaged and on it's way. There. Now I'm sure to get it packaged.

Fall's In the Air

Well, Fall is supposed to be here, but the weather certainly hasn't felt like it. We've had 90 degree temperatures here! I packed up all my summer clothes, expecting the usually chilly, rainy weather, and now we have a heat wave. Figures.

On the other hand, the colors are simply gorgeous right now. Last year, just when the trees started to change their clothes, we got a terrible windstorm that totally embarrassed the trees by making them go bare sooner than expected. But this year . . . Ahhhhh . . . .

I think Fall is my favorite weather. I used to like Spring, until I moved to the Frigid North where Spring doesn't really come. We just go straight from Bitter Cold to Everything's-Green-and-Summer-is-Here. Anyway, the knitter in me and the Hawaiian in me perfectly agree with Fall. The knitter is happy that temperatures are conducive to showing off hand-knitted garments, and the Hawaiian in me is delighted that Dreaded Winter isn't here yet. Perfect Harmony.

Speaking of knitting, yes, I do have knitting to show you! Are you surprised? No? (Disgruntled "ha-rumph") . This is the Easy Flame Lace Scarf that I'm test knitting for Plucky Knitter. I just love the merino yarn she dyed up (you should check out her etsy shop - she's got the most lovely colors and all sorts of yarns!). This scarf was knitted with lace weight yarn, so it's perfect for light-jacket weather. I don't think I'd actually knit this for myself (I'm too impatient to put up with lace weight. I want something FAST FAST FAST!), but I can still appreciate it for others! Anyway, it's done and now just needs to be blocked, and off it goes to it's new owner!

Scarf No. 2 is for my ISE5 pal. I sincerely hope she likes it! It's my own pattern, and I'm using Plymouth Royal Bamboo yarn (yuuuuuuummmm!). I'm doing it exactly the same as last time, but with the addition of beads. I'm so pleased with how well the beads slid onto the yarn this is my first time knitting with beads). I was a little nervous that they'd be too small, or wouldn't fit quite right.

The only thing I'm unsure of is the yarn color itself. I'm not loving it. I wanted a true teal, but this is looking more of a sickly blue/teal color. What do you think? Should I try over-dyeing it for a nicer color, or am I just being finicky? I'm pretty sure bamboo yarn can be re-dyed . . . . but perhaps I should leave well enough alone.

Well, that's all I'm working on right now! (We won't talk about the Bee Fields and Hourglass Sweater. They're on hold, and I'm trying to ignore them staring at me every time I walk by my knitting bag . . .)

Knitting Update - FINALLY!

(Tum-ta-ta-tum-ta-ta-TUUMMMMMMM!) Okay, that's my blogging version of trumpets and fanfare.

Well, you'd think after all that hullabaloo I'd have something truly spectacular to show off, but in reality, I just have some not-so-impressive WIP's (work in progresses, for you muggles).

First off the modeling runway, we have Knitspot's Bee Fields Shawl. I've finished the first chart, and am *almost* done with the second chart. The first part didn't really give me trouble, but the second part was a bit tricky until I got the hang of it. Still, it's not perfect. *Sigh* However, I'm not going to frog it, because I can't really tell where the mistake is. I just hope I don't run into this much trouble with the next section!

This is the first official shawl I've ever knit, and I must say, it's been really enjoyable. The pattern is interesting, and the yarn is fan-ta-bu-lous! For those of you non-knitters (muggles), don't worry about the lumpy factor. Lace always looks lumpy until it's been blocked. Just you wait, it'll look so different after blocking!

Secondly, I have the Hourglass Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. It's a bit boring, since it's all stockinette, but it makes for great TV knitting (even better, since my FAVORITE show, Dancing with the Stars, is on tonight - woo hoo!). I thought I'd be clever and skip the bottom part and do a simple ribbing, but my cleverness gene isn't functioning right now. Unfortunately, the bottom curls up, so I'll have to fold it under and sew it down anyway. So much for being smart, lol!

Finally, I have one sock. Yes, I do have two feet (although perhaps two left feet, hee hee!). I think it'll be awhile before this sock's brother comes along, though. I've got a lot of more important things to knit up, first (sshhhh, don't tell the sock. It might hurt his feelings. Yes, socks are male. They get smelly and have to be tough, and they get walked all over. And don't roll your eyes at me!)

The pattern is my own, and the yarn, Tofootsies, is from my Yarn Fairy Godmother, and it's the BEST sock yarn I've ever gotten my itchy knitting fingers on. Yummmmy! Soooooo soft!

On another knitting note, I am very excited, because I got my pal for ISE5! My pal is a bit hard to figure out, but I think I've got the right scarf for her. I'm planning to knit her the White Diamonds Lace Scarf that I designed, only I'm going to do it in turquoise, and add beads for extra glam.

I was thinking about using some yarn I already had in my stash, but I decided to splurge and get something new. I just love working with Plymouth Royal Bamboo, and they have a great turquoise blue color. Luckily, I even found some for a good buy!

Oh, thanks so much for all the sweet people who have left comments to cheer me up and keep me going. I'm feeling ever so much better today (lots more energy!). You guys (and gals!) are the best!

White Diamonds Photographs

The weather was just beautiful today, so I decided to take some knitting photographs. I think I'd eventually like to submit this pattern for publication, so I figured I might as well have the photos already taken. I'm rather pleased with the results, and I had fun "tweaking" the photos to make them look "just so".
Specs:
Yarn: 4 skeins of Plymouth Royal Bamboo
Needles: Size 5 US
Pattern: My own

Knitting Update

Just a quick reminder that it's not too late to participate in the contest I'm having for my blogiversary!

Awhile ago I started knitting a scarf that I designed called White Diamonds Lace Scarf, and I finally got around to finishing it. I found out that I was one skein too short, but thankfully my LYS still had ONE skein left, and 50% off (woo hoo for sales!).

I blocked it with pins, and that really did open the lace-work up beautifully. I've not done much with lace before, but I've seen on other blogs how much a difference blocking can make, and it was fun to get to see it myself.

The main body of the scarf is a repeated pattern of 28 rows, but the edges have a little more lace of a different pattern. I'm rather pleased with the result, and I'm debating whether I should try submitting it to either MagKnits or Knitty. Hmmm, we shall see. I'm also debating turning the pattern into a stole. That does mean more knitting, though!

(Oh, side note: sadly, I was told that the pattern I wrote called Maunawili Falls Vest was not chosen for the next edition of Knitty, but I'm going to try to submit it to MagKnits next. Keep your fingers crossed for me!)

I finished the first panel of Peter's birthday blanket, and he's already using the long strip to cuddle with. I think it will be a success (in his eyes, I mean), but it's going to take much longer than I had anticipated. There's a lot of cables, and for some reason I didn't realize how much knitting is actually required to make a blanket! Duh, me!

I started the second panel, which is in Peter's chosen color of cream. I'll have to make several panels just like this, because it is evenly interspersed with the green panels. Thankfully this one is knitting up faster, as the cables rows are less often.

And finally, I have the back done on the men's vest. I was anticipating this to be the biggest stretch for this project, and I'm glad the back is "behind me" (hee hee, couldn't resist the bad pun!) It's just simple stockinette, but knitted with size 5 needles, it did take a while.

It is some consolation, however, with how much I love the color of this yarn. It's just the nicest heather I've ever seen, and it took some searching for me to find it! I had originally planned to knit this with Wool-ease or Caron One Pound, but this is the best by far.

Well, I've gotten the scarf done for Christmas knitting, and am plugging away on the rest!

Knitting and Crocheting Updates

After realizing to my horror that my original gauge swatch must have been terribly off, I had to frog this sweater and start over. Thankfully, it seems to be working up much quicker this time, and I only have to knit 3 more inches before separating for the armholes. I love stockinette knitting. I usually work on this while watching TV, and it's fun to finish watching my program, to find that I've magically knitted another 2 inches!

This is the Column of Leaves scarf that I'm still plugging away with. I've gotten the pattern memorized, now, so it's knitting up a lot faster. I just love the color variations in this yarn. I've knitted about 3 feet, and I'm hoping to have enough in one skein to knit an entire scarf. That way, I can use the second skein to knit a matching hat. Wouldn't that make a lovely gift for someone!

This is the "Impossible Dress" that I've been attempting to knit for Breanna. I hate this pattern. I just can't stand knitting it, but I'm too stubborn to give it up (and the Dutch in me is too stingy to let all that yarn go to waste).

I finally got past the awful frill at the bottom, and then had some simple stockinette with occasional shaping to worry about. However, somewhere along the line I got off on the shaping row, and I made a noticeable mistake. (Grrrrr.) Now I have to decide if I should frog it for 3 inches, or try to remedy the error with a crochet hook. *Sob* And I thought I was almost done with the skirt portion!

On a happier note, I got another repeat done on the White Diamonds Lace Scarf. I think this will turn out to be a really beautiful pattern, although it's time consuming. I think the pattern is too complicated to be memorized (at least, I can't seem to get it memorized). I just work on it here or there if I get a few moments alone. The pattern repeat is over 28 rows, so it takes awhile to get a goodly amount knitted.

I've FINISHED some things! Woo-hoo! This is the crocheted rug for the bathroom. I LOVE how nicely this came out. It lays beautifully, and the colors are quite nice, if I do say so myself. It's pretty big (almost the length of the bathtub). I added a scalloped edging because I have to have frills somewhere on it, and eyelet rows every 3 inches. (Hmm, can't really see those in this picture, can you?). It does tend to slide about on my linoleum floor, though, so I think I'll just whip stitch some carpet matting to the bottom to help it stay in place better. I really don't want to wipe out in the bathroom and have a "help, I've fallen and I can't get up" situation! I'm planning to make a similarly crocheted mat for the toilet, but I have to let the blister on my finger heal up, first. Crocheting with three skeins of yarn at once is rather tiring for my hands, and I haven't crocheted anything in a long time.

Finally, I have another scarf to display. I started it on Friday afternoon, and finished it on Sunday afternoon. Cables are so much faster to knit now that I don't have to use a cable needle. ( If you haven't learned this technique, yet, I'd highly recommend this site. Great way to learn!). It's a mohair-like yarn that's a little thicker than worsted, but not quite chunky. It will be in the post tomorrow and off to some lucky person! (Could it be you?)

Knitting and Crocheting Updates

I haven't really finished anything lately, but I've been making good progress on some things I started awhile ago. I'll have more photos later, but here are some new things I've begun (yes, I know, I shouldn't have too many projects in the works at one time . . . but it's so much fun to start new things!)

We've been needing a bath mat in our bathroom, and I haven't really found an affordable one yet, so I thought I'd just quit being a ninny and crochet one. The kids dump a ton (literally) of water on the floor when they take a bath, so any bath mat I make must be washable and nearly indestructible. Therefore, my best option was acrylic yarn. I have a bin full of acrylic from my sweet SiL Kathy, and this is the perfect project for it. To break up the monotony of off-white I added one skein of tan yarn to two skeins of off white, and crocheted three strands at one time with a size J hook. I still have a few more inches to go before I add the scalloped border, but I'm happy with how it's looking so far. I was going to write out the pattern for this as I made it, but I hate writing crochet patterns and gave up the idea in despair half way through crocheting the mat. I'm just winging it, and later I'll have a basic pattern written for advanced crocheters to try, which I'll post to my design blog.

This is a lace scarf I've started that I'm writing out the pattern for also. I'm not that familiar with lace, yet, so I'm borrowing heavily from stitch dictionaries. I do like the look so far, though. I'm calling it White Diamonds Lace Scarf/Stole and will include directions for widening it into a stole. It's a very interesting knit, and writing the chart for this was a nightmare. However, the chart is done (I hope with no mistakes!), so the knitting should progress smoothly from now on. This is DEFINITELY a high-con project (i.e. high concentration). I can't wait to have it finished and blocked so I can really see it "open up"!