Wisp, and a Revised Object

First, my first lace FO. Wisp, from Knitty, that I have called Wisp-of-Nippon.


I bought the yarn in Japan, and I miss Japan. I wear this and think of Japan. Or rather, of Yuzawaya, the most amazing craft store on the planet. (Said without reservation.)


My husband took the pictures. He put up with me screaming at him about (1) focus, (2) composition, (3) framing, and (4) the dishes. Good man.


I also revised an earlier piece of knitting. This was the second sweater I ever knit. The sleeves were goofy. Lots of things were wrong. Here's the original. Wow, that's just terrible. (By the way, the pattern is the Two-Tone Ribbed Shrug from Fitted Knits by Stefanie Japel.)

Here's the new one.



I added some chunky yarn to trim the edges. I wasn't sure about the third color at first, but now I like it. I really like the loooong sleeves, too. Rare for me since I'm so tall.

DALLOWAY Eyelet Shrug

[Update 12/2009]

Dalloway has undergone a major pattern revision. It is now available in FIVE different sizes, published as a detailed .pdf.

Available as a .pdf download for $6.00.





Dalloway is the big sister of my Clarissa shrug.

Dalloway is inspired by the Virginia Woolf character Mrs. (Clarissa) Dalloway, and the dapper ladies and gentlemen of the 1920s and 1930s.


And this lady in red:


The shrug is worked in one piece. The arms are seamed, and then the cuffs and bodice are picked up and added. The arms and back have a delicate eyelet pattern worked symmetrically across:

Cotton Shrug = Shrug Addiction?

I love shrugs. I bought my first one at Nordie's last summer and then lost it last fall, around the same time that I learned how to knit. A shrug is a strange, dismantled sort of sweater, without a front, simply sleeves and a collar of some sort.

But they fit my lifestyle: southern living; ducking in and out of over-AC'd cafes to read and write; layers of clothing rather than large, heavy pieces; small enough to tuck into a shoulder bag.

This one I made out of Schachenmayr Nomotta "Maxi Cotton" using size 8 needles.


To start, I used the principles of the top-down raglan construction from Stefanie Japel's Fitted Knits, reconfigured for this larger yarn and needle size.


I ribbed the sleeves, then brought them down to a 3/4 length. The variegated yarn makes it lots of fun, and cotton is nice too, in this climate of ours down heah.

CLARISSA SUMMER SHRUG

[update 12-2009]

Available now in S, M, and L, for $3.00




Clarissa is now available in an expanded .pdf format with sizes for S, M, L.



This shrug is named for Clarissa Dalloway, the title character of Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, one of my favorite books.



This pattern is a great first-sweater project, because it is simple and easy to fit to your body.


The cotton-blend yarns make it perfect for summer. I wear this shrug all the time--it was perfect for my early-spring trip to New Orleans this year.

$3.00



Check out Clarissa on Ravelry:

"Two-Tone Ribbed Shrug" from FITTED KNITS - Finished Pics

UPDATE 5/2008: I revised this project--the new project is posted on this blog here.

Here are pics of the finished product, the "Two-Tone Ribbed Shrug" from Fitted Knits by Stefanie Japel, page 45. I used merino wool in two different shades of blue, following the pattern mostly, except the sleeves are longer and a little more full than the pattern allows. I want to be able to wear it over short-sleeve shirts.

The front view:


The side view:


and the back view:


I'm okay with the sleeves being a little full because the bodice area is slim-fitting. I wear it all the time. So it passes the "I want to wear it test," which is the only one that matters, really.

Question for the Public

Given my propensity to start and start projects and leave them unfinished, and given that my dearest MAP is a furniture-builder when he's not doing his real job, and given that I hope (expect) him to build us some lovely furniture for the house we just bought, am I being hypocritical if I get on his case about starting and starting and starting carpentry projects and not finishing them?

Am I?

heh heh.

I did happen to finish my blue Japel shrug from Fitted Knits, but at the very same moment, started the diamond scarf out of Wenlan Chia's Twinkle's Big City Knits. I seem to maintain this stasis of 4-6 projects going at any one time. And yet this seems okay with me. Given that I'm knitting. And knitting is (1) small, (2) relatively inexpensive (ha!), and (3) not something I expect to be eating dinner on.

No. Not hypocritical. But I'm open to others' opinions on the matter.

Current-Project-Self-Motor-vation

This post is for me, mostly.

(Ha! Like all of these posts aren't "for me". Blogging is self-serving, self-aggrandizing, self-centeredness at its best. Anyone who says differently is kidding themselves.)

This post is for me because, like all fiberartists, at least the ones I know, even Dr. Fibersmarts starts and starts and starts projects and does not finish them.

There are a variety of reasons for this. Boredom. Season change. New and exciting books. (Can anyone say WENLAN CHIA?)

So, here are some projects in process that I will finish, and will post when they are finished, because now that I've put them here, the world will hold me accountable.

ONE: Soy-silk Skinny Scarf

(Slip one, k1, p2, k2 p2 rib, repeat to end; sz 9 needles, Patons soy/wool blend, variegated, in "natural blue." This would be one of those "boring" projects. Actually, I love it. But now it's summer and I don't need a scarf. I'll do this one during Grey's Anatomy.)

TWO: Black Crochet-Rib Mittens


(I'm using the Lion's brand microspun doubled-up for thickness, sz 9 hook. Front- and back-post double crochets. I have one arm done. Must finish other arm, add thumb and finger pockets. Total time remaining: one-two hours. What is wrong with me?)

THREE: Japel's "Boob Tube"

(I'm using this dreadful shiny blue yarn I bought at a cheap-o craft store on a whim one day thinking it was "just lovely" -- but I doubled it up and I'm using my brand-new Denise interchangable circular needles in size 17 to warm up for my first Wenlan Chia chunky knit project and this is actually turning out okay. The pattern is on Japel's web site here.)

These are my "other" projects -- not counting my "real" project, the shrug that is almost almost finished.

Oh, and the recycled-yarn afghan that is currently packed in a box because my house was on the market. Jeez. I certainly hope none of you were following that project.

Knit Shrug #2 - from Fitted Knits

Who doesn't love Stefanie Japel's new book Fitted Knits? I certainly do. Top-down construction (raglan-style), circular knitting, slim fits. What's not to like. Seriously.

I started with another shrug, using worsted-weight blue yarns. Here are some pictures of the work as it has progressed.

First, look at how the kfbs make the beautiful raglan structure -- growing and shaping without seaming. So cool. I love knitting.


This is the shape of the shoulder piece, as I continue to work on a sleeve. Yes, it looks bat-man-esque.


Here's the sleeve laid together, with the arm opening aligned with the raglan "seam" and the edges just waiting to be seamed (after I've put the ribbing on)...


And here is the seamed sleeve -- my first seaming! It looks just like those seams I used to rip out so gleefully when I would salvage yarn. Note the rib edging.

Here's that sleeve from the outside, with that lovely ribbing. (oh, I do love this project. and knitting. did i mention i love knitting? i've slipped into lower case letters.)

Just a side note: My friend and I are working on our dissertations, and our other friend is here studying for his comprehensive exam. We have just reached a consensus that novels about knitting are dumb. And I'm a knitter. I have a knitting blog. I still think this literary trend is dumb.

Go knit. Then read a romance novel.

Here is where I am at the moment -- the ribbing and increases around the bodice. Same 24 rows as the sleeves, but with increases at the four angles -- I'm very excited about those.

Also, I wonder if those people who write novels about knitting actually knit. I can't help but think that if they did knit, they would knit, instead of writing novels about knitting. And if they DON'T knit, but instead write novels about knitting, they would be ridiculous poseurs.

Actually, I must confess. I know a novelist who wrote a novel about knitting. We don't get along. And I've never seen a set of knitting needles in her hands. So, to temper my strangely strong opinions on this topic, I should have provided this information up front. This novelist is not a nice person. She was mean to my very-nice-person friend. Don't be mean. It isn't nice. I digress. ("Dramatic Irony.")

Back on topic: here's how the shrug looks now (on my faux leather desk chair). It will be finished soon -- like, this weekend, since I have nothing better to do. I'll model it for you then. Then, on to the next project -- the shrug from Wenlan Chia's new book -- Twinkle's Big City Knits.

Knit Shrug Photos

Here are some pics of my first knit project, a shrug I made out of the World's Cheapest Yarn. (Total cost, including tax: $1.86.)


I started with a pattern for an idea, but I am cognitively unable to follow a pattern all the way through without adjusting it to make me happy. (See previous post.)


I added a crocheted ruffle around the collar and trim at the sleeves. Otherwise it appears I am a knitter. It took me about 14 hours, including the car ride to D.C. from down here in the south and then back again. Easy as pie!

I Surrendered

I apologize to you fierce crocheters out there. My two knitting friends convinced me to learn how to knit. My friend C. insisted on teaching me continental style, a stroke of pure genius, since I am a crocheter and am accustomed to working with my left hand.

I wonder if this is the rule of thumb--it should be. The first time I tried to learn to knit, I was taught English style and tied the yarn in ugly knots and gave up.

I also insisted that my first project be something that I would want to wear. Not a scarf, because it is nearly summer here in the south. What I wanted was a shrug, to replace the one I left at Starbucks a few months ago and never recovered.

I found a pattern, which I promptly modified, used some inexpensive yarn so I wouldn't feel bad if I butchered it, and set to work on circular needles, for the first time.

It was awesome.

I trimmed out the shrug with crochet and wore it as soon as I finished with it. My only regret is that I used the cheap yarn.

I'll make it again, from something excellent and gorgeous.

I'm also glad to see that I can be as free-form with knitting as with crocheting. That was my biggest fear. I have only the mildest respect for patterns.

"Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events. Great [wo]men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the absolutely trustworthy was seated at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being." --Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Self-Reliance"

Photos of the shrug soon.