Design decisions

I'm working along on my Ondas blanket, which I've renamed "kitty crack" for it's feline attraction due to the yarn and all the stitch markers. And I think I'm pushing my luck on whether I'll have enough of the green yarn for it. If I can make it to row 27, I'm probably OK as long as none of the other skeins are shorter. But I'm just not convinced that's going to happen. And on top of that, oops, the LYS doesn't carry this color after all.

Now, I could probably buy an extra skein or two off another Raveler. But where's the fun in that. The LYS does carry a blue colorway I thought would work with it, so I got a couple of skeins of that just in case, since if I need them, I'll need them before next Knit Night. Pic:


I probably wouldn't have bought the two colors together for this, since the green is to the yellow side and the blue is quite blue. But I don't think it'll look bad. Sort of a "grassy bank to a river/lake/pond" kind of thing.

I've thought of several ways I could put the blue in, but what I'm liking most right now is this: The green skeins don't match each other. Normally one would alternate rows to blend them together to avoid color jumps, but when I thought I would use just the green, I intentionally didn't do it so I'd get some subtle stripes -- which I think would look nice in this pattern. So now I'm thinking a narrow stripe of the blue between each skein of the green. That'll be three blue stripes, and four green. The farther out to the edge of the blanket I get, the narrower the green will be due to the joys of growth functions. (Each row is an average of 4 stitches larger than the last. So the outermost rows suck up a LOT more yarn than the inside ones.) Then when I finish the last green stripe, I'll do a wider band of the blue, and maybe end with the Wave Edging from Walker's second stitch treasury (which happened to arrive earlier this week). And maybe I'll lop off that outermost row of eyelets on the edging.

The edging is still up in the air. It maybe be a little too much, in which case I would do either a simpler edging, or the garter band the pattern calls for. Either way, I'm going for that 'grassy bank' look.

If I have blue yarn left over, I really do think it would make a nice hat.

That there be a finished object.

The Strawberry Pie shawl is off the blocking pads and ready to show on backgrounds that won't strike you blind.

On the back of my couch:

It really would look nice there permanently, wouldn't it?

Full view of the circle:


And a modeled pic:

Me and the camera timer, we're not such good friends. But hey, I'm doin' what I can.

Unfortunately, the yarn went kind of... stringy feeling when I blocked it, I guess because it was stretched so hard in the process. It's a shame, because it was wonderfully soft and snuggly while I was working on it. I would absolutely use the Elann Baby Silk again, but not on something that's blocked so hard.

Ondas Update

I'm moving along on my Ondas blanket. The center set-up is finished, and I'm ready to start on the lace-y part. I have a feeling I'm going to have to buy more yarn, though. I definitely will if I want to make it Kati-sized rather than baby sized, but I think I may need another skein or two just to finish the pattern as written. Luckily, the LYS carries it, including this colorway, and I don't need to worry about matching dye lot. It's Araucania Atacama, which is hand-dyed. I got the drab green in a swap, which isn't a color I would have chosen but is working up fairly nice. It would have made a nice hat or beret, if I'd wanted to use it for that.

... And Ravelry tells me it's been discontinued. Dammit. Well, it won't take me too terribly long to get through the first skein, and I've figure out stitch counts for the whole blanket, so I can figure out if I've got enough based on how far that first one takes me. I'll keep a watch on the store's stock/the discount wall, and if I see it down to a skein or two before I can make a call, I'll pick them up. Shame, though. It's not bad yarn. A little 'rustic', perhaps (OK, it's scratchy as common wool), but not bad.

Whew! Blocking lace is hard work!

I haven't talked about my creative endeavors nearly enough in that past. I should remedy that, starting right now.

I have been working on a Strawberry Pie shawl converted to circular instead of semi-circular, and I finished it up yesterday, so I blocked it today. This involved a lot of crawling around and a lot of stretching wet knit. I do have photos, but let me warn you first that my blocking pads are bright neon green. Perfectly saturated 00FF00 green. This means they throw the camera's sensor for a bit of a loop because THAT color isn't supposed to appear in nature, and photos of things block on them tend to look not so good because of it. I've desaturated it so you can see the shawl without going blind, but it still looks a little funny.

Here it is blocking:


And here it is all curly pre-block so you can see the color. (Which is against the ass ugly carpet currently in my craft room, which is also green but not such an eye-bleeding bright color that it screws with electronic minds.)


I plan to take a final picture with a nicer background, or a modeled one, once it's dried off and ready to wear.

It's a pretty color. It's an alpaca-silk blend I got it in a swap for some of my wool yarn, which I really enjoyed. I've still got four balls left.

I should have kept going on the shawl a few more pattern repeats. It's about 4-feet across, which is shoulder shawl sized. I'm not big on shoulder shawls. I want something that'll keep my arms and chest warm. But, I'll figure something out with it. I bet it would look damn cute on the back of my couch. (The kitties would like that, too, although that's more of a detriment.)

This also has me thinking that I need to indulge my Startitis more often than I do. Startitis is the condition wherein a knitter starts projects more quickly than they finish them. Now, I've been a relatively monogamous knitter lately. Not truly "mono"gamous, but a limited number of projects with different purposes. One complex for a challenge, one easy for TV and knitting group, one small and simple for waiting rooms, for example.

Well, lately there's been a bit of a wrinkle in that. There is only one sort of project I want to do right now: relatively simple circular shawls and blankets. The complex stuff has been mothballed, the small projects I usually enjoyed are going "that's nice, but I don't want to do that right now." I know why this is: I'm under such a massive amount of stress between work and family problems that the last thing I need right now is a flippin' challenge. I want something meditative, comforting, and satisfying. Simple-but-not-boring circular pieces are the comfort foods of the knitting world to me right now, and I'm perfectly OK with that.

The problem there is that right now, for example, I finished my comfort project. Now I need to start a new one.
I don't want to start a new one, I just want to work on one. Starting is harder than continuing. Only I don't have that option right now. My options are start something new, work on something that isn't my comfort knitting, or not knit at all. So as soon as I feel up to dodging around the drying shawl so I can ball up some hanked yarn, I'll get going on an Ondas blanket. I know I said I was going to do a Radiating Star blanket next, but I don't want to work on the Radiating Star. I want to work on the Ondas. And in a couple of days if I want to work on the Radiating Star, I'll start it then. Or if instead I decide I want to work on my Maelstrom shawl, I'll cast it on. Hell, I might even get enough of a bug to order the yarn for a Spiderman blanket. (Yes, you read that right. Go look; how cool is that?)

I guess I've just got different hobby needs at different times. Before the economy self-destructed and I ended up doing the work of two or more people, I needed some challenge and the sense of accomplishment from finished projects. Sometime down the line I'll probably feel the need to stash knit, or to kill off UFOs. For now, I need lots of easy comfort knits I can just pick up and do. So, for now, when I get the urge to cast something on, I will do it right then and there so that I don't have to do it when I don't want to. At absolutely worst, there's not much in my stash that can't handle being frogged if I completely change my mind later. Project bags are cheap, after all. I can make project bags if I need more. And UFOs can be put onto scrap yarn for holding if I need to reclaim the needles for something else. There's absolutely no reason not to do this if it's what I need to help maintain my sanity right now.

I'm glad I hit Ravelry first.

I am desiring a skein winder if I am going to be spinning regularly -- and I certainly plan to be. I have a homemade one from a former acquaintance, and a horizontal 4-arm swift that can also be used to wind. Neither works well. The homemade one was not as well thought out or built as it could have been. As its aged, the 'windmill' portion has started to droop so that the heaviest arm hits the main post in use, and there's no way to fix it because that person used wood glue instead of bolts to fasten it to the post. The horizontal one does not work well for me because I'm five feet tall, which means short arms, which means it's difficult for me to reach the handle without having the end of the arm slam into my tummy.

So, I've been in the market for a vertical skein winder. I had it narrowed down to either a Fricke, or a Will Taylor. Both have marvelous reputations. The Fricke's disadvantage was higher cost, especially for an adjustable one. The Will Taylor's downside is a 2-4 month waiting period, and no built-in counter. A counter is really a necessary to me, and not nearly as common a feature as it should be on skein winders, so I would be hoping that Noellenoodle was still selling her electronic ones when the WT came in. I wouldn't want to order it in advance, since the counter warranty period is about the same as the wait for the winder itself.

It's shocking to me how hard it is to find those add-on counters. It's just a magnetic pick-up! (*eye roll* 'just'. That's the engineer in me talking. ^_~).

Well, I was about ready to order the Will Taylor, realizing there was a risk of not being able to get a counter for it later. But before I did so, I decided to stop in Ravelry's 'Spinner's Marketplace' group to see if anyone was selling a skein winder, or even if I could get a Will Taylor secondhand without a potential 4-month wait. And from there, I was directed to WoodenSpinner's Etsy shop.

Wow. I ordered one of her skeiners right there. I won't be able to comment on the manufacturing until it arrives, but the engineering looks positively brilliant. It's adjustable, but with pegs instead of screws -- no stripping holes with age or having yarn tension slide your skein a little smaller as you go. There's a tensioned bobbin holder right on it, so you don't have to dig out a lazy kate. And of course, a counter. I am a little concerned about one feedback comment that complained about the windmill hitting the main post, which I didn't see until after I had ordered. I'll just have to see how it goes there. With cotter pin construction, though, worst case scenario I could probably knock out the pin and put a shim in place to fix that if it happens.

Anyway, I'm excited. I can't wait until it arrives and I can try it out. I guess I should ply something between now and then. (Ah, plying. My mortal enemy.)