Tres Chic Veronique

This shawl has sucked the life out of me! (My temporary blogging hiatus has even prompted an ex to call me and ask when I was going to post. I'm now imagining all sorts of lurkers out there... Hi mom! Hi Chloe!).



Pattern Specs:
Pattern: Blumengruss Shawl (aka "Bloom", aka "My Maid of Honor's Shawl for Mom's Wedding!"), from The Art of Heirloom Knitting. I bought the book at Kinokuniya at Rockefeller Center, where I spent the better part of an hour looking at every single japanese craft book they had. It was hard to narrow it down to 2 books! (I also got a sewing book of skirt patterns, and realized when I got home that all the skirts come in one size. And I don't think I'm that size...).



Yarn: Habu Wool Roving, a-81, 8 oz (224 g), or 1,488 yds. I used almost all of it! Since this yarn is $2.80/oz, I spent a grand total of $22.40! Yarnmonster and Gleek wisely bought 8 oz each...
Marie generously allowed me to use her dyes, and the result was this beautiful blue/green color.



Needles: Oh, lots and lots. I made the first piece, a triangle on 2.75 mm (US 2) needles (which you can't really see in any of these pictures because it's in the folded-over part), then started the Feather and Fan along the edges of the triangle on 3 mm (also US 2!) needles. I was supposed to switch to 3.25 mm (US 3) half-way through, but I forgot... Then the edging was knit on 3 mm (US 2) needles. So this entire shawl has been knit on size TWO needles. Whoa. I didn't realize that...



Notes: Edgings take forever. For-freaking-ever. I thought I could bang it out in a week, then forgot that I was going to a conference for the first 3 days of that week, where every minute of the day was accounted for from 8 am to 11 pm. You can imagine how frantic I was by the end of the week... My deadline was looming... I knit on the train to Boston (Subway Knitter was right: the Acela is awesome!). I knit in the cab on the way to the hotel. I knit throughout the rehearsal (oh yes I did!). I knit throughout the rehearsal dinner. I knit until 3 AM. I knew it would be worth it: the wedding day was supposed to be cold and rainy. And then... Well. It turned out to be warm and sunny. *sigh* I did wear the shawl for about 5 minutes, and my aunt Tathy noticed and snapped a pic :) Hey, I wonder if she's lurking?



Date started: Well, the yarn was dyed on March 11th, and I started soon after that.
Date finished: April 28. Wow, that was long!



Sunny room and wheel courtesy of Yarnmonster.

Labels: blumengruss shawl

No, not that kind of blue! (Although, come to think of it, this inexistent Spring is getting on my nerves. It's 40 F/5C, dark and poring rain: boooo!).
I've suddenly realized that all my projects are blue! Although I'm not actively participating in Project Spectrum, I'm sure that all the blue I've been seeing on everybody's blogs during February and March has had a subliminal influence on me.

First up, the Bloom shawl. I stared and stared at the chart and the photographs in the book, and came to the conclusion that I followed the directions properly. Then how come their shawl is triangular and mine is not?! I thought about it while knitting a few more repeats in Garter Feather and Fan, then decided that perhaps through Aggressive Blocking I might be able to create a more triangular shape. Ah ha! Aggressive Blocking is a knitter's friend :)
This shawl is getting big, so I've been pinning it to an old comforter. I want it to be bigger still, and then I have to add a border all the way around. My deadline is in 2 weeks. And it's on size 2 and 3 needles. *deep breaths* But on a positive note, you can see that I have more than enough yarn.

I've also been working on the new Amy Butler bag, Frenchy Bag. I think I bought it based on the name alone... And wouldn't you know, I just happened to have purchased this adorable honeycomb and bees fabric by Etsuko Furuya. (I had my eye on the yellow one, but it is too cute to stay in stock anywhere. I was told at Purl that this fabric takes the slow boat from Japan. But I want it now! *pout*).
I'm still working on the lining, but I'm loving it so far.

And finally, I've also done some japanese embroidery/quilting called Sashiko. I stumbled upon the printed canvas and the thread at City Quilter, and immediately loved the bold geometric patterns. In fact, I showed it to Yarnmonster, who liked it as much as I did and bought a kit and a book a few days later!




Hmm, I think that the intent of Knit From Your Stash 2007 (ie to stop buying yarn and use what you already have) is completely lost on me, as I seem to go out and spend money on other crafts!
I might as well admit that I bought some fabric for a dress...

Labels: blumengruss shawl, sewing

Sometimes a knitting project is so easy, so obvious, it just flies off the needles.
My friends Jamie and Curtis just had a baby which they named ...... Daisy!
Well, of course, I had to knit a Daisy hat!


I have to admit that I was inspired by Blue Blog's flower hat, but since I didn't have the Itty Bitty book she used, I improvised.

Pattern specs:
Hat: based on the hat in Last Minute Knitted Gifts (baby size), but made a no-sew picot hem because I thought it would be more flower-like.
Flower: from Nicky Epstein's Knitted Embellishments.
Yarn: Paton's Grace in yellow, about half a ball, and oddments of white Merino Grignasco.
Needle: US 2 for hat, US 4 for flower.
Started: March 31st.
Finished: March 31st.

This success was offset by an annoying realization: the Blum shawl is not coming out triangular. And I thought I could simply follow the chart and disregard the japanese instructions... I am not ripping this out, and I'm thinking of adding little triangles on the side. What do you think?

Labels: baby Daisy, blumengruss shawl