An unintentionally sinister FO

Many thanks for the compliments on the Hemlock Ring blanket. It was an enjoyable knit, with nice results. I'd consider knitting another...eventually. But no, Ypsilanti Liz, Piggy is unlikely to become a process knitter anytime soon!

I have, however, whipped up a quick little project for my Charms homework:


I'm calling him my "Better get my O.W.L. done" owl. I used Raynor Gellatly's Owlies pattern (Ravelry link) and scraps of Vanna's Choice in Ravenclaw-appropriate colours.

His menacing stare (as with all my previous stuffies, I've managed to insert the child-safe eyes just off-centre, giving the thing a slightly derranged visage) might just light a fire under my butt to start Spring Leaves (remember Spring Leaves, anyone?) by the O.W.L. proposal deadline on Monday.

And in stash-enchancement news, these pretties were waiting for me at the post office yesterday:


Wollmeise Twin in Lavendel and Horstensie (Hydrangea). So, so pretty. Unfortunately my camera has an absolute devil of a time with purples, so here's a colour-corrected (sort of, anyway) shot of the Lavendel.


It's not right, either, but closer to the real shade than the other photo. It's almost electric. Too, too gorgeous. I'll never tire of Wollmeise; might have to stalk tonight...

FO: Super-Secret-WEDDING-Prezzie-Made-Of-Lace

If your birthday is coming up, and you were hoping Piggy might be knitting you something nice and lacy for it, I'm sorry to say you're SOL. Dudes. It takes more than a birthday to get me to knit a reasonably large knit project in less than three weeks. You know, like committing yourself to another person for the rest of your life.

Which is something my dear friend Megan, aka megknitficent, aka "Veil Girl" did on Saturday. It was a great day: the bride was beautiful, the groom handsome, the speeches short and sweet, the food tasty, the live Celtic band fun, and a wonderful time was had by all.

And for some strange reason, with less than a month to go before the big day, Piggy decided to knit a Hemlock Ring Blanket (rav link).

It's not a terribly difficult project, I know. And many knitters have whipped out one in just a couple of days. But for me, a champion procrastiknitter, frogger and yarn over-phobe, it was a bit of a big deal.

Here we are at Round 47, where the feather-and-fan starts:


Almost all of my knitting issues with this project came before this point. There were a couple of frinking incidents, and one episode of wholesale frogging. What's interesting (to me, anyway) is that the chart doesn't start until Round 47; I've been chart-phobic forever, but it was the written instructions that tripped me up.

Sixteen days after first casting on (four days before the wedding) it was off the needles!


Now, I knew, of course, that I'd be needing to block this. But I have to admit I was a little nervous looking at it in this state. Despite all the Hemlock Ring Blanket projects I'd stalked on Ravelry, I wasn't entirely confident it was going to work.

But, armed with two new sets of mats (thank you, Canadian Tire, for having them on sale), in addition to my old ones, as well as 27 bajillion T-pins, I went over the top onto the blocking battlefied.

Three-and-a-half hours later, I had managed to wrestle the lumpy mass of wool into a reasonable facsimile of a lap blanket.


I didn't emerge unscathed, mind you. The enemy inflicted some injuries. But I learned a few things...

• It isn't necessary to shove the heads of the T-pins with such force that they are flush with the surface of the blocking mat; in fact, doing so will pretty much guarantee cuts under your fingernails when you struggle to remove them.
• Especially if you are shoving them in and removing them a bajillion times before you're done.
• When buying blocking mats for the first time, buy several sets. At least two more than you think you'll ever need. If you don't, when you go back to the store two years later for additional sets, they won't match up. Even if they look identical and are bought from the same store. 
• Have gin on hand. Plenty of it.
• A friend would be good, too. A strong one.
• Don't knit round lace items. (Although I've since been told I could make blocking wires work for round objects...or make a blocking frame for them.) 
• When you're done, walk away. Don't pull out all the pins and start again. It will look exactly the same when you're done. If not a little worse.
• If you're a hopeless lace knitter, people will appreciate the effort anyway, even if you've buggered up the blocking. Especially when they've just married the love of their life.

Fortunately, even with the blocking drama, I managed to complete the blanket on time, and bring it with me to the reception hall. Whew.

Project Details:

Pattern: Hemlock Ring Blanket by Jared Flood (actually, his modification of a vintage doily pattern by The Canadian Spool Cotton Company)
Yarn: Cascade Eco+ in Real Teal (8440), approx. 1.2 skeins
Needles: 6 mm/US 10 Crystal Palace DPNs, 6.5 mm/US 10.5 ChiaoGoo bamboo circular, 100 cm/40 in.
Cast On: May 2, 2010
Completed: Cast off May 18; blocking completed May 22.
Modifications/Notes: I couldn't bring myself to trying a new cast on, so instead of the circular cast on, I just went with the long-tail cast on. I used 6 mm DPNs rather than 6.5mm ones, simply because I didn't have the 6.5s. I knit to Round 60, one repeat of feather-and-fan beyond what the pattern calls a "standard-size throw"; the resulting blanket is approximately 53 inches across (to the best of my recollection).

In the rush to wrap the blanket up and get out the door to the wedding, I neglected to take a proper finished picture. I'll post one of Meg's when I can. I'll leave you with a close up of the pretty flower part, though.


Best wishes for a lifetime of wedded bliss, Meg & Augie!

Blocking out the blocking

Huh?

It seems Piggy has found something more painful than lace knitting: lace blocking. And I do mean painful: I've got cuts under my fingernails thanks to all the pulling out and re-insertion of three boxes of T-pins into the completed Super-Secret-Birthday-Present-Made-Of-Lace yesterday.

I suspect I might not be using them correctly.

Anyhoo, as I can't show you any pictures yet, how about I show you a couple of my mum's holiday snaps from her recent trip to Australia? Don't panic -- just two, I promise.

First up, some happy sheep:


These adorable merinos belong to my mum's old school chum Pip and her husband. See that ram in the middle there? He's really happy: he's just (hopefully) impregnated all those ewes.

I was hoping Mum would be bringing a fleece home with her, but no such luck. All of Pip's superfine merino gets shipped off to Italy (apparently there is no commercial spinning left in Australia), where it's spun up and eventually ends up as fancy rugs.

When they weren't hanging with the sheep, Pip and Mum did a bunch of other stuff, including taking a look at some student artwork by Lake Jindabyne -- where Mum spotted one installation she figured I might particularly like:


Aussie flying piggies!

A Truly Lovely way to help kick cancer's ass

Cancer sucks. Pretty much everyone has been affected by it, either first-hand or through the experience of a loved one. So finding a cure is something we can all get behind, right? We don't really need an inducement to give what we can to the cause.

But it can't hurt, either. Especially when it looks like this:

Photo: Gladys We (wenat)

That, my friends, is the True Love Stole, the latest of wenat's signature pooling designs. Knit with Wollmeise in the True Love colourway.

And it could be yours, piglets. Yep, this beauty is up for auction on the Yarn Floozies blog. And one hundred per cent of the winning bid will go to the Canadian Cancer Society as part of the 2010 Ride2Survive Fundraiser.

Next month, a whole bunch of seriously cool people -- including wenat's husband Tony and her co-blogger yarnfloozy's husband Markus -- will cycle 400 kilometres (that's 250 miles) from Kelowna to Vancouver to raise funds for a cure. In one day.

Dudes. They're going to climb 2,000 feet more than the longest stage in last year's Tour de France. And 170 kilometres longer. The least we can do to support them is bid on a gorgeous shawl made with gorgeous yarn, no? Oh, the sacrifice!

I mean, really. This is a seriously gorgeous thing. And let's face it, in the unlikely event you aren't in love with pink or purple, or pink and purple together, or lace (although you'd have to be seriously freaking nuts not to like lace, especially when all the work's done for you), someone you know is. Early winter-holiday-of-your-choosing shopping, anyone? Go put in a bid, ok? The auction closes on Sunday, May 23rd, at 8 p.m. Pacific time.

But wait, there's more!

No joke, piglets. Because wenat and yarnfloozy are also holding a raffle for a whole whack of lovely prizes, including a ton o' yarn, two gorgeous quilts, more yarn, hand-knit socks and yet more yarn. And more prizes are coming in.

All you need to do is make a donation to Team Purl Jam by Sunday, June 6 at noon Pacific time. Each $5 gets you one entry (so $25 gets you five, and so on).

So go visit the Yarn Floozies and Team Purl Jam, give what you can, feel good that you're helping (and if you're like Piggy, relieved you aren't the one on the bike!) and give yourself a chance (or ten) at some lovely fibre-y prizes.

Still knitting like a fiend...

...and still no pictures to show you, I'm afraid.

I've been remarkably faithful to the Super-Secret-Birthday-Prezzie-Made-Of-Lace, and it's still. not. done. But it will be soon -- it looks like I'll be casting off tomorrow. Which would be -- wait for it -- a full two weeks ahead of schedule. Unheard of for Piggy. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, how about a picture of a crazy-huge hot pink rhododendron?


Isn't it glorious? I spotted this on the drive to the SPCA this morning, and actually slammed on the brakes, backed up and dug out my camera to capture it.

Fortunately the Green Bomber (that would be my ancient GTI, for the new folks) was fresh from the repair shop, where yesterday a wizard of a mechanic welded a decidedly non-VW-stock piece of pipe onto its muffler, thereby saving Piggy a bajillion dollars and the neighbours of this crazy-huge hot pink rhododendron a rather nasty wake-up call. But I digress.

Onto the SPCA, where, after cuddling a few cats and dogs, I headed to the laundry room, where I discovered this rather ominous directive:


Roger that. Time to work on more light-weight blankies! (And if anyone out there would like to donate some industrial-strength machines to the West Van SPCA, please feel free.)

What else do I have for you...hmm...oh! Piggy predictably fell off the wagon on Thursday night, and managed to emerge from the melee that is a Wollmeise update with two skeins of Sockenwolle 80/20 Twin, in Hortensie (Hydrangea) and Lavendel (I'm sure that one doesn't require translation). Score!

Swappity Goodness!

I love getting mail. Real, proper mail. Especially of the parcel variety. And extra-especially when the parcel is from a Malabrigo Swap partner.

Guess what arrived yesterday? You got it, my Mal Swap package. From sarahlu, who totally spoiled Piggy rotten.



The theme of this round is "It's All in the Bag" -- everything in the package had to fit into a project bag. And piglets, I am not ashamed to say I let out a pretty loud whoop when I opened the box and pulled out this:



A super-duper project bag from Dancing Sheep! My first (definitely not my last) Sheepie bag! And how cute are those hedgies? Especially the ones wearing scarves!

I LOVE this bag. So many of my fellow Mal Gals have Sheepie bags and love them, and I can see why: in addition to the lovely fabric, this thing is really well made. And it's BIG:



It doesn't look like it, but there's a whole lotta good stuff in there.


The rundown:

• large Dancing Sheep project bag;
• The Art & Craft of Natural Dyeing by J.N. Liles -- Sarah totally stalked my amazon wishlist;
• wool wash -- Kookaburra (tea tree & lavender -- nom, nom, NOM), and three varieties of Eucalan (natural, eucalyptus and lavender);
• three mini bars of absolutely gorgeously scented soap from Lucia -- Wild Ginger & Fresh Fig, Tea Leaf & Wild Honey and Thyme Flower and Coriander;
• Post-it flags -- which will come in handy for you-know-what(!);
• a pair of the new steeking scissors from KnitPicks (no promises they'll be used for steeking anytime soon!);
• a row counter/stitch marker from KnitPicks (love these!);
• a super-cute polka-dotted notions bag with an H (and band of hot Piggy pink!);
• a bar of organic, fair-trade dark chocolate with cherries and almonds (erm...all gone, it was terrible!); 
• a pretty notepad, perfectly sized for including in my project bag; and, last but not least...
• a skein of Twist in Tuareg -- SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

But wait, there's more! Sarah will be e-mailing me patterns soon! No idea what they are yet...I can't wait to see. Sarah, thank you sooooo much for the absolutely wonderful package -- you nailed it!

* * *

In other news, the Super-Secret-Birthday-Prezzie-Made-Of-Lace is going smoothly again. I dare not say more...

Old enemies and new friends

So, if you follow me on twitter, you might have noticed I didn't have the best weekend, knitting-wise. The Super-Secret-Birthday-Prezzie-Made-Of-Lace has undergone much frinking. (Remember frinking? That's Piggy's word for when one rips back a goodly chunk of knitting, but not quite enough to justify the F word.)

It was a case of one step forward, ten steps back, really. Thanks to my old nemesis, the yarn over. But I am persisting. And I'll be picking up some non-minty, unwaxed dental floss today for my next lifeline (there are currently two in the SSBPMOL, and they need friends). Thanks for the tip to MrsQuimby (delivered in person before I cast on...I didn't listen), Linda in Alameda, CA and Kim at Unwind.

In happier news, I've got a new roommate:


Or rather, she does. I've moved into Molley's house while her humans are on holiday.

I'd like to use a lifeline, Regis

Still no Spring Leaves to show you. Nope, not even a cast on. I've been too busy frogging and re-casting on for the super-secret-birthday-present-made-of-lace (SSBPMOL) I can't show you. But the good news is, because I finally gave in and used a lifeline, I'm back on track.

Piggy's introduction to lifelines was not, however, without incident. And I feel it is my duty to pass on a few key observations I gleaned from today's adventures:

• When choosing a material for your lifeline, think thin -- a yarn two weights lighter than what you're using in your project, for example. Or better yet, crochet thread. Crochet thread is always a good choice.
• Unless it is impregnated with metallic stuff that is just shy of the consistency of steel wool.
• Once you've picked out all the metallic shards from your knitting, frogged back a couple of rounds to where your precious yarn no longer resembles a rat's nest, cut all that away, attached new yarn and knit back to where you were, a large drink is in order. Remember, piglets, it's five o'clock somewhere.
• No matter how thin and smooth it might be, not to mention pleasing to the eye, it's not a good idea for your lifeline to be the same shade as your yarn.
• This is not a time to be scrupulously tidy; don't trim the ends of your lifeline too much. Knitting stretches.
• For the love of all things holy, when adding your second (third, fourth...) lifeline, don't remove earlier ones. You just might need them. 

***

In other news...I managed to get some more of my Saroyan done last night at the Vancouver Fibre League meetup. I've now completed the straight section, and started the decreases. I likely won't be working on it again until next Thursday, though, as the SSBPMOL, Spring Leaves and my other assignments for the Harry Potter Knitting/Crochet House Cup will be keeping me busy.

Piggy gets some (almost) free yarn!

What's that you say? Lace? Spring Leaves? I don't know what you're talking about.

I thought I'd share with you the results of my latest stash-enhancement expedition. Want to see what two bucks and changes got me on Saturday? Sure you do.

First up, something very Piggy:


SweetGeorgia Merino Silk Lace in Orchid; 700 metres (765 yards) of utter gorgeousness for a future lace shawl. You know, because I'm doing so well with the lace.

The second skein I picked up...well, it might surprise you:


That's a skein of Bumble Bee Spud & Chloe Fine. It's even more yellow in person. Not terribly Piggy, I know, but I'm thinking I'll pair it with the skein of Anemone that's been stashed for ages for some kind of striped or patterned socks. I'll need to find a Swede, I think, to give them to...

So, how did I manage to spend less than three dollars on these lovelies? Well, I was the lucky winner of the random draw at the Edgemont Village location of Urban Yarns. The prize: a $50 gift certificate. Lucky Piggy.

Not so much with the lace, though...updates to follow soonish. Probably.

Naughty Piggy is naughty

I suppose I should admit that I was slightly relieved on Saturday night when the Tell Piggy What to Knit! poll closed and Spring Leaves emerged -- by a mere pair of votes -- as the winning pattern. For while I truly love Nefertiti, the thought of deciphering and knitting 18 different charts for my first real significant lace project was more than a little daunting.

But that's not what the title of this post refers to. Piggy is naughty because she has yet to start knitting. I have everything ready to go:


The pattern is printed up, the first of the two skeins of Wollmeise I'll be using is wound (and may I just say the Mistelzweig is a truly gorgeous colour -- the picture doesn't do it justice at all), and the lovely MrsQuimby has generously offered up her lifeline-friendly KnitPicks Harmony Interchangeables for a long-term loan.

But I haven't cast on. And it's not simply because I'm afraid of this big project. I certainly am afraid, of course -- it would be pointless to deny it -- but that's not the big problem at the moment. The problem is I have been hit with a bad case of startitis.

I cast on an entirely different project last night, piglets. And I can't stop knitting it. And making the situation even worse is the fact I can't show you or talk about said new project, as it's a secret birthday present for someone who has been known to drop by the blog on occasion.

Hopefully I'll have some Spring Leaves to show you tomorrow. But I wouldn't be holding my breath if I were you.

What a Yarn

Day 7: What a Yarn
There’s one love that we all share: yarn. Blog about a particular yarn you have used in the past or own in your stash, or perhaps one that you covet from afar...




I'm sorry this one's so late -- a good chunk of the participants in Knitting & Crochet Blog Week are sleeping and won't see this until Monday -- but I've really enjoyed the past week so much, I haven't wanted it to end. I've found so many new blogs I will keep following, and new readers I hope will stick around.

That's all true. Also true is the fact I got up at the crack of dawn to be one of the first 30 people in line at Got Craft so I could get a free SWAG bag (I was, and did!), and then spent most of the day catching up on sleep.

Anyhoo...let's talk about yarn!

It should come as no surprise that someone who goes by the name yarnpiggy loves yarn. I'm more of a collector of yarn than a knitter, really; the ratio of stash to finished objects chez Piggy is so lopsided as to be extreme.

I can't help myself. When I see a beautiful yarn, I want to rescue it from the shop. And more often than not, I do. So my tiny wee studio apartment is now filled with yarn, waiting to be knitted.

I call myself a yarn snob, but that's not strictly true. I believe every yarn and fibre type has its purpose, and I have plenty of acrylic in my stash, right alongside the superfine merino, baby alpaca and bombyx silk. Heck, I even have some Noro, and as my yarnies and long-time readers know, Piggy ain't no Noro Whoro. (But hey -- some of my best friends are. Snort.)

What I am, though, is a Malabrigo Strumpet. If I were told I could only keep one line of yarn in my stash, I would cry and have a tantrum. And then I would grab all the Mmmmmmal. It's gorgeously soft, comes in plenty of stunning colourways and has, in my entirely biased opinion, the best group of fans on Ravelry -- the Malabrigo Junkies.

Fortunately, no one would dare tell Piggy to remove all but one line of yarn from her stash. Trust me, piglets, it would be ugly.

So I get to keep all my Wollmeise, Blue Sky Alpacas, Sweet Georgia, Indigo Moon, Koigu, Misti Alpacas, Dream in Color...

...and find somewhere to store the Sanguine Gryphon, Madelinetosh, Shibuiknits and many others I've yet to try and covet.






Be sure to check out the other entries for today’s topic!

And the winner is...

Cue the cheesy metaphors:

It was a nail-biter. Right from the start it was a pitched battle between two hot contenders that came right down to the wire. In the dying seconds, it was all decided by a final volley of votes.

In a field like this, they're all winners. But a winner there must be, and it has been chosen.

Piggy will be knitting Spring Leaves, by Katrin Vorbeck. Congratulations to Nicole (nkfoster21), who nominated this beauty. Nicole can choose between a skein of Wollmeise 100% in Sabrina, or Wollmeise 80/20 Twin in Pfefferminz Prinz.

The advocates for three of the remaining finalists, isisonearth (Nefertiti Wrap), Kristin (Moon Dance) and MrsQuimby (Cheshire Cat Stole) will each receive a skein of Malabrigo Lace in Vaa. Chelle, who nominated Twinings, will receive something animal-fibre-free from my stash, as she is allergic to wool, alpaca, etc.

I also have the names of the three winners of the random draw, each of whom will receive the Ravelry download pattern of their choice (to a maximum value of $7 each). Congratulations to...

• Duncks
• plumbum
• P'cess

Winners, please e-mail yarnpiggy AT gmail DOT com or pm me on Ravelry (Rav id: yarnpiggy) with your snail mail addresses and/or choices, and I'll get things out by the middle of next week.

Thanks again to everyone who submitted pattern suggestions and voted. I hope you'll stick around for the continuing drama as I attempt to complete my first big lace project. 

Last chance to boss Piggy around! VOTE!

It's looking like I will be knitting either Spring Leaves or the Nefertiti Wrap. Or will there be a last-minute surge for Moon Dance? Or even Twinings or the Cheshire Cat Stole?

If you haven't voted yet, have at 'er! (Over there...on the right!) For a good look at the candidates, check out the short list folder in my Ravelry queue.

Results will be up shortly after 9 p.m. tonight. Good luck to everyone, and thanks for your help!

Revisiting a past FO

Day 6: Revisit a past F/O
Bring the fortune and life of a past finished project up to the present. Document the current state and use of an object you have knitted or crocheted, whether it is the hat your sister wears to school almost every day, or a pair of socks you wore until they were full of hole. Or maybe that jumper that your did just didn’t like that much…




Well this is a tad embarrassing.

Yesterday I went on about how I knit all over the place. So you think I'd have something to show for it. But the FOs -- other than of the dishcloth variety -- are a bit thin on the ground, chez Piggy. I suppose that's what you'd expect from the Queen of the Pre-Process Knitters, but I must say I'm feeling rather uncomfortable at the moment.

Most of my tiny number of completed projects have been given away. If there is one virtue I can claim honestly, it would have to be that I am not a very selfish knitter. Although selfish knitting is considered a virtue, isn't it? Hmmm.

Right. Pressing on. I do have one FO that I have kept for myself and actually worn fairly frequently. It happens to be the project with the most hearts I've received on Ravelry. And the interesting thing is, it isn't knitted. It's my very first crochet project, my Luna Lovegood Scarf.

Here's what it looked like when I finished it, in September 2008:


...annnnnnnnnd here's what it looked like when I dug it out this morning (apologies for the craptastic photos, taken super-quickly):




It could use a wash and a bit of a re-blocking, but it's held up rather well. I like it because it's light, which makes it wearable in Vancouver's rather temperate climate. And it's purple, which, it goes without saying, is always good.

Here's my original post on the scarf. I was rather pleased with myself, and to be honest, if not modest, I still am.

Now I just need to complete more projects -- and keep them for myself!






Be sure to check out the other entries for today’s topic!