Knitting Dragonflies

I finished my Dummy Clap Shawl during my stay with my Dad back in March, when he had colon cancer surgery. But then didn’t knit again until just recently.   I would recommend this pattern, I originally picked it because I was always attracted to the Clapotis shawl in the Knitty Fall 04 . I never knitted it, but found this pattern and decided to try it. I will say, love the pattern, knitted it with Brown Sheep single ply yarn. Love this yarn, but I knitted this over a long period of time and it started to felt, due to all the packing around I did. The night before my Dad’s surgery, I decided to unravel the laddering, it took me 8 hours to individually unpick them, but that kept me busy and my mind off of other things. I’m pleased with how it turn out, length, width, it is easy to wrap around and small enough to use as a scarf. I only used about 2/3 of the cone of the Brown Sheep yarn, I would buy it again. (although it seems hard to find, I bought it in a spinning shop) BTW, ...

I’ve become a casting on fool. While at my Dad’s house, I cast on the LaLa Shawl by Laura Linneman (free pattern) with the yarn I had at hand which was a multicolor yarn by Paton's Lace. I wasn’t sure if I would like the color changes, but I turned out to really like the look of it and the yarn. I’m still working on my Dummy Clap Shawl , I just keep knitting, and thinking it is not long enough, I am knitting it in a fingering weight and it is never ending. I’m trying to decide if I should just cast off and be done with it. *grin* Love the pattern, but it is a little to mindless, after a bit, if I had made it with worsted weight (I believe it calls for that) I would be done by now. My Dad lives 4 hours away from me, so I had picked up a skein of Paton Lace from JoAnn’s, not being close to any real yarn stores, It is described by Paton's as a Soft lace weight with a beautiful halo. Beautiful range of gently shifting colors. The fiber content is 80% acrylic (I know, this made...

Waking up after a long day of hiking, with some coffee and knitting.

Update on Syd, post surgery he got a seroma , about the size of a grapefruit, which then involved a drainage tube being inserted. Fun!  A lot of drainage, but better out than in. So I spent my weekend doing laundry and cleaning up after dribbles. But his side looks quite a bit better now that all of the fluid is out! Sometimes it is good to be lazy! I did get some knitting done. Working on my Dummy Clap Shawl , it is super east and fast. I’m knitting it with some Brown Sheep in a pound cone from my stash,  the yardage looks like it is 1400, in a deep maroon, beautiful yarn, and lovely to work with. It is Top of The Lamb . See link for information on this yarn, I would use it again. I’m already trying to track some down, I believe I bought at a weaving shop. It would be lovely in a shawl. From Brown Sheep Company about Top of the Lamb yarn, This single ply 100% USA grown wool yarn was expressly designed and dyed in colors that could be woven in rugs by the Navajo Nation....

I promise I’ll get to back to knitting content soon! I have frogged my DummyClapShawl , I originally thought I wanted a larger, lose gauge, but decided since the finished product will have dropped stitches to create the lacy areas, they would be too large and prone to getting caught on everything. From this (above left) to this (above right), yes that’s better! In addition I decided to use this yarn (I think) for a sweater ( Zuma Tunic ), Pattern from Custom Knits 2 (book review to come soon) by Wendy Bernard. I have Wendy’s first book, Custom Knits , if you have that one, I would say the 2nd book is a must! Very helpful she has extensive info on how to alter patterns, both for fit and to add and delete different components of the pattern. In the meantime, I am in a constant search for products for dry skin, hair and nails. A relatively new development for me. I’ve always had oily skin so have been very oil phobic. It has been hard to see oil as a good and necessary thing. I foun...

I was bogged down with my Dummy Clap Shawl (pattern by Anna Peck), I thought I needed something mindless to knit, but maybe I didn’t. It was too boring. I stopped knitting and thought I was going to frog it, but after seeing a video on 20 ways to wear a Eternity scarf, I’m thinking I’m going to keep knitting. Ave measurement of an eternity scarf = 30 x 80 inches. Even if you don’t knit one, you can sew one with knitted fabric or just buy one. I love this video! Check it out!! So I’m knitting again, I’ve also been buying some (ha, well maybe more than some or a few) knitting books and I’ve got lots of ideas!

A short post before I leave for work….. This pattern is easy and looks more complicated that it is. I was looking for a fairly simple project to occupy me and while blog reading, (because if you can’t knit, crochet or spin you can still read about it), I ran across this on the Knitting Up A Storm blog, from Anna Peck. Give it a look! This is a great step by step tutorial, enjoy and thanks Anna!! In the process of going through my stash, I started dyeing up some yarn to work with for this pattern, I had the idea of making the skeins painted in random light to dark mix. I started with two skeins and decided to dye 4. Hey, new rule, if I work two jobs, I get to wear my PJs when I’m off. I’m using a larger needle size 13 to get a lacy effect, and relaxing in the process. Everything is better with knitting. (I think this could be a beer commercial *grin*) Ravelry link below and photos http://www.ravelry.com/projects/knittyknitter/the-dummy-clap-shawl-scarf—shrug May your...