Watergarden Shrug with Paua Shell Colors

The colors in these Paua Shells became the inspiration for my new project:
Jane Thornley's Watergarden Shrug"


I began working on this shortly after finishing the Little Fishies scarf. I say "finishing" laughingly, as I still haven't woven in the ends and added beads and embellishments, but I hope to add them before I get to Taos for the Jane Thornley Workshop/Retreat. I also hope to have this shrug done so I can show it and the scarf at the workshop. I have 1 sleeve and 3/4 of the back done, so this is certainly doable.

Little Fishies

I've finished my Little Fishies Beaded Panel Scarf, sans beads.They will be added at some future date, after I get a chance to make some new fish and shell beads. But for now, I'm happy with it.

Started August 1st, finished August 12th, 2009. Record time, for me.



As my first Jane Thornley project, it gave me a chance to get my feet wet, and I learned a lot in the process. From my notes:
Finally starting a Jane Thornley project!
OK, I did it. I cast on Saturday, 8/1/09, and am officially doing this KAL. I’ve learned a lot in the last 24 hours: Read the pattern through (not just the materials list) before you start selecting yarns. It gives you a better understanding of how your yarns and colors will work together, and which stitch patterns will be used with which yarns. When I started the front panel, I realized that my ribbon was very wide, and my tape was very narrow, and some adjustments had to be made to make them look right together. (Waiting to go look for yarn to replace 1 or the other was NOT an option :D) Besides the disparity in width, the thinness of my tape caused the size of the panel to be way too small. So I turned the k2/p2 ribbing into k3/p2 ribbing; this made the k3 tape stand up better against the p2 ribbon, and added a little to the size of the piece. I also had to add more stitches to the cast-on. Then I used 2 strands of the plain yarn, and added an extra couple of rows of garter stitch to make it taller. It still isn’t 7”x4”, more like 6 1/2”x3”, but it works for me. I think 4” high would be a little too much on my neck.


Then came the bubble type yarn. This has got to be the biggest pain of any yarn I've ever worked with. I used Crystal Palace Yarns Popcorn, which apparently is interchangeable with Prism Yarns Bubbles.


As you can see from the picture, the yarn is little bobbles separated by a thin thread. If you knit just the thread, the bobbles go floating around haphazardly, and you have a real mess. So I used some of my main yarn with it, which helped some, but still was not perfect. Then I tried sewing it on after knitting a section, but that was a different kind of pain. Finally, I looked up the sites of the 2 yarns for some insight. Crystal Palace had none to offer, but Prism suggested using #11 needles. Aha! Using #11 needles combined with my idea of adding some more substantial yarn along with it did the trick. The bubbles/bobbles in the later sections (or vignettes, as Jane calls them) of the scarf are much neater, and were easier to do than the earlier ones. Not so easy that I'm ready to tackle them again, mind you. Although I do have an idea or two for more Little Fishies scarves, just without "Bubbles"

Next up: Jane Thornley's Watergarden Shrug
It's just over 2 weeks till I head up to Taos for the Jane Thornley Workshop/Retreat, and I hope to get a jumpstart on using her techniques. This project, added to Little Fishies, should do just that.

Finishing Ravelry's WIPs WrestleMania

July was a busy month, and August looks to be the same. I just haven't been able to sit down and write, so I think I'll have to do this post in bits and pieces.

For starters, I finished the Sandra Kimono Jacket (more on that later) and made progress on the Wrap Me Up Shawl. I also did both Auqust squares for the 2009 Crochet 12" BAM/CAL: Lovely in Pink & Grey, and Bright & Cheery. Added to the other WIPs I had finished earlier in the month, I was happy with my results for WrestleMania. It motivated me to get things done. I may have to periodically set aside a month to work on finishing projects.

The Kimono Jacket still needed a lot of work, and took up quite a bit of time and effort. While I was blocking it, I discovered that in some sections, the variegated yarn striped, but in others, it pooled. I was not a Happy Camper, but it was obviously too late to do anything about it. Frogging it, and starting over, was NOT an option. Other than that, it turned out well, but too big for me. It seems that I inadvertently was using a larger needle than planned. Luckily, I had already considered giving it to my daughter, and this clinched the deal.



Immediately on August 1st, I cast on a new project: the Little Fishies Beaded Panel Scarf, my first Jane Thornley KAL. More on this in my next post.

It's July; WIPs WrestleMania Month

This month, July, is WIPs WrestleMania on Ravelry. For the uninitiated, WIPs are Works in Progress, and those of us engaged in WrestleMania all try to finish off as many WIPs (also known as UFOs, or Unfinished Objects) as we possibly can by the end of the month.

I started off the month hoping to finish up these wips:

Kathy’s Moebius


A moebius wrap crocheted with some of Kathy Withers’ beautiful handspun yarn. I had actually finished the body of the wrap, but it still needed some embellishment. I made a few scrumbles, mostly flower shapes, but had to redo a spiral/curlicue, and attach them all (artfully, of course) to the wrap. This was my oldest wip; I had bought the yarn in March, 2007, and started working on it some time that summer. And it also was the piece with the least amount of work left to be done, so I was able to polish it off quickly, although I didn't actually get it done till 10:15pm, July 6th, after Eva's Shawl.


Eva’s Shawl, Modified

This was my next easiest project to finish; I already had about 5 or 6 repeats done. I did a couple more repeats, then added a deep ruffle, and finished it July 6th, 12:15am. (I do some of my best work in the wee hours of the morning.) ☺

Sandra Kimono Jacket
This is the project I’m working on now. I’m finished with the back, left side, and 4/5 of the right front. I work on it daily, trying to finish at least 1 block (24 rows) on whatever piece I’m doing. I still have both sleeves to go; then I can put it together, and another wip will be history,

Wrap Me Up Shawl
I doubt that this will be done this month. There’s still too much work to do on it, and not enough time after I finish the Kimono Jacket. It’s not Top Priority anyway; it’s a little too heavy to wear in Tucson this time of year.

Sideways Vest
I had originally planned to do this before the Kimono Jacket, but when I took it out to work on, I realized that I was not happy with the yarns I was using. I played around with substitutions for some and finally decided it needs to be started from scratch with new yarns and a new plan. But I decided not to take the time to frog it now while I have other projects that hopefully can get done for WIPs WrestleMania.

Loopy Shawl/Throw
I thought this would be simple to finish; just Garter Stitch till it was long enough. But this was another project that just didn’t look right. I kept this in the car to work on whenever I had to wait anywhere, and apparently had not really looked at it for a while. The variegated yarn didn’t look very good going across the piece, and I decided to do it lengthwise instead. So I frogged it and rewound the yarn. I’ll get to it another time.

Actually, for the purpose of WrestleMania, frogging it counts as a finished project!

And, possibly,
Undulating Waves Scarf
But this is a lace scarf, with an 18 row pattern repeat, and I had no idea which row of the pattern I was on. In the process of figuring it out, I discovered a few mistakes and decided to frog it and start over. Which also counts as a finished project.

Santa Fe: SOFA and Tour of LYSs

I've been back from Santa Fe for over a week, but I haven't had a chance to post my thoughts till now.

The main reason for my trip was to attend the 1st SOFA (Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art) in the Southwest. This art expo has been in Chicago for about 20 years, and New York (not sure how long). I've been attending the Chicago event for the last 16 or 18 years, and when we decided to move to Tucson permanently, I planned on going back to Chicago for it every year. But when I found out it was going to be in Santa Fe in June, I decided to test it out. This was a location I could drive to, and I could kill 2 or 3 birds with one stone: do SOFA, see a friend who lives there, and check out the LYSs, of which there are 5, 1 more than in Tucson.

Touring the LYSs turned out to be interesting and exciting, as well as frustrating. Santa Fe is an easy city in which to get lost. Even though I went on Mappoint and Mapquest to get directions, often the directions didn't account for the fact that some streets had more than 1 location in town, and often you couldn't seem to get from 1 to the other. I wasted a lot of time trying to find some of the shops, until the last day, when I discovered that the map of Art Galleries I had picked up pretty much covered the areas where the yarn shops were as well.

At any rate, here's my assessment of the shops:

Oodles
I went to this one first because it is hosting a Jane Thornley workshop Labor Day weekend, and I assumed, rightly, that there would be a lot of yarns suitable for freerange knitting. I found it to be a cosy, friendly shop, with some really gorgeous yarns. I initially thought I was just checking out the shops for future reference, but based on previous posts, I'm sure you know that I couldn't resist adding to my stash.


I will definitely go back on any future trip/s.

Tutto
This one I almost didn't find. I kept walking around looking for the address, but when I came to where the address should have been, no Tutto. Until I got smart and asked another shopkeeper. It turns out that the shop is on the 2nd level, but there was nothing to indicate that fact.

I found Tutto to be adequate, but not particularly inspiring. The 2 people there offered help, but I didn't really require any, and I left without purchasing anything.

Needle's Eye
This is one of 2 shops on the same sort of circular road. It wasn't hard to find, but had other problems: parking meters. Actually, most of the places I went, including SOFA, had metered parking, and I often didn't have enough change. In this case, after spending some time there, I realized my meter was running out. There was a lot across the street (actually closer than where I was parked) so I went to move my car, only to find that the lot charged a flat fee (more than it was worth for the amount of time I could stay) so I ended up not returning to the shop. I was running out of time, and still had 2 more shops to see. This was my last day, and I didn't want to go without at least checking out all of the shops. I have no doubt that, had I returned, I would have purchased some yarn here.

The shop was neatly laid out, but with a lot of different areas, so next time I would allow more time to explore. There will be a next time; more on that later.

Miriam's Well/Santa Fe School of Weaving
This is another great shop, full of many different yarns, and gorgeous samples designed and made by the owner, who, unfortunately was out of town. But the young man who was watching the shop was very helpful (to the point of actually guiding me to the shop by cell phone when I couldn't tell if the dirt road across the street would take me where I wanted to go.) He is a weaving student (possibly apprentice?) of Miriam's.

One of the samples (actually many) was of a ruffled scarf unlike any I'd seen before, and I found a variegated 95% wool/5% silk yarn to try one, and the pattern, which is free if you buy the yarn. I also bought 2 colorways of Fiesta Yarns La Boheme.


Another shop to which I will definitely return.

Looking Glass Yarn & Gifts
This was my last stop. Another shop with all kinds of glorious, and some very unusual yarns. The first that I noticed was Habu textiles silk stainless. This is a very fine silk yarn with a core of stainless steel. Last fall, Lion Brand Yarns introduced a yarn (wool, I think) with stainless steel, but I've never seen it in stores; I guess it's only available online. And this yarn, with silk, was even more intriguing. So, of course, I bought some.

I also got some Kraemer Sterling silk & silver; actually only 20% silk and 2%silver, with 63% superwash merino and 15% nylon. The yarn has little shots of silver throughout. I'm anxious to see how it makes up. The theme of my purchases on this trip, and especially at this shop, seems to be Silk.
This is another shop I'll return to. Actually, I will return to all the shops except Tutto; I didn't find anything exceptional there.

As far as returning to these shops goes, I will be taking a Jane Thornley workshop in Taos this coming September. Since Taos is just enough farther from here than Santa Fe, I will most likely stop in Santa Fe on my way there (and probably on my way back as well) and stay at least overnight. So I'll get another chance to shop there. Not to mention shopping in Taos. That will be another tour of LYSs to write about.