Don't judge me

I'm not the kind of person who sits around and knits stuff for dolls. Really. No, seriously. But, I have become increasingly enamored with the Hanne Falkenberg Dacapo Jacket. Yet, I can't bring myself to spend a zillion dollars for this pattern. I thought I'd bust into my Palette Sampler and try to make one from pictures I found on the internet. I didn't want to make a people-sized one because I figured I'd screw it up. So, I thought I'd make a miniature Dacapo. Here we are. It ended up fitting Ms. Ann perfectly, thought quite unintentionally. I just wanted to see if I could do it. I did, but for the sleeves. I couldn't tell if the sleeves had a chevron thing going on, or not. I guessed Not, and now I know I'm wrong. I think I got the front squares proportioned wrong as well, but hey, not bad for guess work. Don't puke over the doll thing.

Koigu Goodness

I've had this for almost a year, and I'm still stalled trying to figure out what to do with it. There are two groups of left-overs from Charlotte's, and then a zillion skeins I purchased at Wild Fiber. I just needed it to be where I could look at it more easily.

OK, I really must get back to work now...

Reasonable Scarf

I finally made a reasonably proportioned scarf. This is made from most of one skein of Cherry Tree Hill's Supersock yarn. It comes in one big skein; 420 yards to 4 ounces. The color is Serengeti. The early spring light, and my inability to take a good picture does not do the colors justice. They are rich and beautiful. I love greens and browns, or what K affectionately calls "The Baby Puke Palate". I wear it well! I like that there is a little bit of blue in here. It makes it much less "pukey". To finish the scarf I blocked the heck out of it, and put a row of single crochet around the edge using Rowan Cotton Glace color (or as they say, colour) 797. The blue cotton brings out the bits of rich blue from the body of the scarf.
I like the pattern a lot, thought it's a bit tough on the wrists. To make this scarf grab a skein of Supersock, or a similar yarn (Koigu, for example) and cast on groups of 4 stitches plus one. I casted on 37 stitches on US size 5 needles. I think the Knit-on cast on is preferable to the simple cast on usually used. Then,
Row 1: K1, (then insert needle into the next three stitches and P1, K1, P1 without slipping the stitches off of the left needle, K1) repeat the directions in the ( ) until the end of the row.
Row 2: P
Just do that for a long time. Then, when it's the length you like, or you're out of yarn, use the Cotton Glace and a size H crochet hook, and loosely single crochet to bind off. At this point you should only have crocheted the top end of the scarf. Don't break off the cotton. Wash the scarf, and block it. Trust me. Then, once it is dry, continue to single crochet loosely around the margin of the scarf. Tie in the ends, and block again if desired. Voila!

Hanne Falkenberg

Have you seen this? I just discovered her site a minute ago. She has a lot of really nifty designs, however the kits sell for about 2.7 million dollars. This one is called Mermaid. I foolishly look at this and think, "I could just get some nice alpaca yarn from knitpicks and make this. It's short-row shaping, how hard could it be?" Sure, the knitpicks alpaca would cost me about 40 or 50 bucks compared to 250-350 the kits go for on the web, but really how long would it take me? And, would I actually have something presentable? No. Probably not. So, I'll settle for admiring the picks. Besides, I don't care for any of the color combinations.

World's Longest Scarf, again

By the way, the color way for this project is called Adirondack. This is the color for both the ribbon and the L B.

Reston, VA, huh? I have family there. Still the last stop on the Orange Line?

World's Longest Scarf

This is the world's longest scarf. Once again, I don't know what I was thinking as I casted on 330 stitches on size 4 needles. It should have occurred to me when I grabbed 60 inch needles, and the scarf fit well bunched up on them. In any event, I used exactly one skein of La Boheme and most of a skein of Gelato, both from Fiesta Yarns. I love side ways scarfs, but this is over the top. It knitted up fast, but I can't help but realize that I will never wear it because it is itchy, and because it is 15 feet long! I crochetted three rows of double crochet at the ends because it needed to be 4 inches longer than it already was.



This is the wonderful wood work on our couch. Ummmm... Stickley...

Swatchlet

I'm making use of my Palatte Sampler from Knit Picks. I knitted a swatch today to see for myself how cool shadow knitting is. Yep, it's pretty nifty.

a day off

Luckily, they are not having kids. Note the shetland scarf near the many hats.

HandWorks Dressing Wires

If you're jonesing for Zonta Dressing Wires, forget it, and order these instead. Lisa is the nice lady who took over the project from the Zonta Club, and she sells a great kit for 30 bucks plus 6 or so for shipping. Her email is:
lisa@handworksnw.com
She still donates a portion of the sale to a good cause. I have a kit, and I love it.

vancouver

Happy Confidence Day.
Back from Vancouver. It was pretty.