just another raveller

I've been behaving myself all weekend. Saving myself for the work week as it were. As a result, I'm surrounded by dust bunnies but have made great headway on a new project. Since I couldn't give the Hemlock Ring Throw to its intended recipient based on the blocking disaster I had with that project, I came up with an alternative. After falling prey to a few skeins of Karabella Lace Merino at the Yarn Boutique last week, I did some pattern browsing and paired this yarn with the Double Bordered Scarf With Diamond Borders from Victorian Lace Today .  The pattern suggests a mohair which means well, some fuzziness. The Karabella on the other hand is plied, so it's not completely smooth and it's not fuzzy at all.  I really like the way it holds the stitches. Apparently a lot of people make socks out of it which I don't understand. Wouldn' t they quickly develop holes? Anyway, I'm really enjoying the knit. It started slowly. I just couldn't grasp the instr...

Well, it's just been a few weeks, but it's been a hard month for a lot of people, full of challenges of all kinds. It has been very cold, hasn't it? I had something bronchial, but am now on the mend and am back knitting. For a while, I frantically knitted dickey's, the first of which I have hardly taken off since I finished it. It's a charming salmon colour. I like to think that it makes me look healthier. I used Meg Swansen's variations on EZ's basic pattern from page 42 of Knitting Around . You knit a tube with the circumference of a tuque and then cast on extra stitches and knit a "surround to cover the top of your chest and shoulders. The "surround" hangs down about 3-4 inches. I love that book, it's like a printed blog, really. I never get tired of reading about Elizabeth Zimmerman. A word on dickey's - they are detachable shirt fronts, collars or bibs per the Wiktionary. They've been supremely unfashionable and draw remarks ...

Here's just a bit of garbled bit of translation that seemed to fit the moment. Knitting to resume momentarily...apologies to various Russian authors. H. "The running on the stairs, the whirling, the screaming and the racket had reached it's peak. At that moment, the clock on the tower struck. "Bonng!" went the clock. Shrieks and screams shook the pavilion. Assistants, consultants, experts and editors streamed down the stairs. There was a rush for the exit. "Bonng! Bonng!" continued the clock. Silence began to emerge from the corners. The keepers of the cast-iron seal, the managers of commas, the administrators and lieutenants were all gone. A messenger's broom flashed for one last time on the stairway. "Bonng!" the clock struck for the fourth time. The pavillion was empty. And only an assistant, whose jacket pocket had got snagged on a bronze handle, squealed pitifully and stamped the marble floor with his little hoofs. It was over. A roos...

I must say that I probably would not knit the Hemlock Ring again because of my experience blocking it. And it's still not perfect. I've resigned myself to weaving in the loose ends, applying the steam iron without mercy, especially to the edges and leaving it at. Perhaps when the warm weather comes, If I'm in the mood, I'll take it outside and block the dickens out of it one more time. I'll be able to spread it out in the back yard on a sheet and leave no loop unpinned. Judith, thank you for your very sensible comment. I notice that on your project page, you talk about changing to a larger sized need for the feather and fan section. In my case this might have helped with the last 6 inches or so. It really does want to be a bowl even if only a very shallow bowl. It will work nicely as an armchair cover.

Now, it's all become clear to me. Why were people been asking me repeatedly whether I had blocked the Hemlock Ring and if not, when was I going to do so? Even my sister was been contacted by an old friend with this question. Tonight, after supper, I thought I'd just run upstairs and get it over with and then get on with knitting the blue Twilley's cardigan. Ha ha. Very funny. I almost panicked after my first try. I just couldn't pull it out flat. I thought maybe I mis-knit it somehow. Wasn't there something about an error in row 33 or 35. Maybe the yarn I used at the edging wasn't as stretchy as the main yarn. But it was the same Berroco Ultra Alpaca, just not the same colour.... A very unpleasant sensation. Fortunately, we have Ravelry for that. Really, I had no idea what blocking this baby would entail. I was perfectly innocent. I had not seen the reams of comments on this subject on Ravelry. I had not seen the blog postings by people who gave up and renamed i...