Lacevember Photos

The current lace project: Hanging Gardens by Sivia Harding; yarn is Kid Merino from Crystal Palace, color 9800--lavender/blue/pink/gold but reads mostly lavender. I have beads for it, but the yarn frays if the beads are strung on it so IF I add them, it will be with needle and thread after the piece is completed. Here you see it after Row 12--not very far along, but then it's just been started! How far will it get in Lacevember? Who knows?? Needles are KnitPicks, which are turning into my very very favorite for everything.


Okay, this is flash-your-stash time--stash with cat. Here's a small part of my lace stash--some random balls of Kid Silk Haze, aka Kid Silk Crack cause it's sooo addictive.
The maroon-y red is what I'm doing Birch in--she's in that old WIP round-up picture down there, front and center! So, yeah, two lace projects OTN now unless you want to include the AbFab, which is Feather-and-Fan, as a lace project too. Anyway, back to the stash photos. There are some beads in there which will probably go onto one of the (many) projects in the future. The little "cakes" of yarn are wonderful Artisan NZ Merino, lace weight. I have a couple more of the pink-and-lavender colorway and want to use those for the Romance shawl from Fiddlesticks. Oh, the Great Wall of Rubbermaid? Just a small part of it. This is living on top of the trapdoor to my basement. The green-lidded one is holding my Rowan Tapestry, which is rapidly being transformed into Lady E I and Lady E II.

Now I am feeling a little better about all this stuff. Of the WIPs in this picture, the blue shawl on the left is done, just needs a light blocking and it will go into service; the two pink things are also done and moved along to new homes. The MOTW has its last sleeve done, needs to be washed and blocked and sewn together, get a neckband added and it will be good to go; Birch and the Ab Fab have both had a bunch more added to them. I think Birch is going to move to a KnitPicks needle too, she's on a Bryspun right now which is OK but I don't like the thick cable. I sure hope I have the right size KP to put into service...

There you have it. Or part of it. I'm going to go look for something to cast on for Peacock Feathers with--I'm sure I have some blue/green/purple something somewhere in that wall of tubs...

Lacevember

The knitting questions, or the usual suspects

How long have you been knitting?
Since I was 7 or 8--I can't do the math.

How did you learn to knit?
My mom taught me, and then I learned a lot more from books and patterns.

Favorite thing about knitting?
I'm a process knitter, so that's the best part for me. I love learning new tricks and techniques, too, just taught myself how to knit back backwards and I love it!

How long have you been knitting lace?
Let's see--made knitted lace dresses for my oldest daughter who's now (oops) 40.

Favorite thing about knitting lace.
Watching it come to life when it blocks. Oh, and mastering the challenges!

The yarn questions, or flash your stash

Favorite lace yarn?
mmmmm... Kid Silk Haze and its clones

variegated or solids for shawls?
Depends on the pattern, I love both!

Favorite lace color?
no such thing--I don't play favorites. I mean, I have a favorite oldest son, and a favorite younger son, you get the idea...


Technique, or show us your skillz

Circs or straights?
Circs, every time.

Favorite lace knitting trick?
Don't really have any; just plug away at it.

Lifelines? If so with what?
Not usually.

Fancy blocking wires, or just sewing pins stuck in your carpet?
Quilt pins on the spare bed.


Pattern, or can you follow directions

shawls or lacey items?
both--have done lots of shawls though

triangle, rectangle, or circular shawls?
triangles or rectangles, my big circular one was not a hit

Charts or printed instructions?
Either or both, I've done both ways--I usually translate charts to directions muttered under my breath as I go along

Favorite lace you've knit?
See above...

Favorite lace you want to knit?
Got a whole collection of patterns I want to do. I need to live to be 145, with no arthritis!


Just Fun, yup that's right, just for fun

Favorite jelly belly flavor? The minty ice-blue ones

Tell me everything you know about Eric the Red.....
Seriously? I used to teach 4th grade. My favorite thing about him is he brought Forest Cats over to the US and they bred with the native cats to give us Maine Coons.

Coke, classic or with lime?
Cherry Coke. Or the Black Cherry Vanilla.

Holiday carols, sing along, or wish they would be banned from all public airwaves?
Love to sing along with the carols, but hate the jazzed-up versions. Ick.

What is the definition of irony?
Listening to Alanis Morrisette and realizing she's describing your life!

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop?
Dunno, I always crunch them!

Why is my cat always puking in front of my son's bedroom door?
Because he won't let her in so she can puke in his bed, of course!

What is your superhero power?
Mighty Mom, of course...

If the laundry is 9 foot by 11 foot (just dreaming, that's a big laundry room), and the walls are 8 feet tall, and you are going to tile the entire room in tiles that are 3 inches by 5 inches, what color should those tiles be?
They'd be Bachelder tiles in lovely warm tones, with lots and lots of figurals mixed in.

What's for dinner tonight?
We had corn cakes and apple strudel. It's so nice not to have to feed a family any more!

What is clogging my children's bathtub drain?
Check for missing toothbrushes. (Honest. We had a sink that wouldn't drain--plumber pulled 15 toothbrushes out of it.)

Don't you just hate it when...

This happens:



Well, or this:


For some reason, Blogger isn't playing very nicely today. So it uploaded the pictures I took, but is only showing them here as HTML code. Sigh. So I don't know which is which! One is a "still life" on the coffee table at Zephyr--they do lovely floral arrangements all over, and Patty had put her unfelted fuzzy clog down next to the bowl of posies. The other picture is Annette, dealing with a huge wad of "yarn barf." She was all set to start a nice project, and lo and behold, her ball of DB Cashmerino Aran exploded!

Don't you just hate when that happens??

Okay, changing the subject slightly, I hope you've all been over to see what Wendy is doing with the Heifer Project. This is a cause that's near and dear to my family, and I've already sent off my donation. Prizes schmizes, I think the real reward is helping people, who have little except determination, get a helping hand. If I was in that situation, I'd love to get a critter to help me feed my kids, educate them, make a better life for them.