Interlude...

We still have no heating :o( hopefully it will be seen today and either fixed today or tomorrow...

Our friend Mike came yesterday to visit and to collect his hand dyed sock yarn from the silent auction I hosted.... I came back in the room to find this scene ;o) and the comment 'the things you do for friends'.... For anyone that's interested he's modelling CW108 one of my very 1st shawls and Heartland by Evelyn Clark done in Buffalo yarn... in fact it was Mike who bought it me as a birthday present a couple of years ago so it seems only fitting he gets to use the shawl now and again!!!

Anyway I have had a little interlude from 'Christmas knitting'. Natalie of The Yarn Yard asked me if I would test knit some new lace yarn she has to go in the shop tomorrow, which is called Betwixt, and is a blend of 10% Cashmere & 90% merino.... it's very squishy in the skein...

I jumped at the chance to do a bit of lace for a change, so I did one of my favourite patterns 'Swallowtail' by Evelyn Clark. I had several reasons for picking this pattern to test knit the yarn. I knew I can do it fairly quickly, it’s an enjoyable knit (this is the 4th time for me), it’s a very pretty shawl and most importantly I knew it would give the yarn ‘a good work out’ in terms of lace knitting….

I find this pattern overall presents you with good solid and open areas to show off stitch definition. The pattern starts out with a nice easy pattern repeat which shows off colour well and then the lily of the valley pattern puts the yarn under ‘stress’ whilst doing Nupps, finally the peaked edging gives you a nice edging that you can really stretch out when blocking.

I am pleased to say that Betwixt lived up to all the criteria I want in a lace yarn….

It was very soft and ‘squishy’ and wound nicely into a ball with my ball winder.
It was nice to use and flowed easily through the fingers when knitting with it
It gave good stitch definition
It blocked well

I did notice when knitting that sometimes the yarn appeared to be ‘thin’ in places but I discovered this was just temporary when I was pulling the yarn tight to knit with it, but after releasing the stitch is ‘fluffed’ back to normal.

I used a 3.5mm needle and I personally wouldn’t go any higher, in fact next time I use this yarn I think I would opt for a 3.25mm as after blocking I would prefer my ‘knitted areas’ in the budding lace to be a little more solid, but that’s just my personal preference…

As those of you who are familiar with Swallowtail will see, the peaked edging is a little short as I had to omit the last 4 rows of it due to insufficient yarn, however, it's come out a respectable 48" across the top and 23" down the spine.

All round this is a good yarn for small projects and I will be using it in the future, especially it's £6.95 for a 25/26g skein with at least 300m on of every so slightly variegated colours...

This arrived this week from Juliespins etsy shop it was the 'not fibre club' she offered through Ravelry, were you signed up for a maximum of 8oz of fibre either all Wood or Surprise me or a combination of the two. I opted for 4oz of the 'Surprise Me' colourway in Merino/Silk which turned out to be called 'Polaris' it's beautifully soft and squishy...

Swallowtail finds its Wings

Here as promised are the photos of my larger Swallowtail.....

Details & Alterations:
Swallowtail by Evelyn A Clark -

Fall 2006 Interweave Knits

48g of Patons 100% wool 2 ply Baby Yarn (in process of being discontinued) kettle dyed by myself with Kemtex Easidye Acid dyes

3.75mm Addi Lace circular

An extra 5 repeats of the budding lace pattern

An extra 2 rows at the start of the Peaked Lace Edging (Rows 1 & 2 repeated)

Finished size: 61" by 29"

Christmas present for my Godmother (I couldn't get it finished for her birthday)

I have to say I'm very pleased with this shawl yet again, it never ceases to make me smile when I stand back from the blocking mats, just as well as this is the 3rd time I've knit it but the first I've deviated from the pattern.

I've read on various other blogs that people have made bigger Swallowtails by increasing the budding lace then 'fudged' the stitches when going into the Lily of the lace pattern.... I'm not one for fudging in advance if you follow....

I sat down with paper, pen & caluclator and worked out for that the Lily of the Valley border to fit onto the budding lace without fudging you need to do 5 extra repeats of the buddign lace. The pattern has 14, I did 19 and if you want it even bigger then you'd do 24, 29, 34 repeats etc.... I was chuft with myself!!!! what is it they say pride comes before a fall..... well it was more of a trip really!

I got all the way to the peaked lace edging, worked rows 1 & 2, got halfway along row 3 and I'm 2 stitces short, I checked my work over and over and over again, no I hadn't made a mistake... I put it to one side in disgust....

Monday morning I sat down checked again no I was right no knitting errors, so out came the pen, paper and caluclator and low and behold I calculated I was 2 stitches short for the first half so a total of 4 stitches would be needed to make the pattern 'fit' on row 3, Hmmmmmm....... after a bit of thought, do I rip back rows 1&2 and start the lace straight on top of the lily of the valley edging or do I add a further 4 stitches to row 1 (makes 8 increases on that first row) I finally decided that I would just repeat rows 1 & 2 to get the desired number of stitches... I think that worked well in the end, I've got a little broader transition band but I don't think it detracts at all....

Anyway would I do this pattern again... still definitely yes, perhaps not just immediately as this is my 3rd since May, however I may do a smaller one (9 budding lace repeats) as a neckscarf for mum for her Birthday....

Anyway here's a table of stitches if anyone wants to use my method of making a bigger or smaller Swallowtail.... Don't shout please if the maths are wrong...


Number of Budding Lace Repeats: 9 14 19 24 29 34
Number of stitches after Budding Lace: 135 195 255 315 375 435
Number of Stitches after Lily Border #1: 159 219 279 339 399 459
Number of Stitches after Lily Border #2: 179 239 299 359 419 479
Repeat Rows 1 & 2 twice in Peaked Lace Edging: Yes No Yes No Yes No
Number of Stitches before starting Row 3 of Peaked Lace pattern: 187 183 307 303 427 423
Number of stitches after Peaked Lace Edging: 203 259 323 379 443 499
Number of stitches to Cast Off: 253 323 403 473 553 623

As promised....

for Soo who wnated to know how the KF "Mirage" series comes out... this is the "Storm" colourway...

It's OK and will be suitable for the recipient however, I wouldn't like to knit another pair, they're a bit non-discript if that's the right description.

And below is what I have left out of 48g of Patons 2ply Baby Wool (100% wool) that I hand-dyed myself (there should have been 50g but by the time I'd hanked it, dyed it, re-hanked it etc etc.... I'd 48g left) so no chance of getting anymore.

I was so relieved when I finally cast off the 403 stitches and had this left at least I know for future reference what it takes to knit a larger Swallowtail. Anyway more tomorrow when hopefully I will have finished photos for you. I tried last night to get DH to help me block it but he wasn't for playing!!!!

Phew...

what a relief.... I've just finished the Swallowtail and I've about 5m of yarn to spare out of 48g!!!

I've been weighing in between pattern repeats and trying to guage if I had enough yarn, putting lifelines in at strategic points just in case I hadn't enough yarn and needed to rip back and making plans how I could finish the Swallowtail if I ran out of yarn on the cast off edge....

Anyway more details to follow with hopefully some photos of the completed larger Swallowtail by Wednesday....

A Quick update...

I thought seeing since it was over a week since I blogged I'd just give you a quick update....

Both socks in the previous post are now complete and the cuffs completed on their respective partners... I've had a hell of a job matching the second sock for the bee sock, not quite as straight forward as it looks and an error of judgement on Wednesday evening saw me cursing on Thursday morning, but more when I finish the socks......

The 2nd KF Mirage storm will hopefully progress up to the heel today. I have to say I'm not overly impressed with the 'mirage' series I much prefer the look of the 'landscape' series..... I'm not bored knitting them as usually I've got other people round me talking & chattering but I wouldn't like to do a 2nd pair..... I like the colours not the pattern....

On the Lace knitting front I am over halfway down the 1st long edge of the VLT shawl and doing 5 repeats a day which equates to about an hour is manageable and I have more or less memorised the 12 row pattern now. I'm sure as I get closer to the finish line I will do more repeats a day!!!!

The Swallowtail is now into the 2nd Lily of the Valley border so just another 8 rows before reaching the edging..... I calculated that the first 12 row border used 4/5g of yarn leaving me with 18g to complete the shawl. I know the shawl is still increasing but even if the 2nd border uses 6/7g of yarn I still have 11g left to do the edging (which doesn't increase on the last 6 rows) and the cast off, I'm sure I have enough yarn, don't I?

At least I know my maths caluculations were right that if you want the maths to fit with this pattern you need to -/+ 5 repeats of the budding lace pattern to make the stitches work without fudging for the following border patterns... I might even do a smaller Swallowtail (9 budding lace repeats) at some point so it's like a triangular neck scarf.... might be quite useful for using up the odd 20g of yarn leftover from other projects....

Progress...

of sorts...... as you've seen both pairs of socks are complete and I've started another two pairs.... one is the Kaffee Fassett Mirage in "Storm" and the other pair is Rainforest 2 "Bee"

I know they're not as exciting as other peoples socks with fancy patterns and yarns, but at the end of the day there's something elegant about a smoothly knitted sock and when I haven't felt like picking up my knitting recently my trusty socks have always been there so I haven't felt completely useless....

The one thing that I love about my socks is I can just grab the bag and run out the door at a moments notice, everything is in my little Go Knit pouch to provide me with entertainment should I need it.... Whilst exchanging emails with n of the The Yarn Yard this morning I realised just how travelled my socks are..... the Bee pair so far this week went to the hairdressers on Monday, MIL's on Wednesday, tomorrow they will go to the Hospital and on Sunday they will be going to Harrogate and back!!!!

If you read n's blog you will see she is talking about October being Breast Cancer Awareness month and that she's asking all her friends if they've checked their breasts and she asked who would we be asking, so I'm going to publically ask you all...

Have you checked your breasts today?

Back on the Lace knitting front here as promised is a photo of the current Swallowtail which if I stick to the pattern is at the end of the budding lace chart, but as I've not yet used a full 25g ball I'm going to risk doing 5 more pattern repeats to make a bigger shawl, that and I won't get it finished for tomorrow so it can be my Godmother's christmas present.... that's the only nice thing about people who have birthdays near Christmas, you can 'shuffle' their presents around should they not be finished in time for the first ocassion ;o) !!!!!

Just to prove I've actually started on the border of the VLT shawl, I will be happier when I've got a few more repeats done, then it might not feel so flimsy and awkward to work with.... I haven't managed to do 5 repeats a day as you can see, but I will try to stick to it in the future....

Got your sunglasses....

you'll need them ;o)

I completed them on Saturday, just in time for tomorrow, not sure if I can lay my hands on any Christmas paper to wrap them though as despite knitting Christmas gifts, I'm not really geared towards Christmas yet!!!

The Swallowtail is growing and once I've updated my blog, had a nosey round the internet while I finish my cup of tea I'm off to knit some more on it. I still haven't decided if to do more repeats of the budding lace pattern... I worked out if you want the maths to work with the following patterns then you need to repeat the budding lace pattern in multiples of 5, so instead of doing 14 repeats I'll need to do 19 and I'm not entirely sure if I will have sufficient yarn. I have 48g and the last Swallowtail took 36g.... Mmmm not sure what to do, but have 2 pattern repeats to work on it yet!!!!

I still haven't done anymore on the VLT border, from tomorrow I'm going to aim to do at least 5 repeats per day and it should be finished well in time for Christmas....

On the SIL front I think I'm going to go for the Honeybee stole, I like Wings o' the Moth but I think SIL is definitely more of a rectangular stole than a triangle shawl person, plus I've already bought the pattern for it.....

Update...

I know I haven't blogged for awhile, there's been nothing to say really....

I haven't started the border of the VLT shawl, both sets of socks are well on with the 2nd of each pair being nearly completed hopefully by the end of the weekend they will both be finished.... the orange ones especially as they will be given on Monday and off to Spain on Thursday!!!

That brings me to the VLT Scarf with Border No 20 as for it's progress see the photograph below..... I just can't bring myself to knit it so it's going to be ripped back and something more intersting knit instead..... lets face it when you start doing the ironing, the cleaning, sorting cupboards out rather than knit something, it's time to face up to the fact you're not really enjoying knitting it and at the end of the day whats the point of using your free time to knit something and not enjoy it????

So I'm pondering what to knit instead (this is for SIL for Christmas), has anyone any suggestions, I do have plenty of different weights of yarn in my stash. So far I'm toying with Leda's Dream by PLT, River Stole by Evelyn Clarke Honeybee Stole by Knitspot (Mmmmm I'd forgotten I'd purchased that pattern). Any other suggestions will be gratefully considered... I think I'm after a bit of a challenge but not too much that I get stressed by getting it finished in time for Christmas as there are some other knitting & crafty things I need to do for Christmas....

I have actually started a 3rd Swallowtail, which needs to be finished for the 5th of October as a birthday present for my Godmother, which it should be I've done about 9 repeats of the budding lace.... this pattern always amazes me how it can be so different depening upon the yarn used... I'm using some Patons (UK) 100% wool baby 2ply (sadly being discontinued along with it's 3ply sister) that I kettled dyed myself.....

and that's as they say all I really have to say for myself today, hopefully I will be back in a couple of days with some photographs and my mind made up about what to do for SIL.....

Swallowtail 2

Here as promised is the finished photos of my 2nd Swallowtail.....


Blocking

A couple of close up of the detail



Post-Blocking
The yarn is from Yarn Treehouse and is the Lace Merino Print, colour C03. To give the correct guage for the pattern I used two strands held together on 3.5mm Addi Lace circular. If I had just knit this on it's own I think I would have had it done in a week so I find it a quick knit. I did however this time make silly mistakes on the body of the shawl, but found the two Lily of the Valley borders easier and the Nupps didn't seem a problem. The only thing I can put the Nupps being easier down to is that this time I had my Lace Addi's.....

On the non-lace knitting front, namely socks.... I have completed my Uncle Harry's christmas present - Opal Elemente , colour 1077 (now no longer available)

Sunday Morning

I know I haven't posted for over a week but I haven't really had much to say, as I've said before I seem to be an "all or nothing" when it comes to blogging.... I really haven't done much knitting until the end of this week not even over the BH weekend I think I was just too tired I just couldn't even be bothered to pick up the needles....


Anyway I have now finished the 2nd Swallowtail which is just as well as it is required for next Sunday (9th)... I shall block it later today.... It's used just 38g of yarn!!! The subtle colours show up better now....

The only thing I did do over the BH weekend was sample my Colourmart Cashmere I bought in readiness for the Princess shawl... I opted for 2mm needles and just worked a small sample based on 35 sts and 40 rows (OK it was the sample swatch for the PLT Mystery stole) Before I blocked it, it was more or less 4" square.... I washed it in hot water, OK I threw some boiling water in too along with the Fairy Liquid. It has shrunk length ways but it's still OK width ways (lesson learnt very hot water is fine but not boiling water unless you don't mind the shrinkage).

I'm pleased with the resulting swatch and you can see from the yarn tails how the yarn has 'bloomed' and the knit areas do look a little fuller... I'm more pleased that I actually knit with the yarn and it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be so far this is my finest yarn I have knit with (it's approx 20 metres per gram)

Swallowtail - Take 2

Here's the start of my 2nd Swallowtail by Evelyn A Clark, I really enjoy this pattern I have to admit.....

The photo isn't very good colourwise but the yarn is from Yarn Treehouse. I have only good things to say about both the yarn and the seller. Her prices are reasonable for both yarn and postage and the service is good.

The yarn is lovely to knit with and this will be the 3rd time I've knit with it. My 1st Swallowtail was done with her Lace Merino Classic (which I dyed myself) and then recently I knit Hanami with the same Lace Merino Print as the current Swallowtail. In all three cases I have wound two balls together and knit with the yarn held double thoughout to give the correct guage.... In the case of the Lace Merino Print as the colour changes are very subtle and gradual it doesn't really cause any problems that the two yarns when held together are at different colour changes, in my opinion it creates a whole new different colourway.....