Butterfly Kisses for the Doctor

It comes as no great surprise to those who know me that I'm a Dr Who fan. My favorite doctor is the tenth Doctor - David Tennant. I could write an essay on why he's the coolest, sexiest, most interesting Doctor with the best story arcs but this is a knitting blog after all. I'll just post a photo of the most awesome Doctor for you to contemplate (There is a point to this, I promise you).

After last year and all the shawl stuff I still hadn't quite got it all out of the system. I may have wanted to make yet another lace shawl and after much deliberation and hours of time spent squirreling through the Ravelry pattern database, I decided that Nymphadelia was the next lace shawl for the needles. Blue tweed and brown variegated sock yarn together should be cool. (This has the added benefit of using up the stash as is my goal for 2015).

I was right. It is cool!

I was a little dubious about these two yarns together in the ball - variegated yarns often knit up so much differently to how they present as a ball and so I was hopeful it would work like I pictured it in my head. Why this colour combination? I love blue and brown together. It quite frequently features in my wardrobe. This particular blue and brown colour combination is my tribute to the 10th Doctor.  These colours evoke his costume: blue and brown pinstripe suits, a long brown overcoat and converse sneakers (See photo above).

I may have temporarily yarn bombed another statue. It was just the right shade of blue. How could I resist?

And that is part of the inspiration for the name too. The shawl pattern (a free one from Knitty magazine) is called Nymphalidea (the Latin name for one of the largest butterfly families). The colours are 10th doctor inspired. Hence Butterfly Kisses for The Doctor.

I cast on as Day 1 project for Feburary COM over in Village Hopelessly Overcommitted (VHOC). Must say I love the simplicity of the lace and purl ridges and the effect of the variegated yarn. Easy to remember pattern and it’s flying along. I managed 18 repeats of the Wedge D and welt combination in the first day.

The next day I got to 21 repeats and then 24 repeats on Day 3. Day 4 was a day of long train journeys. Prime knitting time. So I finished all 27 repeats. (And I ended up with the correct stitch count as given in pattern! Bonus). The shawl was now in need of aggressive blocking to show off in its full glory! Lace is so messy just off the needles before blocking works its magic.

Pattern: Nymphalidea by Melinda Vermeer - a free pattern from Knitty Deep Fall, 2013
Needles: 4mm
Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills 5 ply Colonial in Berry twist - donated stash from my Aunty and Moda Vera Noir sock yarn in Coffee Mix. (I have enough yarn left over to make another one...)

Freeforming away!

Thanks to the wonders of Ravelry, I have knitting friends all over the world I've never met in person. However like all knitting friends, we chat, encourage each other when the knitting mojo has fled and we are in a dreaded knitting slump, oooh and ahhh appropriately over each others finished objects and sometimes just plain marvel at those of us whose knitting transcends the ordinary to become art.... And we know each other well enough to dangle interesting opportunities where they are most likely to be snapped up.

So my adventure in freeforming is all thanks to Rose who I originally met in VHOC (Village Hopelessly Over-committed). She enticed me down this particular rabbit hole. "Come and have a look at the IFFF (International Free Form Forum). They are running an Adventures in Freeform Lace CAL / KAL in June and July. I think you'd love it...." So I went and looked. And all the pretty things and the friendly welcoming people hooked me right in.

I knew what freeform was. I'd had the pleasure of meeting Prudence Mapstone several times at Craft Shows in Melbourne and took a class with her a few years ago.  There are scrumbles in the deep storage area of my UFOs. I had a plan to make a handbag. I have a mesh bag frame and Prudence's book on Freeform Handbags.... But it just never came together into a coherent idea. Prudence's idea of scrumbling seemed to work better in crochet than knitting (and I would always chose knitting over crochet).

The scrumble I made in Prudence's class

But right from the beginning when I decided to take the plunge and take part the creative juices were bubbling over. I think my intensely positive experience with displayed my knitted work as art in the gallery earlier this year had made me more open to creative opportunities when they came my way. (After all a girl need a portfolio if she is going to stage her own show some day....)

The idea was to make a lace shawl using a series of crochet and knit stitch prompts provided weekly. The suggestion was to loosely base it on Wingspan which is made from a series of offset triangles formed with short rows. The other design inspiration was Dreambird which has been near the top of my queue for a while now. Dreambird's encased short row feathers banded in strips of garter stitch just clicked somehow. I could so see a lace Dreambird with a faggoted / trellis framework and delicate lace feathers. And that was my inspiration for beginning to design this - feathers encased in ribs of garter stitch, modularly constructed as a series of panels.

This was my original inspiration for the colour palette. This little guy is blue wren. They are fairly common in regional Victoria where I live. My previous office at the University had large windows with a broad outside ledge that were mirror coated on the outside. One of these little guys came by almost daily to play with his reflection. I was drawn to the colours of these birds' wings: complex shades of brown and a flash of brilliant almost metallic blue.

Another post is coming on the design and construction logistics of the shawl. The rest of this one is just going to be the eye candy pictures of the finished object... (Thanks to the boy for the shots of me wearing it. And yes, I do actually wear it (in public - to work and out shopping, etc...). It's amazingly comfortable and just sits so perfectly on the shoulders. The length has turned out just right too. Not too long to get in the way).

And a big thank you to all the lovely ladies of IFF (especially Melba, Jorel and Loren - the group moderators). You have inspired me to complete my first freeform garment! (I still can't quite believe I have). You've pushed my gently but firmly out of my comfort zone. (Kind of like how mother birds push baby birds out the nest to teach them to fly). You've made me realise I already have my own unique style and it's worth refining but not really changing. And it's been a really fun journey.

Curly Wurly

Every so often something just pushes its way to the head of the queue and forces me to knit it NOW! I had no intention of knitting a shawl. I have two on the needles currently (Brown As - a traditional triangle lace shawl and Lacewing a free form knitted and crocheted shawl inspired by the colours of a blue wren's wing). I really didn't plan to make another. But Melba (one of the moderators of Ravelry's International Free Form group) dangled this pattern under my nose and even though I didn't find the original very inspiring knitted as it was in a single colour, there was enough mystery in trying to figure out how it was constructed to make me drag some yarn out of the stash and just knit up a little sample to see how it worked. (Note to self for future reference: this was in hindsight perhaps a bad idea. Resist the intriguing knitting puzzle a little harder next time).

This pattern with its use of short row sections and dropped stitches was a fascinating and addictive knitting exercise.You know of the 'just one more bit' and then I'll put it down go do the housework / complete tedious marking / insert any essential but boring chore here. I'd never done dropped stitches on purpose before (though there have been lots by accident over a long knitting career). I'd find myself insanely giggling inside each time I deliberately dropped and unraveled a stitch. I'm sure the knitting police were secretly watching me flaunting the laws of good knitting and waiting in the wings to slap me with a ticket for illegal knitting.

More by accident than design I'd knitted my little sample piece (it ended up becoming part of the aforementioned Lacewing) in a gorgeous varigated cream, grey and tan yarn. I discovered this pattern just shows off a short repeat variegated yarn to absolute perfection. And in my stash I had just the perfect thing to use: two balls of a acrylic print called Instinctive designed to knit up into a sort of a fake dead animal print.

Mel is responsible for the inspiration behind the name. I was knitting this and she said it reminded her of a chocolate coated something. The wave like patterning and the fact the colour is a mix of chocolate, white chocolate and caramel together with it’s wavy pattern reminds us of a Cadbury Curly Wurly chocolate bar. So Curly Wurly it is. (Though it was very nearly Chocolate Covered Pretzel)

Pattern: Summit Shawl by Mandie Harrington from Knitty Spring+Summer 2010 - a free pattern
Needles: 4mm straights
Yarn: Moda Vera Instinctive, colour 51, black, white and caramel, 100% Acrylic, used 2 by 100 g balls. Bought on sale for $1 each. (So yes, total cost only $2!)
Total elapsed knitting time: 11 days....

It wasn't a totally smooth knit though. There was some extreme frogging involved. I initially started knitting this to the width suggested in the pattern (15 columns) and completed almost two full repeats. However, I only had two balls on this yarn and wouldn’t get the length I needed. So I frogged it and cast on again with only 8 columns - more of a scarf / stole width.

It garnered some interesting comments on Ravelry on the way. I got told that the colour made it look likes hundreds of baby snakes together. Hundreds of snakes. That would be scary to wear around your shoulders….

The original knit in progress shot that inspired the hundreds of snakes comment

I wet blocked the shawl when I finished it but it didn’t hold its shape when dry and the pins were removed due to the acrylic yarn. I wore it once but wasn't happy with it because it didn't drape nicely and kept slipping. So I decided to aggressively steam block it to 'kill' the acrylic. Much happier with the finished stole / shawl now!

The photo-shoot took place on a glorious spring afternoon. Mel is an inspired photographer sometimes and she deserves a giant pat of the back today for making both the shawl and me look good.

Not sure I can pull it off as a head scarf.

The back view

Curating Ravelry: Simple textured shawls

Lately I'm lusting after simple shawls, garter stitch, simple textures, beautiful yarn, gorgeous colours. And you know me, a free pattern just tops it all off.

So here's another Curating Ravelry post with the theme of simple textured shawls. Go on, you  know you want to knit one too!

I'm starting with Stephen West of westknits.  Stephen is the master creator of so many cool shawls. (And a few of them are even free).

by westknits

by westknits

Boneyard shawl by Stephen West (Westknits)

by westknits

Metalouse by Stephen West (Westknits) from Knitty, Winter 2012

Actually, there are a few great free shawl patterns in Knitty. This is the next one I have queued.

© Melinda VerMeer

© Melinda VerMeer

Nymphalidea by Melinda VerMeer from Knitty, Deep Fall 2013

by YarnAddictAnni Flickr

Maja by Anniken Allis from Knitty, Winter 2008

© brittsneezer

Stencillo Shawlette by Britt Schmiesing

© Tahki Stacy Charles, Inc.

Bessie Positive/Negative Stole by Irina Poludnenko

© sketchbook

The Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief by Orange Flower Yarns

Shades of a scarf

#a month of moments
26. comfy
I love this scarf. It's like a comfy warm hug around my neck.

This is a very delayed post. I've had all the bits for this floating around for literally months. I finished the scarf in October last year. The draft blog post has been kicking around since November last year but the right words were being elusive. I have the month of moments prompt to thank for getting me off my butt and making me finish it.

At the end of July 2012, my Mum, my Aunty and myself went to The Melbourne Craft & Quilt Fair at Melbourne’s Convention & Exhibition Centre or Jeff's Shed as it is affectionately known by Melbournians. I love craft shows! (The advertising banner below has it spot on). I try to get to at least one each year. It's such fun to immerse myself in a creative world for a whole day. I thoroughly just enjoy looking and being inspired by others' awesomeness and rarely buy much. (Except books and they don't really count do they?)

This time around both my Aunty and I bought a scarf kit from Jane Slicer-Smith at Signatur Handknits. Jane's inventive knitting kits have been around on the Australian craft scene for at least 20 years or so, but I noticed this year she got to appear at Vogue Knitting Live in New York. Lucky her. I'm jealous.

It was both the shape and the colours that got me in. Then I fondled the wool and I was thoroughly hooked. It was so soft and snugly. The wool is called Tonalita - Italian for Shades. (You could also translate it as hues. On the other hand Tonalita is also the name for a particular type of igneous rock found in the Italian Alps).

Pattern: The Wave Length Scarf is created working short rows - or incomplete rows. The pattern has two width options: narrow and wide. I made the narrower 17 stitch scarf.

Yarn: Trendsetter Tonalita yarn made in Italy. The colour I used is called Violet Eyes. It is a 52% Wool, 48% Acrylic blend and despite being a single twist ply is tougher than it looks. This yarn is dyed as an un-spun, raw fiber & then spun into some wonderful color combos. I used two balls.

Needles: 8mm. I was extremely dubious at this. 8mm with 8ply!??? I said. And I had to start it three times 'cos it seemed so wrong to be knitting on such large needles. But I'm glad I persevered. The slightly open stitch structure makes it warm and it drapes beautifully at the same time. But it still felt like knitting on broomsticks!


This was great travel knitting. Here's me knitting it on the train on the way to another craft show in early October with my son and little sister (her birthday present). In fact, in my photo file on my computer, this scarf's picture folder is labelled as "The Craft Show Scarf".

Yes, I know I am headless. My son, who took this, says that the expression on my face when I am concentrating on my knitting is anything but pretty.

I love this scarf. You can almost see how fuzzy and warm it is here.

I'm so glad it wasn't this sort of Tonalita. Not comfy at all!

Spirali the scarf

Meet my new scarf. My son named it Spirali after the Italian name for spiral pasta because that's what he says it reminds him of.

Actually smiling for the camera for once. Really laughing at the photographer's impersonation of a fashion photographer.

Spiral scarves are hot right now in the fibre world. Here are some examples of my favourites.

Copyright dancing-girl on Ravelry. I just love the colours in this one. Made from the Helix scarf pattern by Stephenie Gaustad

Fall Foliage version of the Helix scarf with a picot edge

If you are inspired to make one the helix scarf pattern is available free from Ravelry or from Knitting Daily. This link takes you a whole gallery of helix scarf patterns including the fall foliage version pictured above.

Knitted with tapestry yarn using Nona Knits spiral pattern. I think I am sensing a theme of colours that I like

And this one is crocheted. The Sunroom spiral scarf.

Then of course there are those things knitted in that ruffle yarn that seems to be breeding everywhere at the moment. I first ran into Rico Can Can 12 months ago at a craft show. Now everyone's doing it (Panda or Red Heart Sashay, Style Craft Ruffles, Katia Ondas and Triana just to name a few) including the knock off merchants. I think these just look tacky, especially if they also include glitter in the yarn...

This one is almost OK

These however could almost make me change my mind about novelty yarn like this.

This has been an ongoing winter project, with progress going in fits and starts as enthusiasm waxed and waned. I got the bulk of it completed though on two train journeys to Melbourne and a long car trip (when I wasn't driving for once!)

Pattern: Better Homes and Gardens June 2009 Edition Bonus Bumper Knitting Book Spiral Scarf
Needles: 4.5 mm 
Yarn: Cheap 8ply acrylic (from the Reject Shop)
Cost: $4 AUD (and I still have some left over)
Techniques used:  Garter stitch short row shaping. No wrapping used on the turns though.

And now for Spirali's fashion shoot. The scarf was well behaved, posing happily as requested. The model even smiled (something which is unusual for me when I am having my photo taken). The photographer was perhaps getting into it a little too enthusiastically however. (Thanks Mel).

Adjusting the scarf

This is really warm around the back of my neck. Mounds of ruffles

Close up of short row shaping

 

The scarf is really long but worn looped around twice with the ends hanging out.

 

And finally a photo bomb by the highly attractive photographer. Do you know you really can't take a casual selfie with an SLR? Even with a mirror?