Schafenfreude!

At the King's Mountain Art Festival near Skyline and Hwy 92 in Woodside, I found the most delicious 80% Bluefaced Leicester / 20% silk laceweight.  Lovely blended colors dappled with drops of sunlight.  My heart went pitty-pat.  Here it is, along with a few festival photos.

Ring Bearer Pillow

My cousin Alexis was married on Saturday to her beloved Roger in San Francisco. They have two beautiful children, and her youngest, a two-year-old boy named Benjamin, was the ring bearer. He was walked down the aisle by his Uncle Lucas. His sister Aidan was one of the flowergirls.

The doily is from Lavori Artistici a Calza #11. The pillow is handsewn by me using ivory bridal satin and some peach-pink tulle to match the bride's accessory color.

The yarn is a silk/wool blend, knitted with size US0, and the beads are Japanese glass beads. I tied an ivory ribbon on top to hold the rings.

Blocking Haruni

Haruni was a labor of love from the start.  My creative, experienced lace knitter friends started working on the Haruni Shawl by Emily Ross, as a group project.  At first, I thought about using a smooth, silky yarn for Haruni, but I was drawn back to the chosen Habu yarn for its uniqueness.

The yarn is 1/14 spiral slub.  It's 51% wool, 20% polyester, 20% nylon.  Lace knitters might make the following assumptions:

1. Slub yarn?  Forget it.  The lace pattern won't show up well.
2. Wool with polyester and nylon? Forget it.  It won't block well.
3. It's thread!  Forget it.  Too fine.

I couldn't help myself; it was a challenge.  I knit a little swatch.  The slubs made it more difficult to  keep an even tension, but the texture was interesting enough to keep going.  The yarn stretched and retracted in a weird way, probably due to the spiraling nylon and polyester.  Blocking was going to be interesting.

The pattern is repetitive until you get to the border, which requires a bit of concentration to get it right. I added several repeats to get the size I wanted, since the thread was so fine, even though I was knitting with size US3 needles.  I ended up with nine pairs of leaves per side, plus four center leaves. Big, open, superfine laciness.

I only had two cones of Habu, at 435 yards each.  From the notes on Ravelry and the pattern, I gathered that I would need about half of my total yardage for the border.  As the shawl gets bigger, I believe the ratio of border to shawl is reduced.  I needed approximately half of my second cone for the border leaves.

Initially, I planned to use some light violet silk for the border.  The silk is lovely, but it's much better suited to smaller needles and a denser fabric.  It was purchased from John Marshall at Stitches West this year.

Instead, I stayed with the Habu and beaded the border! The tiny 11/0 seed beads are slightly iridescent and accent the purplish binding thread that runs through the shawl. The tough part of the beading process was the size of the beads and the slubbiness of the yarn. I used a size 12 steel crochet hook to add the tiny glass beads as I knit, and often I had a bit of trouble pulling those slubs through.

So, here are the blocking photos.  I basically blocked it as I wanted it to look, rather than by any book or rule.  However, I did use common sense and experience as guides.

Haruni unblocked and unwashed

After laying out the shawl flat on my blocking board, I decided how I wanted to block it.  It was too large for the board.  My choices would be to a) block one half at a time, left side then right side, holding the center line straight with a blocking rod; b) block the main body and center point first, and finish the wing extensions separately afterward; c) use the big piece of berber carpet I have rolled up in the garage for the purpose of blocking large lace items.  I chose (b).

First I soaked the shawl in a cool water bath for about five minutes.  I added a drop of dishwashing liquid to the water and swirled it around, without too much agitation.  I did squeeze the soapy water through it a couple of times.  Then I rinsed with water of the same temperature.

Haruni in a cool water bath with a drop of dishwashing liquid

Haruni rolled in a towel

Gently squeezing Haruni to remove excess water

After the wash, I pinned out the top center and bottom center of the shawl.  I put the top edge on a rod -- except for the eight inches (or so) of wing extensions that I would block later.

Bottom center point pinned out

Top center area on a blocking rod

Then I pinned out every other pair of leaves, starting at the bottom, and working side to side -- two leaves on one side, then two leaves on the other side.

Pinning out every other pair of leaves

Then I pinned out the rest of the leaves, just two loops in the middle of each pair of leaves.  I tried to balance the two sides, so they would look about equal.  This shawl is curved and very fine.  You may hear knitters talk about blocking "by feel" or "by eye" -- basically, blocking using experience and common sense.

All the leaves pulled out and pinned

Then I pinned out all of the loops for each pair of leaves, followed by the few loops in between each pair.

Pinning out all the loops

Considering how many pins have to be pushed into a fairly rigid surface, I used this leather thimble.  It has a small metal disk built into the thumb pad area, and is very comfortable to wear.

Leather thimble

What happens when you push a pin too hard

These are the wing extension I mentioned that needed to be blocked last.  They extended too far over the edge of my blocking board.  I could have been industrious and looked around for some foam or some other surface to use as an extension, but decided to block these after the main blocking was completed.

Wing extensions to be blocked last

So I completed pinning the main body of the shawl, and I spritzed it with a bit of water.  Some of the shawl had dried a bit while I was pinning.  I wanted it to be evenly damp and dry evenly, holding its shape.

Spritzing the pinned shawl with a little water

Then it was time for break.

Lovely dark chocolate from the only chocolate factory in San Francisco

Pet the puppy

Back to work.  I unpinned the huge thing, laid a sheet down over the blocking board, and spread the shawl out again.  This is because I planned on using spray starch to finish it, and didn't want the starch on my board.

To finish, I used no pins.  I lightly sprayed one half of the shawl with Niagara spray starch.  Then I laid a white pillowcase on top of the shawl and used a medium iron (wool setting is okay) and gently ironed on top of the pillow case.  It's important to keep checking the piece underneath to make sure it's laying properly and to make sure your yarn doesn't melt!  Remember, I was using a yarn with polyester and nylon components, so anything was possible.  Also, if using beads, make sure that the beads are somewhat heat resistant.  I've used Japanese glass beads before, and they hold up well under this type of blocking and a light iron.  If possible, it's best to test a swatch first (I was impatient, but it would have been the smart thing to do).  Some beads can melt or change color.  You just have to be careful.

Haruni ready for a light starch

Then I pinned out the wing extensions.  This is where I made a slight error.  When I sprayed a little water on the wing after it was pinned, I also dampened the pre-blocked area around it.  No problem, right?  But it did soften up the points on the leaves adjacent.  I had to re-pin and block the points to make them sharp and pointy again.

Pinning out the wings

I decided to be really picky and pin out a few more points as well.  The loops were very reluctant to stay sharp, but I kept after them, and eventually, with pinning and starching, they behaved well.

Wings pinned with adjacent points repinned

Final result on a black background

No Deadline

Now that I've completed a gigantic lace project (too secret to tell here), I'm back to Haruni and very happy to have no deadline looming. I've still got Krokus on the needles, and I'll get back to it shortly thereafter.

The good thing about completing a big project is that I feel such a sense of relief and accomplishment, that anything that follows is a pleasure.  After all, knitting should always be a pleasure.  When I'm knitting, I feel grateful to be able to read tiny pattern charts, to sit comfortably in my favorite chair and knit long rows of stitches, to have a colorful stash of yarn and pattern choices, and to have friends with whom I share my love of knitting.  I'm also grateful for the camaraderie of Ravelry and my knitting groups, the conventions and events I attend, and the other online communities who share their knowledge and friendship.

For now, on a peaceful Sunday, I knit for joy.

Habu Slubby Haruni

Though the title of this post may seem mysterious, it's really just three words to describe the next shawl I'm making.  Habu is the yarn vendor from whence this spiral slub laceweight came.  I'm knitting it up into the Haruni Shawl, by Emily Ross -- a free pattern on Ravelry.

The yarn is a blend of mostly wool, with some polyester and nylon thrown in to make it slubby.  It's a threadlike bouclé, but I like the olive green with the purply slubs.  At first, I thought the design was obscured too much, but now I'm enjoying the surprisingly earthy feel and texture.  It doesn't hurt that I'm using my Asciano FiberArts circulars with this yarn.  The needles have the best joins and cables I've ever found on wooden circulars, and the tips are long-tapered, polished and perfect for lace.

Oh, and I'm thinking about using some of that purple silk I bought at Stitches for the fabulous wide edging. The photo of the shawl below is a sample from the designer Emily Ross.

Stitches 2011 Recap and Booty!



A little bit of Stitches goes a long way. For me, that means four or five hours of browsing, shopping, meeting friends, chatting with shop owners, and absorbing all of the silky, woolly, warm vibes at the Santa Clara Convention Center this past weekend.

Many of the same vendors were back, some with smaller booths and less product, a reminder of how the economy has affected not only our pocketbooks but the livelihoods of our favorite creative shop owners.

At Interlacements, where I have purchased a couple of skeins every year, I was surprised to see the reduced inventory and booth footprint. The colors were as vibrant as ever.

The Mannings booth was buzzing with activity, as was Tess Designer Yarns. The Yarn Barn was full of people browsing, but it seemed to me that purchasing lines were shorter here and throughout the Market. I was pleased to see the popularity of Intwined Pattern Studio, the design software that I purchased last year. Demonstrations at Intwined were lively, and it looked like people were buying.

Tina at Knitwhits

A vendor new to me, The Sanguine Gryphon, was attacked by shoppers on the first day of the show, I was told. And something they had was all gone by the end of the first day. What was it? I must know! The booth attendants were dressed in long gowns, their hair tied up in ribbons. Medieval times at a yarn show? Their yarn was scrumptious, and I picked up two skeins of some cashmere/silk fluffiness. Yum.  I picked up these two handcarved shawl pins from Chappy (a.k.a., Purrfectly Catchy Designs).  Don't they complement the yarn well?  She's the vendor with the highligher tape, if you need some.

I also stopped by Cheryl Oberle's booth and picked up her Knitted Jackets book.  She graciously signed it for me and gave me a marbelized bookmark.  She's always so lovely.

I have to admit I am attracted to sparkly, smooth things, and these glass handmade knitting needles from Sheila and Michael Ernst of Drain, OR are no exception.  I tested them at their booth and the wool slid nicely over the pointy tips.  I'm not sure how they will do with finer yarns, but for a relaxing, satisfying woolly knit, I'm definitely going to use these.  They have a lifetime warranty against breakage (made with borosylicate, commonly known as Pyrex), and the smallest size is 4.  I bought one of the standard colors, but look at their website to see some of their gorgeous designer color wonders.

I can't leave out the man with the Midas touch.  The guy with the gold.  The Japanese silk man.  Who is he and where does he get this stuff each year?  He is  John Marshall of Covelo, CA and he buys out remaining stocks of Japanese textile companies.  He also teaches and lectures in dying, stencil carving, and various Japanese and other arts.  I purchased some extremely fine silk from him.  I don't know yet what it will be, but the colors are stunning.

And I do like this Handy Caddy I found.  The plastic organizer snaps onto a steel frame that will stand up on a table.  But you can unsnap it, and take just the plastic organizer with you in your knitting bag.

I'm looking forward to reading all the blog posts about Stitches this year.  Let's keep attending these events, and purchasing from the vendors, so we can enjoy Stitches in years to come.

Landscapes of color

Felt landscapes, yarn braids and some cute stitch markers

Stitches ... Sanguine Gryphon

The name and the costumes made me look. Gorgeous cashmere and silk yarn made me buy.

Quite a lot

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