Finally finished….and now I’ll start another one?

This is the insanity of it all. I started this massive Karukell Shawl a year ago (if I’m honest with myself, two or three). It’s taken up space in my knitting bag and slurped up one of my two project bags (bought here cause they are so damn amazing) that allow myself for “live” projects.

I’ve “sworn” to finish it through the last two years (see, the truth will out) of vacations and finally pushed through this year with some handy work trips (thank goodness they allow knitting needles on planes again) and some real doggedness (I picked up this gorgeous blue wool blend in a lace weight and some amazing red as well) to START. SOMETHING. NEW.

Yesterday the day arrived. I double-casted off and threw the shawl on the floor to take some pics with the iPad.

Even unblocked, I kinda really like it.

Karukell Shawl Knit By Me

What really amuses me is that after years of torturing myself with this massive lace knitting project that I alternately cursed and revered I am now going to rush out and start another. The Estonian Book of Lace has this massive shawl (Crown Prince I believe) that is perfect for the wool in blue. And I’m thinking there is a smaller shawl in there for the red too….

I just have to pick which color and the pattern. I only hope the thrill of that…carries me through the next three years of knitting it.

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Nautical Blanket on the LK150

Finally back to knitting on the machine, as I (sadly) sold my Singer 560 and Ribber and Yarn Changer this weekend. This allowed me to re-arrange the knitting room and set up a better layout for working on the LK150.

I had to admit to myself that this is the machine I use the most. I’m a quick project machine knitter. The Singer required a more in-depth commitment to the process than I was willing to give on any given day. PLUS (and this is a big one) sewing together those tiny little knitted garments? Not my thing at all.

I knit one sweater on the machine and could never get around to sewing it up. Big #knitfail for me.

Having cleaned up and re-arranged the knitting room, I was able to happily start on the KnitPicks Nautical Blanket.

This is the perfect project for the LK150 as each square is knit separately (I will ignore the sewing part for now) and in intarsia. As I have the Intarsia carriage (smartest thing I bought)…this is ideal.

Square One of the Nautical Blanket on the LK150

 

 

 

 

 

 

I (as a rule) hate intarsia. I love fair isle. No problem there. But I HATE intarsia. But on the LK150 Intarsia is a dream. It’s easy to do and it knits up flawlessly. None of the terrible twists and bulks that I get when I handknit intarsia at all.

See the detail? It works great and it’s effortless. Love intarsia on the LK150. If you don’t have the carriage….you want to get it.

Intarsia close up on the LK150

 

 

 

 

 

 

I finished two squares this weekend, rolled up a few more balls ready to go and am sit to (hopefully) do a square a night. I’ll take the finished squares and start sewing up the ends and sewing them together as I finish each one (hoping this will break up the monotony of the sewing). Looking forward to the completed project.

(NOTE: Not that thrilled with the wool right now. It’s a bit catchy and rough. But good for a blanket. Though I really do wish it was a Superwash. Oh well.)

 

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New Knitting Bag

I have used a plastic bin for my “to go” knitting projects for years. But recent frustrations with “dropping” and “tipping” during transport made me rethink that strategy. A couple weeks ago I thought a canvas bag, sturdy, that stood upright, might do the trick. So I ordered a Lands End canvas bag, in large (I measured my requirements), had it custom embroidered, and anxiously awaited its arrival.

Thankfully, with the handy dandy embroidering no one should be mistaken who it belongs to! :) I then proceeded to fill it with my treasured contents. I actually own classic tupperware that was, I think, supposed to be a pencil case or something.

Whatever its intent, it is now my knitting notions kit.  The bag I purchased needed to fit it. So I measured carefully. It sits neatly on the bottom, with a lulu-lemon bag (why else would I shop there other than to use the bags to fit smaller knitting projects?). The little bag holds my lace shawl I’m knitting, protecting it from the other stuff in the bag. My larger project (in this case the Victorian Throw I’m working on) takes up the rest of the space. Patterns and crochet and dpn kits sit in the interior side pockets with a notebook and more pens.

I particularly enjoy the “supposed” keychain clip…it handily holds my scissors. I never have to dig for those again.

The longer straps make it easy to carry the bag around with me and still grab other stuff, and though sturdy enough to stand upright, it’s also squishy enough that I can tuck it in between other items when travelling (or even place it at my feet).

Anyone looking for a great knitting bag for a reasonable price…consider the Lands End canvas bags. Love it.

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Dale of Norway Baby Outfit

Finally finished the Dale of Norway baby outfit I was making for my new niece. She’s small. As you can see from above. Came in at 5 lbs. Wee.

On the other hand, I decided to make the Dale of Norway outfit for her in a 12 month size. And I knit LOOSE in Dale of Norway. If she keeps going at the rate of growth she experienced in the womb…she’ll fit it when she’s five.

I’ve always knit loose in Dale of Norway. When I made myself a DoN sweater…I ripped it out and restarted it five times until I finally gave up and just kept going. I was getting down to the zero size of needle and the pointlessness of it all was becoming evident. My DoN came out great. Perfect fit. But the baby outfit (knit on 2mm needles) is a bit wider and looser than I’d prefer. BUT, being a baby outfit (and likely to be worn maybe 3 times) I can’t be bothered to do endless rip and repeats. So she’ll wear it when she’s five. That’s fine. It’ll still be cute!

I recently discovered Etsy too and now…when I search for buttons I choose buttons from there. These buttons (zebra pattern that you can’t quite see) were custom made for me by Buttons by Robyn. Here’s a better pic.

They are pretty great! So, I’m happy with the outfit and here’s hoping little (and I stress the little) Olympia (big name for a little baby) wears it with pride!

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Intarsia Insanity…


I hate intarsia. But, I believe it’s like childbirth, though I’ve never embarked on that twice. But, people tell me that you forget…and you go back in to it with little or no fear of what is coming. Then it hits, and you go, oh…crap. And that sounds about right.

Six years ago I decided, in a moment of color frenzy, to make an intarsia sweater out of an Alafoss Lopi book. You complete the sweater in small sections, and then join them. So, as if the intarsia wasn’t bad enough, now I had to not only sew in all the little strands of yarn, but I also had to put the whole sweater together. I hate finishing sweaters. I hated this sweater. It took me two years to finish.
Time passed.
Last year I saw Nonna’s Garden Shawl from Knitpicks.com. And all I could think about was, color, I like color. And stupidly I purchased it. (That and an intarsia purse kit…more on that to come).
Let me be very frank…..
This shawl is the shawl from hell. It’s a present for my mother, and now I’m starting to resent my mother for it. She doesn’t know about the shawl….but I blame her all the same. I am on row 32 out of 160 something rows. It has taken me HOURS to get this far. I’ve timed it. On average it takes about 45 minutes to complete a row. So far, I’ve wasted 24 hours already. And that’s not counting the repeated (and I mean at least five) trips to the wool stores to get bobbins. I cleaned Ottawa out of bobbins. You need a lot of them. Trust me.
To make matters much much worse, they warn you ahead of time to be careful with the yarn as there is just enough to complete the shawl. For me, I can tell you, there is not enough to complete the shawl. I will be ordering more shortly. Or I will be giving up. Or at row 78 I shall just sit curled up in a corner crying. I don’t know.
I’m already dreading the finishing…all those little strands…they tell me to knot them, but that goes against every knitting bone in me.
The horror. The horror.
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A Story Should Begin All Beginnings

For in truth, in the beginning, there was the word. The word of truth, the word of power and heroes, and the word of lies. But more on that later. First, the story…..

W.L. Doornik. A person, a parson even, he is allegedly the creator of the sock knitting machine due to the irascible nature of his wife-to-be. For, she seemed more distracted and charmed by her knitting than by him.
Like some people, he thought he could solve this little problem (the world’s refusal to bend to his will) with technology. So he created a machine that he believed would free up her time (ah, that pesky industrial revolution….so foolish….so young….) and voila, the knitting machine was born.
Of course it did nothing to free up anyone’s time, but rather created (those of you who tread in both the waters of hand knitting and machine knitting know this well) a whole new set up fascinating possibilities.
And even less time to spend with our assorted companions.
True or not, it’s a great story. And even better, Doornik, was Dutch. I can’t make this stuff up. Or I can.
But W.L. Doornik, true or not, is the name I’ve chosen to represent my putting out there assorted knitting whodunits and patterns that I’ve created, some on machine, some by hand. All through trial and a whole lot of error.
Welcome.
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