I’m trying to figure out what to take along with me for travel projects on my upcoming trip.  I’m pretty sure I’m going to take yarn and a crochet hook for a pair of crocheted socks.  I’ve heard stories of knitting needles in carry-ons being confiscated on trips to Mexico, so better safe than sorry.

I think I’m going to try the Ultimate Crocheted Socks out of some variegated green yarn in my stash.  The yarn artist is Kathy at GypsyKnits.  She’s got some interesting coordinating sock yarn in holiday colorways this season.

leap frog sock yarn by Kathy at GypsyKnits

For actual knitting on the beach, I think I’m going to print the charts for whatif knits Pangea shawl.  With nothing else to do, I think I can finish completely on the beach.  The yarn for that one is from my favorite yarn temptress, Brooke at ThePaintedTiger.

Merino tabby yarn in the Country Roads colorway

I love the look of knitted lace.  Okay, I love the look of any kind of lace. Crocheted lace. Bobbin lace. Knitted lace or lace knitting (for those who make the distinction).

I also have an addiction to laceweight yarn, especially anything that looks like it was spun from the breath of angels.  I’ve got a tonne, or at least more than my fair share of laceweight.  I treat it like some people treat sock yarn: it doesn’t count in the stash.  I love it. I pet it.  I make lace knitting plans with it.

And then I chicken out, because I’m afraid to hurt the pretty yarn.  Plus, I’m not terribly confident working with laceweight.  So what’s a girl has to do what a girl has to do.  I pulled out the crochet hooks, found something far larger than recommended for lace weight, and went to work.

when in doubt, go back to the basics

I like to crochet, but I sometimes shy away from crocheted garments because the fabric is thicker and can be abominably stiff.  By using a larger hook than recommended, I still maintain the drape and flow of knitted fabric.   More importantly, I’m very confident with crochet, so it’s no big challenge to knit with tiny yarn.  I’m not always as confident with my knitting needles, since I’ve only been knitting a little more than a year.

With crochet, I can just pick it up and work.  No pattern?  No problem!  I can make it up as I go.  In this case, I’m using a very traditional shell ground, similar to the skirt on a doll dress Maman made for me when I was a little girl.   It’s very mindless, allowing me to focus on yarn handling technique for laceweight without having to think about minding my needles, too.

like dappled leaves in early autumn

I love this yarn.  It’s been calling to me for a long time, but I haven’t been happy with anything I’ve done with it, until now.  It’s one of the first skeins of laceweight I ever purchased.  I picked it up from Enchanted Knoll Farm’s etsy store.  The colorway is called Wood Elves and the description was what suckered me in.  “Inspired by autumn in Maine.”  I don’t know about autumn in Maine, but the colors reminded me of early autumn here.

like my scarf, non?

How could I possibly resist?  Autumn is one of my favorite times of the year.  (In order: Autumn, Spring, Winter, and Summer.)  I love it when the leaves change colors, like the trees are bearing their souls.  I love the brisk weather, to put on a sweater and not be too cold or too warm.  Having a lightweight scarf that I can wear year round means I can bring those days with me, even when they’re far out of mind.

The exercise of crocheting in laceweight has been good.  I feel confident that I can pick up my next skein and knit away without worrying about yarn handling.  Well, at least once I get this scarf off the hook, which will never happen unless I answer the tea and yarn calling to me.

I slept with the windows open last night.  November 5, and it was still warm enough to sleep with the windows open.  They stayed open until the rain started coming in.

lace and shadow

November’s been unseasonably warm.  It’s even been too warm to wear the lace scarf I crocheted for the late days of fall, when a chill is in the air, before the biting winter winds come.  How can it be too warm to wear lace?  How can it be too  warm in November to wear a crocheted lace scarf?

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Okay,  that’s not true.  No one but my sister, Ninniacrhiel, reads this blog. With only one comment, that’s the only proof of readership I have. (Yeah, I know my other sister, Pookie, occassionally reads, too, and she wouldn’t want yarn, anyway, but still.  She could have commented and then given it as a gift to Ninn.)

A Slice of Heaven and Earth

On the bright side, I don’t have to seed a random number generator to get a number between 1 and 4 to figure out who gets the gift yarn, and I can take it to Ninn when we have coffee this morning.

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I’ll refer you over to the painted tiger today.  She’s got some lovely hand dyed roving that makes me wish I were a spinner.

Gorgeous, Brooke! You outdid yourself!

It wants to be a liesl. Really. It said so.

It’s a good thing yarn doesn’t go stale because this yarn has been sitting in my stash since about this time last year, when I realized that “potato” is not a shape that looks good in a Cherie Amour.

I’m still debating my next project.  I’m tempted by a sweater using the persephone yarn, but I know that Cherie Amour isn’t that sweater. I went back and looked at all the Cherie Amour projects again and I just don’t have te body confidence some of the larger ladies who’ve made it had.

I’m thinking about swatching up Eiffel and doing a yarn substitution as I think the overall look of the sweater will be better for my figure.  I also think it will be easier to add short shaping in the ribbing top section to accomodate the girls.

Then again, maybe that yarn just wants to be Liesl and doesn’t know it yet.  The yarn is brown with silvery gray brown patches and a soft lavender undertone.  It could could be very pretty as a long sleeved Liesl and I need a new sweater for work.  I’m freezing already.

On the stole front, I’m still torn on which comes first between Muir and Oakwoods.  I’ve got some Woolen Rabbit Laceweight in Morrocan Spice (like this one in a Ravelry Stash), which would make a nice fall colored Muir.  So would the Knit Picks Campfire.  Oakwoods, on the other hand, is calling too, and would be so perfectly seasonal.

The ideas are still bubbling, so I haven’t cast on a darned thing yet.  Cursed indecision, anyway.  If I haven’t narrowed down the pattern for the sweater by tomorrow, I’ll probably cast on Oakwoods next, simply because I’ve figured out both pattern and yarn.

Sarah Blanch is off the needles.  Hopefully, I’ll get to block it tomorrow and take some blocking shots of it.  There aren’t terribly many of this shawl on Ravelry, and it’s a shame because it’s a very pretty and easy pattern.  The main complaint is that the shawl is knitted side to side instead of up and down, so the pattern repeats are extremely long.

My biggest problem now is trying to decide what to make next.  I have several options, so it’s just a matter of deciding what I want to do next.  I’d like either something more challenging to knit thatn Sarah Blanch, or I’d like something quicker to complete.

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The Sarah Blanch Feather shawl continues to grow.  I’m on the seventh pattern repeat now.  Two more pattern repeats after this one, and it’s ready to block.

I have a rule about only having one project on the needles at a time and working on that project until it is done.  I call it “project monogamy,” and it’s the best way for me to get finished objects. Simply put, I work on one project, and only one project, until it is done.

In this particular case project monogamy has turned into project monotony. While I’m expecting this shawl to be very petty and I will look forward to wearing it, I’m no longer engaged in the process of knitting this piece.  Maybe it’s the long rows.  The pieces is cast on along the length and then rows build up the width.  Maybe it’s the fact that it’s all garter stitch broken up by the occasional row of dropped stitches.  Maybe it’s the combination: long rows of not much else than garter stitch.

knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit

Whatever it is, I’m ready for this piece to be off the needles so I can move on to something else.

Pattern: Foliage by Emilee Mooney (knitty.com = free)
Yarn: Goblin Flower Homespun by Collette at the Lazy Perry Ranch (snatched from Ninniachriel’s stash)
Needles: US7 / 4.5 mm
Modifications: None

Yes, I loved this yarn enough that I snatched the only remaining skein of it in existance from my sister and made myself a hat to go with my mitts and neckie.

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