Drink in the Wild Air

Summer is well under way, and before I get back to the shawl project (which I hope to very soon, so stay tuned), I just wanted to share a few random knitting and non-knitting things that might be of interest.  For many of us (but not all, I know) summer is a great time to catch up on that pile of books awaiting us on our nightstands, or get outside and enjoy our gardens, or maybe head out on a road trip.

First up, if you're a podcast listener like I am, I have just stumbled upon what may be the one and only machine knitting podcast (please let me know if there are others!).  There are many, many hand knitting podcasts and vidcasts, but the only one that I have ever come across about machine knitting is Hand y Machine Knitting Podcast.  Since I've just found it, I'm only a few episodes in, but so far I'm impressed.  Podcasts are great to listen to in the car on a summer road trip, or while you're out for a walk or working in your garden.  Give it a listen!

Summer is definitely a time that I catch up on my reading.  For fiction, I've just finished Stephen King's 11.22.63 .  If you're a Stephen King fan you've probably already read it as it's been out since 2011, but if not and you have an interest in non-linear time and the consequences of interfering with the past, or even just an interest in the Kennedy era and his assassination, all of which I would tick on my box of interests, then this book will not disappoint.  The other book I recently finished was by a local (Eastern Shore) author Genevieve Graham, called Promises to Keep.   This is a perfect summer read, and Genevieve is a very lovely and talented lady!

For machine knitting book recommendations, I highly recommend Susan Guagliumi's books, Hand Manipulated Stitches for Machine Knitters, More Hand Manipulated Stitches for Machine Knitters, and Hand Knits by Machine.  The books are well laid out and filled with many colour photos, and include both techniques and full patterns.  An upcoming episode of the podcast I mentioned above includes an interview with Susan, so I am very much looking forward to that.  I say "upcoming" but it's actually an episode from February 2015 - I just have some catching up to do!

Another book that I've just recently finished (I told you - I catch up on a lot of reading in the summer!) is Julia Cameron's book It's Never Too Late to Begin Again.  The focus is on a reader audience that is moving toward, or in, retirement and looking to get in touch with their creativity.  Each chapter includes weekly exercises, but the book can certainly be just read for inspiration.  There are many inspiring stories of people who found creativity and reignited interests that had been cast aside during their working years.  There are great exercises included for re-filling your creative well.  One of the best is the author's suggestion to take yourself on an Artist Date every week.  This is one I've done several times, and she stresses that it doesn't have to be a visit to a museum or gallery - it could be something entirely different that could still fill the well.  My most recent Artist Date was reconnecting with an old friend and seeing what creative stuff she is up to after many years in the business world.

There's nothing to say that it can't be a visit to a museum or gallery though, and I'd like to recommend that if you're in Halifax between now and July 28, go see Liza Hageraats show "Matted Tails and Felted Feathers" at Gallery Nineteen Nineteen.  Liza is an acquaintance of mine and a very talented artist, and although I haven't gotten in to the city to take in the exhibit yet, it is definitely my next planned Artist Date!

Finally, if you're looking for a summer road trip, or ideas for your own Artist Dates, let me suggest Highway 7 along Eastern Shore.  We have so many gems here.  To name just a very few:  Old Anderson House (local crafts), The Freight Shed (crafts) and Musquodoboit Harbour Railway Museum, Dobbit's Bakery, Martinique Beach, Old School Art Gallery, Uprooted Cafe, Bonita's Kitchen, Jeddore Variety (yarn and knitting needles), Webber's Store, Norse Cove Cafe, Taylor Head Provincial Park, Sober Island Brewery, Liscomb Lodge, and Sherbrooke Village.  You can find most of these businesses or places on Facebook, or get more information on the Seacoast Trail website, or on the Destination Eastern and Northumberland Shores website.

Have a lovely, creative, book- and podcast- and road trip-filled summer (if that's what floats your boat like it does mine), but however you do it, refill that well!

Nancy

Shawl in a Ball Project

In my last post I introduced a project I've been wanting to try ever since I read about it here, something a little less technical than the last project.  If you haven't read that introduction, best to go back and read that first, here.

I laid out my plan to go through my books and online resources for some simple lace patterns, and then make a swatch.  I did do the first part of that, but as I got (over)thinking about the actual shawl itself and the fact that it is knit on the bias, with increases on every row and decreases on every second row, I thought maybe I would just give myself a little break and just knit the first one to get a little experience on the mechanics of knitting the shawl first before I got too fancy.

And since I was pretty sure of what tension I'd be using (8), I then decided to dispense with doing the swatch completely and just dive right in.

I used the "Community Coral" colourway, and wound it up for my machine.  Here is what it looks like ready to knit:

The general pattern I used was as follows:  when the carriage is on the left, decrease on the left by moving the two edge stitches one stitch to the right, and increase on the right by moving the two edge stitches one stitch to the right, and leave the empty needle in working position to create an eyelet.  When the carriage is on the right, just do the increase.  This effectively means that you are increasing one stitch every other row, and creating the biased shape on the alternate rows.  This also creates a shawl with a asymmetrical point.

Here is my shawl early along in the process:

Once you get into a rhythm, and without any interruptions, it goes along fairly quickly at first.  You can certainly see the effect of the biased fabric as the point curls around itself.  But then just as you are getting into a pretty good rhythm, you end up over on the right side of the bed with no more needles available on which to increase, so it's time to move the work all the way over to the left.

So to do that I did a few rows of waste yarn (blue, in case that's not obvious), and rehung the stitches starting at the far left.  Altogether I had to do this about four times, and with each consecutive time there were, of course, more and more stitches to rehang, and fewer and fewer rows between each move as the shawl took up more of the bed, so progress slowed down considerably.  It occurred to me fairly quickly that I was probably going to run out of needles before I ran out of yarn (150 needles on a standard bed as compared with 200 I think on a standard?), and I was indeed correct.

While this was at first quite annoying (what am I going to do with 20% +/- of a ball?), I decided that the best solution for not wasting it would be to at least partially fringe the shawl.  So that is what I will do.

Here is a picture of the shawl off the machine, ready to finish, fringe and block, and the yarn I had left over.

The longest edge (top edge in the photo) I estimate to be about 7 feet from point to point (unblocked).  I think I will put the fringe on the shortest edge (the diagonal edge on the right in this photo).  Total knitting time (including scrapping and rehanging) I estimate to be about 4 - 5 hours (I didn't keep a stopwatch, and I worked on it over a couple of days as time permitted).  When I get the finishing done I will be sure to post a photo!

And what about the lace, you ask?  Well, I have two more balls left, so I think that on at least one of those I will do a very simple eyelet lace, and I will do it when I see the colour start to change, and stop at the next colour change, and so on.  That's the plan right now anyway, always subject to change!

If anyone else is working on this project, I'd love to hear about your experiences/ideas in the comments below!

Nancy