Lady Librarian

Knitting: Snuggly Welsh Pepper Up Scarf
Originally uploaded by Sydwi.

I actually finished this six weeks ago, but never posted! I'm pretty proud of this one...I picked my favorite stitch pattern, planned my stripes, figured out how to make ruffles and managed to create a vertical keyhole without screwing up my pattern that did not lend itself well to a keyhole. All with great success!

I didn't intend for only the pink bands at the end..it was going to stripe with the others (alternating 5 and 10 rows with three colors - would have been neat) but the pink didn't look as great with my coat as I thought. Blah. Still, I like the stripes.

I can't wait to wear this all winter long! I've worn it once so far and it is snuggly.

Yarns: Rowan Purelife Wool in Welsh Black (brown) and Steel Suffolk (grey), accented with Rowan chunky Scottish tweed (rose). Knit for Potions class, September '09: a warm up potion.

Winter Hat
Originally uploaded by Sydwi.

Two completed items in one week!! Amazing. This is a Not-So-Elizabethtown Hat in Three Irish Girls Galenas, Cinnamon Spice colorway.

The pattern is great - super easy. What slowed me down was that fourth round of cables. I ended up using the cabling without a needle method, except, um, I used a needle. ;) Instead of sliding two stitches to a needle, holding to the back, knitting the third stitch, knitting the two from the cable needle and then purling the last stitch, I slipped two stitches to the other needle, slid the third needle to another needle that I held in front, slipped the two back and then slipped the one back, knit the three and then purled the last. The slipping and knitting off just one needle did speed things up and made it a lot less fiddly.

I think it looks cute on. It matches my winter coat exactly, which is nearly impossible.

I goofed at the end, though. I shouldn't have done an extra decrease row, which I think caused some of the puckering, and I got carried away and bound off instead of running yarn through the stitches and scrunching them together. It doesn't look bad, though, and has a bit of a star effect. I don't mind it.

To complete my winter set, next will be a keyhole scarf in grey, brown and pink stripes to complement the reds, and possibly mittens in the above colors with perhaps some of the leftover red. We'll see.

Ren Faire: ....John Barrowman Shawl
Originally uploaded by Sydwi.

I started this Sunday Market Shawl this past spring, with Wexford Silk Merino from Three Irish Girls, in I'm Just A Girl.

I was at Torchsong in June. I paid for priority seating, along with the caberet. Sadly, John Barrowman broke his ankle and couldn't attend. Instead, he did a two way video link so he could do Q&As and still see us from his office in Wales and we could see him on a big screen.

I brought my knitting with me since I was sitting alone and I like having something to concentrate on while I listen. My assigned seat was on the far end of the row, just behind the microphone where con attendees went to ask the Torchwood actors questions and such.

John came on, and was chatty and friendly and having a great time talking with the people lined up next to me asking him questions. Then, about ten minutes in, he stopped the next person and said, "Wait a minute, wait a minute, I have to ask. Is that lady knitting?! What are you making, honey?" I froze, looked up at the giant screen of him leaning towards the camera, squinting at me. I finally was able to tell him that it was a shawl, and held it up. "That looks great!" he said. "See, I am paying attention!"

Yes, he was, and he made my day, weekend, month, summer! I never would have felt comfortable getting in line, but I didn't have to - he initiated the interaction! Thanks, John. :)

So, this was renamed from Summer Nights Shawl to The Oh Holy Hell John Barrowman Noticed Me And Asked Me About My Project Shawl. ;)

It was pretty simple - first row, k2 yo all the way across, then knit straight stockinette. Last row, drop the yos and unravel them down to create the ladders. It jumped from about 44x8 to 66x12 after that - seriously impressive.

I did have an hour of fear when, trying to bind off as loosely as possible per the directions, my stitches came off the needle and I couldn't tell which were accidentally dropped and which were purposely so! It was awful...an hour of frantically catching them all and figuring out which belonged where and how to pick them up from several rows down, etc. I did manage it, though, although something got twisted in the bind off row, creating my only error of the piece. (Of course something had to happen - my knitting is always imperfectly perfect!) The unraveling itself was a blast. It took about another hour, and the immediate change of dense, thick stockinette to loose, drapey, big stitches was amazing. See?

I wore it the day after I finished (knit in Pleasant Prairie during a Doctor Who marathon with Meg) to the Bristol Renaissance Faire, as pictured. It was a delight - I could wear it as a shawl, scarf, hood or shrug to stay warm. However, as you can see, I had a problem that many others encountered with this pattern - half of it has stayed laddered (the bind off edge, where I started dropping) and the other half lost the ladders and just looks like loose stockinette. Hmm. A knitty friend from work recommended blocking it and picking apart the ladders, as they do still exist in there. I'm worried what that will do to the perfect length of this, though. Must decide what to do about it, if anything.

The yarn is a silk/wool blend, in shades of blue and purple. It's soft and gorgeous and lovely. Definitely recommended.

I love John and Gareth. John teased Carole, Carole teased John, Gareth rushed out to snog Carole and then came round to the video link where John could see the fan asking him questions to dance at the camera. Utterly hysterical.

Gareth Dancing for John

Tea time at the Grand Floridian Cafe!

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Happily relaxing at the amazing Caribbean Beach Resort.

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We have arrived! The view as we walk to our room!

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Taking a drive in Dad's new convertible!

Bit chilly at 55 degrees, but still a lot of fun.

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Knitting: Uh.
Originally uploaded by Sydwi.

ARGH. ARGH ARGH ARGH ARGH ARGH.

Argh. Houston, we have a problem. Except, no - a problem is manageable. This is a sea of problems and I don't know where to begin fixing them.

The first one was a nightmare - I must have been very distracted, because I'd realize that I had pulled a needle out of its stitches several times. I also lost the round marker a few times. I also dropped a few stitches and while I did successfully pull them back up (first dropped stitches ever), it resulted in a bumpy messy row.

Then came the second one. Everything was going good, everything was going grand, I counted the rows above the thumb on the first one (9) and then matched it on the second and bound off.

Yeah.

Why do nine rows not match? Why do the 13 of the thumb gusset not seem to match? Why did the bind off roll on the second one but not the first? How did the gusset on the first end up in the palm and not the thumb, like the second? (Yeah, totally the missing marker, but why didn't I make myself believe my thoughts that it didn't look right?)

Do I rip out the second bind off and extend it? Do I rip out the first one down to its cuff and try again? Do I rip off the bind off and pull it down to match the second one's length instead? ARGH! My simple fast not-even-a-pattern has turned into the worst project ever. And these were going to be *useful* for God's sake - it's damned cold in my office at work. SIGH.

The yarn is nice, though - Springvale merino from Three Irish Girls in the January yarn club color Benevolent. It's sproingy and soft and feels absolutely gorgeous. A little splitty at first with the bamboo dpns, but easily managed.

Knitting: Finished Mittens
Originally uploaded by Sydwi.

I've been able to give away some knitty gifts lately, which was really fun.

The latest was this mitten set. I love these mittens - the yarn, the colorway, they are lovely and warm. But they did not fit me or match my winter coat. Luckily, my co-worker Heather saw them, liked them, and they matched her coat. I brought them in and success! They fit as well. So now she has a lovely warm pair of mittens and I feel all warm and happy that someone actually wanted my knitting. Win-win!

I also gave some very tiny pieces away at Christmas. I knit up this little pouch to hold a cute Germany ornament for a themed ornament exchange. I was dear Grossmama mailing a little gift to Tib Muller, from the Betsy-Tacy books. *g*

This little sachet went to my friend Krissy. The silky purple made me think of her:

I sewed a little bag crammed tight with apple cinnamon potpourri and stuffed it and pillow fluff into the purple squares. Basic, but pretty and I hope she liked it!

I also had a knitting-related gift set for Kristine and another for Jennie. I took clear empty ornament balls, wound some mini skeins of yarn and stuffed them, garland and knit ornaments inside. They came out so cool and I think many others will receive an ornament next year, as well!