Out of Control

My newest design..... A yoke pullover. It's made with super soft Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande.

$5.00

14 sts and 18 rows/4" in st st. makes it super fast to work up.

Requires 880-1540 yards of yarn

Size US 9 (5.5mm) and US 10.5 (6.5mm) needles.

See the Out of Control project page on Ravelry.

You know your with your knitting friends when everyone gets silent when you start counting!

So today I will actually write for you.

Recently I was lucky enough to receive a few pieces of my grandmother's needlework. What a delight. I have very vague memories of her actually working on anything, turns out she was quite prolific.

This is a pillow knit by her. It is a cable and seed st pattern, I think I've got the pattern written out. I'm going to try and recreate it. She even worked in a zipper.

I was able to see some of her other work, mostly crochet and needlepoint, and hear some really interesting stories about her creative mind. I have her copy of Mon Tricot. It's sort of like reconnecting in a strange sort of way. What a great book of stitch patterns.......You see where I'll be going with this........
Everything seemed to be fairly modern nothing truly old school. With ethnic knitting all the rage, I was really hoping to find something Old Country, Romanian. Then this came:

My guess is Romanian point lace! Romanian point lace is a European tape lace created by basting hand-crocheted cord to an intricate design and then filling in areas between the cord with needle lace and needle weaving. Now this is cool.


So what is fresh off and currently on my needles......
Right now....two hats, one sweater, the Kousa Shawl, & Raha Scarf

And these are some recently finished projects:











And yes it's still great to be king.

Ha ha:




Duh gee Tennessee.

It's great to be king.

JUST THINK!

I gave my father the book, The Best of Robert Service for Father's Day 1990.
Today I opened the book to the page that was marked:

JUST THINK!

Just think! some night the stars will gleam
Upon a cold, grey stone,
And trace a name with silver beam,
And lo! 'twill be your own.
That night is speeding on to greet
Your epitaphic rhyme.
Your life is but a little beat
Within the heart of Time.
A little gain, a little pain,
A laugh, lest you may moan;
A little blame, a little fame,
A star-gleam on a stone.

-Robert Service

High Flight

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air. . . .

Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

— John Gillespie Magee, Jr

Blogging from IPad

It can be done!

Now back to enjoying this beautiful weekend-- and knitting of course!

Seahorse

It's been a fabulous winter for knitting, cold, windy and snowy.



I've finally bit the bullet and pulled out the Seahorse. This beautiful Gansey is knit in Rowan Denim. Color: Nashville, a deep indigo. The gansey is made larger than desired. Then it's washed. It shrinks and fades like its namesake. The yarn is harsh to work with and the dye leaves residue on my hands as I work. The indigo color is almost imposible to see so I'm working during daylight hours.



The pattern book is full of wonderful old photos of Yorkshire fishermen sporting their ganseys. A gansey or guernsey is named for the Island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It a classic shaped sweater designed with a straight neck so that the sweater could be worn reversed. The sweaters were practical, working garments. The original gansey began as a plain sweater. As the popularity of this sweater spread, intricate embossed patterns were added to the design. Knitters would memorize the patterns and pass them down through families. Most of the stitch motifs were inspired by the everyday objects in the lives of fishing families. Things like ropes, nets, anchors and herringbone are often found. The weather also influences design with shapes representing waves, hail or lightning.

Seahorse is a Filey pattern of zig-zags representing lightning, combined with moss stitch representing hailstones.






Here is some of the knitting I've done over the past two months:

Aspen Cable Shrug, a super fast and easy project:


Finished the Swallowtail Shawl:


Two Big Mexiko Hats:







Open Lace work Cardi done in Noro Silk Garden. This was a fast and fun project.

Winter Bordom Post

It snowed, again, this weekend. Snow fell at our house for 24 hours straight. There is 9-10 inches around the farm with drifts of 2 feet. I've got three miserable horses to entertain. You'd think I'd be knitting and I was...while it was snowing. We've spent the better part of the morning digging out.

On to Knitting
Since my last post ( which was a very long time ago):
I've worked on several projects:

A Sleeveless Houndstooth Cardigan, the pattern and sample are scheduled for publication in the Spring issue of Cast On magazine.

Also a set of mittens and hat, a copy of the set I made for Christmas. These will be published in the Summer Issue of Cast On.

My Big Mexico Snowboarding Hat pattern of which I've made 2 has been a huge hit with the This & That knitting crowd. I owe the thanks though to Cindi and to the tassle that I came across through the MHK program.

I'm trudging away on the Swallowtail Shawl, about 10 more rows till completion.

I've got a ruffled scarf almost done as well.

And of course the Sundae Shrug which I love love love. I wouldn't have ever thought I'd like to wear a piece like this, but it is very comfortable.

I've got a couple of sweaters in progress as well. Both yoked sweaters. I've swatched out the first yoke, so anytime I could sit down and finish that one as well.

I'll try to get you some pictures up soon.
Keep Knitting......I'm told it's good for your health.