WIP Wednesday: Chinook Shawl and Fey Led Part 3

Writing:
Fey Led (Working Title) - Rewrites
Previous Word Count: 38,493
Current Word Count: 41,027 (Up 2,534)

So, between LJ Idol, working on wrist warmers, and losing my voice, I've been a wee bit busy. Also? Apparently losing my voice wasn't just physical. *sigh* I also found that I had nearly everything written, including the end, except for a substantial plot issue right before the end. So at this point it's not so much re-writing as it is writing and trying to get back into the character's minds again.

Knitting:
I am so incredibly in love with this shawl. I've started the eighth color change, I have one more for the body and then two more for the edging. *glee* I love watching the colors shift as I knit.

Fire and Ice and Everything Nice

Part of what I simply adore about making things for my friends is having them pick out designs that I haven't thought about making because it's either not my style or I simply haven't had time. There's been a couple of times I've finished something and while it turns out as it's supposed to it still wasn't inspiring any sort of envy or need to have one of my own. Typically though? My friends have awesome taste!

I didn't think I'd be all that interested in such things like fingerless mitts since I have my fingerless gloves.  picked a pattern though that I think I'll have to end up making for myself at some point fairly soon ... I just have to pick a color.



I hesitate to share the pictures since they're unblocked. But blocking will occur at her hands, not mine. Even unblocked though I think these are gorgeous and were simply so much fun to watch slowly fall into place. I learned a new trick or two as well which is always awesome and makes me think more and more of my own designs that keep coming to mind.




I love that the cables complement each other and twist in opposite ways, both on top and bottom of the warmers. There's a symmetry there that's lovely. I think it's a touch that makes them even more attractive. I really need to pick out a color and make myself a pair. 

Pattern: Fire & Ice Mitts by Roz Marcotte
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash Color 889/Spruce
Project Page: Ravelry

WIP Wednesday: Capelet and Fey Led

Writing:
Fey Led (Working Title) - Rewrites
Previous Word Count: 32,922
Current Word Count: 38,493 (Up 5,571)

OMG I'm getting so close. Things are beginning to come together and I can see the end! I really want this done by Nov. Push, push, push!

Knitting:
I've been working a bit on my capelet here and there as time allows. It's great for working on in the car at night since I don't have to really see to do basic knit and purl.



Hopefully Friday I'll have a couple of semi finished pictures of some wrist warmers! Yay!

WIP Wednesday: Fire & Ice and Fey Led

Writing:
Fey Led (Working Title) - Rewrites
Previous Word Count: 28.391
Current Word Count: 32,922 (Up 4,531)

Lots of progress! Yay!! And the dragons are speaking to the humans again ... or at least one dragon is speaking to one human. That's progress, right?

Knitting:
The Chinook Shawl is by no means done but it's on hold for a bit while I work on some gorgeous gloves for a friend. I've gotten to learn a couple new things and that's always part of what I love about new projects. They always seem to teach me something interesting. This pattern is Fire and Ice Mitts and they're s much fun to knit. I keep wanting to do just one more row to see how the pattern comes out which turns into just one more row after just one more row. *laugh*



I didn't get any pictures of the back of the wrist warmers, despite my thought that it would be interesting. You can still see a couple of the small twist cable on either side though. Though if anybody ever doubted that cables pull your work tighter this picture leaves no doubt with its hourglass shape .... and now I'm thinking that this would be an awesome dress! *facepalm*

WIP Wednesday: Chinook Shawl and Fey Led Part 2

Writing:
Fey Led (Working Title) - Rewrites
Previous Word Count: 25,636
Current Word Count: 28,391 (Up 2,755)

More progress! Trying to ignore the black hole feeling ...

Knitting:
I'm thrilled with how fast this is going along. I'm already on color 6 of 9 color changes. It has finally reached the point where the individual rows are starting to feel like they take forever but I just have to keep going because I 'really' want to see how the next row is going to look with the colors.




Also:
I have a commission for a dreamcatcher! So I've got all my things together and now I need to send the customer a picture before starting. Yay!

WIP Wednesday: Chinook Shawl and Fey Led

Writing:
Fey Led (Working Title) - Rewrites
Previous Word Count: 24,034
Current Word Count: 25,636 (Up 1,602)

Progress! And I should have more soon.

Knitting:
The Chinook Shawl is flying along quite a bit faster than I'd thought it would. I've finished the first color and I'm nearly done with the second color. One more row and I'll move on to the third color!




In other news - Follow up Eye Dr appointent says that I'm normal for me and that I have beautiful ocular nerves. (laugh) As Lynn said, not the most common of pick up lines that we've heard. I go back in 3 months for another follow up.

Covering Hands and Feet

  I generally don't think about gauge on my knitting projects because I'm usually so close it's not a concern. Despite almost never using the suggested yarn for a project I usually am pretty good at matching the weight of the yarn so it's still not a problem. I got a bit overconfident. See, when it's for a friend I check the weight of yarn versus what is called for about a million times. I have to be sure before I start because I want it to be the best. But this was a glove that I'd done four times before, it was going to be a breeze. It didn't even occur to me that the yarn was a thicker weight than asked for, this was what I had and what I wanted to use. It's no wonder at all that the fingers came out a titch too long.



  Luckily Lynn wanted them that way anyhow. He says they'll be perfect for the maybe 4 really cold days we have here in Texas and for the rest of the semi chilly weather he has the black ones I made that are a little lighter. What tickles me is that I used the left over yarn from Dragon's scarf,

  And speaking of experiments that work out wonderfully, (at least this time I knew it was an experiment) I finally finished my socks!



  I think it's the first pair of socks that I did correctly, as per the pattern. I love the striping and how they fit and the heel and everything! The pattern did call for a solid or slightly variegated yarn. I figured the stripes with the pattern would actually look really awesome. It's fantastic when I'm right!



  I think these are my favorite socks yet! I did get a lot of funny looks before I got the heel turned on them as at that point, since I'm doing toe up, they're just narrow tubes that are possibly have another purpose if you have a dirty mind. Though it was fun to see just how many people tend to jump to the sexy fun time conclusions. (laugh)

WIP Wednesday: Alpaca and Fey Led

Writing:
Fey Led (Working Title) - Rewrites
Previous Word Count: 24,034
Current Word Count: 24,034 (Up 0)

Yeah, I know. Fiona will probably want to kick my butt for the lack of work done. She can do that on Sunday ... Hell, Dragon will probably even offer to hold me down to make it easier on her; he's mean like that sometimes. *grin* But I was hoping to hear back from a couple more people who'd read the first half of the novel and see how things were going. I mean, to me it makes sense to make sure the foundation of the story is solid before I jump thousands of years in the future. She's just a slave driver though. *wink*

Knitting:
I finished the cute beret for a friend, it's finishing up it's blocking at the moment and when Miss Kid gets here tomorrow I'll see if she'll be willing to do model duty. She normally is. So I finally got to cast on for this gorgeous shawl that I've been drooling over since I saw it on the site and ordered the kit to make it. It starts out with this alpaca yarn right around your neck. Oh ... My ... Gods, it's so incredibly soft. The pattern is a bit intimidating as it's charted only, and only one repeat is charted. It looks like a lot so I had a mild freak out about that. But then I pulled myself together and told myself to shut the hell up so I could start with row 1.



The thing with being self taught is I don't have a teacher standing off to the side telling me that I'm not ready for that just yet. I just have to remember to just take it one stitch at a time. However I am having a couple of problems with it. 1. Alpaca is super soft ... and super slippery. 2. My metal needles are super slippery for speedy knitting 3. The yarn is incredibly thin!



See the yarn off to the side, yeah, that thin. Luckily I'm knitting with it held double so that helps a bit. See the split ring stitch markers on the other side? The yarn keeps getting caught in those. On the one hand I 'really' want stitch markers that don't have a split on them, on the other I'd need about 18 of them. Hopefully it'll get easier as I go along. Of course with all those in mind I decided that I needed another project that would require a little less concentration. So I present to you, the start of a capelet.



Again in alpaca .... Because when you're concerned about difficulty you should totally have two projects with slippery yarn! Nobody claimed I was sane after all.

WIP Wednesday: Graced Lace & Fey Led

Writing:
Fey Led (Working Title) - Rewrites
Previous Word Count: 19,146
Current Word Count: 24,034 (Up 4,888)

And now the first half of the book is done, so to speak. I've destroyed their world and it's time to start putting it back together. The pieces won't match up but it's up to them to figure out how to bridge the gaps.

Knitting:
I managed a great feat yesterday. I finished both the diagonal lace socks 'and' Lynn's gloves! So naturally I immediately cast on for another project. *laugh*

I give you the humble beginnings of a beret.


Now I just need to finish up the ribbing before Miss Kid gets here this weekend and needs those needles back for her wrist warmers!

WIP Wednesday: Lynn's Gloves & Fey Led

Writing:
Fey Led (Working Title) - Rewrites
Previous Word Count: 18,386
Current Word Count: 19,146 (Up 760)

Not a lot of progress but I'm experimenting with how I edit to see if I can find a way that is a bit more sense making for me.

Knitting:
I'm still not done with the socks. But I'm bored of posting pictures of them unfinished. So instead I'll give you something that's been sitting around and waiting for a while now.



It's a pair of gloves that I stalled on almost a month ago because I ran out of yarn. I finally picked up more yarn but I've been busy with the socks and haven't gotten the fingers of the glove finished. On the one hand he doesn't need them any time soon so there's no rush. On the other hand, I hate having unfinished projects sitting around. *laugh* I'll grab them after these socks are done.

Sparkly Yarn

Every yarn worker has that yarn in their stash. There's always the one that is super soft or completely enchanting in some other way. Mine was Southwestern Trading Company Sparkle in Twilight. I've spoken of my love on this yarn before so I won't repeat myself, other than to say it's all I'd hoped for and then some.

I wanted something small that would quickly dress up an outfit or be perfect for adding a bit of sparkle to an outfit on special nights. I finally found the perfect pattern.

It fairly flew off my needles. I was thrilled with how it worked up. It's a bit smaller than I'd expected despite following the pattern exactly. Either way I think it'll be perfect for what I wanted.

Pattern: Chastain Park Shawl
Project Page: Ravelry

I'd also wanted to make a shrug so I'd have options on dressing an outfit up a little bit and I'd get a chance to make something closer to clothing for an adult. So I went pattern searching again and found another great one. Once more it was a quick project, despite my dislike for the larger needles. There's just something about those that make me fumble fingered. Perhaps if I use a thicker yarn it'll be a bit easier next time. Anyhow, this came out very nice as well.

I suspect the models on Ravelry are a bit smaller than I am and thus I should have added to the length a bit, but I still like it for me. I'll probably make another one in simple black at some point and make that one longer.

Pattern: Shrug This
Project Page: Ravelry

Even though I followed both patterns exactly I still ended up with quite a bit of left over yarn. Now to figure out what else I can make out of this gorgeous stuff.

WIP Wednesday: Diagonal Lace Socks & Fey Led Yet Again

Writing:
Fey Led (Working Title) - Rewrites
Previous Word Count: 16,662
Current Word Count: 18,386 (Up 1,659)


That's just today! Whoo! Now that the sinus issue and clouded thinking is fixed (crosses fingers) I can get work done. 


Knitting:
There are moments that I love these socks, such as every time I look at them and see the pretty colors and the way the strips work with the diagonal lace. There are moments I hate them, like when I was turning the heels. It was, I suspect, unnecessarily complicated and fussy. Also? Purling in the round? Still sucks. I finally took the socks off the circular needles and pulled out my DPN's just to do the heels. I finished up the second heel last night at gaming since was stuck with no other distractions for my hands for a couple hours. Now they're back on their circular needles, both heels turned and I'm ready to whip through the leg.









Also? Something I love about toe up socks? Once the sock is big enough and the yarn ball is small enough I can tuck the ball into the sock. No more wandering balls of yarn, no more tangled yarn when I'm switching between socks, and so much more portable! Complete win!

WIP Wednesday: Diagonal Lace Socks & Fey Led III

Writing:
Fey Led (Working Title) - Rewrites
Previous Word Count: 16,662
Current Word Count: 16,662 (Up 0)

Knitting:



While technically a day or two late on this, I did manage to make it on the correct day over on LJ. I blame the sinus infection and the subsequent guzzling of Nyquil that took place. There's only so much I can manage when the world's a haze around me.

WIP Wednesday: Diagonal Lace Socks & Fey Led: Electric Boogaloo

Writing:
Fey Led (Working Title) - Rewrites
Previous Word Count: 14,461
Current Word Count: 16,662 (Up 2,201)

Fantastic progress! I think I'm finally getting back into the groove of things with the story.

Knitting:
I don't know that it's noticeable progress, but I assure you there's been progress. Both feet are about halfway done, then I'll turn the heels and have the leg and cuff to finish.

Woven Diamonds and Learning

I find that with most of my yarn work I'm learning something. I've also learned to mostly just follow the pattern and all will turn out as expected.

On this last set of socks I followed the pattern, even when it made my brain hurt a bit. See, the poster assumes you have some experience with socks and sock construction. I've done 2 pair of socks before these but they were both toe up and these were top down which does cause a bit of differences at times.

The instructions at the heel read to knit across the heel stitches once in a knit 1 slip 1 pattern and then turn and purl back. I did that. The next line was to begin the decreasing for turning the heel. Okay, a bit odd but maybe I just have enough experience so I'll follow it. When I finished that it told me that I had to pick up 12 stitches on either side of the heel. Um ... where? I managed to do it but it was very tight in there and didn't look right at all. I stuck to it though and finished the sock, including learning the kitchner stitch to finish the toes. It was then that I figured out what had gone wrong.

Had their been one little line in the heel instructions I would have been fine. That line? Repeat these two rows for $length. It should have been in there before I began the decreasing for the heel.

So now I sit with a completed sock and a sock that I'm almost to the heel on. Do I do the second one correctly? Do I rip out the bind off and pick back over half the sock to fix it?

Well, if you're me you say to heck with it and do the second sock incorrectly so they match. After all, the other sock still fits, if a little weird, and they're being made for wearing with boots so nobody will see them anyhow. Plus a bit of it should be fixed after blocking.



I loved the pattern though and have a second color of yarn to use it again. However this time I'll be doing the heels correctly. They'll be perfect for wearing of the boots this autumn and winter, and still attractive should I have to remove my footwear at a friend's house.

Pattern: Woven Diamond Socks by Alexis Winslow
Yarn: Lily Sugar'n Cream Twists in Country Twists
Project Page: Ravelry

WIP Wednesday: Diagonal Lace Socks & Fey Led

Writing:
Fey Led (Working Title) - Rewrites
Previous Word Count: 13,468
Current Word Count:  14,461 (Up 993)

That seems like a really small number. But! I'm going to call it a victory. That's only two hours or so of work after having to try 'really' hard to get back into the feel of this world. It's also the only progress I've had in terms of writing in almost 2 months. Every step forward is progress and I'll take all I can get.

Knitting:
After finishing up my shrug on my super large needles I was ready for something smaller, delicate ... on sharp and pointy needles. So I grabbed this vibrant and gorgeous yarn that I'd set aside for socks and cast on for the diagonal lace socks I'd been thinking about. I cast on for it about 4 times. First it was just the one by it's lonesome and then I decided that I should do both at the same time, since I had such a long circular. At first I was okay with them being completely different on the strips and how the colors lined up but the longer I looked at it the more I wasn't happy with it. So Lynn helped me find where the colors matched closer and we rewound the yarn into balls. And then, after all that I realized that I'd been casting on the for the smaller of the two sizes and wanted the larger size. *sigh* On the plus side I never got more than 5 or 6 rows in before changing my mind. *laugh*



Even with all the fussing with the starts and stops of it all I think it's very, very pretty. They'll make lovely socks.



The colors are still a bit off, at least two rows worth. At this point though they're close enough to be obvious and off enough to be interesting. And I think the pattern itself with be perfect with this yarn.

Finished Baby Things

 I finally got pictures of my recently finished things.

First up was another of those awesome hooded blankets. Man those just fly off the needles now.



I love how they're constructed from the center out and the alternating knit and purl stitches not only give visual interest but mental interest as I'm working on it.



Mr. Bunny just had to get in on the picture taking. I love how it folds all around the wearer and I've heard that the hood is awesome since it stays on the baby's head rather than slipping off like a normal square blanket does when it's folded over.

Pattern: Sweet Lullaby Seamless Hooded Blanket
Project Page: Edisyn's Blanket

As a companion piece I also whipped up a small sweater to go along with the blanket. This was my first clothing piece and it was more simple than I'd thought it would be. I'm not positive I did the i-cord edging correctly but I think it's close enough and cute enough that it works.



I even managed to get the buttons to line up with their respective button holes! And I did a lot of tugging on the buttons to make sure they were on there securely too. Can't have them coming off.

Pattern: Hello Baby Cardigan
Project Page: Baby Cardigan"

Now to figure out what else I'm going to do with all this yarn I still have left over.

WIP Wednesday: Miller Park Shawl

I'm still working on Lynn's gloves that I started, and complained about elsenet, last Friday. Why did I complain about them? They're a 80/20% acrylic wool blend, both of which make my hands hot when I work with them. It's also currently the season of melting metal in Texas, though most people call it summer. I don't know, summer sounds warm but when you risk combustion just from walking outside it seems to be a bit more than summer.But when you add those two together it's just a recipe for insanity. I hope the husband recognizes how much I love him.

Anyhow, while they're a work in progress and thus technically available for this posting, they're getting set on the back burner for a bit. Horrors, I ran out of yarn just before I started the fingers on the second glove. I'm really not interested in buying a whole skein of yarn just for fingers. I will if I have too ... but with a limited budget I'd much rather use my yarn money for new stuffs to play with. So meanwhile I'm poking Ravelry to see if anybody has a bit of Lion Brand Wool Ease Chunky in charcoal that they'd be willing to part with.

But, enough of projects I'm annoyed with. On to the good stuff.

Almost a year ago I signed up for a yarn swap. The premise is simple, you take a new skein out of your stash that you've lost interest in and agree to mail it to somebody else. When done correctly it's a big sharing circle and you get something new and awesome in your stash that you can play with. I hit the jackpot, truth be told. I ended up with 5 hanks of SWTC Sparkle in the Twilight colorway.

I was simply in love with this yarn. I searched and searched for exactly the right pattern to use it on and dreamed of the time when I'd be free to work on my own things instead of things that were somewhat time sensitive. I've never worked with silk or bamboo before I was just thrilled with the idea of having something pretty made from this that I could wear and sparkle with.

Last night at gaming, when I reached the end of the yarn tail for those gloves I set them aside and pulled a hank of this out of my purse. While the game play whirled around me I carefully untwisted the hank and let it hang over my knees. I paused to roll my dice and make my attack before I undid the ties spaced around the hank and I began winding the ball around my thumb.

As we finished off one group of foes impeding our progress I made my slipknot and cast on those first three stitches. I ended up having to redo the cast on 3 times. Going from size 6 DPNs to size 11 circs is certainly a challenge. But once I managed to get the first couple of rows down I was off and running.

There's not a ton of progress so far but this is what I got done last night. I think it's going to be gorgeous and lovely and sparkly. 

Pattern: Chastain Park Shawl (Rav Link)
Project Page: Ravelry

Date Weekend

Weekend:
Friday night we settled in at Miller to listen to Doyle Bramhall and The Gourds in concert. We all pretty much agreed that we prefered the opening act of Doyle Bramhall over The Gourds. I think I might enjoy The Gourds more if I could understand what they were saying. Saturday Miss Kidd was picked up by her mother for a weekend with her. Lynn and I had a full day planned for Saturday with eye exams, a movie, and being together. Sunday was sleeping in, cuddling, snuggling and loving the hell out of just being with each other.

The Eyes Have It:
Apparently when I complained for the last two years that my glasses were the wrong prescription I was right. The last office had switched my left and right lens and that's why I was having such a problem with them. The new doctor fixed it for me and Wow! what a change! Also, you're not supposed to wear the same contacts for 2 years either. Luckily I now have several more pairs and even more on order. Plus!! I've convinced Lynn that he needs new frames! I have managed to drag him closer to the current century in terms of fashion! *glee*

Harry Potter:
It was absolutely everything I could have asked for. I've managed to see every single one of them in the theater and loved every moment of it. I really can't wait until part 2 comes out on DVD so I can marathon them all, one after the other, over a weekend. I laughed at my favorite parts and I cried so much! I'm surprised Lynn's arm wasn't dripping since I kept wiping my tears off on him.

Entertainment:
In with everything else we also stopped by a Borders and Half Price Books to browse. We'll likely stop by Borders again in a couple weeks when the sales are a bit more than 10%. We stopped for lunch at China Bear, one of our favorite buffet places. They always have lots of favorites plus new stuff. We were so stuffed and on a time limit since it was before the movie that we didn't even get to the dessert section. After a bit of running around though we were ready for a cool treat and stopped in at Piccomolo's Italian Ice Cream. Delicious! I think next year for the 4th we'll hit up Firehouse Subs next door to them and then Piccomolo's before going to the park for fireworks.

Dinner:
Sunday night I ran off to have dinner with a friend and bonus surprise guest! I love talking with them and it was a great night. Lynn stayed home to be there when Miss Kid was dropped off. I had the chicken Alfredo and then we all split a huge slice of chocolate cake. It was wonderful to relax and talk with friends.

Limited Art Sale:
zhent  is still having his very limited time art sale. There are some absolutely fantastic shots in his Flickr. I've even gone through and posted a few of my favorites. Please stop by and take a look, either at his LJ, his Flickr, or some of the ones I highlighted. Starving artists need food too.

Personals Ad:
I was actually pretty serious about finding Lynn a SSO. Distance is of course a bit of a factor but we're willing to at least consider things. Though I will say it's hell finding people he can even chat with since he's at work so much and really only has time late at night to be online. If you're interested feel free to leave a comment on that post, it's screened.

*Note: At the time of this posting LJ is dealing with a DDoS attack and may be unreachable in terms of those links.