Saturday 30 April 2011

First blog anniversary. With giveaway!

This blog has been in the web wide world for a year now and it has been an interesting journey to see it grow. But what would a celebration be without a cake. I made a very sweet and creamy one for the occasion, with white chocolate, marzipan and sugar decorations, still containing absolutely no calories:




For a chance to win this bead and sequin embellished pincushion, please leave a comment here with the title or date of the blog post you like most (excluding this one!). Feel free to share your blog address, I would like to come for a visit.
The winner will be drawn from all entries posted until midnight GMT (before) May 9th. Good luck!



Wednesday 27 April 2011

Inevitable construction work

Since blocking frames for lace shawls are not sold anywhere, I had to make one myself. It might need some improvements, but the blocking process is much more convenient now compared to using pins and trying to locate them in straight rows.




A visit to hardware store resulted in four 15 x 40 mm pine wood strips, one and two meters long



and too many and too expensive but very pretty brass nails (the original plan was to put a nail for each cm).



Hammering nearly 600 nails into these six meters of wood suddenly seemed like way too much work, so the nails are now 5 cm apart. This distance seems to work for lace edgings, where the pattern repeat is 10-12 stitches. For different patterns it might be necessary to add all these nails after all. Well, someday.



Considering all these upward nails, the frame is by no means a safe tool and should be used in a place where nobody can get hurt. Storaging is quite all right though, the four strips can be tied together with nails facing inwards and stored under the bed or in a closet. That's what knitters keep there instead of skeletons.





Friday 22 April 2011

Mystic Forest shawl pattern

Inspired by nature itself, with its mysterious tree leaves and unknown undergrowth plants of a dark green forest, this lace shawl is just waiting to be knitted and become the best companion for chilly summer nights.
The shawl consists of the main section and the lace edging that is knitted onto the centre part using circular needles. The pattern has both lace charts and text instructions. Have fun!

Download the knitting pattern as a pdf file on Google Docs or Ravelry.




Oops! (Errata)
Rd1 of the written edging pattern should read:
[k5to3, k3, sk2p, k3] until last 4 sts of the side, k5to3, k1 to corner st

Not a tremendous issue, but one good tip slipped away from the pattern: for casting on the centre section, use needles one size larger than those for knitting, this will ensure the edge to stretch enough during blocking.



Below are some techniques explained. There are also more photos of the shawl at the bottom of this post.

Stretchy knitted cast-on
This technique looks more like making a crochet chain, but the edge will remain stretchy enough for blocking your knitwork.
Start with making a slipknot onto the left needle, knit a stitch out of it, but do not slip it off the needle yet. Place the newly made stitch onto the left needle next to the slipknot (first stitch), still not removing the right needle. Instead knit a next stitch by pulling the yarn through the same loop. Continue making the stitches onto the left needle.

Lace bobble (nupp)
Bobble in this pattern refers to ’nupp’ of Estonian lace knitting.
Knit 5 (or 7 or 9) stitches out of the same stitch while holding the stitch on the left needle and alternating knit stitches with yarnovers. Pull those new stitches at least 1 cm long, otherwise you will run into a lot of trouble on the WS row. Sharp pointed needles are also recommended for nupp making. Purl all strands together on WS row and pull the stitch tight around needle.

Knit 5 stitches into 3 stitches
Knit 3 stitches together without slipping them off the left needle and knit 5 stitches out of this loop as in making the bobble, but without pulling the stitches longer than usual. Purl all strands individually on WS row to have 5 stitches. The k2to3 is made similarly.

K2tog cast-off
This technique will ensure the other edge of the knitwork to be stretchy as well. Working with medium tension will be best.
Slip the first stitch and knit the second one, then place them both back to the left needle without removing the right needle from the loops and knit together through the back loops. Knit the next stitch and knit two stitches together the same way.

These knitting stitches and techniques are best described in books The Haapsalu Shawl, The Haapsalu Scarf and Knitted Lace of Estonia.













If this shawl seems too difficult or time-consuming, you could start with the much easier Allegretto shawl that is worked in one piece and uses a simpler stitch pattern, or the easy little Crinklie scarf.


Sunday 10 April 2011

Diamond of the night

This is a small excerpt of a bead embroidered velvet choker necklace. This lovely vintage montana blue rhinestone is surrounded by scattered seed beads that sparkle like stars in the clear spring night skies.