"Welcome to my Blog, I aim to dissapoint"
I finished and blocked my Christmas Lace scarf:
Its really great, and yup still very mmmmmmmmalabrigo soft!
I've just joined up with the International Scarf Exchange 6, and am seriously considering using this stitch pattern for the scarf I make for a buddie.
Dont you just love the plant model :)
I've been dillagently working on the Cosica pullover and have just joined the cable pattern and am now working on 2x2 ribbing in the round.
ShaZam! And the artsy fartsty shot...
ooohhhhh. Work it Baby, Work the Camera
Its not completley solid, but malabrigo never is ;) but it doesnt have any spots where the red doesnt seem to have quite taken, like the Azul Perfundo blue did. Which i'm happy about, its a really great colour I love it to bits, exactly what I was hoping for. Its always nice when that happens :)
The Cascade 220 burgundy yarn came first, late last week.
Its exactly as I was hoping, a really deep blood red colour that's going to look great as Corsica (it arrived first so it won the pattern). The official number of the colour (in case you like it) is 2401, cascade has a lot of different shades of red with different numbers :)
>
mmmm, looks yummy in these pics:
Taking pictures of cables in twilight is not easy! I had to use a weird setting on our camera (its not a point and click camera and only hubby knows how to use it properly!) that held the shutter open for longer to let in more light. That setting obviously needs to be done on a tripod because they weren't in focus, but they're better pics than anything I could take on Auto, which automatically used the flash all the time:
My gauge was a bit weird with this (yes I actually did a swatch *gasp*) I had 4sts to the inch but the whole swatch didn't measure 4" across like it should have..... ?? Huh??
Lengthwise was spot on before blocking, but it grew a little after and went to 4.2" which I think will be okay cos I prefer a little length anyway.
I've just said bugger it and went ahead, I think it will still be fine.
Damn swatches, they LIE those mean Lying liars! Just ask Emily or Cyn!
The Malabrigo Sealing Wax arrived yesterday:
I took so many photos it kinda is funny! But i'm going to save them for tomorrow so this post isnt so image heavy..... mwahahahaha
okay so I got a bee in my bonnet and realised that i've been eyeing the Corsica (ravelry link) pattern for a long time and that I really like it.
So i caved in and bought it, the reason i'd been putting it off is because the pattern is $8 usd. I guess I am a bit of a cheapskate but most patterns average between 4-6 dollars so 8 just seemed a little expensive but bugger it, I very rarely buy patterns so why the hell not.
Then of course i've got to find yarn for it, and being on the XL side its going to take about 1200 odd yards. I really wanted to use Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk but it just wasnt cost effective! So I settled on Cascade 220 in a dark red colour thats going to look great!
Problem then is that i saw someone advertise a Malabrigo sale going on in the Malabrigo Junkies group forum, now usually I'm way too late for the sales so i jumped at the chance to get in early while some of my more fav colours were still avaliable.
I spent 102 aussie dollars and got 6 skeins of Sealing Wax, a really great looking bright red colour that hopefully looks a little like this:
ARGH - over two days i'd spent almost 200 bucks on yarn and patterns (after pay day I also got Emily's charity sock pattern too).
Then 100% pure wool (they make merino yarn that is exactly like Malabrigo except cos they're not as well known they dont charge as much as malabrigo, but their colours are vastly different) e-mail me the VERY next day about thier latest promotion which could have gotten me 7 skeins for $70..... dang!
You dont know how close I came to caving on that one too! But I stayed strong and held off, PureWool always has some kind of deal going and I seem to be on thier mailing list after purchasing the pink & brown monstrosity from them.
A word of warning!: Thier colours dont always match what you see on thier website.... which has put me off a little. When I purchased the P&B monstrosity I though the pink was going to be a lovley dusky light pink... but what I got was HOT pink... the pinkest pink you ever did pink:
I hate Pink
This is what i thought I was ordering:
This is what I got:
In all honesty its my own damn fault, I know I hate pink, I regretted it as soon as I paid for it. So if you're going to get yarn from that site, make sure its in a colour that you'll love no matter what shade it comes out as!
Lately i've been thinking of giving that yarn life as a Clapotis.... if I ever get a chance with all the other things I want to knit but just dont have time!!
so back to the yarn purchases.... now I have to decide which batch of yarn is going to be the Corsica and which is going to be something else, maybe something red can actually now be red?!
dangnamit, Blogger spellcheck still isnt working... blogger does some strange ol things in Internet explorer!
Yay finished Claudia... worth the wait I reckon :) Great pattern, easy to follow with great end results. In ravelry over 150 people have queued it, i'd say thats a good sign. I hope more people cast on!
I'm my only photographer so taking head shots or any in action shots are kinda tough for me... especially since I dont have a full length mirror. So YES the hat is on a collander (or strainer) which is in turn on a bowl (cos collanders have holes in them and the light was playing tricks with the camers) and that wierd nobly shape at the top is the collander not my hat!
I have dreams of making a matching scarf out of the rest of my KnitPicks yarn with the ribbing and trellis pattern at the bottom moving into the k1 p2 ribbing back into the trellis pattern and the ribbing. I think this can work cos the trellis pattern is the same upside down, just instead of K2tog i'd have to K1 M1..... fingers crossed!
My Insane need to find something to do with my hanks of Malabrigo gifted to me by my SP11 pal overwhelmed me after finishing Claudia.
It was really hard to find a pattern that was complex enough to keep my interest which still suited the solid colour. I had thought of doing My So Called Scarf, but that pattern really looks best with a varigated or multicoloured yarn.
Then I contemplated and even did a swatch of the sunday market shawl which was oh so soft in the malabrigo... but it just seemed too simple for something as great and magical as malabrigo.... ya know? (plus there are issues with cast on and cast off, i think there is a special trick to getting them to be streatchy enough with the dropping of stitches)
My saving grace seems to have been the Christmas Lace Scarf:
It's complex enough to keep me interested but simple enough to remember and look really great in the solid colour.
I seem to have lost a little bit of the softness that came with the Market Shawl swatch, but I reckon when I wash and block it the Malabrigo will relax and bloom, opening up the YO stitches a bit more.
Those blobs of undercoloured yarn are very irritating, given that they are so different to the rest of the very darkly coloured yarn. However they are appearing in a kind of ordered fashion so it almost looks as though its been done on purpose, I think can live with that ;-)
The Blogger spell check seems to be on the blink so please ignore any stupid spelling mistakes contained herein :)
UPDATE: Today (20th Feb) Em posted on her blog that she's donated $230 USD to the Leukemia & Lymphoma society! Wow thats huge, so thanks to everyone who has bought the pattern, and I won a contest she was running too so added bonus! Warm and fuzzy feelings all round :)
Emily over at Skyline Chilly has put together a great sock pattern, 100% of the proceeds from said pattern are going to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
To support Em's valiant deed you can purchace the sock pattern from her blog using PayPal here: http://standardd.net/skyblog/?page_id=386 For only $5 US - knowing your money is going to a good cause.
"It’s a sport-weight sock worked toe-up on two circular needles, and you can have the satisfied feeling of supporting a good cause along with the warmth and coziness of new knitted socks. Or you could go the extra mile and donate the socks to the charity of your choice, doubling the amount of good you are doing with your handcrafting skills and time.
mmmmm here it is in all its silky glory.
The only real difference between this and the normal Malabrigo Merino is that the silky does have a bit of a sheen to it, but its just as soft and just as good.
But it has no where near the yardage that a normal malabrigo hank has: 150yds V's 216yds
It was a little bit cheaper per hank tho (but not by much).
This is the two types side by side, Blue is worsted and the brown/grey is the silky which i've just realised is DK weight, slightly thinner than normal.
Anyway more jucy pics!!
The colour is not really what I was expecting, but its good I like dark colours. Its a really dark brown with a slight greayish tinge.
I ordered all they had, just four hanks, 600yds... I was thinking of making a Anthropology Caplet with some cool cables but now i'm not so sure. Maybe i'll do a long sleeve one skein wonder for the colder months.....
"Hi My name is CT and I have a shrug problem"
Aaaaaaaanywho I notice that exartstudent (aka MJ) stopped by and left a comment (Hi MJ! *waves*) so here is my progress so far on her Claudia hat. The pictures dont caputre the cool trellis pattern as well as they could... its the damn flash i tells ya! I think some natural outdoor light would have been better.
Because the Elegance that i'm using is DK weight I casted on 130sts instead of the recommended 120 (plus i was using a slighly larger circular cable and 120sts didnt go all the way round! hence the tightness around the edges) i've since moved to DPN's now that the cabling is done. There was a mistake in the trellis pattern that I picked up, but I notice that MJ has since updated the pattern so all is Ooooookay :) so far everything else is fine.
I didnt quite believe that this pattern only took 130yds of yarn :) but thats looking to be the case. So it seems like i'm going to have the majority of 2 balls left over.... I might have to do some small fetching type gloves or perhaps a neckwarmer to match.
As predicted my package from Lisa my swap buddie in the KH secret swap WAS waiting for me when I got home - YAY!!
She warned me about the tape :) as i used my trusty pocket knife to open the box I realised that she'd gone to so much effort to wrap each little parcel that i just had to take pictures and document the grand opening :)
The Children (kitties that is) were very curious about the package from across the seas!
I've never had so much effort put into wrapping individual items in a swap before... i almost didnt want to open them.... almost :)
Squeeeeee - little ribbons and everything!
Mugs & Chocolates and Counters - OH MY!
Mug Shot - HA HA GET IT???!!! *Groan*
Its got chillies and cowboy boots on it... tee hee!
These KP options cables are what I was really looking forward to. The options kit only gives you two sizes 24" & 32".
These are 40" & 60" which will be great for sweaters and really big shawls or blankets. I know for a fact that the Candle Flame Shawl gets so big it's easiest to knit on the 60 inchers.... if i ever get around to knitting that one, its on my ravelry list.... *sigh* so many things are on my ravelry list.
and three balls of the georgeous KnitPicks Elegance in a lovely blue colour:
I've got two patterns in mind for these. 1st is a hat pattern that i've been waiting for the exartstudent to post on her blog for MONTHS now (lol):
It has the coolest crown shaping:
or possibly the Montego Bay Scarf - but i'm not sure how long the three balls would make... I do prefer skinny scarves anyway... but i think i'll start with the hat and see how it goes.
mmmmmm Hershey's - needless to say they're almost all gone, and once i get home tonight they will be well and truly gone :) yummy :)
So thankyou again Lisa, i'm soooooo heappy
(think maid marien in Robin Hood: Men in Tights - love that movie!)