Project Spectrum - Water

Of all the elements, I connect most with Earth - but when it comes to Project Spectrum, Water blows the others away. First, clearly I like taking pictures of water:



1. Wahkeena Falls, 2. Bridal Veil River, 3. Crescent Beach, 4. Cannon Beach, 5. Sea Stacks, 6. Haystack Rock, 7. Rain, 8. River Reflection, 9. River & Rocks, 10. Tidepools, 11. Imbolc Sunset, 12. Sunset over Puget Sound, 13. Hanakapi'ai Beach, 14. Sunset, 15. Sol Duc River, 16. Sea Stacks, 17. Sea Stacks, 18. Sea Stars, 19. Beach, 20. Deception Pass, 21. Deception Pass Eastward, 22. Kure Beach, NC, 23. Mt. Rainier Reflection, 24. Rainbow Falls, 25. Lake Crescent



1. Great Egret, 2. Clear Water, 3. 520 Bridge Reflection, 4. From the Depths, 5. Swimming Upstream, 6. Straits of Juan de Fuca, 7. Straits of Juan de Fuca Panorama, 8. Tidal Flats, 9. Sea Scape, 10. Northwest Sunset, 11. Rising Tide, 12. Sun on Water, 13. Sea Stack at Sunset, 14. Sea Stack near Neah Bay, 15. Brilliant Sunset, 16. Washington State Ferry, 17. Canoe at Sunset, 18. Reflection, 19. Sunrise, 20. Sunrise, 21. Reflection, 22. After Sunset, 23. Multnomah Falls, 24. Horsetail Falls, 25. Columbia River Gorge

And just as clearly, especially when it comes to knitting, I love the colors blue and purple:



1. Charcoal over Blue Lagoon, 2. Three Skeins, 3. Silky Wool, 4. Yarn and Leaves, 5. Needles and Leaves, 6. Tactile Fiber Arts Handspun, 7. Indigo-Dyed Super Sock Yarn, 8. Falling Leaves Lace, 9. Blueberry Hat, 10. Chevron Scarf Detail, 11. Chevron Scarf Folded, 12. Three Strands, 13. Blue Yarn Cake, 14. Purple Yarn Cake, 15. Knitted Utility Bags, 16. Oceanic Detail #2, 17. Lagoon, 18. Nodding Violet, 19. Side View 2, 20. Swatching for Aran-Style Bag, 21. Noro Kochoran, color #1, 22. Lavendar Bib, 23. Blue Varigated Bib, 24. Donegal Tweed, 25. Leaf Vine Baby Blanket



1. Furrows, 2. Squoosh Dewberry, 3. Juno Regina, 4. Juno Regina, 5. 2x2 Ribbing, 6. Shetland Tied, 7. Shetland Triangle Detail, 8. Yarn Cake, 9. Pale Sky Over Sugared Violet, 10. Sidekick Again, 11. Lace Leaf Back, 12. Center Seam, 13. Lace Leaf, 14. Knit Picks Shadow, Doubled, 15. Malabrigo Delight, 16. Diving Deeper, 17. Feather and Fan Lace, 18. River, 19. River, 20. 10 Skeins, 21. Twisted, 22. Curves, 23. Sock Hop - In the Skies, 24. Sock Hop - San Francisco, 25. Sock Hop - A Hard Day's Night

Water was the months of August and September, so I am quite behind in posting my pictures. But better late than never, say I.

Project Spectrum Air

I realized that I've been delinquent about posting the second half of Project Spectrum Elements here on The Potential of Yarn. We've already seen Fire and Earth. June and July were dedicated to the element of Air.



1. White Asters, 2. Seagull Riding the Thermals, 3. Rainbow at Sunset, 4. Clouds, 5. Salal Blossoms with Bee, 6. Dogwood, 7. Storm Clouds and Sun Breaks, 8. Chestnut Flower, 9. Storm Clouds, 10. White Cherry Tree, 11. Sunset Cloud, 12. View of the Olympic Penninsula, 13. White Cherry Blossoms, 14. Waxing Crescent Moon, 15. Tree & Sky, 16. White Clematis, 17. Sun Rays, 18. Sun & Sky, 19. White Dahlia, 20. Washington State Ferry, 21. Pali Ke Kua Beach Sunset, 22. White Dahlia, 23. Seagull, 24. White Rose, 25. Deception Pass



1. Sampler Baby Blanket, 2. 20 Finished Squares, 3. Silk Lace, 4. Romney, 5. My First Handspun, 6. Two Singles, 7. More of My Handspun!, 8. My Handspun!, 9. Yarn Cake, 10. Pale Sky Over Sugared Violet, 11. Winter Sky, 12. Sock Hop - You Babe, 13. Ripples, 14. Ripples 2, 15. Fade Away, 16. Scarf Folded, 17. Stitch Detail, 18. Gift Yarn, 19. Celtic Plait Scarf, 20. Celtic Plait Scarf, 21. Schewe Baby Alpaca yarn, 22. Embossed Twining Leaves Blanket Square, 23. Chain Links Cables, 24. Bjars Hitches Cables, 25. St. Brigid Swatch

One of the cool things that happened during PS Air was that I learned to spin, as I've already described in detail here. (Sadly, not much spinning since then, although I have stashed some lovely hand-dyed fibers). I'm happy to report that I did finish the Sampler Baby Blanket during PSE Air. I do still have a stack of 12 blanket squares left over, so there will eventually be a second baby blanket.

And, in personal news, I started grad school a few weeks ago. I am now find my knitting time cut back rather severely, so this blog will probably be fairly quiet until June 2010. I'll still post as time allows.

Two New COs

First up is a lace scarf I cast on at the end of July with the intent of finding a little lace project that would take one skein of sock yarn (since I had this luscious yarn in my stash) that would be ideal for summer travel knitting. This pattern fit the bill quite nicely, but I felt myself strangely not interested in knitting while I was in Hawaii. (Go figure! I guess the water was calling.) Last week, I said here that I was most likely going to frog this ... but I can't. After a few weeks apart, I could look at it with new eyes, and I think I'm in love again.



Pattern: Road Not Taken Scarf by Lisa Lloyd
Yarn: Sundara sock yarn in Burnt Cranberry
Needles: US size 6

Last week, I also said it was time to cast on for the Feather & Fan shawl I've been preparing for for sometime. A year or two ago, I saw pictures of Hello Yarn’s Handspun Feather and Fan Shawl and fell so in love with it that I started collecting handspun yarn with the plan of making something similar for myself someday. I saved the project for Project Spectrum Water, since the yarn I collected was in blues and purples, but also because of the wave motif in the feather & fan lace pattern. I decided to knit the Pacific Waves Shawl pattern, because I think I will really like the way an L-shaped shawl fits around the shoulders. Last weekend I cast on - no mean feat, that’s 541 stitches.



Pattern: Pacific Waves Shawl by Danielle Miner
Yarn: Sock Hop handspun by Crown Mountain Farms in 5 colorways
Needles: US size 8

As of today, I’ve completed 24 rows of the shawl. I like the way it’s shaping up - it’s very cool to see how the center decreases every other row are making a nice “V” - but I have to confess I’m unsure about the color combination. I can't decide - are the changing colors working up to be a lovely way to bring out the wave shape, or is the combination somehow excruciatingly 70s?

Recent FOs

My knitting has been a bit scattered since I finished the Icy Shetland Triangle in June. (I did block the three shawls, but haven't had photo sessions with them yet).

I like having knitting projects that are portable, because I knit away from home a lot - in the car (when I'm the passenger, of course), when I'm hanging with friends, and during several Wednesday meetings at work. I also want projects that are easy to memorize, because a lot of the time, I have to concentrate on something besides my knitting.

With Project Spectrum Air happening over the months of June & July, I decided to pull out the sampler blanket project that I put in the bottom of my stash bins over a year ago. Because this is the first project I ever knit, I am not into knitting it any more, so I decided to take the 25 squares I had already knit, finish off seven more, and make two baby blankets with 16 squares each. The grey & cream (& brown) colors were a perfect match for PS Air, and working on squares would be a portable little project good for summertime knitting. Except - each square requires closely following a pattern, so it turned out to be less convenient than I thought. I am happy to say I just finished sewing up one blanket, and have four more squares to knit for blanket #2.

So I've done a slew of quick little, portable projects. Many of which are actually good for Project Spectrum Water, which just started August 1. I finished the Falling Leaves Shawl:



And knit a Foliage Hat out of the same yarn (Berrocco Ultra Alpaca in Oceanic Mix) to match:



I found that the Ultra Alpaca was not as suited to the pattern as the Malagbrigo. It was way too long. After finishing the hat, I had to pick out the cast off, rip back the ribbing and a lace repeat, and then reknit the ribbing.

I knit a Scrunchable Scarf and a pair of mittens (cobbled together my own design) out of Malabrigo Chunky in the Vaa colorway to match the Foliage Hat I made for myself:



And a quick little Pro Bono hat in naturally dyed handspun from Tactile Fiber Arts:



I also was out of town for almost two weeks. I took along two one-skein lace scarf projects but was not engaged by either of them. And frankly, Hawaii is not conducive to knitting - I was either swimming, taking pictures, or reading (a lovely vacation indeed). I have already frogged the one I was trying to design and I suspect the other one will follow. Also, I frogged Birch - I knew I couldn't make it into what I wanted it to be. I do love the Morehouse Merino Lace yarn with the fern leaf lace pattern, so expect they will be paired again at some point.

So, the only WIP I have going right now is the baby blanket #2. I need a portable, easy to memorize project. Which means, ladies and gentlemen, that it is time to cast on for the Great Feather & Fan Shawl Project of 2008.

Project Spectrum Earth

I was a little more involved with the posting for Project Spectrum Elements - Earth than I was for Fire. What can I say? I love Earth in so many ways, and green is one of my favorite colors. Here are the end-of-the-element mosaics showing my contributions:



1. Birch Detail, 2. Birch in Process, 3. Birch Edges, 4. Birch Swatch in Hemlock, 5. Fern Leaf Lace Pattern Detail, 6. Birch Swatch, 7. Four Skeins, 8. Hemlock Detail, 9. Stacked, 10. Berroco Ultra Alpaca, 11. Green Yarn Cake, 12. Indigo-Dyed Super Sock Yarn, 13. Indigo-Dyed Super Sock Yarn, 14. Green Varigated Bib, 15. Lagoon, 16. Marron Oscuro Hank, 17. Vaa Hank, 18. Malabrigo Chunky, 19. Foliage x 2, 20. Foliage x 2, 21. Side View 2, 22. Camel Yarn, 23. Handspun Camel Yarn, 24. Handspun yarn, 25. Handspun Yarn



1. Cupcakes, 2. Strawberries, 3. Tomato Flowers, 4. Sweet Woodruff, 5. Cucumber, 6. Snap Peas, 7. Tomato Starts, 8. Snap Peas, 9. Sprouted Seeds, 10. Sprouting Snap Peas, 11. Seeds, 12. Lemon Balm, 13. Oregano, 14. Hens & Chickens, 15. Fungus on a Tree, 16. Salal Berries and Sun-Bleached Tree, 17. Beach Stones, 18. Maple Tree, 19. Curly Vine, 20. Beach Stones, 21. Maple Leaves, 22. Chickweed Flowers, 23. Beach Stones, 24. Red Alder Tree and Moss, 25. Turkey Tail Fungus & Moss

In knitting news, I finished the Lace Leaf Shawl but haven't blocked it yet, have completed 7 repeats of the Icy Shetland Triangle, and ordered a scale so that I can make a decision about frogging Birch or not. I have also picked up the languishing Sampler Blanket again for Project Spectrum Elements- Air and am thinking it might end up as a baby blanket.

Swatching Birch

For Project Spectrum Elements Earth, I'm planning on the Birch Shawl by Sharon Miller (Ravelry link). I knew it was going to be dark green, both because of the theme of PS Elements, and also as a nod to the leaf lace pattern. But I didn't want to use the recommended Kidsilk Haze - I'd like to avoid knitting with mohair as long as possible. I decided to use this project as an excuse to try a lace yarn I hadn't used before, and decided on Morehouse Farms Merino Lace in Hemlock green.



On Earth Day, I swatched the lace pattern. I used the Fern Leaf Lace from Barbara Walker's first Treasury, as it's the same pattern without built-in decreases. I used US size 8 needles, as the original pattern called for, and love the result:



The yarn is single ply, so feels fragile. It's not as soft as other yarn I've been using lately - there is a lovely rustic-ness to the yarn that is perfect for the pattern. I've never used such large needles on such fine yarn before (it's thicker than other laceweight I own, but thinner than the fingering weight I'm used to using), and so have never knit something so "holey."



I have 880 yards, and want to make a generous shawl. Thing is, you cast on the long end and knit up to the point (which means the finished lace pattern will "hang" in the opposite direction of what is pictured above). So if I want to make the shawl bigger, I have to cast on those additional repeats and hope I don't run out of yarn.



Luckily, Fig & Plum has already knit this shawl in this yarn, and she used approximately 770 yards, so I've got a benchmark to start from. I'm thinking about casting on 20 extra stitches for two extra repeats. If anyone had any advice on how to know if I can fit two extra repeats in 110 yards, I'd love input.

Project Spectrum: Fire

I love Lolly's theme for Project Spectrum this year - the four elements. I haven't been participating as much as I'd like because I have a few too many things going on in my life right now (homework for a photography certificate that I am taking, a photo show that is currently hanging, two open positions at work that I need to fill, recent travels, and of course, knitting). Even though it is a week into the new element, earth, already, I finally got a moment to put together a retrospective of pictures for the element of Fire.

Like I said, many of these pictures I never posted to the Flickr or Ravelry groups, and many of them certainly pre-date February, when the Fire theme began. But I have quite a few pictures that matched the red, orange, pink, Fire theme that I wanted to share.



1. Tuscany Lace Pattern Detail, 2. Tuscany Lace Pattern Detail, 3. Kimono Shawl Lace Pattern Detail, 4. Kimono Shawl with Yarn, 5. Kimono Shawl with Yarn, 6. Rumpled, 7. Kimono Shawl Detail, 8. Strawberry Hat, adult size, 9. Strawberry Hat, 10. Heart Graffitti, 11. Fruit Loops, 12. Colorful, 13. Red Yarn Cake, 14. Orange Yarn Cake, 15. Sunset Heather, 16. Candied Chrome, 17. Sundara Sock Yarn, 18. Burnt Cranberry, 19. Burgundy, 20. Burgundy, 21. Fence, 22. Fiestaware, 23. VW Door Handle, 24. VW Headlight, 25. Sweatshirt



1. Bandana Detail, 2. Bandana Detail, 3. Tomatoes, 4. Japanese Maple Leaves, 5. Lace Leaf Japanese Maple, 6. Strawberry Harvest, 7. First Berry Picking, 8. Rose, 9. Burning the Sacred Woods, 10. Burning the Sacred Woods, 11. Pink Tulip Macro, 12. Parrot Tulip, 13. Orange Rhododendrons, 14. Cherry Tree in Bloom, 15. Fire, 16. Candle Trio, 17. Fire Elemental Candle, 18. Fire Elemental Candle, 19. Red Dahlia with Bee, 20. Hot Pink-n-White Dahlia, 21. Red Dahlia, 22. Orange-Pink Dahlia, 23. Orange Hibiscus, 24. Somoan Fire-Knife Dancing, 25. Lughnasadh Bonfire