Knitcation

The alternative title was "What I Did For Spring Break."  Really it amounts to the same thing.  Be prepared for a lot of pictures.  Some of which actually have captions.  And breathe...

Firstly, this rather interesting contraption, which is part of the mystery shawl Knit-A-Long this month.  Why on earth would anyone be masochistic enough to participate in a mystery shawl KAL, you ask?  Well, the yarn for one thing.  Wool/silk/linen.  With...I swear there are sisal fibers peeking out of it, or maybe it's somehow had a run-in with my cat or her scratching post.  Every couple of feet I'll find this wispy straw thing poking out, and I can't help wondering if I'm supposed to pick it out or keep it as part of the charm of the fabric.  On the other hand, the yarn itself touches nice, and the color is lovely (if it doesn't look so on screen, please pay it no mind--Hikoo Rylie has to be seen/felt to do it justice, apparently).

My other accomplishment with this particular pattern: putting in 2 rows in the movie theater before the feature presentation.  Actually before the previews started.  And while nursing one of my more epic migraines (of all the days to leave the ibuprofen bottle at home while dashing out the house ahead of potential buyers).  On second thought, "Captain America" probably wasn't the best life choice I could've made during epic migraine, but let's face it, I'm a geek and my options out here are limited.  Make that a bored geek with too many knitting projects this month.  And if you're wondering, yes, that blue stuff is the Bigger on the Inside shawl I rocked at the movie theater while working on mystery shawl.  Sadly, I don't think any of my fellow movie-goers got the reference.

And here are some progress pictures of Papagena scarf.  Yes, I have been listening to Mozart while working on it.  Thought it might bring me some inspiration.  Interestingly, at the moment, my Mozart station seems a bit stuck on the Requiem.  Though while I was working on one of the display projects shown below, it went through a lovely run of "Magic Flute."  This could, of course, still happen anytime, including when I finally get to spend quality time with Zauberball again.

Of note, apparently my yarn is "Crazy Zauberball" because of the 2 different colors (1 for each ply) in each strand section.  There's also an "Original Zauberball."  The guys at the yarn shop thought it might be worth my while to know that.  Because my life was incomplete without such knowledge.  Original Zauberball is also lovely, but I like Project Mozart as it is, no?

Which then leads me into the real meat of the matter.  Or the real lace, I suppose.  Remember when I mentioned if the Knit 'n Purl gang ever asked me to knit a display shawl for the shop?  Well, as this week was my vacation/staycation, and since I can't be counted upon to stay on task and actually, you know, clean the house or read on the beach like a normal person, we dubbed this "knitcation."  And I've been assigned homework.  Not just one piece, as it turns out, but two.  The easier one, pictured here, is Sandpiper scarf, knit in Cascade Baby Alpaca.  I finally cast it on when I (or rather, my eyes and fingers) got tired of my other assignment.  Lucky I still had these size-6 ninja double-points lying around from my last lace project (Laminaria, I think.  I recognize the blue staining from the Baby Alpaca Paints).  If one has plans of interrupting me in the middle of a row, these double as vampire stakes.

A note on the yarn: yes, it does stain.  Don't worry, I'm pretty sure blue bamboo needles still work the same as tan ones.  And it's not like the Baby Alpaca ended up any less blue.  It's lovely.  Only...8 repeats to go?  For the first half?  Oh dear.

Speaking of lovely, this is assignment number 2: Path of Flowers stole, I believe it's called.  Hoo, baby, it's got some teeth, this pattern!  Now, I've done my share of lace in my day (ya think?), but I had not yet done knitted lace (lace-knitting is the one where you work the pattern stitches on the right side and purl across the wrong, and knitted lace is the one where you work pattern stitches on both sides, yes?).  Until this past Tuesday, that is.  Cue Cro Magnon expression with needles in air: "purl 2 together through back loop...?"  Why, no, it's not for the faint of heart.  Why do you ask?

So what's in it for me then?  Why am I being that pesky fiddler on the roof if it's so hard?  Don't worry, it's not purely for some Keatsian ideal of truth is beauty.  Fact is this not-so-little beauty (beautiful behemoth?) is knit up in Lorna's Laces, which I'd never be willing to buy for myself.  50% wool and 50% silk.  Makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside just describing it.  Come to the shop and ogle it with your fingers and you'll understand.




Or you could ask Raiden.  Tonight I had all my projects scattered around the living room for their photo shoot, and do you suppose she goes for the $8.50 Baby Alpaca?  Of course not.  Claws and teeth straight for the $60 stuff.  I about had an STEMI right there on the spot.  That's heart attack for my about 1 non-medical reader who isn't a robot.  So now that my precious (preciousss?) projects are safely back in their bag, perhaps I should keep them under lock and key, or whatever the kitty-proof version of that may be.

Oh, the things we do for love, eh?  Or was it yarn?  Same difference, right?  We shall see this time next week when the work week has been in full unrelenting swing.  Until next time?  Gulp.