Showing posts with label Icarus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Icarus. Show all posts

25 October 2008

W Day




On a lovely Friday afternoon in October in New York, we pledged our troth publicly, making official our long-standing private intentions. The bride wore blue and carried a peacefully sleeping babe. The groom wore grey and translated the reading from The Odyssey himself. Our ring bearer and flower girl also served as the paparazzi. And our dear friend performed the ceremony with grace and emotion, while our other dear friend (her husband) recorded the events in still and moving pictures and witnessed the marriage. Their son was the third paparazzo. The small ceremony was followed by champagne, red velvet cake, and sushi.

Icarus seemed the proper choice of covering, as I'd started to knit it when Nick and I reconnected. Plus, the color, incidentally, was just right for the dress.

Many thanks to everyone for their well wishes in the last post.

12 September 2007

Finished!

OK, I just popped Cobblestone into a lavender bath. I hope it fits the intended recipient. There will be pictures after it's been gifted.

In the meantime, how about some "live" shots of Icarus?


07 August 2007

FO: Icarus Shawl


Off the needles


Blocking

...
Action shot (I'll try to get one of these soon)

Pattern: Icarus by Miriam Felton from Interweave Knits, errata (also available from Miriam directly)
Yarn: Laughing Rat merino laceweight in Robin's Egg, 875 yds.
Needle: Bryspun US3 29" circular

Yes! Fin! Whoohoo!

As I thought this is one of the few moderately complex shawl patterns that can show off a hand-dyed yarn well, since it has the large stockinette and lace rib section. I did the optional errata, so I can't say what it would look like without. I'm very happy with it, which you will see when I can wangle someone else into taking my picture with it.

26 July 2007

Love, Actually

Marissa, you were totally right! What a sweet movie. I definitely recommend Love, Actually. My mom objected to the nudity and some of the language, but I didn't really mind. And I'm quite fond of just about everyone in the movie.

And I actually love Icarus. I'm halfway through the last chart (yay!) and hope to be blocking this baby by the weekend. It is a great pattern. And working it reinforced my idea that lace isn't as hard as some people fear, especially if you concentrate on the row at hand. I know I was kvetching about the knit stitches in the purl-back rows (evens), but they really ensure that you've done everything properly on the knit side. If you have a copy of Interweave Knits, be sure to check out the errata on Miriam's blog - it's not on IK's site, as Miriam says it's optional. I have a few rows to get to the errata, so I can't say how it makes a difference, but I'm sure it does.

And love plays a prominent role in the last Harry Potter book, which I bought on Saturday and finished on Monday. I enjoyed it immensely.

Love you all, actually!

19 July 2007

I hate it when they disappear

You know, those bloggers who go missing and when they do deign to publish a post are all "Sorry sorry, I've been busy and can't tell you about what I've been up to"? Yeah, well...

Sorry sorry! I've been busy and can't tell you what I've been up to.

Actually, if you leave me a comment or drop me an email, I can share a smidge, but things are far from ready for the wide distribution of the blog. If you've never commented, make sure your email address is in your profile, so I can write you back. Blogger is great most of the time, but it's bollocks on commenter contact as far as I'm concerned.

In knitting news chez Purly, I've made more progress on Icarus. I'm on chart two, which is going well, as it flows nicely from the YO columns in the hundreds of rows of chart one. Only difficulty is that you have to knit every so often on the purl side, so it requires counting. I really enjoy just purling back, as it gives me a chance to think. But I'll survive. The yarn is just lovely. And it looks like charts two through four are only one repeat of each. While I enjoyed the semi-mindless nature of chart one, I think I'm up for some more complicated lacework here, just not for hundreds of rows.

I had a little debate with myself whether to pause on Icarus after finishing chart one to start Mystery Stole 3 but I'm coming to realize that I'm a one-project-at-a-time girl, and I'm OK with that. However, I am not a one-yarn-purchase-at-a-time girl! I'll try to snap some pics today if the grey skies lift.

I'm really looking forward to diving into MS3, though, and the shade card Keri included with my half of the Zephyr is putting me in mind of all sorts of new projects. Danger danger!

09 July 2007

Almost ready to start MS3

The yarn was waiting for me when I got back from the lake. Thanks, Keri! I'll try to snap a pic of it (and Icarus) tomorrow, as it is very yummy yarn and much more substantial than the stuff we swatched with. And, oh, the silk! Just gives the yarn a lovely gleam. I did have to go Special Notices on the MS3 Yahoo! group because, man, those people are chatty! The connection up North is not terribly fast, and it took forever to download messages last week. I hope I don't miss anything fun, but the inbox was out of control.

As for Icarus progress. I have one more repeat of the "straight" chart before moving on to the exciting charts. Hopefully, I can get my counting under control by then! The yarn is very nice on this project, too. I'm curious to see how the variegation works in the lacier borders.

Since two picture-less posts in a row are just boring now that I have constant access to pics from the blog (I used to post from work, in case you've joined me recently), here are some snaps of our adventure at The Farm (there were sheep, so it's knitting related):


Mommy and Isobel


Peacock in full strut - I'd never seen one put on a display in person.


Isobel got to feed a Jacob lamb, as well as goat kids and a piglet.

07 July 2007

Vacation

I'm sorry to have gone AWOL for the past week! Vacation has been fun, though how I can be on vacation when I don't have a job... Well, the rest of the family is on vacation, and I'm with them, so that's how.

Knitting on Icarus continues but is still is the pretty boring stage. I did hit a snag earlier in the week when it turned out I couldn't count to seven. I was distracted. So I ended up having to tink back two full rows, and there are quite a few stitches OTN. I know "tink" is just "knit" backwards, though I didn't learn that when I first heard the term. I've always found it somewhat onomatopoetic, as if there were a little "tink" sound for each unplucked stitch. The good thing is that the crisis was averted. This portion of the pattern is so tightly structured that you will know you've made a mistake when you get to the next right side row. And if I could just count to seven, no more, no less, we'd be all set for the next two pattern repeats. Keep your fingers crossed!

In other knitting news, the LYS in Sister Bay is having a 20% off everything sale through next week. I broke down and bought two skeins of Euroflax in a beautiful blue (Neptune, I think, though it could be Aqua or French Blue - it's got the old bands on it, and I can't figure out the numeric code) to make the lace-edged skirt from Greetings from Knit Cafe. I was going to hold off on even thinking about that project for a while, but who can resist a sale? Should I go back and get the third skein? The small size calls for 580 yds.; I have 540 and have gotten a bit smaller the past few months. I should just get it, shouldn't I?

On movies, thanks for the comments! I'll have to check out Love, Actually, Marissa, as well as 13 Going on 30, Cheryl. Jenn, how can you choose Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom? I mean, he goes to Venice in The Last Crusade. And there's that wonderful scene in Raiders where they're on the ship and she says "Dammit, where doesn't it hurt?!" which leads to kisses on forehead, elbow, and lips before he falls dead asleep.

I thought of some other guilty pleasure romantic comedies (in no particular order, and I'm too lazy to link 'em today): Legally Blonde, Sweet Home Alabama, When Harry Met Sally, Bridget Jones' Diary (in spite of Renee Zellweger - should there be another "g" in there? And does this fall under the any Jane Austen heading?)... I know there are a few more, but it's a glorious day, and Isobel is in her tutu and Cubs hat, so we should get out there and enjoy ourselves.

Hope you had a happy Fourth!

P.S. Sorry if this is a little disjointed. Life is moving in some unusual ways for me of late, which I'll tell you about in due time. And this morning I found out my father has been making decaf accidentally for us the last few days. That has been rectified. Today I'm wired. Hehee.

28 June 2007

OK, look for the last time (yeah, right)


Yesyes, that is a bag from The Fold. And we also have a lovely English Ash Nostepinne. Of course, it's difficult to leave without some Blue Moon yarn, though their selection was on the skimpy side for sock yarn, as I'd just missed the Summer Solstice Sale. Now, I'm on the mailing list, so that won't happen again. The Seduction yarn is in the Shale colorway. Very moi, no? I'm thinking arm warmers. Not quite sure why, but that's the current notion.


And here is Icarus, or at least the start of it. I'm really enjoying the yarn and the color.

With the nostepinne purchase, I should be set for a while, as I have quite a bit of yarn to wind. Icarus and MS3 should keep me busy, so I won't have new toys to show, just WIPs and, hopefully, FOs.

With many thanks to the Fug Girls, I have discovered the end-of-days musical: Xanadu!

26 June 2007

ZZZephyr

Keri is saving our collective bacon for MS3 by ordering a cone of Zephyr in Steel for us to share. Thank you, Keri (my enabler)! We both agreed that our original chosen yarns, which were quite similar, were too fine. Zephyr usually clocks in around 30wpi (wraps/inch), and ours were closer to 40. And I think my beads will still work with the new yarn. Unfortunately, I'll be up at the lake for the week, so I'll be a bit behind on the clues, but that will give me time to finish the Icarus I cast on last night with Jennifer's laceweight merino (lovely yarn, BTW). I know, Emily, "Another shawl!?" But this has been on my to-do list for some time, and it's a fairly simple pattern so far. I know the borders will be more complex, which will be fun, too, but sometimes a girl needs something interesting but not too, you know. I also think this is one of the few laceweight shawls that can handle a somewhat variegated yarn, since it has the expanse of stockinette panels. It's beautiful in plain yarn, but you'll be able to judge for yourself shortly. I haven't taken any pictures of my progress yet, as I'm only about fifty rows in, since I just cast on last night.

In the world just keeps getting weirder files, I received an email from the guy I dated through college and on to Boston. He's in the Chicago area visiting his family for the Fourth, and hearing that shimmer of sound from the cicadas made him think back seventeen years, when we were together. He's teaching at Columbia University, has a young son, and is also in the process of a divorce. Life is so strange. It was a nice email, very him, even after all these years.

19 April 2007

Oh, gorgeous yarn

How beautiful is the Lucy colorway from Blue Moon? What do you think of an Icarus shawl in the Geisha yarn in Lucy? Oh, kid mohair and mulberry silk, you are temptation! Really, it could be anything in that yarn, but I have the Icarus pattern burning a hole in my workbag and am on a shawl kick, as you know.

Personal life isn't so great, though work offered to keep me on the payroll until May 11th, which is helpful. Luckily, the weather is glorious here, and Mom is back from her trip, so we're off for a walk at the Botanic Garden.

22 March 2007

The Joy of Knit Night

I am so glad to be able to attend Knit Night regularly again! How amazing are these women? I had such a good time visiting with everyone and checking out their WIPs that I hardly knit at all. I did shop, though! If you're in the neighborhood, be sure to grab a new Bamboo Sisterhood 3/4 sleeve t-shirt - I got my asphalt one last night with red and silver printing and am wearing it today. My colleagues remarked upon my fantastic rock 'n' roll appearance today. Ha!

I also bought the Interweave Knits with Icarus. The directions seem clear here, so I may be OK without Miriam's help that would come with buying the pattern from her directly. BUT I saw Carole's gorgeous Seraphim on her blog this morning. Doesn't she look fantastic? And, as if the shawl weren't lovely enough, she knit it from her own handspun in two weeks! "Impressed" doesn't even begin to cover it. So, add Seraphim to the queue. [I feel a post about the queue coming up.]

My destashed KSH in Heavenly arrived yesterday in the mail. It is a heavenly shade of blue. What will I do with it? You mean, besides pet and look at it? No idea yet, but I couldn't pass it up.

Oh, and the Schaeffer yarn? It is Nancy, not Elaine. Did I get that right? It doesn't really matter. The bumpy yarn (both worsted and bulky weights) is great! I need to wash that swatch, so I can figure out that sweater.

09 March 2007

Shawl Decision (?)

Seeing The Daily Purl's Icarus is pushing me towards selecting this pattern for my first lace shawl. Now the debate becomes buy the back issue of Interweave Knits or the pattern from Miriam Felton directly. There's not a whole lot else in that issue of the magazine that's calling to me. The Fairy Net Blouse is pretty, but I may be Blue Sky Alpaca Silk'ed out by the time I finish the Mermaid Sweater. If I buy it directly from Miriam, I would be supporting her directly (she was already paid by the magazine directly, so she wouldn't get anything else out of my mag purchase), and it looks like she offers full pattern support in return. Guess I'm leaning towards direct purchase. But that will happen later.

Yes, btw, I do have a job and should get back to it!