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Just checking in on the blog "Art in the Wind" (see link at left). It looks like my cat has a blog! Well, a twin at least. Here's a photo of Dusty in her native habitat, our yard. Like Pascal, she has been known to mangle some wool when available.
On the knitting front- my current projects are in the slogging stage and I'm bored. Yesterday I started swatching Daleks and the TARDIS and other Doctor Who subjects. I want to do a stole/wrap project in laceweight yarn. That floral thing is not happening. Therefore- Daleks.
The current state of the moth shawl. I have started using the new red yarn. It's a pretty good fit considering that I bought the new red twenty years after the first. The moth body is in the old yarn. I'm stitching the wings in the new yarn so that I don't have an even more awkward change of colors. The new yarn is from Brown Sheep and is called "Red Wing". I like it so much I may buy enough for a sweater.
These process photos are really useful because I can gauge the "mothiness" from a distance. I may alter the white wings a bit...... I'm probably too lazy.
Progress on the Moth. The body is done. Filling in all
that red bored me no end. I have also been flummoxed trying to figure out how to stitch in the wings with some kind of precision. Solution- tandem needles. I have loaded up TWO needles, one on either side of the shawl and stitch in the sections alternately. "Ten stitches on the right, then ten stitches on the left."
Once the outer wings are outlined, I'll figure out the position of the red, inner wings. The irregular shapes on the lower right part of the shawl were my first attempt to position the wing spots. They need to be moved. I'm glad the creative block is over.
The photo at left shows how I spent an entire weekend! I spent a three-day weekend winding yarn and ended up so sore that I took Aleve for a couple days after. I'm still not quite finished yet! But it is one pound of SILK.
Backstory: Years ago, I splurged and bought o pound of undyed, raw silk yarn, fingering weight. I think it is about 1600 yards. The yarn arrived, in one huge skein and two 6-8 inch "wheels". I have been totally intimidated by the fact that this yarn is SILK and have carried it around with me through three different states. Meanwhile, prices have gone up. This yarn is worth more than I can afford. After knitting a ton of small projects and knitting lots of stash for the past two years, (nevermind any spontaneous yarn purchases), I'm gong to knit myself a sweater. It's time. Originally, I only knit sweaters. This will be the first in years. I've spent months dithering over a pattern and design issues. (Translation, I've gained weight and my behind got fat).
I got the yarn together. This was no problem because I have been visiting it periodically over the years. I open up the big skein. It was huge. The skein did not fit on my niddy noddy- too large. The thickness was about 4 inches when laid on a table. All of it tangled. I spent all of my free time winding and untangling one skein. So far I have five balls wound, each the size of a baseball. I still have a portion of the skein left, perhaps one more ball. I've made a swatch and started to knit. Meanwhile, that remainder sits beside me looking like the cats had a festival. I feel guilty enough that I'll try to finish it up this weekend.
My kid gets credit for this idea. Periodically, I ask (beg) him for ideas to make. It is his duty to supply me with information on video games, manga and anime. I have an interest, but he is MUCH better at staying current. Anyway, he suggested this a while ago and I liked it. This is from a video game, Katamari Damacy. It's fun! This particular project is in crochet, which I use as needed. Some things are just not suited to knitting. Here is the pattern for a Magnetic Katamari.Andrew picked the colors from my stash. The details..... the sphere is crocheted in two halves, which are sewn together. the sphere is roughly the size of a soft ball. The original Katamari was stuffed with fiberfill. Mine also has a rigid inner foundation in the form of a plastic canvas ball frame. The red and white nubs are crocheted separately, filled with a pair of magnets then sewn onto the base. I made the project over one weekend. The major pitfall in this project is finding magnets strong enough to be effective through a layer of yarn. I bought two kinds of magnets at the local craft store. The base magnet is a cheap, 3/4 inch bulk magnet. It supports a pricier, stronger rare earth magnet that was only available in a small size. If I make another one of these, I will plan ahead and buy rare earth magnets online in the size I need. This is a good geek gift. It would also be good for someone to play with at their desk.
Here is the project with yarn supply on the right. The soon-to -be frogged stocking is shown at left. It doesn't bother me much. I've been thinking about doing some new stockings anyway, because the red/white looks odd in our living room. The living room is painted in light blue/aqua and beige. Normally, I wouldn't worry but this past year I kept wondering about coordinating stockings..........
At left is a realistic picture of my knitting in progress. Note the intruder hustling into the frame.
I've been dutifully working on this everyday this week and the progress is slow. This thing is BIG. It's a lot of territory to cover in duplicate stitch. I am worried that I will run out of red yarn.
About two years ago, I had a surplus of bright red yarn in stash- about 8 skeins over three or so types. I used up most of the wool making Christmas stockings. The leftover half skein is being used in this project. It seemed like a lot. Wrong. At the rate I'm using yarn, I could run out before the moth body and wings are complete. Here are the options.......
1. Modify the wing position to accommodate the available yarn. Very likely.
2. Cannibalize a stocking to get more yarn. Also likely. Luckily, of the four stockings I made, the one for myself is unadorned, made in this yarn, and can be unraveled. The other three stockings are for family members and can't be touched. They also have custom designs.
3. Get more yarn. I'm trying. The stash yarn I'm using was purchased years ago. Some of it was Nature Spun, but not necessarily this skein. I spent so time online searching for a close match and ordered two skeins of Nature Spun worsted weight in a color called "Red Wing". It has the same distinctive heathery look. I think it is the same yarn I bought way back when. If the yarn is clearly unsuitable for this project.....guess who's getting a new red accessory?
4. Undo and start stitching with new red yarn. NEVER happening. I am not undoing this.
