Intimidation (or: Bring it, Lacey.)

Within the knitting community, lace seems to be one of those self-defining characteristics.  Kind of like (and seemingly opposing) socks.  These are the things that really intimidate some people, while coming quite easily to others.  I've known people that can p5tbl & make bobbles without blinking, but get a bit queasy when faced with a handful of double points.  Then there are the people that can burn out a pair of socks in a week but whose eyes glaze over at the sight of any single line with less than 5 simple knits in a row.

Over the past year or two, I've been working my way through understanding of socks & now feel comfortable with them.  At this point, I pretty much grok sock construction, from toe to gusset to heel to negative ease & incorporating stitch patterns.  I can do them toe-up or cuff down, and I can make heels with either short rows or a flap & gusset.  Lace?  Still don't really get it yet.

Basic points, I understand. 

• If you're working on something that stays the same size all the way up, then there should be a +1 for every -1.  So each YO should have a k2tog or ssk paired with it.  
• You have to block the finished product or you don't ever get to see the stitch definition.  (To this point I've only ever blocked three of the 80+ projects I've posted to Ravelry, only one actually using pins.  No joke.)
  
• The needle-to-yarn size ratio used in Lace is completely off from everything else I've done.  Bulky yarns use big needles, worsted yarns use medium needles, sock yarn uses small needles.  The needles for my Red Stockings of Awesome are four sizes smaller than those for the lace scarf (and it still kind of bothers me). 

It's just a matter of applying these principles.  I've only had to tink back an entire row once (knock on wood).  I've got lifelines cast at every pattern repeat.  And I have yet to lose/gain any extra stitches in the lace panel. 

But more than one row have ended up shifted left or right by one stitch because I couldn't figure out where I had miscounted.  I figure no one will notice, based on the Prancing Pony Postulate (if it can't be seen from a prancing pony, don't worry about it).

Two pattern repeats are completed at this point.  Black thread lifelines shown in the picture, as well as my rockin' Post-It note method of keeping track of where I am in the chart.

I can do this.  Just not when other people are in the room.  ^_^

A Few New Commissions

My LYS is Knit here in Charleston, SC.  I spend more time there than I need to, but apparently the owner doesn't mind putting up with me.  I make myself useful enough at times.  (Well, "useful" & "amusing" are sometimes the same thing, right?)  Plus, I seem to have a bit of a knack for sorting out common & not-so-common knitting problems.  Oh, and winding yarn.  Apparently the new hasn't worn off yet for me.

Anyway, with all of the knitting that I do in class at school, I've got more time than money for yarn.  The owner Gay has decided to make use of my need for yarn funds by supplying me with yarn & patterns to make display items for the store.  This allows people to get a better idea of what that skein of yarn will become.  As humans, we are primates, and as primates, we like to touch things.  Especially before purchase.

I win by getting store credit in proportion to the time spent working on the project.  Which means yarn, needles, books, buttons, whatever.  SCORE.

The latest commission handed to me is two skeins of Silky Alpaca Lace by Classic Elite Yarns and a copy of Fiber Trends' Estonian Medallion Lace Scarf.  This should be interesting. 

I can do YOs & SSKs & K2togs with the best of them.  I've done lace panels.  I've even done a sk2p or two.  But an entire lace scarf?  On honest-to-Mom laceweight yarn?  No.

This'll be a learning experience.  Oh, and I'm going to be teaching a class around this in November.  Awesome.  Which is not to say it can't be done, mind you.  Just that it's going to take some focus.  I definitely won't trust myself working on this in one of my classes for nursing just yet.

The other commission is for a set of classes to teach how to Magic Loop socks two at a time.  At least that one will be a breeze... I've got more than enough experience on that with the stockings.

Red Stockings of Awesome.

Too pretentious a title?  Never.

Started in early July of 2009, after holding onto two skeins of Malabrigo sock yarn in Tiziano Red for about two months, seeking the proper pattern.  I found the proper pattern for free on Knitty, in the form of Froot Loops.  Wonderful.

But in my great & terrible history, I have rarely if ever been able to complete a pattern without modification.  This one turned out to be no different from the rest.  With two whole skeins of this luscious sock yarn staring at me, I decided to go for stockings.  Because skirts don't do too much to keep the legs warm in winter.  So let's make them dense, too, by knitting them on size 0 needles.

Since my feet are large & my legs are long, they needed to be toe-up.  I tossed in a heel-flap & gusset just because I had learned it in my previous (first) sock design.  And I wanted them to fit tightly, so I decided to do shaping all the way up.  Around a central seam.  First time to Magic Loop two socks on one circ just for fun.  OK.  Onetwothree GO!

Early July saw me start.  Then frog.  Then restart, frog a little, keep going, frog back again (but only part way), and finally be satisfies with the toes.  Sometimes the gauge math just doesn't tell you the whole story.  And I didn't want to use up precious yarn in swatching, so I just kept it to my ability to rip out with impunity that which I have already knit.


Smooth sailing through the heel-flap & narrowing back to the ankle in pattern through the gusset.  In retrospect, I'd rather decrease every third row rather than every other.  (Notes for next time already made.)

When I made it to the ankle officially, I let my twitchy need for exactness out to play.  Mark up the calf in one inch increments, then measure at each mark, notating change in circumference.  Sort out the width & height of pattern repeats, then proceed to chug out stocking within given parameters.

All was well until the upper calf.  Six inches of mock cabling on zeros.  A four row repeat, with two of the rows being "knit knits & purl purls."  With no increases to help keep interest.  It was tough, but accomplished.  Thank heavens for the safety pin marking the measuring point.  Otherwise these would be hibernating.

Earlier this week, I added a third skein.  It was a moment of triumph, coming at the middle of the knee as well.  Then I realized that the color of the 3rd skein matched one stocking but not the other.  At least only an inch or so had passed, so the FROGGING was not as bad as it could have been.  But we're back on track.  Knitting up the thigh to see how far I can get.

Who?

Right.  Good question.

I'm a 29 year-old working on a second Bachelor's degree (in nursing) at the Medical University of South Carolina.  My first degree was in French Studies (a.k.a. "Shooting the Breeze Over a Bottle of Dry Red Wine") a few years ago & only got me into food service.  Nursing will at least guarantee me medical benefits as well as a job.  ^_^

As for knitting...  It's what keeps me sane.  A quiet past time that allows my body & mind to be calm by keeping my hands busy.  Constructive fidgeting during class while taking notes.  An outlet for sculpting fiber through math & other soothingly basic rules.

Pattern design lurks within me, spurring me into starting this.  Perhaps the upkeep here will be the reminder needed to keep me on track.  Ravelry, I can do.  Lots of past projects posted there, you can find me as seraph if need be.

That being said, allow me to attempt a project display...  Don't mind the mess.