I have no willpower

What can I say? I cast on for the Mystic waters KAL. It looks very wrinkly until it's stretched out, as most lace does. The pattern is fairly dense with a lot of decreases and YOs per row. I haven't had to rip very much, mostly I've missed out the occasional YO which is pretty easy to fix once identified.

As a further example of my lack of willpower I ordered a set of KnitPicks Options needles and a couple of extra cables in longer lengths. It seems they are in stock, so I should get them this week.
I blame these lapses on the horrid cold and cough I've been suffering with the last ten days or so, I need something nice to compensate!

The top down alpaca/silk raglan sweater became a UFO once I realized just how saggy it was. The yarn is so soft and floppy that it needs seams to give it some stability. So, armed with the ball winder I went frogging. I have an idea, but I've yet to actually design it.

Finished Mitts

I finished the second one last night. They really are very warm and snuggly. They are the Maine Morning Mitts by Clara Parkes. I changed them slightly by knitting more rounds before the thumb opening, but otherwise the pattern was fine. They took 46g of my 100g ball of merino.

I've been swatching for another shawl, this time the Mysticwaters KAL, which looks as if it's going to be a nice design. I have some 2 ply superwash wool on cone (really for machine knitting) which feels a bit harsh, but softens up after washing to get rid of the spinning oil. I think the 3.25mm needles will be about right since I like the stocking stitch portions of lace to look reasonably solid.


I ended up navajo plying the remainder of the spun silk so I'm now trying to think of a way to use all of these.

Plied silk and wool and Ravelry too.....

Clue 3 of Secret of the Stole is done, just in time for clue 4. It only measures about 26" long at the moment, so I think I'll be putting in the lengthening rows. This will mean I'll be late starting clue 5, 'cos I'm just not getting very much quality lace knitting time lately.

Here's the first of a pair of fingerless mitts knitted with the handspun and dyed superwash merino. I went up to 5.5mm needles because this yarn is very springy although the yardage suggested DK weight.

I've spun about a quarter of the silk caps and plied them with various colours of corriedale sliver.
There's still more left, it really goes a long way. Now I'm trying to work out what to make with it. There's about 145m altogether.

I got my Ravelry invite today and I've done the preliminary stuff, but it'll take a while for me to get up to speed with it. My name is YarnTinker which is quite appropriate since I almost never get away without tinking something.

Dyeing silk caps

The dyed caps before fixing

Dry and catching on everything they touch! Predrafted and extra drafted

Singles

I thought I'd have a go at dyeing and spinning some silk caps which I bought a while back. I already tackled some silk hankies a few months ago and got on pretty well with them. Well, I dyed the caps first, and when they were dry, I separated a few of the layers and predrafted them. These produced a rather lumpy yarn, so I resorted to completely drafting it into very thin strips. This worked better although there are a lot of slubby bits. I could only do this much before my hands were complaining. Pulling silk around is quite hard work, the fibres are very long and stick to anything they come in contact with. I tried wearing some vinyl gloves, which helped for a while until static built up and then they were useless. It must have been quite a sight, me shaking these lengths of silk about trying to make them let go.

Knitting wise, I've done a few rows of the third clue for the Secret of the Stole, and my mindless knitting sock has grown a bit. I'm using my new Knitpicks circulars, 2.75mm, for these and they are marvellous, the points are nice and pointy and the cable join is excellent. I was so pleased to find a supplier in the UK. I'm seriously tempted by the Options set.

I'm ahead of the game

My Secret of the Stole is coming along and I'm ready and waiting for the next clue. So far this is going well. I've been undecided about starting any more lace projects, but for now I'm going to keep going with those already on the go - this decision may change at any time of course!

Textured hat done

The hat is done. I knitted it top down on two 7mm circulars. There wasn't enough yarn to do a turn up brim, but that would have made it too warm anyway. It's very organic looking and very warm. I'm going to reserve this for the coldest days yet to come. This yarn isn't quite Colinette Point 5 but it cost a lot less and it was fun to make.

I made a start on the Kaalund scarf and then ripped it out and started over with a different stitch pattern and different size needles (3.75mm) . This is a variation on feather and fan and it looks pretty good I think. Strangely, the colours in this are very similar to the cushion - different proportions, but similar. I'm obviously going through a yellow, orange and reddish purple phase.

I'm more than three quarters through the second clue of the Secret of the Stole, so should be done in time for Friday's instalment. This design seems to be mainly stocking stitch with lace motifs, rather then allover lace, which means it goes quite fast.

Different effects

This is the completed first clue of the 'Secret of the Stole', the next clue was released earlier today. I'm using 3.75mm Addi lace needles and some anonymous wool laceweight I bought on eBay. I'm not using beads, I think that would be asking for trouble!

Pictures really are worth a thousand words. I'm still waiting to get a cushion pad, but here's the cover ready and waiting. The same fibre, very similar colours and each side completely different to look at. I really like the stripes, but the colour distribution of the second side surprised me with it's symmetry.

Finished objects

The bedsocks were done yesterday, the second short row heel went smoothly, so I'm a convert to the YO method whenever short rows are required. The first photo shows I'm more supple than I thought I was! These will be put to use straight away.

Dropping in to my LYS yesterday, I was pretty restrained, but this came home with me. It should make a pretty lacy scarf, maybe for a gift. If I can bear to part with it . It's Kaalund Classic Two wool in Guava. Each 50g ball has 356m. The knitted sample in the shop was soft and had lovely drape. I'll be looking for a pattern stitch for this soon. Further to my dilemma the other day, I cast on for the Secret of the Stole and have finished the first clue. I'm using some nameless mauve laceweight I have, I don't know the yardage, but I'm optimistic I have enough. No picture yet, but it's looking good. The long awaited cone of cashmere and silk blend should be mine tomorrow when I collect it from the sorting office. I missed the postman this morning, very annoying.

Decisions, decisions

I plied the green merino and finished up with 190m of roughly DK weight. I think I should have put a bit more twist in when I plied it, but I'm happy with it overall.

I've finished a sock with a short row heel which is going to be a bedsock. It's not a conventional bedsock, but so long as it's warm I don't care. Now to knit the other one! I've used short rows now and again, but never got on well with wrapping and turning in sock heels, I'd miss the wraps or drop stitches and generally mess it up. This time I used the YO method and what a difference that made, I wish I'd tried it before. The yarn is pure wool Jojoland Rhythm worsted weight on 4.0mm needles.

I've been driving myself nuts by getting caught up in a couple of knitalongs, the Secret of Chrysopolis stole and Secret of the stole - both lace projects and so far as I can tell so far, quite different styles. I signed up quite late for both of these and am frustrated that the yarn I bought is held up in the postal strikes we have at the moment. I really don't know why I should even think I can cope with two more lace projects, but the temptation to do both is great.

Slow going

I divided my shades of green merino tops in half and predrafted strips of the different shades before spinning them in a repeating sequence. I'll do the same for the other half, but I'll vary the sequence. It should be quite interesting when plied.

Sorry to say that not much substantial progress has happened with any of my knitting. I've been adding a few rows here and there. That's one of the drawbacks of having several projects on the go at once. The ripple cushion is the one with most growth. You can start to see where I changed yarns from the dyed and then spun to the spun and then dyed (the 2 or 3 inches nearest the needle). I was a bit worried that this singles yarn would cause biasing, but there isn't a hint of it.

This is definitely an improvement on the biased neckband I had before. I worked a twisted rib back and forth, so now I have a seam to sew. I'll do the same for the other bands too when I get to them.