FO: Branching out #2

Cross-posted from my personal blog.

Now that Stacey has received her package for the Ravelry scarf exchange, I can post the details here. This was my second go at Knitty's branching out pattern. I like this pattern and I find it enjoyable enough but it is impossible for me to memorize (is it just me?), so I had to keep referring to the pattern, during all 40 of the lace pattern repeats. I didn't measure it but it seemed to be a reasonable length after it was blocked (and I blocked this one less sternly but I think it's still lovely). Take a peek at Stacey's blog for a pic of her modeling it. Here's the link to that entry.
Here are the few pictures I have and the deets:
Pattern: Branching Out (see link above)
Needles: size 6 circs (I used my Denise interchangeables for this)
Yarn: Plymouth Baby Alpaca DK, in red, 2 skeins.
Note: All pictures taken on the rear porch outside because I still can't figure out the flash on my digital camera (yes, I'm a dork).

BLOCKING!

Branching Out and I got to talking and the conversation went a little something like this.

Me: "I want you to die."
Scarf: "I will haunt you until the day you die, or you finish and block me, whichever comes first."

Me: "You can't outlive me, I won't stand for it!"
Scarf: "Then you know what you have to do."

And I did. I worked on it alone yesterday and Mondays being knit night, I almost never work on any project exclusively. I bound off in bed watching Scrubs and started blocking it tonight on my brand new blocking boards (and the crowd goes wild!).

There is a Target right next to where the Infinite Knitters meet and thanks to Vagabond Bettie's comment I swung by to look for rubber exercise tiles. Got 16 square feet for $16.

Let the blocking begin!

Actually....

I started another one for a scarf exchange and have 2 repeats to go until it's done. I'm up to 38. It's in red baby alpaca and looks fantastic.
I'll post pics soon!

snoozer

Aren't we an active bunch?

I am 75% through but I haven't picked it up in ages. I don't think it's very fun. Someday I will finish though. Maybe I'll work on it next weekend.

Alright, what about you ladies?

halfway through... still

so I picked my branching out up today for the first time since I left San Diego. I must be about halfway through because I just added a second skein of TLC's cotton plus. Mine is curling around that center stitch, for those ladies that finished, did you have that problem? did it block out?

I also had that exact same problem in the beginning not knowing how to do the sl2k1p2sso properly. I sorted it out but didn't go rip it back. I'm glad to know that my scarf has a twin somewhere in the world.

Finished!

I finally finished this scarf. It took a rather stern blocking to get the lace pattern to open up (and the cast on edge to lose that puckering) but I'm really happy with it. I'm actually considering knitting another one, in a different yarn, because I seem to have made myself a completely useless scarf. I can't wear it. The baby alpaca that is so squishy soft and such a joy to work with makes my neck itch.
Bah!
So I'll see if there's someone out there who will wear it, or maybe it will find use as a runner on the dining room table or something.
Stuff: Lantern Moon circs, size 6, Plymouth Baby Alpaca DK
Started: Apr 27 (I think), finished June 9, 40 repeats of lace pattern (that is 10 rows each, plus the 5 rows of garter at each end, so -- not that I'm counting or anything -- but this scarf was 410 rows!)


Shockingly, I considered how I might expand the pattern so that it would be large enough for a wrap. Clearly I've lost my mind. I think knitting must be like people tell me childbirth is -- as soon as it's over, and you have the beautiful result, you forget all the unpleasantness. And it wasn't that the pattern was unpleasant, just that it was so tedious.
Still, not bad for my first venture into lace knitting and I didn't have to frog it at all, which is awesome. I did screw up the vertical decrease my first couple of repeats before I figured out I was supposed to slip the two stitches knit-wise at the same time, but it's hardly noticeable and I'm not that OCD a knitter.
YAY!

FO!

It is finally finished!

I used size 7 addi turbos, Knit Picks Memories sock yarn in Morning Glory (just under one skein, because the recipient is only 5'5") which is 100% Merino wool. It isn't my favorite colorway, nor is it my favorite project to date (that award goes to my clapotis - hands down), but it is my first real lace project (Well, there was that lace washcloth I designed). I am proud that I finished it and that it didn't end up a UFO in my stash.

Update.

Since I posted an update on the scarf to my personal blog, I thought I'd throw a couple of pics up here, too. I'm up to 20 repeats and I find this scarf the most tiresome and tedious thing EVAR. However, I do think it's lovely, so I'll finish.
It is currently 25" long. I'm almost through with the first ball of alpaca, so I'll say I'm about half done. My plan is to continue to do 2 repeats per day until it is finished.
So here we go:

And a (moderate) close up of the stitch pattern, overtaken by a fluffy cat tail:

The color in the first pic is truer; it is really a very subdued, earthy, mustard yellow and not the bright, vibrant one in the second pic.
I'm very interested to see how it changes when blocked.
What do you think?

A camera phone shot of my Branching Out. Knitting while eating lunch :)

Knitting, PR style and FOOD!

Doesn't get any better (in bad Spanish: mas mejor) than this. At least I am getting mejor (good spanish) speaking. Sometimes, it's only because I have the script laid down for the grocery store or Wallgreens or the restaurant! My daughter told me that a friend of hers is taking Spanish classes in Michigan. The teacher told them on the first day that the best they could hope for in speaking proficiency is to sound like a precocious two year old. I think I might be a precocious three or four year old (in Spanish)

Remember that market bag from Organic Cotton that we Betties were drooling over about 2 months ago? I had some cool blue cotton in my stash and am in the middle of it now. It's a MARKET BAG, not a PURSE! I can hear the laughing from here (woo hoo! ha ha ha Cheryl's making another purse!) I've even figured out a purse I want to make with Karaoke and the branching out pattern. :)

Buenos dias, y'all from Puerto Rico! I've decreed the island the JUNK FOOD CAPITOL OF THE WORLD!!! Here's the scoop: You may have learned that ice cream in Spanish is helado. Here, we call it mantecado. Manteca is the spanish word for fat (well, lard). Puerto Rican's turn even healthy foods into mantecado. I'm going to find the sign later and post it, but there is a sign outside an icecream store here that lists one of its flavors as zanahoria. THIS IS CARROT! We have all the traditional US junk food like Burger King, Mc Donalds, KFC, you name it, and to top it off we have KIOSKOS. I thought kiosks were only in malls and sell stuff like cell phones and Avon and belts and purses! Today when I'm out, I'll take a pic of this, but right next to many beaches are rows of kiosks that sell lost of fried stuff. Here's one pic that my daughter took last week when we were in Pinones which is a gorgeous beach just north of the airport.

Pincho is shiskebab!

Roll Call

What's everyone working on besides their branching out scarf? I keep getting hung up and frustrated at the dang thing. It seems so simple. I thought I learned how to count in 1963 or so. The alapaca silk feels SO GOOD! I am starting to see how to back out of the rows without frogging the whole thing.

The first pic above is the argosy scarf with tonalita. O man! I LOVE it! I was in La Jolla cove with Brandi when I found this yarn. I love it more than Noro. Three skeins and no ugly surprises in the middle. Second is a hybrid of the Mason-Dixon baby bib with the DW dishcloth. My favoritest washcloth design with my favorite Peaches and Cream multicolored yarn. Post your own so you can put in a pic of what you're doing!

New to KAL.

Hello, all! My name is Pixie and I was recently invited to participate in this KAL. Melissa and I belong to a couple of the same yahoo groups and are members of the FABULOUS Get Stitchy, which I can't recommend enough, btw.
I've finally cast on for this scarf and have completed 3 repeats thus far. I'm knitting it in 100% baby alpaca on a size 6 lantern moon rosewood circ. I like the definition but am not quite sure how I feel about the drape. Here are a couple of progress pics:


The color is pretty true-to-life, it's a very light mustard yellow. It's sooo soft. Thanks for looking and I appreciate comments/feedback!
P.
My blog is here!

I'm moving along...

but too tired to write twice :)

http://knittingforhealth.blogspot.com/

New to the KAL!

Hello, my name is Melissa and I was just recently invited to join you all in your knitting of the Branching Out Scarf featured in Knitty. I started the scarf with some friends on another site and have also created a group through the flickr photosite. I am using size six Addi circs and the yarn is Knit Picks Sock Garden (100% Merino Wool) in Morning Glory. I had purchased Malabrigo Lace in Purple Mistery, but it was way too light and had no drape. Here is my progress so far:

I like how the colorway is working out. I think the yellow brings a little extra to the pattern. I am excited to continue with the scarf and am looking forward to blocking it, as that is when lace really comes to life.

Thanks again for the invite! I am excited to see everyone else's progress as well!

~Melissa

www.meliabella.wordpress.com

Starting over and over and over and over!

Here's the sad state of affairs for my version of Branching Out. I have started and re-started so many times! Sometimes I realize what I did wrong and others I get to the end of a row and have not enough stitches left to finish it. My crownig glory screw up came last night. I was finishing up my third set of 10 rows and instead of doing the k3,pX,k3 I started the 9th row. The entire time I was knitting it, I was thinking that it looked weird! I'll say!

So, I started a felted hat for my friend Rosa's birthday that I can knit around and around and around. It's going to be a real beauty. I'm holding two pieces of brown wool and a third piece of this fine laceweight alapaca I got from Knitpics called Tide Pool. It's a beautiful shade of blue that shows up off and on. when it's felted, it'll be way cool. If you're knitting tonight in Davie, FL or San Diego, CA, I miss you all!

Ta Da! The branching out sampler!

Only because I loved the way that the Karaoke showed this pattern and I only had about a quarter of a skein did I make this a sampler. I have another partial skein that's bluish/lavendar only without the transformations from lavender to blue. It just didn't have the same look that this piece does. Yes, there were a few oopses. One good thing about the chunkier yarn for a lace beginner with mistakes, is that they are easier to see. I was able to learn to see the stitches that were wrong to back out of one line instead of frogging the whole thing.

I'm going to start with the Alapaca lace tomorrow afternoon after Spanish class.

Off to order some more Karaoke!

Thanks Mimi for showing us the crocheted reef

http://theiff.org/reef/index.html

This amazing piece of work is on display NOW in Pittsburgh at the Andy Warhol museum and due to be on display in Los Angeles in 2008.

I'm in awe! Field trip anyone?

Restarted my Scarf

because I just finished writing a long post for my usual blog and am tired and anxious to start "The Five People You Meet In Heaven" movie you have to see my scarf news on my usual blog http://knittingforhealth.blogspot.com/

good night all

Everybody, say hi to Heather

http://wanttoseemyknits.blogspot.com/

The chica found us in internet blogland all by herself! WooHoo!!!

Progress on Branching Out

Here's my progress on the Branching Out Scarf!

What???!!! That's not the Branching Out Scarf???!!!!

I was going through my stash on Saturday and

found this wonderful, beautiful yarn! After frogging the branching out scarf numerous times on Friday, I decided to frog something else on Saturday and Sunday. The argosy scarf from Knitty.http://knitty.com/ISSUEwinter06/PATTargosy.html OK, it's a little different, but the concept is the exact same. :)

This scarf has ALOT of counting!!! Do not attempt while talking onthe phone, watching TV and TAKE FREQUENT BREAKS! I started out doing the frequent break thingie and things were going great.

So, here's what happened last night. It was really too late to continue... and I hadn't taken any breaks in a LONG time, but I only had about 48 more rows to go... and made a big mess up. I don't really want to frog it, but can't figure out how to back out over all those SSKs, K2tog and YOs.

Trial lace knitting

This is my favorite so far. It's in Karaoke. I don't have enough to make a whole scarf, just part of a skein.

Here's the alapaca silk on size 6 needles. It's really tiny, but pretty. It's going to be very delicate. I was thinking of turning it into a little purse. (Ya, Ya, I can hear you all laughing hysterically! Imagine, Cheryl making a purse!) It would be pretty lined with silk and a drawstring!)

The vibrant one has already been frogged. I couldn't even see the pattern in it.

The group's blogginess so far

http://www.knit-and-run.blogspot.com/ Carol

http://www.skullsnbats.blogspot.com/ Mimi

http://knittingforhealth.blogspot.com/ Brandi

http://tejedoritadulce.blogspot.com/ Cheryl (yet to be populated with anything other than a title)

http://jupitrpixie.blogspot.com/ Sarah !

http://wanttoseemyknits.blogspot.com/ Heather who just joined (is joining) today

DRATS!

I got home late last night from work and found the delivery message from the Post Office for my yarn and for the new Yarn Harlot book. bummer! However, my friend Rosa gave me a CD of pictures we took with her friend Ramon in El Yunque, the Caribbean Nationa Forest. So, without further adieu.... some eye candy goodness for all of you!

Woo!

Hi everyone! I'm finally in! Thanks Cheryl!

I've ordered my yarn (Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Wicked) and according to Yarn Market, it shipped yesterday - I can't wait to get started!! You all are such pushers ;-)

I'm a bad KAL'er... er? Is KAL'er a word?

So I started this already. Didn't realize that there should be a start date or anything. But the good news is I don't have enough of the yarn I bought for it and got lost as to which row I should be on. Therefore, I am going to frog and start again after I have found a yarn I like. Am checking out the kpixie site you all ordered from. Maybe I'll find it there. Or I am also making an order with KnitPicks so maybe I will find on there.

I'm waiting waiting waiting!! C'mon yarn!!

I bought another flavor called Ice, but when I went to the website to borrow the picture, it was gone. Maybe I bought the last skein! It really should be here in today's mail. Is everyone ready to get started?

One in blue

I should have done what Cheryl did, buy three different colors just in case.

yarn is on the way!

i'm so glad cheryl turned me on to the fabulous yarn i ordered for the scarf- blue sky alpacas alpaca silk. i got word today the yarn is on its way here!

now i must share the yarny goodness that beth and i ordered!

i got amethyst (the lighter purple one), & beth ordered plum. it might be here in time for knitting on monday!

A Call to all Betties, Near and Far!

Greetings Knit along Betties!
I've set up this site not knowing a thing about how to or what to do with a blog. I've been enjoying reading all of your blogs and hope we can have fun together here and I can learn how to have a superblogisimo!
We've been planning to start a Lace Knit-A-Long based on the Branching Out Scarf from Knitty.
http://www.knitty.com/issuespring05/PATTbranchingout.html.


So, since I'm not a rule maker by nature, here's the tough part!
The guidelines.
Send in your ideas for when the KAL will start, how long it will last, ideas for future KALs, and anything else you feel like talking about.