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!