Off my hook

Or rather, off the blocking pins as of this morning is ‘Centaurea’, my version of Martha Simonsen‘s lovely Kornblomst shawl:

Her pattern is extremely well-written and includes charts so comprehensive that the text is not even needed. I highly recommend.

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Maxima cardi

I sewed up the seams today and took some pictures. I love this cardi so much. I can’t wait to wear it to knit night tomorrow.

I initially thought about knitting the sleeves in the round, but then decided on flat to give them the structure of a seam. For the same reason I decided against knitting cuff to cuff; I think it really profits from the seam in the back. Apart from which it was much easier to wield in two pieces.

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Marbles, the second

I dug out some pliers and some silver wire and played with my cracked marbles:

What do y’all think? Does this have potential?

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Marbles

What does a crafty girl do on a snowy, slushy Monday (besides the laundry)? She cracks her marbles. I’ve been wanting to do this for quite a while now, and it worked beautifully. I might even have an idea what I want to do with them.

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Manos

Finished the knitting part of my Maxima cardi yesterday and wove in all the ends. I tacked it together with stitch markers to try it on and looove it. It’s super tempting to just sew it up and wear it. But I think I’ll block it first, so the seams will be all straight (not that there are a lot — just the sides/arms). It usually pays off, even if it irks me right now.

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Not happy

I finished Dora Ohrenstein’s Sage Jacket a while ago, just hadn’t sewn on the button, because I couldn’t find it. Now that I unearthed it (right where it should be) and have tried the cardi on a number of times for the correct button placement, I realize that I’m not happy with it.

I think it’s the three distinct color blocks. It doesn’t exactly flatter my rather rubenesque lay-out (especially the horizontal block across the boobs – what was I thinking?). It doesn’t even look good on Mathilda, my long-suffering body double, which is not encouraging.

cardi

I’m quite ready to frog the whole thing. But the tiger, bless his heart, says he likes it, and so does my friend Marg. So, now I’m wondering whether it would make sense to overdye it black? Maybe add some sort of a collar, so I can actually wear it open without it sliding off my shoulders? (That’s another thing I don’t particularly like, that I can only wear it closed.) Or am I kidding myself and throwing good time after bad for something I would never wear?

Any thoughts?

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I’m easily bored

… especially with miles of stockinette stitch in fingering weight on 3.25mm needles. So I put Cecily aside for a bit to start an instant gratification project, a cardi with Manos Maxima on 5mm needles. Mind you, it’s still miles of stockinette, but it has color changes, and it goes so much faster. Besides,the yarn is soft and squishy and altogether to die for. I’ve been wanting to knit with this forever. Oh, and it’s been in my stash since last summer, so it totally counts as stash-down. WIN!

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Test

I recently finished these lovely gloves:

gloves on snow

by super talented designer Dagmar Mora. It was a test knit, and I’m very happy with them and have already worn them a lot.

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I’m spinning round, round, baby, right round …

collective b-day munnies
+ collective x-mas munnies to be
+ my teaching munnies
————————————————-
Brand-spankin’ new spinning wheel!!!

Meet Julia:

wheel

Happy Birthday to me. Oh yeah. :o)))

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Pattern for sale

My Sugarspun shawl pattern is up for download.

shawl

Find it here:

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