A Lacey Lamb A Blocking!

This weekend I blocked the Jade Sapphire Lacey Lamb. Now, before it looked like this:

The thing was as long as it was wide. No, really. It was just barely a rectangle. By like an inch. I was sad, I was frustrated. I wanted to cry. But I know lace grows. And I know it always looks like cat yak until you block it.

So, I blocked it.

Wow! What a difference. Here are the details.

Pattern: Lacey Lamb Scarf by Jade Sapphire (let me say here that this is pictured as a wide item more like a shawl than a scarf, hence why I have been referring to it as a Shawl instead.)

Yarn: 1 Ball Jade Sapphire Exotic Fibers Lacey Lamb (approx. 825 yards) in green. Used doubled.

Needle: Denise size 9.

Modifications: The pattern calls for 72 repeats of the 4 row pattern. I was only able to complete 43 with the yarn I had. They probably used a smaller needle for this. Lace is subjective really. You have to figure out how dense you want your fabric. I tend to like to knit lace weight yarn into lace on a size 4, but with this doubled, I went up to a 9 and I am very happy with the outcome of this lace.

Finished size: 39" x 13" (ummm...another 30 pattern repeats and this would have almost doubled in size) - I think the size is great!!

This is a SUPER EASY lace pattern. Very easy to memorize and keep going. And I have to say that I really like it. The yarn is honestly a DREAM to work with. It is super soft and beautiful. If you would like to purchase the pattern or the yarn, contact Charlotte Yarn. Remi will be happy to help you get this started.

The best laid plans of mice and men...

I had such lofty goals for today.

1) Knit Chart B of Clue 1 of the Mystery Stole
2) Work on Candleflame.
3) Bloack Lacey Lamb
4) Finishing sleeve one of the pinwheel with the loop edge.
5) spin the last bit of the roving I am working with
6) work on the dream swatch
7) house cleaning
8) spend some time with the kitties.
9) Announce the winner of the midway point for the sqaures contest at Crafting for a Cause.


Here is what I have done.
1) knit 6 rows of chart B of Clue 1 of the mystery Stole. Yeah. When I got to row 6 and I decided to knit all the way back instead of purl all but the 2 end stitches I decided my head wasn't in the right place for lace knitting today.
2) Sleep. A lot. I went to bed at 11:30, slept in this morning and then took a nice afternoon nap after #1.
3) Spent time with the kitties. WOOHOO I got something on my list done.
4) Watched 5 episodes of Knitty Gritty. Want to know how many I have to go? Well, when I counted them on my DVR I stopped at 30. I am not rewatching ones I have already seen, but I will watch unseen ones even if I have no interest in the projects because I tend to learn something new every show.
5) Well, I had gone several days without a chocolate milkshake and I had to remedy that.
6) Got caught up on blogs.
7) Got the Crafting for a Cause midway winner for the Squares Contest announced. (Hey - that is something else from my list!!!!)
8) Got a couple repeats into the dreamswatch headwrap.

Now, the good thing is that it isn't quite 8pm and I have 3 hours to accomplish more. I am currently spending a few minutes with Eva curled up with me while I type this, thus accomplishing more kittie time. And maybe I will spin during The Next Food Network Star tonight. I really want to finish this last bit of roving so I can post it tomorrow. I will post it anyway, but I am really close to being done, although Wednesday is spinning night, so I can finish it then. hmmmm...I really want to go see Live Free or Die Hard. I hear there is a lot of blowing up of stuff. I like movies where there is a lot of blowing up of stuff. Not to mention I think Bruce Willis is HAWT!!! hmmmm...if I have to guess though I am going to say that I will be lazy the rest of the day as tomorrow looks to be crazy and zany at the office.

I think Wendy had a similar title recently. But I have to say that I say that any time I have a list of things to do and then accomplish not a damn one of them.

I am pretty sure some crack was smoked...

I just realized that I am almost out of the Jade Sapphire Lacey Lamb yarn. This is supposed to be a one skein project. It calls for 72 pattern repeats. I am at 45. See the problem here? There is no way I am going to get another 30 pattern repeats out of this yarn. MAYBE 10 more. OK - more like 2. I just measured the preblocked piece as it is right now and it is 32" in its natural state. There are no blocking sizes on the pattern. Width is 25". I followed the pattern exactly. If I had to do it again I would take out a pattern repeat or two in the width. I think when I block it it will end up about 45" long with the added rows since stretching it not to much gives me 43". So - almost done with this. I should be able to block it this weekend at this rate. GO ME!!! I will note these things in the pattern for the shop so people don't worry. I mean even I went "WHA????" when I looked at the skein. I am so much closer to being finished then I thought I was. And that makes me a happy happy knitter.

Other issues with this pattern. There are no guage guides, no needles called for. It says to double the yarn and go up a needle size for loser and down for tighter. yeah. that is sooooo specific. I am doing this on 9s only because well I am. no real reason. 2 strands together and that is what Remi CO when she started it. Granted, I frogged it 3 times since then, but that isn't the point, I am happy with the guage.

WIP Wednesday

Well, Christi is doing this WIP Wednesday (along with Yarn PrOn Fridays and Handspun Mondays which I will participate in on occassion...ok - I plan to participate in Handspun Mondays) and because I like the sheep, well, I am following along. So, here are the current (re:active) WIPs. From closest to being done to farthest. Excuse the craptastic pics - its raining outside and the 3 mins of sunlight we had today...well, I was on a conference call.

First we have the pinwheel sweater. I finished the alternate color loop edge this afternoon - would have last night but I ran out of gray at knitting last night, so I finshed up the pink and finished the last few gray loops after work today. All that is left are the sleeves. See those green lines, the sleeves go there.

Pretty, isn't it. Next, we have the Lacey Lamb Shawl knit from Jade Sapphire's Lacey Lamb in this weird green. I am knitting this as a sample for Charlotte Yarn, so I didn't pick the color. I have to say that the yarn is SUPER soft. I mean I really want to roll around in it. Right now I am just over half way finished with it.

Did I mention that the yarn is super soft and I want to roll around on it? Yeah. Well, it is knit on size 9 needles with the yarn held double.

Next up is the Candleflame Shawl. I have had this one in my bag and haven't looked at it in awhile. Not really that long, but its been a bit. So when I pulled it out, I was amazed at how much I really really liked it and want to get back to it. Again, not a color that I would want, but it isn't for me. And the color is growing on me. I really like the way the pattern looks in the Elsebeth Levold Silky Wool which is a fingerine weight and the specified yarn is lace weight. But I am really loving it.
And now...its the Bellocq Stocking Collection....FOOTIES. I have the feet done on both of these. I figure these will be done around the turn of the next century, but since I just started them a few weeks ago, they are active :) From this angle, you can't really see the lace vine pattern, but it is there and I think it is grand. This features a short row toe and heel. We like.

So - that's it for this week. I am hoping to get some real work done on the Lacey Lamb this week. I jumped from about 20% to over 50% since this weekend after not touching it and I am working on a couple repeats every day ... at least.

What are you working on???