Lynne's Lacy Summer October 2009 - January 2010

Now when I say "lace" dear readers, do you think lightweight yarn knitted into frothy light-as-a feather confections?

What is lace knitting but a combination of increases (usually in the form of yarn-overs) and decreases? And so I bring, for your viewing pleasure and my contribution to Bells' Long Lacy Summer KAL, three baby blankets.

First there was Diamond and Smock Cover (Rav link) knitted in Spotlight 8ply cotton and destined to be used by Grandbubby the First. Don’t jump to conclusions about the colour: this was all I had to hand when I got the urge to knit a baby blanket. DD loves blue and she thinks this teal is suitable for girls and boys!

BTW, the cradle was used by SIL and his three siblings (two older) and has been lovingly restored by WM.

As a knitter I love trying new things and that “smocking” around a group of ten stitches was certainly a new technique for me – it’s very easy but very effective. Not so easy was the "purl five stitches together" – cotton is not the easiest yarn to work with when faced with directions like these; especially when the cotton is 8ply (DK).

Then, when my Ebay purchases of Fiddle-De-Dee cotton (10ply/worsted weight) arrived I started this: the Tilting Block Blanket (scroll down if you are looking for the pattern). I modified the pattern so that the tilting blocks covered the whole blanket - no stocking (stockinette) centre panel as in the original pattern.

You may remember that I have knitted this one before, for my niece whose baby was born in March 2009. This new one was to have been for DB and SIL’s daughter (due late March 2010) before I knew they were having a girl. DD was quick to claim it after the news was broken – I have so much Fiddle-De-Dee with pink in it that she thought it only right that I knit something pink for my new niece!

So, as a Christmas present for DB and SIL’s daughter (to replace the “pre-claimed” lemon blanket above and to use up some of the "pink" in my stash), I knitted "Tyler" from Fiddle-De-Dee cotton. This pattern is from Quick Knit Keepsakes Book 2 [front cover].

This was the first of the three blankets that I blocked. DD, now living half a city away from us, used to be my blocking partner. I tried to block this blanket on my own but the job is much more easily done with two people, especially when crawling around on the floor. And WM turned out to be a natural! Once he realised that one can’t just grab an edge of wet knitting and pull but must ease the knitting into its finished shape and size, he was a wiz!

So there you have it, my contributions so far to Long Lacy Summer KAL – it may not be light and frothy but it is lace knitting!

it's been a long, lacy summer

Last October, I joined Bells' informal KAL: Long Lacy Summer.

Although I didn't produce many articles, I did spend most of my summer knitting lace in some form or other.

First there was the Myrtle Leaf Shawl from "Victorian Lace Today". I cast on in October and for the sixth and final time on 3rd January. I finished knitting on 17th January and blocked it on the 20th January. It was then I discovered the Big Bad Hole. I won't bore you, dear readers, with the details, you've already been through it once; but for new readers you can read about the beginning attempts here and here, the story of the dental floss here, the final cast on here, and my tribute poem/song to almost being finished here. The shawl was finished in enough time for DD's wedding; however the weather was so hot that even at midnight she was not cold enough to wear it outside! [And just in case you're new here and missed all the excitement: Yes, The Wedding went well, thanks].

After all the fun and games with Myrtle, I met my next Knitting Knemesis in the form of socks. Well, sock yarn to be more precise. This particular yarn has a habit of pooling in strange ways despite the short colour repeats. But finally, I found a solution: Waving Lace Socks from Favorite Socks.

I knitted the first of the socks while away on R&R after The Wedding. When WM and I returned from our week away, I intended to knit the second sock [no SSS here!] but I received an invitation to our niece/god-daughter's baby shower so I had a new project to knit.

I bought bamboo/wool [80/20] yarn and cast on without doing a swatch. I frogged the first attempt. I was using a pattern called Tumbling Blocks from Knitting Pattern Central's directory of baby blankets. The pattern was designed for thicker yarn on bigger needles. I had to guess [based on the gauge stated in the pattern and on the yarn label] how many stitches I needed. The pattern was for a smaller blanket than I wanted so I had to add 'a little extra' to compensate. My first 'guestimate' [intelligent guess] was 209 stitches. I knitted just 5cm/2inches before I finished the first ball; since I had only ten balls that obviously wasn't going to work. More thinking needed. If I had taken time to do a swatch and block it I would have known exactly what I was dealing with but enthusiasm and a deadline had me pushing ahead!

I did some more calculations based on the smallest size I thought reasonable for a baby blanket and this time cast-on 145 stitches. This seemed to give a blanket about 75cm/30inches wide before blocking so I forged ahead. Bamboo, being a cellulose fibre like cotton, would surely stretch when blocked and give me a slightly bigger size. Once I had knitted enough to gave me the chance to measure it on my needles, it looked like the blanket would be 90cm/36inches before blocking - perfect!

And so it was, dear readers, that I cast off the blanket on Friday night and blocked it before I went to bed; the baby shower was on Saturday afternoon. It blocked to 100cm/40 inches wide and 124cm/50inches long which is a little longer than I would have liked but a good size for a baby's blanket. Plenty to tuck in all around the crib! However, it wasn't dry by Saturday afternoon and I forgot to allow time to sew the ends in [I was in a hurry to block it and decided to leave the ends till after it was blocked] - I went to the Baby Shower with an IOU! :-(

So I present, for you're viewing pleasure, the modified Tumbling Block Baby Blanket. The photos were taken today, two days after the Baby Shower, so perhaps it's just as well I was disorganised! Unfortunately, the gorgeous sheen of the bamboo doesn't show up well in the photographs. The original pattern had a border of blocks and a stocking stitch centre panel but WM thought an allover lace pattern preferable and I have to say I agree with him. Thanks to Ranee Mueller for making the Tilting Blocks pattern available through Knitting Pattern Central [check it out if you haven't been there - literally hundreds of free patterns for adults and children].

And there's still lace on my needles, the second Waving Lace Sock was cast on last night and I'm off to knit it now!

FO - a diversion

Here is the baby blanket I finished knitting some months ago. The photo is a bit dark but true to colour. Tomodachi [a.k.a. Tom] is snooping around in the right of the picture. I sewed in the ends of the blanket on 28th December during my avoidance-of-lace-but-finishing-other-things period. It was blocked last week and photos were finally taken today - mostly to distract readers from the boringness of that "other project"! Here's another photo taken by WM in the role of photographer with my 51yr old bear [Ted] and Tomodachi assisting!



Although I didn't strictly knit this during the Long Lacy Summer, I did finish it during that time. It qualifies as lace [having both yo's and K2tog.] so this blanket is my first contribution to LLS.

The pattern is Snow Berries Blanket from "Easy Afghans for Knitters". I knitted mine in Cleckheaton Fiddle De Dee [100% cotton] on 4.5mm [US size 7] needles. I used the 500g I bought on special at Australian Country Spinners' Mill Shop when I was in Wangaratta in July. This photo shows how much of the ten balls I have left - from the last ball which was not enough to do another circuit of the blanket and the leftovers of two other balls.

It's a pity this yarn is discontinued - it's lovely and soft, and knits up quickly.

I made it for my next-door neighbour who is expecting her first child in February. I love it so much I might keep it for my first grand-child and knit something else for the neighbour. Hopefully, NDN will have a girl because this is such a boy's blanket! [Just kidding - I really want to keep it!] DD says I'm rushing things a bit - they're not even married yet; besides I knitted it for NDN so I should give it to her. I don't agree. I knitted it - I can choose who the recipient should be, can't I?

For those of you still following that "other project" - I have completed 10 repeats; that's a quarter of the centre panel!

It's a Long Lacy Summer this year

to the tune of "On the Road to Gundagai" [apologies to overseas readers]

There's a blog, a web-log and it's calling loud and clear
It's a Long Lacy Summer this year.
The lace-weight will be flowing
The needles will be going
With life-lines to save the tears.
And a blogger nicknamed Bells will be waiting to see
What fantastic productions there are going to be
So no sweaters will I make
Give thicker yarn a break
We'll have a Long Lacy Summer this year.

copyright 2008 Lynne @ Too Hot to Knit? Never!

A long, lacy summer - the Clayton's KAL

For those of you who don't know Claytons, Wikipedia describes it as

the brand name of a non-alcoholic, non-carbonated beverage coloured and packaged to resemble bottled whisky. It was the subject of a major marketing campaign in Australia and New Zealand in the 1970s and 1980s, promoting it as "the drink you have when you're not having a drink" at a time when alcohol was being targeted as a major factor in the road toll.

The word Claytons has passed into popular usage to mean "something essentially the same but going by a different name" - hence: the KAL you have when you're not having a KAL.

Lost? Bells has decided to have an informal KAL - no dedicated blogsite and no prizes - just a lazy lacy summer of knitting or crochet. Suits me fine: no pressure to produce and a chance to join with like-minded people to create beautiful objects of lace. Care to join us?