Blue Wednesday

Nah, I'm not sad, it's just that blue seems to be the color of the moment :)

Case in point, meet Audrey....

She's periwinkle blue and ain't she sweet?
(As always, click to embiggen and note kitty with ever present tongue sticking out, stage left)

Here's a detail shot of her ribbing and lace
(kitty still hamming it up in the background)

The lace is ready for it's close up, Mr. De Mille!

Specs:

Audrey from Elsebeth Lavold Designer's Choice, Book Four The Sophisticated Lady Collection

Size Small (33 1/2 inches) - I'll try to get a modeled shot once it's gifted

Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool in color # 27, Periwinkle - Just under 3 skeins - I LOVE this yarn!!

Addi Turbos US #4 and #6

Mods: The only mods I made was to shorten the body by one inch (I thought it would be a bit more youthful in the slightly shorter length.)

This was a fast, fun knit with lots of va-va-va- voom! I just think it's so pretty and feminine!

As with most Lavold patterns, it's pretty organic...kinda the bare minimum as patterns go. For example, altho the lace is easy enough for a beginner, it never says in the pattern to reverse the charts so the left and right patterns mirror each other. Obvious to most experienced knitters but not to a newbie. Personally I think guidance like that should be in every book, some knitters can be very literal when following a pattern! In addition, I was unable to find an errata page but there is an error in the chart - it was an easy fix, and pretty obvious once you're into the pattern.

I also wish Ms. Lavold would learn to do schematics! There's nary a one in any of the books I've looked at and altho they are not necessary I find they are very nice to refer to when blocking.

Despite those minor whinges, it's a lovely knit and I'm very happy with the finished product.

I also started some new socks....guess what color?


Why, blue of course!
This is some Louet Gems Pearl in the color Neptune and the beginnings of Thelonius by Cookie A.

The astute among you will also note that this week's manicure is brought to you by the color blue! This is another by OPI, the Brights Collection called Can't You Sea? I don't often knit with blue but I've had the colorway and pattern for these socks dancing in my head for a few weeks and I guess that fact subconsciously influenced my manicure color choice. I never even noticed til I started the socks today, d'oh!! :)

The pattern calls for a gauge of 8 inches/inch on 1.5 US (2.5 mm) so I decided to try my Knitpicks DPNs for the first time. I'm spot on for gauge but may I say...MEH! I don't get all the hoopla - they are very slick and pointy but they are HEAVY and too short for me! They may be cheap but so are my beloved Aeros
and my Aeros aren't too slippery, are also nice and pointy and a much better length. I do like many of the Knitpicks products but I'm not jumping on the "I heart options needles!" bandwagon! Gimme my Aeros or addi turbos any day!

Speaking of which, you may wonder what has become of the Forest Path Stole....
Well, I'm just not feeling the love. Yes, I'm co-hosting the KAL but knitting should be fun and never a chore. The truth is I LOATHE knitting with laceweight yarn!! I have used bamboo, addi turbos, teflon and nothing makes the knitting more fun but.....:::drumroll::: enter the new Addi Lace Needles. Now this is a needle I could fall in love with and marry, heh! Seriously, these are the BEST. NEEDLES. EVER! I used a pair to knit one lace unit of the FPS (I'm just finishing tier 5). They are super light, nice grab without any drag and oh so pointy!

Now I won't say that they worked miracles and made me have a burning desire to start knitting the FPS again but they sure did help! I have a new project all picked out for WWKIP Day (I always like to start something new) so from now until June 9th I am gonna use my addi lace needles and try to find that FPS feeling again. At least I'll have my blue socks to keep me from going crazy because yes Alison, I really am a 2 project knitter :)

Lastly, as blog mascot and knitting supervisor (see the where's Waldo Pumpkin pics above) the P-Man wants to remind you, if you ask a question in the comments, please leave an address where I can respond OR check back and I'll respond in the comments! Neither the P-Man or I ever want to ignore our fans :)


Happy Wednesday whatever color yours may be!

I got ya knittin', right here I got ya knittin'

Thanks for all the computer woe commiseration, your empathy is much appreciated!

Just a brief update and then hopefully no more computer talk for a great while....I'm coming to you via my "vintage" (I try not to hurt her feelings with ageist remarks, heh) 8 year old Gateway laptop - a FABULOUS piece of equipment and I'm not just buttering her up! As an aside, it astounds me that this laptop was made wireless ready in the days when you were state of the art if you had a 56K modem! Unfortunately, Gateway lost that kind of forward thinking and commitment to being the benchmark for quality shortly thereafter.

The "new" Gateway has another appointment for a "house call" to have a new video card, new hard drive and new mother board installed. That makes hard drive #6, video card #3, processor #2, memory #2 and mother board #2 in 18 months! basically the only original equipment is the on/off button.....so well see what happens this time!

On to some knitting!

First up, here's the FO I promised. Those of you that guessed that I was knitting a shrug were kee-rekt! Here's the front....

And because for every action there is and equal and opposite reaction - the back!

Specs:

Pattern: Retro Redux Shrug from INTERWEAVE KNITS LACE STYLE

Yarn: just over 3 skeins of Berroco Nostalgia, color #6634 for the smallest (38") size

Addi turbo circs size US 8, 9, 10 and 10 1/2

Mods: Except for subbing the yarn, not a single mod!! Imagine that? I'm shocked myself :)

This was a very quick and very fun knit! The pattern was very easy lace and instead of messing with incorporating increases/decreases into the brioche lace pattern, you simply increase needle size as you knit the first half of the shrug, and decrease on the second half - super easy peasy! The only downside is, if you don't love picking up stitches this may not be the project for you cause I had to pick up about 200 stitches for the edging on the smallest size. There is also a very interesting use of short rows to form the shawl collar.

I absolutely LOVE the yarn I used! The Nostalgia is a cotton/microfiber blend that is a pure joy to knit with! It has amazing stitch definition, is very soft and easy on the hands while being light and airy for year round wear - and if you follow the link, it's on sale til the end of May, woot!

All in all, I heartily recommend both the yarn and this pattern for a quick knit with lots of pizazz!

Currently on the needles, meet Audrey.....

She's a pretty tank from Elsebeth Lavold's Designer's Choice, Book Four

I'm using Silky Wool in color #27, Periwinkle.

Here's a close up of her beautiful leafy lace straps...

The pattern is easy but quite striking - in person i think it's one of the prettiest garments I've ever knit! Silky Wool is one of my favorite yarns, I love the color and the pattern has the right balance of soothing stockinette with the interesting rib and lace. I'm really enjoying this knit and the FO will be a winner! I'm about six inches into the front so I should have an FO to show off very soon.

I also have a new sock OTN but I'll save that for next time!

I leave you with a pic of my knitting supervisor hard at work...

You can see the P-Man loves Silky Wool too! And all your compliments on how cute he looked in his last pic plain wore the kitty man out!

Have a great week full of even stitches and MDS&W dreams - don't forget those of us that don't go live vicariously thru those that do :)