Quiet

I suppose I have been a little quiet recently.

Mostly I think it has been a case of somebody (and I will be bold and name names here, Lara) allowed me to obtain some of the knitters equivalent to crack cocaine (she conned me into it, I tell you!) and then somebody else (again naming names, Andrea of Bad Cat Designs) showed me a way of using that drug, a way that used all but the barest fraction of a gram of the crack, and told me to go play with my new toys!

So that is exactly what I did.

I sat in the corner (well not really, my knitting station is pretty central to the rest of the house) and got out some pointy sticks, and tubs of beads, and a teeny, tiny little crochet hook, and I stayed quiet for simply ages!

But, not being the monogamous type with my knitting, there was more that one thing going on in  my corner, and before I knew it nearly a month had slipped by and a parade of finished objects had been put on wires and molded into shape.  (But not all of them will be shared today).

First up we have the crack cocaine project.....aka Martinique.

In my rush to put this one on the needles, I actually grabbed the needles I had out for another project, which were bigger than what the pattern called for, so this version is just a little longer and drapes a little more than the original version
 
 that I knit using some cheapo lace yarn from Joannes Fabric and Crafts (Patons Lace for those that are interested.)

Of the two, obviously my Crack Infinity (the greeny-to-teelish) one was my favorite to knit,
 
 even with the rows of beading which really slow me down...first you have to catch the pesky bead with the crochet hook, then put it on the stitch, yarn over, purl two together and start bead wrangling again.....but the yarn itself more than made up for those slow going rows by being such a joy to knit with.


If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend the yarn, not to mention the dye job, that Lara sells on Etsy.  The base for this one, Soft n Single is exactly what it claims to be, very soft, single ply lace yarn with just a little bit of grab to it, which helps stop things from sliding too quickly off the needles!  I center wound my hank and, against all advice, worked from the center of my ball without any problems.  If singles aren't your style, check out some of her other yarns, I haven't met one yet that I didn't fall in love with at first touch.

Once the Martiniques were off the needles I was a bit at loose ends for what to knit next.

There are always test knits waiting in the wings, but nothing that had to be knit "right now, the deadline is looming".  And test knitting doesn't give me a lot to put up on the blog to show I am still alive and kicking for those that keep track.

So I decided to Fracture the Fractal Blanket and turn it into another Baby Blanket for my stash o baby blankets that grows and dwindles through the year.

Now I have Fractal Blanket Version Two ready for it's border.....


While I had the camera out I also took a better  (comparatively) picture of my fractal blanket,

which got a lot of use over Spring Break as the weather was not very springlike (cue really bad picture of spring break snow when it was just getting started, we ended up with a light covering of snow over ice pellets on everything!)
 
and we had a movie binge.  Which just goes to show, that being quiet is contagious!  We all were quiet and still for the break.

In other Knitting News, the look inside feature has been enabled for Andrea's book.  I can tell you that the patterns in there are gorgeous and her explanations about how things work in knitting lace and deciphering older lace doily patterns will be well worth the price of admission!

Maybe I will be back sooner than a month from now......we'll see!

~M

Fractals

Today was a special day for my Fractal Blanket, she finally got a good long soak in some wool wash in the sink....it was a long enough soak that we shoveled the driveway and the sidewalk before she was done with her spa treatment!

But, before we get into that, I have a confession.

I was trying very hard to be good and not give in to temptation.  We all know that temptation sometimes leads us down precarious paths, but Andrea posted the new infinity wrap on the group site last week and every time I turned around a little voice was telling me that really I needed to cast it on!

I thought I could push that tempting voice away, but it had other ideas.

I tried to sway the other ideas with some Paton's Lace, as I wouldn't be adding beads to that yarn (the mohair and my crochet hook to bead don't get along really well and I end up yanking the hook so hard to pull the yarn through that I break the yarn!) it would make a good travel project.
 
 But that little voice kept on at me.....reminding me of the fabulous yarn that Lara had dyed that moves through a yellowy green to a brilliant teal blue.

As the pictures show, I gave into temptation.

But still managed to pin out my blanket (too tightly as it is drying it is bending the floor mats I use as a blocking board so I am about to go and move the pins!) before I needed to put dinner in the oven!

 So what's on your needles, or whispering in your ears?

~M