WIP: Branching Out

This is my first attempt at knitting lace. Branching Out is a tested and long knitted pattern from Knitty. I’ve chosed a Katia yarn (Caricia, 100% merino, superwash, sock weight) in a lovely green to knit this pattern, and some 4.5mm needles I had laying around (a.k.a. I have no idea what brand are they cause they’re old). I’m into the seventh pattern repeat, and I like how’s it turning out so far:

branching out

The cards are 10cm on the long side, put them for scale. They help me keep track of the row I’m knitting!

Any input?

Sade

D is for Dreams

Dream \Dream\ (dr[=e]m), n. [Akin to OS. dr[=o]m, D. droom, G. traum, Icel. draumr, Dan. & Sw. dr[“o]m; cf. G. tr[“u]gen to deceive, Skr. druh to harm, hurt, try to hurt. AS. dre[‘a]m joy, gladness, and OS. dr[=o]m joy are, perh., different words; cf. Gr. qry^los noise.]

  1. a series of mental images and emotions occurring during sleep
  2. a cherished desire
  3. imaginative thoughts indulged in while awake
  4. a state of mind characterized by abstraction and release from reality
D is for Dreams

As a kid I loved to make paper planes from old sheets of paper and day dream about becoming a plane designer. That’s what put me in the way to my actual studies, that drive me crazy some times and make me daydream even more. But I’m glad my childhood dream was encouraged instead of despised as a fantasy by my family. I had so many dreams as a child I don’t remember all of them, I only know some became real, some are in the process, and some where nothing but building castles on the clouds fantasies. And now that I’m slightly more grown up, I try to keep dreams alive, and put some more into my “treasure chest” of fantasies. The point? Dreams keep you going! Don’t stop day dreaming.

I was M.I.A. …

Yes, I’ve been kind of MIA (Missing In Action) these last days, since I’ve been working over the exams and writing them and trying not to kill the lovely neighbours that decide that they need to have a nap with ugly music played way too loud. So well, what do you do when it’s totally impossible to study and/or you need a break? Knit! I’ve knitted on this pinwheel compulsively, and we have a finished object in less than a fortnight! That’s already a record for me, for such a big knit. So after the babbling, here I present you to the pinwheel blanket!

The Pinwheel Blanket
neatly folded
  • Pattern: Pinwheel Blanket from Knit List.
  • Yarn: Phildar Sport Laine, 51% wool, 49% acrylic. 3 skeins in Aviateur and 2 skeins in Fjord.
  • Gauge: about 15 stitches to 10 cm.
  • Neddles: 5mm aluminium Pony DPN’s (set of five) & 5mm Addi Bamboo Circular, 100 cm. long.
  • Finished Measures:Approx. 80 cm. in diameter. (haven’t got an accurate measure).

I decided to alternate colours to make it a little different. I knitted until about it was too hard to get more stitches on the circular needle, and then casted off in picot edge (bind off 2 stitches, *cast on 2 stitches, bind off 4 stitches*, repeat from * to * until the end).

[Edit:] Someone asked me on the Knitty Board how I managed to start this. So here comes my explanation. I casted on five stitches, and divided them on two DPN’s (two stitches on one, three on the other), joined and knitted the first round. Increased five stitches (for a total of ten) and knitted around and put the ten stitches on three DPN’s and worked with a fourth. I then worked in the row pattern stablished adding a fourth DPN when needed and then switching to the circular when I couldn’t work with the DPN’s any more. [End of Edit]

And now more pics:

laid flat the back

PS: I still need to block the heck out of it to make it lay flat, because like we all know, stockinette curls like mad!

Sade

As Per Request…

I thus present to you the WIP called the pinwheel blanket (pattern here). I’m using two colours of the same yarn, and changing from one to the other when the skein is finished, this way the stripes will be all different.

Pic of it with just two stripes:

tahdah

Pics of it after the third ball was joined:

tahdah
tahdah

The request is fulfilled, I shall rest and knit now!

It Was Imbolc

… and I was too busy to post about it. So two days late, but finally here.

This season belongs to Brigid, the Celtic goddess who in later times became revered as a Christian saint. Originally, her festival on February 1 was known as Imbolc or Oimelc, two names which refer to the lactation of the ewes, the flow of milk that heralds the return of the life-giving forces of spring. Later, the Catholic Church replaced this festival with Candlemas Day on February 2, which is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and features candlelight processions. The powerful figure of Brigid the Light-Bringer overlights both pagan and Christian celebrations.

To read more, visit: The Celtic Year: Imbolc

C Is For Communication

Communication \Com*mu`ni*ca”tion\ (k[o^]m*m[=u]`n[i^]*k[=a]”sh[u^]n), n. [L. communicatio.]: Intercourse by words, letters, or messages; interchange of thoughts or opinions, by conference or other means; conference; correspondence.

communication

Communication is very important to me. I need to keep in touch with my family, my boyfriend, my friends, my boss, my teachers… Luckily now we don’t depend on letters only (which I love, btw), but have phones, and computers. Yes, I own two phones, one for when I live in Spain, and one for when I live in Belgium. And you can see my preciousss my laptop that is my main mean of communication (e-mail, irc, various IM programs..) and of work too.