things by t.

phlegm

Sorry, but I have this terrible cold with a really "phlegmatic" cough. Anyone know of any remedies that would be safe for me?

But what I really wanted to say was that the now infamous Susan Reishus mystery lace knitalong seems to have collapsed completely. What started out as my first ever myster KAL turned into a soap opera of sorts. I'm not quite sure what's going on now, but I think it's been called off completely.

Instead, I have found not one but TWO other KALs to join. Thanks to some helpful hints from a friend I am now taking part in one Slow Bee group and one Goddess Knits.

But at the same time I have already started three lace project all on my own, so maybe those KALs won't get done until next year after all. Here is Laminaria, which I'm knitting in the lovely pink linen from Marias Garn. The yarn is a little bit tricky to work in this pattern, because it's rather stiff and slippery. But I think the end result will be great!

oh, well

After some deliberation I decided to not use the silk/cashmere yarn for the Mystery lace project. Instead I downloaded a pattern from Knitspot called Bee Fields. I think that's a more suitable pattern for the yarn. So, I'm still looking for a yarn...

Possibly I will get some Merino Lace from Heirloom Knitting or else try a Pirkalanka wool. I have a feeling the Mystery project needs something with good stitch definition as well as lightness, like wool, although the recommendations are for Jaggerspun Zephyr from Fiddlesticks.

hm...

So, this is the result after knitting the first clue of the Mystery lace stole.
I still love the yarn, but is it right for this project? I find the edges are very taut and unstretchy. That's probably the silk or maybe the pattern itself. (The pattern says to knit/purl the edge stitches.)

What do you think? I'm considering trying out the pattern in the grey mohair/silk combo from a previous post to see if it acts the same way.

The pattern itself was a fairly easy all-over lace, i.e. you do YOs and decreases on every row. It did require some concentration, but I found it to be a fun challenge. Looking forward to the next clue on Friday!

oooh!

Just a short note to tell you that I collected my yarn for the Mystery lace project today. It is silk and cashmere (two different yarns) dyed in a lovely pink colour from the outstanding superduper extra fabulous shop Anntorps Väv. I can't begin to express my admiration of Ann, the proprietor of the said shop. Just wow. 

keep on swatching in the free world

A darker version of the pink: Trine with Kid Silk Haze 583. I really like this combination, but it may be too dark for the Mystery lace project.
A green version with the Como silk and Kid Silk Haze 577, which by itself is actually a rather sickly green colour but with the brown tone of the silk produced an interesting result.

I don't think either of these two combinations will work for the KAL, though. They are too dark and the introductory notes to the project says to use light/pastel colours. I think the light pink and the light grey from yesterday are good contenders. They can be seen live tonight at the knitting café at Hurtigs!

just swatch me!

So, I'm swatching for the start of the Mystery Lace KAL by Susan Reinhus, which will start on Friday. And I simply cannot decide which one of the swatches I like the best. 

The pink one: Trine (100% cotton) and Plumet (70% super kid mohair, 30% nylon).
The greyish one: Como 60 (100% silk, colour 16) and Rowan's Kid Silk Haze (70% super kid mohair, 30% silk in colour 590).
The green one (will choose a different colour, but wanted to try the texture of linen): Kalinka 100% linen.
All knit on 3,5 bamboo needles.