The BadCat Second Annual Holiday Contest!

It has been some time since I put up a "regular" post, so please bear with me while I catch up (only slightly!) I finished several new things in the past few weeks, which I can't share yet, but here is what I am working on now. I am spinning and swatching. These are skeins of lace-weight, drying on the radiator. I am going to cast-on tomorrow...

Here is one of three swatches. I liked the center on this one, but the rest didn't thrill me. I have heavily modified it.

Here you can see the fiber and spindle I have been using. The solid colored fiber is some merino/silk I had in my stash. The spindle is a Tom Forrester.

The dyed fiber was a gift I won on Spindlicity and is also merino and silk, but I think has more silk than the other fiber.

This is where the fiber came from and it is delicious.

So about this year's contest...

I have a brand-new Party Pooper, just waiting to go out into the world. If you would like to win him, here is the plan:
Leave me a link (in the comments) to the most amazing, fiber related pictures you can find on the web. They don't have to be brand new. They just have to be cool. If you live in the USA and I like your link the best, I will send you the party pooper. If you live far away, and the postage is wonky, I will send you a PDF pattern instead! Here you can see some pictures that my brother-in-law Ken sent me, to start us out. Be sure you leave your email address with your comment. If you are a "no-reply" blogger I will not be able to contact you, even if you post my favorite link!

These are Telephone Sheep designed by Jean-Luc Cornec. I love them...

Happy holidays, and knit on!

The Traveling Shawl Does Manhatten...

I am the New York knitter for the Traveling Shawl Project. For those of you not familiar with this project, go check out this blog! If you have some extra change looking for a good cause, consider making a donation to Passionately Pink on the Traveling Shawl blog. You can support breast cancer research AND buy a chance to win this lovely shawl after she has been to every state for some knitting! The design is by Kay Meadors, as is the project. Go check it out! I got the shawl yesterday, just after returning from my trip. I wanted nothing more than to sit and knit, so the timing was perfect. I knit my assigned rows right away.

Today, I took The Shawl with me to the city. That would be THE City. We checked out the public transportation.

We checked out the architecture, and the holiday lights. We liked what we saw.

We were at 42nd Street, outside Grand Central. It was crowded!

The Shawl relaxed while I bought us our train tickets. She looked lovely.

We checked the train board and then we checked the laser light show on the ceiling.

Then we caught the 5:59 up the Hudson. The Shawl managed to scarf her own seat (I just crack myself up sometimes.)

We enjoyed the lights as we passed 125th Street...
And finally, we enjoyed a fabulous Margarita at my favorite bar. I am not sure I was a good influence, but I think I showed The Shawl a pretty good time. The bartender was certainly intrigued...

I will pack her off tomorrow morning, priority mail, to her next knitter. Adieu, and fond farewell.

Autumn in New York, with time to spare before Winter!

I am totally thrilled to share this amazing array of Autumn (or AINY as Kim dubbed it on my list.) The following knitters used a variety of yarns (and some beads) for their shawls, and each one is unique. They were kind enough to share their details, along with these gorgeous photographs. I feel honored that all of you joined me on this project and so impressed with your work. Thank-you! And now, without further ado, and in no special order, I present AINY.
Knit by Tasha
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Sock
Yardage: 600 m plus a little more
Modifications: NONE
Comments : This has been a great project!

Knit by Susie Jordan
Yarn: Elann,com Pure Alpaca Fina, color Café au Lait,
approx 3 ½ skeins (640 yds)
size 6 needles
no modifications
Comments: Loved it!

Knit by Rita Miller
Yarn : KnitPicks Palette in Autumn Heather

Yardage used: 716.1 yards

Modifications: Chart C done 2 times, Chart D done 3 times.

Since this was a solid yarn, I used opal-lined glass E beads with the "Bead charts."

Comments: Lovely pattern and pretty easy to knit.

Knit by Michele
Blog: http//miyamojo.blogspot.com

Just wanted to thank you for sharing your design with me. I used the same yarn & colorway S245 as you, but I followed the beaded chart - 6/0 Crystal AB glass beads. You were right to advised against hooking beads while using Noro! (Not fun.) I had 12 yards left and my shawl ended up being 58"x27" using US5 Addis Lace Needles.
I love the resulting shawl and will be wearing it today!

Knit by Mary Rose

Blog: http://shallweeat.blogspot.com/

Yarn:Yarn Tree House Melody

Yardage used:approx 560 yards of Melody

Modifications: None - your pattern was good enough for me :)

Comments: This was a ton of fun to knit. It was neat really interesting to see the pattern "morph" from one stitch to the next through the charts.

Also knit by Mary Rose (we call her "Needles on Fire")

Blog : http://shallweeat.blogspot.com/

Yarn : Yarntopia Treasures Bamboo

used: approx 680 yards of Bamboo

Modifications: None - your pattern was good enough for me :)

Comments: This was a ton of fun to knit. It was neat really interesting to see the pattern "morph" from one stitch to the next through the charts

Knit by Lara Downey (note the second version almost complete...)

Blog: http:\\larascreations.blogspot.com

Yarn: Yarn Place Adiago (main picture) / Yarn Treehouse Melody (unblocked blob to the right!)Yardage used: #1 = ~765 yards / #2 = ~605 yards

Modifications: #1 knit two repeats for Chart D (total) / #2 knit with no repeats

Comments : A fun knit!

Knit by Karen Gass
Blog: www.cottonspice.com/CSblog
Yarn: Elann Baby Lace Merino
Yardage used: About 550 yds, but yarn was doubled, so 1100 yds
Modifications: I didn’t make any.
Comments: I didn’t notice the section repeat on Chart E, so it’s a bit smaller than it should be. I will be making it again, with repeats to make it larger, I loved making it. It was easy and just looks fabulous! :)

Knit by Colleen Archbold
Blog :http://www.piecefullypatched.blogspot.com/
Yarn: Noro Kureyon sock, colour 149
Needles: 4.5mm
Yardage used: approx 776 yds (710m)
Modifications: I worked an extra repeat in chart D and 4 extra rows of chart E before the garter stitch rows.
Comments: I found this quite an easy knit, good for relaxing. Thank you Andrea for a lovely pattern and creating such a supportive and happy group to knit with :)
I love the shawl, and have received good comments!
Unblocked size: 29" x 58"
Blocked size: 35" x 70"
Knit by Jean Le Beau
Yarn: YarnTreehouse Melody Y21
Yardage: 864 yds
Modifications: 1 Extra repeat each of Charts C & D
Comments Finished Width ;72” Depth 36”
I had 49’left out of 4 balls of Melody That is it on the left side of the picture.
Knit by Cheryl Coville

Blog: http://www.cherylanncoville.blogspot.com/

Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Sock #S84 with 4mm needle (US6)

Yardage: just under 600 meters (2 skeins)

Finished size: 57 inches by 30.5 inches (4 stitches to the inch) blocked

Comments: The cast-off was a new-to-me technique which I will definitely use again. It gives a lovely finished look to the edge and I got lucky with the colour repeat.

You can see more pictures of AINY on Raverly, so take a look!

Once again, I can't thank all of you enough! I am traveling next week, but I'll be back after that with some new tidbits to share. Until then, keep knitting!

Autumn in New York, take five!

Here she is! This version is the original, using 2 balls of Noro Silk Garden Sock. If you follow the "Autumn in New York" label you will find full instructions, including finished dimensions. Here is the final chart.

In a nut shell, you make one ridge of garter stitch by knitting one row and knitting the return row too. The only trick is that I want you to include a yarn-over after the edge, before and after the center stitch, and before the final edge on the one right side row only. The chart is pretty meaningless, but I was trying to stick to the familiar format to keep things clear for everyone.

Above is just the wrap-up. This is how I cast-off, and it looks nice with the one ridge of garter. Your edge should not have any significant curling with this treatment, and any that you do have should block out easily. Speaking of which:

Following, I included an assortment of blocking shots with notes, so you can see what I did.

A very happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I am not cooking on Thursday, but I am having an after-party so I can cook, on Friday. I might be back with some food fun then.

Finally, I would love to see your pictures of this project in this and other yarns, so send them on over to me and be sure to include the yarn you used, any pattern modifications and your finished dimensions. I will put another post up for this project once I get your photos! Meow...

Autumn in New York, take four!

As we approach Thanksgiving in the United States, so we approach the final motif on this November project. New York City is surrounded by water. I work in Northern Manhattan, very near the Hudson River, and I live about ten miles north. I can see the Hudson from my bedroom. It seemed right to surround our shawl with water, if you will. Chart E is the first motif with "movement." The previous motifs had the decrease pair closely with the increase. This motif has the increases grouped together and the decreases grouped together, which causes the fabric to undulate. The stripes of color take on a gentle scallop, which gives nice movement to the border and allows for those scallops along the edges.

I knit through Chart E once for my shawl. If you have enough yarn and would like your shawl to be larger, I suggest you return to Chart D and make another repeat of the recommended rows.

Thanks to all who participated in my chart discussion, both here and at my Yahoo group. I continue to look for ways to upgrade the quality of my blog and its contents. I plan to experiment with different chart formats in the future.

I will return with one more post on this project by Monday evening. That post will include the cast-off directions, some blocking instructions and of course a cheesecake shot! Until then, knit on!

Autumn in New York, take three!

My friend Sandra, fellow New Yorker and someone knitting along with us, asked me if we were doing some leaves next. No, just chain-link fence... This got me to thinking about New York and the motifs I chose to incorporate into this design. There are plenty of trees in New York City, and they are all lovely colors right now, yet I selected what you see above. While I continue to ponder the significance of my choices and my complex relationship with New York City, you all can continue knitting...

I repeat the "row repeat" twice on Chart D before moving on. The Chart D row repeat is the place I suggest you enlarge your shawl, if you like. Go back and check my yarn usage and finished size before you decide on adding a repeat.

The rows are getting longer, so this could possibly keep you busy for a chunk of the next week. I'll be back with a huge post before Thanksgiving. Until then, knit on.

Autumn in New York, take two!

Happy Friday! This week finds me pleased to be here, and even more pleased to be an American. I was feeling less so not long ago...and for those of you who considered offering me asylum on your farms in Canada, thanks. I'm good. I trust this post finds many of you cast-on and ready for the next chart. The above picture shows you the transition section along with part of the next motif. Again, this shows the original yarn, Noro Silk Garden Sock, blocked. The Noro color I used here has a light stripe that glows in these pictures, which I really like.

Chart C, above, is only shown as the central panel. Be sure to refer back to the "notes" page from our earlier post if you are not clear how to follow, and recall this chart does not include the garter stitch border, which you should maintain.

I also have a second Chart C, which includes bead placements, for those of you going that way.

I marked off the pattern repeat, in blue, on both charts. You need to repeat the blue section three times across each chart row (and don't forget that you repeat the chart row twice per row, eh?) The reason I am giving you charts with a repeat, instead of giving you the larger chart without repeats, is that this allows me to make the chart as large as possible and still use a standard paper size. For me, this makes for much easier chart reading. I hope it does the same for you. Be sure that you set your printer to print in Landscape mode for all these charts!

This is a picture of my work, through the last row of Chart C, in Yarn Treehouse Melody, color Y21. It has a very different look, because it is a smooth yarn and the Noro has quite a bit of texture. The Melody has the nice, long color repeats which I am totally enjoying. I believe the Adagio and Melody are very similar style yarns.

I'll be back next weekend (and I am including Friday in that concept to celebrate November) with the third installment of our Autumn in New York Shawl. Until then, you know what to do...

Autumn in New York, take one!

Our project for November is called Autumn in New York. I am using Noro Silk Garden Sock, in color S245. I am using most of two balls (600 meters.) I am working with a US 4 32 inch circular needle, but I am a loose woman (I mean knitter...) I said in my previous post that the gauge was 5 stitches to the inch (whihc was not blocked), but the actual gauge will be 4 stitches to the inch, blocked, in stockinette stitch. It is not critical, but will impact your yardage and finished size.

There are several good ways to start this piece. I posted a tutorial earlier, and that is a very fine way to start. You can also review the provisional cast-on post from The Summer Sampler, which discussed various options, including some excellent links. Finally, you can take a look at the suggested resources on page five, coming up, for another take on a Turkish cast-on.

Please review the following notes carefully, because they won't get repeated and they apply to the entire project!

Feel free to check these excellent link out. You actually have to type them into you browser! Horrors...

This is the chart key for the entire project. This, along with the notes, should allow you to work each chart without confusion. Feel free to join my Yahoogroup (link on the left side of blog) if you want to discuss your progress with other knitters on a focused list.

Chart A might look familiar! I thought it would be fun to pick up where we left off, so I took a chart from The Summer Sampler as a starting point. Fireflies! It looks very different in this yarn. I modified it to expand with the triangle, but otherwise it is the same motif. I did not offer bead placements on this chart, because I didn't think I would want them up by my neck. I am offering a second chart for each up-coming motif, that includes suggested bead placements. If you use a textured yarn like Noro, and you use multi-colors, I am not suggesting you use beads. It is just too much for my aesthetic. On the other hand, if you are using a solid color without texture, beads will be a really nice addition to this piece, though totally optional.

Chart A has a repeat for the rows, and if you want to keep things really simple, you can just repeat those rows until the shawl is a size you like. I am not suggesting you do, but I am just saying you can...I only knit through chart A once, without any row repeats. Chart B is a transition chart, to move us smoothly from the motif in Chart A, to the motif in Chart C. As we work, I hope you will appreciate the flow of the design. My concept was a trip into New York Harbor and up the Hudson River, ending past the George Washington Bridge and along the Palisades. If you know the landscape, try to imagine with me and see if you get a feeling for my New York in Autumn.

I will be back next week with Chart C and more chat. Until then, knit on!