lace, lace, and more lace

We visited our families last weekend, got to love those three day weekends! We had a pretty good visit with our families. Saturday evening we had a very good dinner at my mother-in-laws house, and then my hubby when fishing with his younger brother. They seem to have had a good time, and even cought some fish!

My mom and I spent part of the weekend showing off our lace yarn we both had ordered from Knit Picks. Knit Picks has such pretty colors in their yarn. Makes you want to order a couple of each. We ended up swapping three hanks of yarn. My Hot Rod Heather for her Jewels Heather. It turns out that mom already had a few hanks of the Jewels heather and did not need the extra three hanks. So I lucked out! The Jewels heather is so pretty!

Mom also had the book Arctic Lace from the library to look through. While most of the content in the book is about the history of lace knitting from the Arctic area, there are a few patterns in the book that are very pretty. I have one hank of the Jewels Heather that is going to be a Mobius wrap, and the other two hanks are going to be a shawl from my Wrapped in Comfort book.

I'm about half way done on my Bigfoot shawl. I'm not going to post any pictures just yet, I want to make one big post with pictures from beginning to end. But I will say that the shawl is coming along very well. It's going to turn out really pretty in the Oregon Coast Heather yarn. And that's all you get on that for now!

We're gearing up for the Season of Lace competition. I've been rolling yarn and planning patterns it's been very exciting. Well, the rolling of the yarn probably isn't all that exciting when you get right down to it. I just really enjoy the planning phase. I guess it comes from working as a project manager. I like to lay things out and plan in advance for events. I'm working on writing up every lace project that I want to tackle for the competition and assign a yarn to it so I'll have everything ready and won't have to waste time wondering what I am going to do next and then go back and forth on what yarn to use. But, I always reserve the right to change my mind at the last minute!

Next week I'll be placing my large knit picks order to get the rest of my lace yarn in. I have what I need to start out in three weeks. But I want to make sure I have more than enough to get me through the competition.

That's all for now. Until next time!

~Happy Knitting~

Lots of new stuff

This past week I finally received my yarn order from Knit Picks. 11 hanks of lace! My right arm is sore from rolling the hanks into balls. I have 6 hanks left. I wonder if rolling yarn builds up arm muscle. Anyways, the new spring yarn colors are beautiful! Here's what I received:

Papaya Heather - 100% Baby Alpaca. This color is absolutely beautiful, the picture does not do it justice in my opinion. I'll be knitting my mandala shawl out of this yarn. I already have the yarn rolled into three balls. I just need to pick up my 32" size 5 circular needles and I'll have all my supplies ready to go when the first section of the chart is revealed.

Oregon Coast Heather - 100% Merino Wool. This is a lot softer than I had expected it to be, and I'm thinking it will be even softer after blocking. This sandy color is so pretty. I've already rolled the two hanks and have cast on for a shawl from the book I ordered, Wrapped in Comfort: Knitted Lace Shawls by Alison Jeppson Hyde This is a wonderful book! The shawl patterns range from easy to experienced skill level. So even if you are new to lace and/or shawls this book is great for beginners as well as experienced lace knitters. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow and she also includes a section with tips to make your lace knitting easier. I highly recommend this book. I'm part way through the yoke and then I'll begin knitting the body of the shawl. It is knitting up really fast.Snorkel Heather - 100% Merino Wool. This color is so much richer in person than the picture on the website. This is another one of those colors that a photo cannot do justice. It is more beautiful than I had originally thought it was going to be. I am very pleased with it. I'm planning on knitting up a Arctic Diamonds Stole from the Arctic Lace pattern book that was printed in the Winter 2006 issue of Interweave Knits magazine. I believe this pattern in the snorkel heather is going to be absolutely gorgeous. I think this is going to be one of my projects that I do for the Season of Lace Competition that is starting on June 21st.
Hot Rod Heather - another 100% Merino Wool. I'm not positive what I am going to knit up with this one. I just love the color! It will probably another shawl from my Wrapped in Comfort book.Yesterday I went to Hobby Lobby (love that store!) to pick up 16" size 5 circulars, and came home with some blocking pins, stitch markers, and a pretty basket to hold my lace knitting. When I got the basket home, I started worry that the yarn might catch on the edges and inside of the basket. So I fixed it! I used my sewing machine! Finally!
My hubby bought me my first sewing machine for Christmas last year. Up until now I didn't really get a chance to do much with it. I had a lot of reading to do to figure out how to work it. I don't think what I did was really all that impressive, but hey I used my own sewing machine! I just hemmed the edges of a large rectangle piece of fabric and then fastened it to the basket with safety pins. No big deal really. But I think it turned out pretty good.
I also finished up the feather and fan scarf that I was working on. Here's a picture, it turned out kind of dark, the yarn is a pretty purple color.
Well, I think that's about it for now. My shawl is calling me to knit on it some more. So until next time!
~Happy Knitting!

Mandala Shawl

As previously mentioned, I will be participating in a mystery shawl knit along next month. I'm very excited about this upcoming project. The inspiration for this project comes from the sand mandala's that are created by Buddhist Monks. I actually had the opportunity to watch Tibetan Monks create a sand mandala a few years ago in college. So I did have a little prior knowledge of what a mandala was before hand. It was very interesting to sit and watch the monks work. The mandala was absolutely beautiful.

This is a very interesting concept to fit into a shawl. The shawl will be circular. Each Saturday, beginning June 14th, a clue (or a portion of a chart) will be posted for us to knit. Here's the neat twist, there will be a couple, possibly 3, chart sections to choose from each Saturday thus making it possible for each person to make a unique mandala shawl. I was very intrigued when I read about this knit along and decided that I had to be a part of it. I also decided to do a bit of research into the back ground of the mandala. I knew what it was, but I didn't know the philosophy or history of it. Here is what I found.

The dictionary definition of mandala is any various ritualistic geometric designs symbolic of the universe, used in Hinduism and Buddhism as an aid to meditation. In the spirit of the mandala I plan on knitting in a quiet room where I can reflect.

The Britannica Concise Encyclopedia gives this information:

"In Tantric Hinduism and Buddhism, a diagram representing the universe, used in sacred rites and as an instrument of meditation. The mandala serves as a collection point for universal forces. By mentally 'entering' the mandala and moving towards its centre, one is guided through the cosmic processes of disintegration and reintegration. Mandalas may be painted on paper or cloth, drawn on the ground, or fashioned of bronze or stone. Two types of mandalas represent different aspects of the universe: the garbha-dhatu (womb world), in which the movement is from one to the many, and the vajra-dhatu diamond world), from the many into one."

One last definition from the Buddhism Dictionary:

"A sacred circle or circular diagram having mystical significance. Mandalas are most commonly found in tantric Buddhism, where they are believed to represent the body, speech, and mind of a Buddha, and are used for initiatory, meditational, and other purposes. Mandalas are said to exist in several planes of reality: the intrinsically existent mandala, not accessible to ordinary beings, with is the actual configuration fo the qualities of enlightenment; the meditational mandala as visualized by a tantric practitioner, and the representational mandala which is the mandala as depicted with colours and so forth. Mandalas are also subdivided according to whether they are Body Mandalas which embody the body-form of the deities or aspects of enlightenment, Speech Mandalas which represent the speech aspect with seed-syllables, or Mind Mandalas wich represent the mind aspect with symbols such as lotuses, vajras, or wheels."

Here are a couple pictures I found of monks actually working on a sand mandala.



It is very interesting to watch the creation of a mandala. It can take several days to create on mandala. I read that sometimes there will be four monks working on the same mandala. They use these long metal rods to distribute the colored sand into just the right place. I cannot begin to imagine the amount of concentration it takes to create on of these. If you ever get the opportunity to watch one being created, do not pass it up. It is such as amazing thing, really captivating to watch. I would almost go so far as to say it could be a once in a life time experience. One of the more interesting things I learned when reading about mandalas, once the sand mandala is complete, the monks peform a ceremony and sweep up the sand to release the blessing contained in the mandala.

And here is a picture of a mandala I found on the internet.

I am really looking forward to creating my own mandala in June. I will give progress updates periodically, however once the mandala is complete I plan on posting one big post detailing the journey, complete with pictures of course.

~Happy Knitting~

Pictures!

As promised, here are pictures of my projects that I want to finish before June 14th.

Feather and Fan Scarf:

Midwest Moonlight Scarf:

La Dentelle Belle Scarf:Entrelac Scarf:

Raspberry Lace Triangle Shawl:

Long time, no post

It's been a while since I last posted. Things are kind of crazy right now. Lots of different things going on right now. Life as a project manager for a state agency is keeping me busy during the week. I also was bitten by the spring cleaning bug. I'm in the process of trying to get my apartment all nice neat and organized. That project is going to take some time. I have a vision, which unfortunately requires a lot of moving stuff around and throwing stuff away. I'm also trying to make time to work on my knitting as well. I have not been knitting as much on the weekends as I have been able to in the past.

I finally decided to take on the challenge of knitting a triangle shawl with lace weight yarn. I found a simple pattern and cast on. It is going pretty good so far. I'm using my Raspberry heather Alpaca Cloud from Knit Picks. The yarn is so thin! When I first started working with it I felt like I was going to break the yarn. I had to rip and start over a couple of times. But I finally got the hang of it. I've found that I actually like working with the lace weight yarn. Although, I think this shawl is going to take some time to complete. I've been working on it since April 20th and it doesn't even look like I have made a dent on the ball! Another thing I have discovered, after working with the lace weight yarn for a while, when I switch over to my scarf project, the worsted weight yarn feels huge in my fingers! It's very interesting.

Last month I joined a mystery shawl KAL (knit a long) that is set to start on June 14th. I'm very excited about it, and will post more information on it in another post this week hopefully. I feel that the basis and inspiration for this mystery shawl deserves a post of it's own, coming soon. I feel another evolution post coming on.

In preparation for this mystery shawl (and in the spirit of spring cleaning) my goal for May is to finish up at least three projects that I have on the needles. I'm not positive just how realistic this goal is. I have three scarves and a shawl on the needles at the moment. Here's what I have on the needles right now: Lace Triangle Shawl, Feather and Fan Scarf, Midwest Moonlight Scarf, La Dentelle Belle Scarf, Entrelac Scarf. I'm debating on which approach to take. It might be easier and more time-efficient to tackle the scarves first, as the lace shawl is going to take time because I will be knitting up the whole 440 yards of lace. I think I will focus my efforts on the Feather and Fan, Midwest Moonlight, and La Dentelle Belle scarves.

In June I will be participating on my mystery shawl and working on my first pair of Selbuvotter mittens. I'm going to go ahead and post this without pictures. I'll post again this evening after I upload pictures of my shawl and scarves.

Until next time.
~~Happy Knitting~~