Playing with Color

Variegated and multicolored crochet thread has been around for decades. Remember grandma's hand towels with crocheted edgings in every color of the rainbow and a few more? Many of today's knitters think that using variegated or multicolored thread for doilies is a no-no. I think that with the right pattern, variegated and multicolored threads can work just fine. So began the experiment.

I started with some variegated green from my stash of vintage thread ("vintage" is code for "old stuff that's been kept around for no apparent reason"). This is about three-quarters of design #38 from Lavori Artistici 11, until I ran out of thread. I like the way the colors swirl.

Then I tried something a little bolder but still variegated for design #12, also from Lavori Artistici 11. Amazingly, this one won a first-place ribbon at the Western Washington Fair this year. Go figure.

Then I threw timidity to the wind and went for the "clown colors," one with a star-style pattern and one with a leaf-style with stacked double decreases. Both are from "Danish Lace Treasures" by Gloria Penning; one is Judith and one is Patricia. Not too bad. They might make fun sun-catchers.

As a result of these experiments, I think that variegated and multicolored thread can work for doilies with simple patterns. Would I do a Niebling with variegated or multicolored thread? No. But those who have supplies of vintage/old stuff thread can use it for doilies — and maybe even some crocheted edgings for hand towels.

Watching Lino

Master glass artist Lino Tagliapietra was in town last week, working at the Museum of Glass. Wow! Wow! Wow! Both his work and working style are contemporary and elegant. His show next February at the museum should be a stunner.

Surrounded by Talent

For the past several years, I have had the great opportunity to attend Myrna Stahman's lace knitting retreat in Boise, Idaho. I always come home with my brain overflowing with ideas. One of the many highlights of the retreat is seeing and learning from other people's beautiful, stunning work.

Doilies, for example:

And a quilt made with doilies:

And shawls:

And scarves from luxurious Buffalo Gold yarn:

Being in the same room with all of the talented people is amazing.

Ravelry

My invitation to sign up for Ravelry finally arrived. Now I just have to learn how to use it. It's not entirely clear to me what I do with all of it, but I'll take it a step at a time. I created a profile (SueV), so I'm not completely helpless; mostly helpless but not completely. Maybe I'll go find some friends next.

I Met Scott Simon!

I met NPR's Scott Simon! He received the Krista Foundation Global Citizen Award on Sunday. He is just as intelligent and gracious in person as he is on the radio. He even agreed to a photo with me, but I cropped myself out because I looked like an idiot.

We have supported the Krista Foundation because we knew the late Krista Hunt Ausland and her husband Aaron. You can read more about Krista and the foundation at the link above.

I met Scott Simon!

Russian Lace

This is the Russian lace scarf from the July/August "PieceWork" magazine. Details:

• Yarn: Alpaca with a Twist Fino, most of one skein, approximately 800 yards of the 875-yard skein. Wonderful yarn!
  
• Color: Number 2000, Plum Wine. The color is darker and plummier than the photo shows.
  
• Needles: US3
• Finished size: 12 inches wide by 84 inches long.

This was the scarf where I learned Russian grafting to attach the ending border. Learning this technique required faith in the directions, like the first time I turned a heel on a sock. The written instructions didn't make sense unless and until I had the garment in front of me and did it, step by step. Harrowing, until it works; then the directions are perfectly obvious.

Pretty in Pink

Debbie and I have been friends for — yikes! — 20+ years. She is a talented quilter crocheter and is quickly becoming a talented knitter. She inherits these skills, among others, from her mother, Jackie, a master of many crafts. Debbie, Jackie and I recently spent some time yarn shopping. Add shopping to their skill list.

Jackie kindly gave me a shawl kit with yarn and a matching pin. The yarn was five strands of pink, white and gold. I made a simple, garter stitch shawl to let the yarn shine. The increases are made with a yarn over at the start of each row. On US17 needles, it was a quick knit — instant gratification!

Purple Cables

One of my husband's finer qualities — among many fine qualities — is that he likes wearing hand-knits. This one is the British Schoolboy Vest from Cheryl Oberle's "Folk Vests." It's a handsome, traditional vest that I knit in a non-traditional color — purple.

The specifics: Wool Pak 8-ply wool in color Plum (it really is the color of a ripe Italian plum) knit on US4 and US2 needles.

I've made several of the vests in "Folk Vests." It's a great book.

Marguerite Shimmons

I've never met Marguerite Shimmons, but I know people who know her. And I've seen her breathtaking knitted lace work in person. Those who know her say she is as elegant and refined as her work.

Now others can see her work and art. She donated several pieces to the Lacis Museum in Berkeley, California. See them here. Lace lovers of all sorts are fortunate that she decided to share her amazing work.

If the United States had a program to designate Living National Treasures like Japan does, I would put Marguerite Shimmons on the list.

More Garden

I have had a few requests for a detail photo of the Shetland Garden shawl with its mirror decreases, so here it is (I hope the detail is visible; clicking on it will make it larger).

And, the shawl is 27 inches long down the center back, which is a good size for me.

A Stroll in the Garden

A Shetland Garden, that is. Specifically, the Shetland Garden shawl from Sivia Harding. The yarn Nature Spun fingering weight, one of my favorite, all-purpose yarns. The color is Hurricane Seas (our sailing friends Michael and Nancy don't understand why one would deliberately choose anything hurricane-related but I seem to be in a turquoise phase). Knit on US5 needles. The shawl took only three skeins, about 930 yards.

The main body of the shawl — the daisies, ferns and leaves — is written with all of the single decreases as right-leaning (k2tog). With this yarn, I chose mirror left- and right-leaning decreases (k2tog and ssk). For most of the double decreases, I used the designated left-leaning decrease (sl 1, k2tog, psso). However, on the leaves, which have stacked double decreases, I used centered double decreases (sl 2 tog, k1, psso).

The rose trellis section is written with left- and right-leaning decreases.

This was a fun pattern to knit and, like other Sivia Harding patterns, is clear and easy to follow.

Baaaaaa! Bleeeaaat!

After I look at the knitting at the Western Washington Fair, I head for the sheep barns, especially the wool sheep (rather than the meat sheep). Unless you are holding some food in your hands, most of the sheep aren't interested in visitors. But it's interesting to see the critters that provide us knitters a lot of beautiful wool.

This little lamb wasn't at the fair. It was a birthday present earlier this month. He doesn't have name yet. In fact, I only recently decided he was a he. I'm open to suggestions for names.

Fair Time

Five entries, five ribbons — one first, two seconds, one third and an honorable mention in the knitting and lace categories. I am delighted with my results at the Western Washington Fair in Puyallup. The surprise to me is how the awards sorted themselves out:

Blue ribbon in the lace category for doilies smaller than 12 inches in diameter. This entry was almost an afterthought. I was playing with variegated threads to see if the widespread belief that "variegated threads don't work well with doilies" was true. Apparently it's not. The pattern is from Lavori Artistici #11, design #12, knit in vintage Royal Society crochet thread, size 30.

Second place in the lace category for doilies 12 inches in diameter and larger. This is a possible Niebling design called Arum Flower, knit in size 30 crochet thread.

Second place in the lace category for a knitted garment. Fans of Donna Druchunas's Arctic Lace will recognize her Skeleton Scarf pattern. It's knit in a very fine merino wool of unknown provenance.

Third place for a man's vest made in Knit One, Crochet Two's Paint Box yarn in a color called Tandoori.

And, finally, an honorable mention for Sivia Harding's Diamond Fantasy shawl knit in yarn from Black Bunny Fibers.

One of the pleasures of the fair is seeing so much beautiful knitting, and to watch other fairgoers admiring the work.

Alaska Rainforest

Last October, I attended a class where we explored fagoting stitches and experimented with many cool things one can do with fagoting. Then in June, while traveling in Alaska, I purchased this lovely hand-dyed yarn from Rabbit Ridge Designs in a coloway called Rainforest.

The fagoting lessons came to mind while I was considering how to best show the lovely Alaska rain forest colors. Simple design, beautiful colors — it all worked (in my opinion).

The specifics:

• Yarn: Rabbit Ridge Designs DK optim wool, two 50-gram skeins, 154 yards per skein
• Needles: US 8
• Finished size: 7.5 inches wide by 92 inches long
  

Thread Stash

Some days you just get lucky. A recent trip to a local thrift store resulted in a purchase of I'm-not-saying-how-many balls of Cebelia DMC thread, size 10, in four different colors, at 30 cents each. 30 cents! Most of this will end up at an upcoming knitting retreat.

Yes, I left some at the store.

Really.

I did.

Hail to the King!

In this case, hail to king bolete, Boletus edulis, commonly known as porcini mushrooms. A friend who is a devoted mushroom hunter found a lot of porcini at a secret spot that he will not reveal. We are fortunate that he kindly shared two porcini with us. These, he said, are two of the smaller ones.

Earlier this year, we found morels in our front yard. Sometimes we find chanterelles at local farmers markets.

Good eats!

Warming a Cold Shoulder

How do you warm a cold shoulder? With a shoulder shawl. This one is the Gracie pattern from Myrna Stahman's "Shawls and Scarves." I made it with about 600 yards of hand-dyed worsted-weight yarn on US10 needles. It came out 18 inches long down the back.

Shoulder shawls are the perfect solution when you need a little warmth on the shoulders but not too much.

Yes, the lawn is brown. Water is for the tomatoes. The grass will revive on its own.

Wool and Wine

Oregon's Yamhill Valley has much to offer, especially for those interested in wool and wine. Start with Woodland Woolworks in Carlton for all things knitting, spinning and weaving. Yippee!

Then the wine areas, such as Domaine Drouhin Oregon's manicured vineyards.

The tasting room manager gave us an informative tour of the vineyard and winery, which concluded with a comparison tasting of the winery's Oregon and French wines. Our friend Michael took very seriously his job as wine taster and research assistant.

At the Carlton Winemakers Studio, we tasted one fabulous wine after another from several wine makers. A dinner at the studio featured J. Daan wines, made by the young and talented Justin Van Zanten and his wife, Megan.

A Shocking Pink Skeleton

The first time I saw Donna Druchunas's book "Arctic Lace," I knew I would have to knit her Skeleton Scarf, but I knew it would not be in qiviut.

For me, this scarf screams, "Drama!" What's more dramatic than bright pink? The yarn, from deep in my stash, is wool, very fine. It's a deeper pink than the photo shows, almost a shocking pink or darker hot pink. US3 needles. I made two changes from the pattern: I used centered double decreases instead of left-leaning, and I knit four pattern repeats instead of three.

Landscaping

Last night, the charming and talented Sonya from Yorkshire Yarns invited me to talk about my favorite pattern, the Landscape scarf from Fiber Trends. Little did she know that I can talk about this pattern for a long time. I've blathered in the past about how much I like this pattern, and welcomed the opportunity to blather to a new audience at Sonya's Monday night knitting and crochet group. Fortunately, Sonya's shop offers a stunning selection of yarns suitable for this pattern.

In short, I like the flexibility of this pattern. I've made it with lace weight, fingering, sport and DK; with solids and variegated; with wool, cotton, tencel and blends. I've made it with as little as 250 yards and as much as 500. I've made it with and without picots. I've made it with beads instead of picots. I've made it with tassels.

The scarf also offers an opportunity to shop for beautiful and complementary shawl pins to fasten the tails in front.