Lemur Puppet Patterns and Stuff

Thanks so much for all the lovely comments on the Forest Path Stole. To quickly answer some of the questions:

I think the stole can be made narrower by removing one lace panel from each of the tiers. It would be pretty straightforward with some tweaking of the placement of the panels required (this makes more sense if you are looking at the pattern – honest!).

Making it shorter is very simple, just reduce the number of tiers – and the pattern gives options to do this.

And – errrrr - thanks for the kind offers to let me finish up the hibernating FPS’s out there – but I think I’ll pass for now!!

As often happens when I finish a big project I’m at a bit of a loss about what to tackle next. And my knitting this week reflects that.

The first thing I did was pull out the hibernating Melon Scarf and faff around with some border options. After two or three unsatisfactory attempts I remembered Gen saying before Christmas, “It looks great like it is – I don’t think it needs anything else.” And I looked at it, with non-knitter, non-Victorian Lace Today eyes and saw what she meant.

So I cast it off.

It is a very simple scarf, made just a little bit more special by the sheen of the SeaSilk. Here it is wrapped around a vase of tulips which are meant to imitate my head.

One skein of Handmaiden SeaSilk, pattern from Victorian Lace Today.

Then I turned into a hat machine. This was driven by two factors: a need to knit up some stash yarn, and the fact that the last hat I made which little

Mads claimed as hers does not in fact fit her. While
she’s wearing it, it slowly slides up her head until it is perched precariously on the top of he

r head. Apparently because I made it, she insisted on wearing it anyway. (How cute is she? She wins handknits for life!)

So I pulled out some wool left over from the great poncho
knit-athon of 2004(ish) and started knitting hats.

(The great poncho knit-athon began when I responded to a casual comment from Caroline that she loved a poncho she’d seen in Liberty. “I could make you one” I said. And then Susie, Gen and Mads (who was 5 and had no idea what a poncho was) chimed in with “Could I have one Sooby?” And thus began 2 months of poncho knitting. I didn’t even like ponchos.)

The purple hat and the grey hat with cables are from the Harlot’s ‘Unoriginal Hat’ pattern. The other three are even less original hats made up by me as I went along.

The linen coloured hat was meant to have cables all the way up the hat, but I got distracted and missed the second cable so rather than rip it out I decided to leave the one cable in and call it a design feature. I expect this is how all the great designers work.

While churning out hats I came across some Rowan Big Wool left over from the cardigan I made for Gen for Christmas. Keen to use up more stash I pulled out the Kim Hargreaves Heartfelt book and knit up Cherish for Gen.

However, when I handed it over to Caroline yesterday I got the distinct impression that it might never actually make it to Gen’s wardrobe as Caroline seemed quite taken with it.

The most random project of the week was a request from the Caked Crusader for a jumper for a very old, very worn, and very well loved lemur puppet named Merf. Apparently, Merf was a childhood favourite of the Caked Crusader and her brother and has now been handed down to the Caked Crusader’s nephew. He is showing his age and the Caked Crusader thought a new jumper might spruce him up a bit.

Designing for a lemur puppet took a bit of thought, mostly due to his sticky out arms and lack of a neck. A bit of fiddling around and I came up with the red jumper. Being an overachiever I immediately cast on for the black version. And as an inspired afterthought I crocheted a dapper scarf to be worn with either.

I’d offer to write up the lemur puppet pattern but I don’t expect there’s much demand.

Why Not Wyoming?

After the disaster of the mismatched SeaSilk melon scarf I confess the joy of knitting has been somewhat lacking in my life. I think I'm on the road to recovery now - assisted by the decadent socks that are Frappuccino Lace!

I've completed the first of the Latte Lace socks (due to the colour I've chosen I've decided it's more a blackcurrant frappuccino lace). I really like the lacey ribs and the little bit of lace detailing on the heel flap.



On the melon scarf front I've decided to rip back to the end of the first skein, and then finish the stole using an edging in the second skein. I am hoping (really really hoping) that the difference in colour will be less jarring this way. I haven't selected a border yet - so that is this weekend's task.

Finally, I learned a lesson yesterday on the importance of knowing your audience following a long and excited speech by me on the glory of the latest sock yarn from Cazza - Captain Jack and Davy Jones. See, the colours are inspired by the characters, and oh so luscious! Anyway, I waxed lyrical and then realised I was talking to a non-knitter who had never seen a Pirates of the Carribbean film. Sigh.

But I'm still dead excited about these yarns!!

P.S. Does anyone know what the sudden interest in the Sarcelle Stole is?? Over the past week there have been a gazillion (well, perhaps not a gazillion)(but lots) of searches for Sarcelle Stole leading people to my blog. Of course, that's what the blog is here for, and I hope they enjoyed seeing my finished Sarcelle -- but why the sudden interest? That's what I want to know. So if you are someone who has come by this blog as a result of a search on Sarcelle Stole, and you know why there are so many of you all of a sudden let me know. Thanks!

P.P.S. That reminds me of something odd I've noticed in the blog accesses. Google analytics displays a world map that pinpoints where your visitors are from. I love it! But I've noticed that I've had visitors from every US state but Wyoming. What's that all about?

I now need to decide whether my next quest is to lure a visitor from Wyoming to the site, OR to see how long I can go without anyone from Wyoming happening upon the blog. I'll ponder that today. (Another busy day in Soo's world.)

Aha! (and Grrrr....)

AHA!

It appears my shaping of the Swan Lake stole was a bit wonky..... The picture below should be more in line with how the stole is knitting up.

Grrrr....

On the weekend I was finishing up the centre panel for the melon scarf. Ran out of yarn in skein one, started knitting skeing two....and .... errr...grrrrrr..... (and to add insult to injury it was almost impossible to take a photo that accurately reflected the striking difference in colour between the two skeins! How annoying was that. Believe me it's more noticeable in real life than in this photo. Grrrr.....

Who Knew iPods Had Feet?

I've been doing a bit of sock knitting this week. I completed this pair of socks from the gorgeous S. who is my best friend's second oldest daughter (and therefore my goddaughter's little sister). They are a plain sock in a very non-plain yarn -- Popsicle Jitterbug from Colinette. This colourway belongs to people like little S who is one of the sunniest, brightest, coolest people around!

I've also been knitting my goddaughter some socks for her iPod Nano. I confess I don't really understand the purpose of socks for an iPod - but they are cute, easy to knit and she wanted some. Nothing else to say really!

Work on the Melon Scarf is progressing well - only about 8 repeats of the centre panel left. That means I really should start thinking about what edging I want to use.

In the meantime I will cast on this scrummy purple yarn from Cazza's sock club to make some Latte Lace socks. I particularly like the detail on the heel of this pattern. When I bought the pattern I planned on using some cocoa coloured yarn (also from Cazza), but the purple arrived and I just have to knit it up. (I have a strong love for purple.) I think she's just opened up another 3 month subscription which I expect I'll be signing up for! (Because you can never subscribe to too many sock yarn clubs.)

Sea Silk and Mysteries......

I've cast on for the Melon Scarf in Victorian Lace Today, using a gorgeous red Handmaiden Sea Silk. I love love love the look of this yarn. It's got a beautiful colour and gorgeous sheen.

But I'm not really enjoying knitting with it. At least not so far. I miss the warmth and forgiving nature of wool. I'm knitting this on 3.75mm needles, and although I'm happy with how the fabric looks - I find it really loose and flimsy while I'm knitting. I'm finding it more comfortable now that I've done a few pattern repeats - the weight of the completed knitting helps things feel more stable on the needles.

I'm sure I'll adapt to the sea silk -- at least I hope I do, I have the same yarn in 3 other colours in the stash!!

The melon pattern itself is very straightforward. This is the centre panel, and consists of a very easily memorised 6 row, 10 stitch repeat. Really good DVD watching knitting. (In fact, I knit most of this last night while watching Little Miss Sunshine. How good is that film? I loved it so much I'm tempted to watch it again tonight. Funny and warm without being sickly sweet. ) Anyway - the centre panel is a pretty easy knit. I'm not sure what edging I'm going to use -- I'm not convinced the one used in the book will work with the sea silk.

The Mystery Deepens (and Lengthens)

I've completed clue 4 on both of the stoles. I confess to being entirely in the dark about what Melanie has in store for the pattern next. The lifelines she strongly recommended (required) have been inserted in both stoles. But what can they be for?? Surely if they were lifelines in the traditional sense they'd be closer to the end of the clue -- rather than 48 rows back. Hmmmm.....

Melanie added to group's curiousity when she posted this cryptic comment on the Yahoo group:

I hope you are all enjoying knitting this design and I just have one request for you before the next clue is posted in a week: Trust me. I've knit what's coming twice and if you follow thedirections step by step, it will work. Don't panic, just trust me.