Audiobooks

I recently got a mp3 player, MuVo 100, and it's such a neat toy! I spend a lot of time commuting during which I often knit, sometimes I read, but then I can't knit at the same time. Also, most of the time I'm too sleepy and unconcentrated to do anything that requires a lot of attention, so listening to audiobooks is such a nice way to have it all. :) If you want to try some, here's a link to a website where you can download a lot of good and interesting books for free - http://www.librivox.org

Have fun!

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

I'm not a fan of coldness, but this year's winter was bland. Christmas was also weird. I honestly would love to see some snow now.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know,
His house is in the village though.
He will not see me stopping here,
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer,
To stop without a farmhouse near,
Between the woods and frozen lake,
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake,
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep,
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

-- Robert Frost

Finished: Shetland Triangle

Pattern: Shetland Triangle by Evelyn A. Clark, from Wrap Style
Yarn: Jaggerspun Zephyr, 50% wool 50% Tussah silk, 630 yd/2 oz or 576 m/57 g
Color: Garnet
Price: $5.50, bought at www.sarahsyarns.com
Amount: 30 g
Needles: 3.5 mm
Gauge: Don't know, I made two more repeats than the original, then blocked like crazy (I think I blocked it way way too much. I'm surprised the yarn didn't snap at some point, this shawl was so tense and tight like it was receiving a facelift)
Dimensions: 120 cm wide and 56 (? sorry, am not quite sure anymore) cm from the tip to the long edge
Modifications: Two more repeats. I also thought I'm going to skip the last row, because I also didn't want such pointy edges, but didn't realize until now that he said "the last patterned row". I skipped the row that was written out, but oh well, it looks ok. I think next time I would add more repeats. The shawl looks nice, but the blocking was hard work.

The book: It's wonderful, such nice patterns. I'm not a poncho fan, but all these little capelets and ponchos look cute. I think I nearly like it even more than the Scarf Style book. I'd definitely recommend it.

The pattern: Very easy to memorize. A fast and quick knit.

Here are some of the pictures in the book.




Honestly, I don't really know how to wear a shawl without looking like a granny. I like them, they look lovely, I like knitting them, but somehow I'm not really convinced that I'm wearing them the right way. The pic is blurry, because I turned of the flash; if I leave it on, my half closed eyes make me look like a junkie (also, you would see all the spots on the mirror :D)


Unblocked. Shall I complain again that the flash distorts the colors? Or was the light in my room so bad?

Blocking was a torture.


Looks like it has been blocked really tightly, doesn't it? But at least it drapes nicely.


So, what am I going to knit next? I started another Shetland Triangle with a beautiful blue silk that I got from www.colourmart.com (I didn't take this picture by the way, it's from their website, because my batteries are nearly empty and the color is well represented in this foto, the yarn is a bit more shiny in reality though. The color is azure.)


I have to say though, I'm not really a fan of needles smaller than 2.5 mm (which already seems somewhat painful). This shawl I'm knitting with 2 mm *eek*. I also am not really thrilled with the inelasticity of the yarn, especially since it's so thin (2500 yd/150 g). I think next time I will use it doubled.

Here are the other colors that I bought.



Melissa and Bonbon. Both are also cute colors.

"Vitae summa brevis spem nos vetat incohare longam"

I read a post today which was titled "Days of Wine and Roses". This phrase sounded very sweet, but I I wasn't exactly sure what it meant, there was also no explanation in the blog, so I did a quick search with Google. I found out that it was from the poem "Vitae summa brevis spem nos vetat incohare longam" by Ernest Dowson.

Vitae Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohare Longam

They are not long, the weeping and the laughter,
Love and desire and hate:
I think they have no portion in us after
We pass the gate.

They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream.

I got my hair cut yesterday - really really short. An act of defiance and liberation. I often think one of the greatest gift to possess is personal independence of other people's opinion and the belief in yourself. Sometimes you can lose yourself if you are too eager to please someone else. I am happy I lost a bit of my fears.

Finished: Swallowtail Shawl

I'm so impressed by myself - I've finished another item. :D (Humility is simply something for weaklings :D Just kidding! :D ). Truth to be told, I'm usually working on several parallel projects and now it happens that I have finished them all around the same time.

Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark, in Interweave Knit Fall 2006
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Lace, 100% baby alpaca; 437 yd [ 400 m]/50 g
Color: #7120 sea mist
Price: $5.95, bought at theknitter.com
Needles: 3.5 mm
Gauge: Bah, for weaklings :D
Dimensions: 118 cm wide and 59 from the tip to the center of the bottom. I just blocked, I have no clue to what size I should have blocked it, but it looked ok as it was.
Modifications: I made a double yarn over after I made the nups, because knitting five stitches together turned out to be quite tricky for a tight knitter, which I am I think. With the double yarn over I could just slip one and loosen the stitches that were supposed to be knit together. I also changed the cast off method a bit. I used the same one as I did for the Flower Basket Shawl, which I did actually wrong by mistake. For the Japanese Feather Scarf I cast off using a method describe in an Interweave article by Eunny Jang (I think it was the Fall issue): purl two stitches, put them back on the left needle, purl them together, purl, put the two stitches back on the left needle, etc. The cast off method for the two shawls was similar: knit two, put them back on the left needle, knit them together through the back loops, knit one, put the two stitches back on the left needle, etc. What I did, was knit two, put them back on the left needle and then purl these two through the back loops, knit one, put back on the left needle, etc. I only realized it now that my cast off was different. I think it looks ok though, not too back actually. As it's still an elastic cast off I might use it again.





I think the colors are not well represented in pictures above. It's a bit more greenish, like in this picture. If I use the flash my pictures are on focus, but the colors look different. If I don't use a flash the colors look more like in real life, but the pictures are blurry.