Dang! I Ran Out of Yarn...

I kept my fingers crossed, hoping that I would have enough... But, my worst fear happened, I ran out of yarn... Rowan is a popular brand, many yarn shops carry the lines. However, 4-ply cotton doesn't seem to be very popular. Out of a handful of LYS's in the area, there is only one that carries 4-ply cotton. I bought two balls from them, thinking that it would be enough. I remember that was still one ball left on the shelves. That was one week ago. When I went back there this week, that ball was gone! What are the odds that someone also wanted to buy the same yarn in the same color in the same week when the yarns have been sitting on the shelves for months, and especially there is only one ball left? Aaarrrggghhhh!!! I made calls to several LYS's this morning, none of them carries this yarn... sigh... I guess I'll just have to put this project aside until I find more yarn. Dang! I was hoping to wear it this weekend, I heard it may hit 80 degrees on Saturday.

鈎的時候就很擔心呢, 很怕線會不夠. 沒想到一開始的方眼編會用掉這麼多線. 果然, 圖二的模樣編只剩下最後一排還沒鈎完, 線就沒了. Rowan的線幾乎每家店都有賣, 可是他的4-ply cotton方圓百里內據我所知只有一家在賣. 一星期前就是跟他買的, 買了兩球, 看架子上還剩一球. 心想如果不夠再回來應該還可以吧. 結果, 就是有這麼巧的事, 這個禮拜再回去, 剩下的那一球賣掉了啦!! 今天早上打電話問了附近幾家店, 真的沒人有... 唉... 看來只好暫時把它收起來, 等買到線再繼續了. 本來想趕快鈎好這個週末可以穿的, 氣溫上升聽說會有80度(華氏)呢!

Column of Leaves Scarf

Yarn: RYC Silk Wool DK (50% silk, 50% merino wool), #306 Greenwood - 3 balls (109yd [100m] / 50g)
Pattern: Island of Misfit Patterns
Needles: Addi Turbo US size 6 (4 mm)
Size: 6" wide x 46" long before blocking, 8" wide x 58" long after blocking
Duration: 2007/04/15 - 2007/04/22

線材: RYC Silk Wool DK (50% 絲, 50% 美麗諾), 色號#306 - 3 球 (109yd [100m] / 50g)
圖樣: Island of Misfit Patterns
針號: 4 mm
尺寸: 寬15cm 長117cm(定型前) 寬20cm 長147cm(定型後)
製作日期: 2007/04/15 - 2007/04/22

After I saw Annie's and Margaret's gorgeous scarves, I decided to make one too. This pattern is so beautiful. Upon a quick glance, it looks somewhat similar to the Tiger Eye Scarf, but it is much easier to knit in my opinion. I did not try to memorize the pattern, but after a few repeats, I could pretty much figure out what to do next based on the previous row. It also knit up faster than Tiger Eye.

看到Annie和瑪格她們織的美美的圍巾, 心動手癢也來織一條. 這條圍巾看起來跟虎眼好像有點像, 織起來可比虎眼簡單多了. 雖然沒有刻意去背花樣, 織到後來看了上一段也可以猜出再下來要怎麼織. 織起來比虎眼快呢!



I wanted the two ends of the scarf to be symmetrical, so I worked the scarf from two ends and then joined them together. Each half has 19 pattern repeats. I had planned to graft the two halves using the Kitchener stitch. Well, I was only about 1/3 of the way through when I spotted a big hole. I could not figure out what went wrong. The lace border also presented some difficulties for grafting. I ripped back the join, almost dropped a stitch in the process. After all that, I decided to just do the safe and easy three needle bind-off. Although it is not as seamless as Kitchener stitch, I know I can do it without dropping any stitches... :D

為了圍起來時兩端花樣能對稱, 我也是各織兩片, 然後中間縫合. 每一半織了19個花樣重複. 不過這次偷吃步, 中間不是真的縫合的啦! 這次是用 three needle bind-off, 很明顯的有一條線, 不像縫合的可以幾乎看不出來. 其實本來是有用縫的喔! 縫不到三分之一就發現跑出一個大洞來, 研究了半天研究不出個所以然來, 只好乖乖地拆回去. 拆的過程中還漏針, 差點救不回來. 想想算了, 反正中間的地方通常是圍在脖子後面, 看不到... (也是懶啦... :D) 用 three needle bind-off 雖然沒有那麼好看, 可是不出錯就好啦!

Doesn't This Look Familiar?

I was browsing the new issue of Interweave Crochet the other day, and this Mermaid Scarf caught my eyes...

兩天前在翻最新的 Interweave Crochet, 看到一條很眼熟的美人魚圍巾...


It's the pink scarf in the middle of the picture. Doesn't it look like the popular Flower Petal Scarf (other than mine, seen here, here, here, here, and many others)? And also the Flower Scarf (seen here, here, here, and here...)? I am tempted to make this version too. Maybe in mohair?

就是照片中那條粉紅色的. 看起來像不像超受歡迎的花瓣圍巾 (除了 我的, 還有 這裡, 這裡, 這裡, 這裡, 啊, 列不完啦...)? 還有花朵圍巾 (看 這裡, 這裡, 這裡, 還有這裡...)? 我也想來鉤這條美人魚. 還沒仔細看鉤法, 不知道有什麼不一樣的地方. 想用毛海線來鉤耶, 效果應該會不錯吧?

Kiri Shawl 琦麗蕾絲披肩

Yarn: Tess' Designer Yarns Superwash Lace (100% merino), unknown colorway - 1 skein (500yd [459m] / 50g)
Pattern: All Tangled Up (TKA Project #18)
Needles: Addi Turbo US size 4 (3.5 mm) / 32" (80 cm) for lace, and US size 10.5 (6.5 mm) for bind-off
Size: 36" wingspan x 17.5" center length before blocking, 52" wingspan x 26" center length after blocking
Duration: 2007/04/01 - 2007/04/13

線材: Tess' Designer Yarns Superwash Lace (100% 美麗諾), 色號不詳 - 1 綑 (500yd [459m] / 50g)
圖樣: All Tangled Up (TKA Project #18)
針號: 3.5 mm/80 cm 輪針織主體, 6.5 mm 輪針收針
尺寸: 上寬92cm 中央長45cm(定型前) 上寬132cm 中央長66cm(定型後)
製作日期: 2007/04/01 - 2007/04/13



This is my second lace shawl. After just finishing Shetland Triangle, this one felt familiar and easy. The construction follows the same formula, just the stitch counts and the lace pattern are different. It is a simple lace, easily memorized after a few repeats. Although it was not a difficult knit, I did not dare to stare at the TV while I knit this one. Ripping back lace is no fun at all. I would rather go slow than make a mistake.

這是我第二條蕾絲披肩, 織過一條雪特蘭後, 這條織起來感覺很簡單, 都是一樣的公式, 只是針數蕾絲花樣不同而已. 這個蕾絲也不難, 織了幾次重複後就背下來了, 不過因為是蕾絲, 怕織錯不好拆, 還是乖乖的專心織, 不敢邊看電視邊織.



Since I only bought one skein of this yarn, my plan was to try to use it up. When I first started, I was amazed at how little yarn it took to make the initial few repeats. But Shetland Triangle taught me that the yarn would go really fast toward the last few repeats and the edging. After I finished the 9th repeat of the 10-row lace pattern, I started weighing the yarn ball at each 1o-row repeat - which used about 5 g. When I finished 12 repeats and only had 11 g of yarn left, I knew it was time to start the edging. Still worried that I might not have enough, I started weighing it every two rows. The good thing is I have more than enough - there's still 4 g left after bind-off. I am glad that I used the scale to help me estimate and decide when to stop.

因為這線只買了一綑, 一開始便打算盡量把它用完. 剛開始織, 覺得這細線用起來還蠻省的耶! 好像都沒有減少... 織過雪特蘭後知道最後那幾段用線會用的很兇, 織完9次十段花樣重複後, 我就開始每十段秤一次重量 - 每十段用掉 5 g. 當我織完12次重複時只剩下 11 g, 我就開始織邊啦! 每兩段再秤一次, 很怕線不夠來收針. 每兩段還是只用掉 1 g. 最後收針收完時剩下 4 g ... 真是ㄗㄞ的度度好... :D



The bind-off on my Shetland Triangle was too tight, I could not pull out those sharp points along the bias edges, which was very disappointing. Thus this time around, I decided to use needles 3 sizes larger (US size #7) to do the bind-off, thinking that it should be enough... Well, the result was as follows -

上次雪特蘭收針收的太緊, 尖角拉不出來. 這次想說, 那我拿大三號的針來收, 應該可以了吧?! 結果如下 -



The maddening thing is, if there were no sharp points at all, then I might just give up and try again on my next lace shawl. But do you see those few sharp points along the right edge? I was not happy about this... the look of it just drove me nuts... I slept on it, woke up the next morning determined to make it right. I ripped out the bind-off, one stitch at a time. It took me almost two hours just to undo the bind-off. What's one to do when 3-size-larger needles did not work? I grabbed a US size #10.5 from my tool box (note the lace was knit in size #4)... If I still couldn't get those sharp points with these huge needles, I would give up forever, maybe hire someone to do the bind-off for me next time... Fortunately, I am satisfied with the final result... :)

氣人的是, 如果都沒有尖角也就罷了. 偏偏右邊有, 左邊沒有... 這樣能看嗎? 火大, 把收針那一段全拆了!! 不是ㄙㄨㄚ的一排扯掉喔!! 我是一針一針拆回去的, 花了我將近兩個鐘頭, 拆完腰酸背痛, 眼睛都快脫窗啦! 針大三號(大 1 mm)還不行是嗎? 那10.5號針(大 3 mm)總行了吧? 尖角再拉不出來的話, 我就放棄了, 下次請高手(還是"鬆"手?)來幫我收針好了... 還好這次結果勉強可以接受... :)

Jacket, Dress, And Shawl

Three projects at the same time? And I still want to start new ones... hehe... ;) Although I always seem to have multiple projects going on at the same time, I do almost finish them all at the end. The keyword being "almost", there's a frustrating UFO in the pile for more than a year now. Not that I don't want to finish it, I just don't know how (and if) to go forward. That will be another post. For now, let me show you what I am working on:

同時進行三個projects? 而且還在想新的東西... 我是太閒了嗎? 心情可能有點閒, 手上可是沒停過唷! 我知道這樣三心二意, 反而需要更多時間來完成作品, 可是后, 現在想織的都是一些大作品咧, 每一件至少都要三個星期來完成, 不找些其他的東西來調劑一下, 會織不下去呢. 雖然三心二意, 可是我幾乎沒有半成品哦! 重點在"幾乎"... 有一件背心織了一年多了, 無法完成, 不是我不想完成它, 實在是不知如何繼續, 這個就以後再說吧. 先來現一下我目前的進度:

Phildar Swing Jacket is looking good. Both front pieces, the back, and one sleeve are done. The fronts and back have been blocked and measure perfectly. The sleeve has not been blocked. I will do a second batch of blocking once the second sleeve and the collar are done. Gotta start looking for yarn to do the pockets, and shopping for buttons!

拆了三次後, 第四次總算進行順利. Phildar外套這次看起來還不錯哩. 已經織好前片, 後片, 和一隻袖子. 前後片已經定型過, 尺寸剛好. 袖子尚未定型. 等第二隻袖子和領子織好, 再一起定型. 現在要開始找織口袋用的線和釦子!


I couldn't resist, the second day after I received my Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 2007 issue in the mail, I went out to buy yarn for the cover dress. It is too adorable! After about 4 days, the top back is done. I bought enough yarn and do intend to make the entire dress, but I know myself, this is probably one of the largest projects I have ever taken on (the largest may be the baby blanket...) I decided to start with the top, then the second tier of the garment and the sleeves. And if I haven't got tired of it, then I will make the bottom tier of the skirt. If I run out of patience, then at least I can wear it as a top. I imagine this dress will take some time to make. No hurry, this will just be a "little" something to do on the side while I tackle the other projects. :D

收到Vogue Knitting 2007 春夏版太興奮了, 第二天就跑去買線來織封面那件洋裝. 實在是太口愛了! 織了約四天吧, 現在上身後片已經完成. 我是真的打算織整件洋裝喔! 線量買的也夠. 可是我自己沒信心, 這麼大的project, 怕沒有耐心去完成. 這在我織過的東西裡, 算很大件了 (最大的大概是這件baby睡毯...) 決定先從上身開始織, 然後腰身小腹那一節裙子, 再來織袖子. 如果還沒累垮或厭倦, 再來織最下面那節裙襬. 如果不想再織下去, 那就把它當上衣穿. 嘿嘿... 反正不急, 天氣還沒暖到適合穿洋裝, 這件慢慢來, 當調劑品就好... :D


And of course, TKA's project of the month - Kiri Shawl. I started a few days ago, wanted to make sure the yarn and the needle gauge work well for this lace pattern. This lace yarn is one of my acquisitions from Stitches West 2007. I am liking how it has turned out so far. Hopefully it will look as good after blocking.

當然還有TKA這個月的project - 琦麗蕾絲披肩. 幾天前試織了一下, 想確定線和針號還可以. 線是這次在Stitches West 2007買的蕾絲細線. 覺得效果還不錯哩, 就一天織一點, 現在織了這麼多. 希望定型後效果更好.


The yarn on the left is the one I am using for Kiri. I am contemplating using the one on the right for Print O'The Wave Stole. Maybe add on a 4th project? Nuh, it will be after the Kiri is done...

左邊那綑線是我現在織琦麗披肩用的. 我在考慮用右邊那綑來織Print O'The Wave Stole. 可能等琦麗完成後再來進行...