Ravellenics

I cast-on Scalene last Friday, a garter shawl. I know, I know, I'm not really into garter, but it seems to be knitting up fairly fast, and I hope to finish it and perhaps another shawl in the 2-week timeframe.



The colors I'm using are SG Rhinocerous Beetle which is a black, and the January Nudibranch which is a Rusty-red color. The contrast is striking and so far it's a very pleasing knit.

 

These leaves are lovely to knit, but currently on hold.
The project doesn't meet the requirements for wips-wrestling which is the normal event I enter.
Projects had to have not been worked on since mid May to qualify for wips-wrestling, so this will have to go on hold until I'm through the Ravellenic period.

Hurry up and wait..

The weeks have flown by and I'm still living without a dishwasher and in a challenged space. I pushed and pushed to have work done at my place in a timely manner. I was project manager extraordinaire even though the resources were not my own, and I didn't know about any of the other dependencies or competing projects. The weather's been warm, hot, overcast, stormy, rainy, electrifying, dry, and warm again, and I've had a train of people coming in and out.

Today, at last, we're ready to paint, and I know I have that little paint can just waiting for me...and there it is. I take a snap and e-mail it so I can get the quote in my hands, and realize as I turn the corner into my bathroom that that the walls are not as I remembered, they're not the same colour as the kitchen, that of the paint in the cute little can. Nope, it's a light peachy colour. So, another little surprise expense unplanned. People tell me that work on your home is always more than you expect, so to budget a bit more than you plan for just such surprises. At this point, I'd say budgeting 30% more or more, and allowing for 3x as much time as you think the  minimum will be.

Some weird weather we're having

Five people told me today about the thunder / lightning and torrential downpour last night (thursday). I woke up twice in the night myself to the rumbling thunder, but no lightning. I suppose I'm not high enough to see it.

When I looked out, everything was green and calm.  Then, when I was just settling back to sleep, an incredible downpour of rain pelting the roof - twice in one night, both times -  short but intense.

In the morning, overcast skies with just a hint of blue peeking out when I looked out of my window at work warmed to sunny weather in the afternoon, coinciding with free "refreshers *" at starbucks this afternoon. Again some weird rain - lightning bouts alternating with flashes in the sky at knit night, and driving home, a few streaks of light horizontally across the purple night sky.


* Refresher a.k.a the equivalent of an italian soda made with regular tap water instead of carbonated.  Pretty amazing how they can evolve another $4+ product line from watered down juice and ice. One was a lime-mint flavour, looks/tastes like a mojito mix without the alcohol, and the others a berry mixture with a few frozen berries thrown in. ka-ching.

The secret handshake

"Yarn", I said, as I stood in front of a lady standing in a small crowd that had gathered in front of Future Shop today.  The lady looked at me blankly.

I said it again softly. She turned to me and stared. When I asked her her name, it turned out she was the wrong lady. Turns out Future Shop was having some kind of gaming release, so there was a reason for the small crowd that gathered there.

I ended up finding the knitter I was looking for; turns out, I was early for once, and she arrived right on time. I didn't have to say "Yarn", either, I just showed her the yarn, and she smiled.

The Levenwick is off the needles....

I finally finished the button band on the Levenwick, and blocked it last weekend:



and I've pinned Larch, but not seamed yet.

Meanwhile, new projects are beckoning...
I started one long-term one - 

(a) a Sylvan Blanket which is made with leaf strips dovetailed together.



The yarn is SG Codex in Delirium. Here is a pic of the original skeins:



Two leaves measures 9" long, and 3" wide.     

I have about 26 strips to make, each with a guesstimated 16 leaves, and using ~48g of yarn.

So far at knit night, I knit 6 leaves, so I have 8 total.
Needle Size: US 7


and hopefully, a short-term one - 

(b) a Summery Lacewing top. Intended to be using corn yarn, but I'm adapting the yarn, the gauge, and hoping I can adjust the decreases to the waist, and increases.

Here's the start -



US 6 for the border cast-on and for the body.
My gauge 24st/32 R, targeting the 38.5" for 36".

and the yarn: