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June 1, 2006
Welcome to The Amazing Lace
The Amazing Lace has officially begun, and as usual, I'm late getting started. But, as someone who generally works well under pressure, I'm hoping that personality trait will carry me through this competition. The first step of the competition is to introduce my team. There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 competitors, and while I can write in complete sentences and take pictures that don't totally suck (most days), there's just no way I'm funny or creative enough to win any of the prizes that are being dished out for this particular challenge (and if we're being honest here, probably not for any of them). But, lack of talent has rarely stopped me before (except for singing - no one better ask me to sing).
So, as I hope you all know by now, I'm Stephanie. I live in southern Wyoming, have a darling husband (he doesn't read this, so I can say that without worrying about the inflated head), a tri-colored corgi named Riley, a cat named Isabelle who I'm sure was a hit man in a previous life, and 4 horses who very well may have been comedians in their previous lives. A funny, ill-mannered bunch if you want to know the truth. Joining this somewhat disfunctional group is Trellis.
Photo Courtesy of Interweave Knits
Trellis most recently comes from Colorado via Interweave Knits Spring 2006 edition.
Joning the team is some gorgeous laceweight cashmere from across the pond. Kerry was kind enough to dye me some lovely pale gray in a small skein (I think something around 500 meters), which should be just perfect for this competition.
Trellis promises to be a challenging teammate and require some patience and special handling - there are those dreaded k7togs to deal with, plus the fact that this will be my first lace project with laceweight yarn - man that stuff is fine. And then there is the ever present problem of the best needles for lace work. Addis provide the benefit of smooth glide, flexible cords, and most excellent joins, but the tips.... Ah the tips are not nearly pointy enough for a k7tog. No way in hell that's gonna work. Bryspuns and I had a falling out after our last lace experience and they are not welcome in my knitting bag. So, I'm thinking my best bet will be my beloved ebony Holz & Steins. Hopefully I have one in the right size (that isn't currently enlisted into service on Butterfly). Speaking of needle size, I think I'm going to follow in the footsteps of greatness and copy Jared - downsize my needles for this project.
I imagine Trellis and I will be flying under the radar in this competition. We won't be outspoken and hopefully won't have any nasty fights along the way (drama queen personality aside, of course). And I really hope I didn't just jinx myself by saying that. You know how those knitting goddesses can be. The proper respect must be shown at all times. Before Trellis and I begin our trek to the finish line, Hourglass must be completed, and maybe a cute felted bag too. But, we'll see where the winds of motivation take us.
Comments
k7togs!? Holy cow.. I'll be cheering you on.
Posted by: Angela at June 1, 2006 10:54 AM
Sounds like an exciting project! And regardless of whether you win any prizes, I think your readers will agree that you are definitely creative and witty. Good luck!
Posted by: Carolyn at June 1, 2006 10:58 AM
Great post!!
Yeah, I thought about trying Trellis...until I saw that there are k7togs. Good luck!
Posted by: caitlyn at June 1, 2006 11:37 AM
It's sweet seeing the yarn practicing at being a trellis . . . um . . . it does know there's a little more to it than that, right??
It's going to be gorgeous!
Posted by: --Deb at June 1, 2006 1:11 PM
OOoh - that will be a nice scarf when you're done.
Posted by: PumpkinMama at June 1, 2006 1:58 PM
Funny...I just put my Trellis down to read about your Trellis! I'm so interested in seeing how it's is going to look on the smaller needles. (By the way, I love the shot of the yarn on the, uhm, trellis:)
Posted by: allison at June 1, 2006 2:20 PM
Ooo, trellis is so pretty, I've wanted to knit it. I think you are smart to go down needle sizes. I am planning on knitting Ene's Shawl in my silk laceweight and I think the pattern calls for size 5 needles with laceweight yarn. I'm going to use size 0s.
Posted by: Purly Whites at June 1, 2006 2:22 PM
It's a great pattern and I'm sure your team will do fabulous!
Posted by: Carole at June 1, 2006 2:34 PM
I like your intro :-) The laceweight cashmere sounds very nice.. but the k7togs, good luck!
Posted by: Diana at June 1, 2006 2:42 PM
Just make sure you wrangle all 7 stitches and one doesn't slip the lasso. Your yarn and the color are fabulous! You'll do well and have a lovely shawl come fall.
Posted by: margene at June 1, 2006 2:44 PM
Great post, I throughly enjoyed reading it. Trellis will be beautiful in that yarn.
Posted by: Rebekah at June 1, 2006 3:08 PM
However the process goes, you know the product is going to be totally worth it! Best of luck on your quest :-)
Posted by: Kristi aka Fiber Fool at June 1, 2006 3:23 PM
Oooh! I can't wait to see what you do with this! I tried to knit this for a friend awhile back and quickly discovered that lace and I DO NOT mix!!!
And what are you talking about? You're quite witty and I bet you'll win something. ;)
Posted by: Jenn at June 1, 2006 4:43 PM
Awe, I wish I had a vine in my garden that grew yarn!
Posted by: jessica~ at June 1, 2006 7:38 PM
that's a great yarn-on-vines-at-side-of-house shot :) we used to have vines crawling up our build but the coop board voted to have them all pulled down. bummer. i sorta miss them.
Posted by: gleek at June 1, 2006 8:53 PM
Trellis is so pretty! You know that yarn has a blueish tint to it :)
Posted by: Lolly at June 2, 2006 11:36 AM
I love the project you've selected. Looks great! Good luck with Trellis!
Posted by: Wanda at June 2, 2006 3:27 PM
I just finished this scarf. The K7tog were challenging at times. I used 4.5 mm Bryspuns with alapaca cloud. Good luck. Go team!
Posted by: loriz at June 3, 2006 10:16 AM
I'm doing a pattern that has P3togs that I just couldn't snag until I started moving all the stitches to a smaller needle for that row.That way I can get the needle in to grab all three without moving each stitch with my thumb
Moving all the stitches makes sense for this pattern; moving only the seven to be knit together might make more sense for Trellis.
Posted by: Connie at June 3, 2006 1:37 PM
I love Trellis. I think that's a great project. Good luck with the Amazing Lace!
Posted by: Wanda at June 4, 2006 1:02 PM
Good luck, Stephanie!
Posted by: Becky at June 4, 2006 11:32 PM
i was too late in joining the amazing lace, but i'm still doing lace nonetheless. i actually just cast-on for the trellis scarf last thursday, and boy, those k7tog's were a bit challenging in a dimly lit coffee house (i was at my local SnB group). i'm definately do these on slippery metal needles (with a sharp safety pin on hand just in case). in anycase, good luck with YOUR trellis scarf! =)
Posted by: ruth at June 5, 2006 1:31 AM
K7tog???? SEVEN???
I bow down to your knitterly courage.
Posted by: Kathy at June 5, 2006 1:10 PM
