Project 31: Emily Shawl

This project was finished in March 2011.

I love how this shawl came out.  It's an unusual construction, which is how it became part of my Nerd Wars dissertation last spring.  The yarn is a silky, drapey thing that I only regret I do not have more of. It blocked nicely and looks great as a yarn and pattern match.  I almost - almost! - wish I hadn't given it away!






Pattern: Emily Shawl by Mandy Moore, published in Knitscene Winter/Spring 2010

Yarn: Alina Shea Creations Grassy Feet (65% superwash wool, 35% bamboo) in Summer Fun, the June 2010 yarn club offering



Needles:  Size 7 Knit Picks Options nickle-plated interchangeables

Yardage: 324 yards

Rav page

Mods: none

I enlisted the help of then-three-year-old Spike to photograph the back.  He did it well!



Sigh.  I might have to make another one of these.  In addition to being part of my Nerd Wars dissertation, I turned this project in to the HPKCHC for Charms, March 2011.

Project 17: Pink Girl Necklace

The parts for this little necklace have been knocking around the house for about a year, but I finally got all the pieces together in the same place and made it!

The necklace clasp:



The strands:



Finally, the necklace:



Yarn: DMC Six-strand Embroidery Floss, not sure about the particular shade of light pink but it was from my giant box of floss.  I used two strands of the six.

Pattern: Based on the Infamous Beaded Necklaces Tutorial, by Devon Clement (Rav link)

Needles: tiny little stainless-steel crochet hook.... size 7?  5?  Somewhere in there.  Not too tiny.

Yardage: Hmmmm..... not a whole lot.... maybe 4 yards or so, using only two of the six strands.

Rav page

Mods: I still haven't found the material called for in the tutorial, so found some pink beads that coordinated nicely and used the cotton embroidery floss

Nerd Wars!

I mentioned that I signed up for another crafting game on Ravelry, Nerd Wars.  The game runs through February, March, and April, and their three-month crafting prompts are called dissertations.

Competitors interested in taking part will post a proposalfor their project. The project should be expected to take a solid three months, like a cable-knit sweater or 3 pairs of socks, or spinning 1200 yards of 3-ply yarn or something.

I wrote my dissertation proposal in the scientific category:

Scientific
This category focuses on challenges of scientific knowledge.Samples: Complete a project that demonstrates some type of circuitry
Complete a project that demonstrates DNA, in structure, the letters, or double helix.

Wish me luck!

---

Rav handle: needlesnswiffers
Team Dumbledore's Army
Summary of the project: complete three lace shawlettes
Patterns:
Emily Shawl in Alina Shea Creations Grassy Feet in Summer Fun



Lehmus-huivi in Left Coast Yarns Merino/Nylon 80/20 blend in Forbidden Forrest



Dane Shawl in Plymouth Yarn Zino in color 8



I intend to knit the three shawls as written until/unless I run out of yarn.

Category: Scientific.  This is a study in botany.  These three lace shawls all exhibit leaf motifs and have three different construction methods.  My experiment is designed to explore how the leaves react to growth in the three different directions.  Figure 4 illustrates the three shawls and the shading indicates the direction of work, from the cast-on at the lightest portion to the bind-off at the darkest portion.



Time justification: I am not very experienced at lace shawls, so I will be building a valuable skillset which takes time and mental energy.  To tell you a little about my life, I am a stay-at-home-parent to two little boys who are ages 3 and 1.  My family requires good food, clean clothes, and a passing attempt at cleaning the house once in a while.  I also spend several hours each day on administrative tasks concerning another group on Ravelry.  So, projects that move swiftly can be done with my eyes closed, are easy to pick up and throw down to mitigate the latest crisis in real life or online, and have easy-to-memorize patterns.  Otherwise, my time to sit and ponder lace charts is limited and fraught with peril.