Knitterguy

Peacock Tail and Leaf Scarf - Finished

Remember this?

Um...well, no, you wouldn't, because I've not shown it to you. Anyway, it's the fiber that got spun up into this yarn, which you first saw here.

Which has now been knitted up into this scarf.

 

I'm sorry the photos aren't better, because you can't see the beautiful creamy colour of the merino fibre. (I took the photos outside, and the weather feels and looks more like October than the end of August, and it's just started to rain - again.)

Pattern is "Peacock Tail and Diamond Scarf" from Nancy Bush's "Knitted Lace of Estonia". You cast on and work the edging, then a row of holes and the repeats of Peacock Tail and Leaf; set this --which is the scarf-- aside with live stitches on a holder. Then you cast on and work the edging for the other end, which is grafted (in garter stitch) to the scarf. I more or less blindly followed the instructions, which was fine until I'd finished the grafting and looked at it all and didn't like what I saw. So out came the grafting and I ripped back a few rows and redid the grafting. Much better to my eye. (Would be a good idea to check for errata before working it.)

Really a nice knit. The scarf weighs in at 1.3 ounces/36 grams, and is approx 9 x 58 inches/ 22.5 x 145cm.The points on the side edges are achieved through blocking. It took me 3 tries to get them, and I'm still not happy with the result. (It didn't help that I'm having a bout of low back pain, so being on the floor pinning out the points was not a happy time.)

To Recap

Pattern: "Peacock Tail and Leaf scarf" from Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush.

Yarn: Handspun by me. Merino roving (I think it's pin-drafted, or it's a very open top totally unlike the stuff you buy from the big wholesalers) from Ewe and Me Merinos, bought in 2008 at NY Sheep and Wool at Rhinebeck, NY. Singles spun on a  0.7 ounce/20 gram highwhorl "Heart" spindle from Tracy Eichheim at Woolly Designs; plied on 1.6 ounce/46 gram highwhorl "Heart" spindle by Tracy. The fibre drafted like you-wouldn't-believe beautifully, and I will definitely buy more this year.

Visitors

Some of you know that Paul is relocating to the other side of the North American continent to be 3 times zones closer to David. I was a little concerned when he said that they wanted to stop in for a visit on the trip, since that would take them considerable out of their way. (I mean, they're driving from New York State to Oregon, and deaking up into Ontario Canada and crossing the channel from Tobermory to South BayMouth on the Chi-Cheemaun is not the most direct route.)

After a few email exchanges with David about the route, plans were firmed up. Yesterday they arrived in the evening, and we drove to their motel near Wiarton Ontario. They checked in and settled, and we had supper on the balcony of their room. (I'd prepared a picnic of shrimp marinated in lemon juice and olive oil with capers and parsley; roasted peppers with balsamic vinegar and a bit of thyme on crostini; mixed green salad; watermelon chunks and slices of peaches with chopped mint for dessert. All washed down with a bottle of chardonnay.)

Two of my favourite guys.

On Sunday I plied

I'd spun enough singles from merino roving I'd bought from Ewe & Me Merinos that I could start plying.

It started like this.

And then it looked like this.

And now it looks like this.

The skein weighs 31 grams. My skein-winding contraption creates skeins that are 54 inches in circumference, and I counted 246 revolutions, so 13284 inches or 369 yards.

Memories of MSKR 2009

I was clearing some photos off the camera's memory card and found some from the Spring Knitting Retreat that I'd forgotten I'd taken. A walk down memory lane for me.

The mountain in Spring. I've seen it in spring, summer and fall -- need to do something about getting to Easton Mountain in winter -- and it's one of my favourite sights.

Alan knitting in the sunroom.

Joe and Josh, also in the sunroom.

Jeff, in the sunroom. Jeff, and Alan and I arrived on the Wednesday before the retreat's Thursday start. I think the photos of Alan and Jeff were taken on Thursday morning.

Juan and Scott

Alasdair played with a set of sticks.

An Afghan was assembled. Click to enlarge each thumbnail. In the first pic, we have (L to R) Kyle, Sean, Paul and Tom. Second pic it's (L to R) Sean, Paul, Kyle, Tom, Alasdair and John. Third pic is Sean, Kyle, Tom, Alasdair and John.

Last photo is a group shot. Click to enlarge. Starting with Mark's shaved head (sorry, Mark) and going clockwise we have Mark, Stephen, Matthew, John, Kenny, Tom, Joe and Sean. That's Alan in the background.

What a great bunch of guys.