The Mighty, Mighty Mel Saves the Day! ~ Post by Guest Blogger Jeff

Break out the bubbly! My Leave of Grass is FINISHED! Thanks in large part to Melissa, who, just by chance, had a partial skein of the same yarn in the same colorway as I was using - and was able to send that to me when I ran out with only 6 and a half edging repeats to go. All I needed was an extra 10 grams!

Anyway.

Behold!

Alpaca in the Leaves (of Grass)

the obligatory cat picture :)

oh, the horror! - Post by Guest Blogger Jeff

The good news: I only have 6 and a half more repeats of the edging to go!

The bad news:

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

That strand off to the right of the needle... yeah, that's the end of my last skein.

I've placed an emergency order with Zoe's momma and hope to to be able to finish SOOOOOOON!

Edgerific.... Post by Guest Blogger Jeff

I'm finally feeling much better which means I can knit again! Woohoo!!!

I finished chart D on Sunday. Woohoo!!!

And I'm 7 repeats in on the edging. Woohoo!!!

Only, what, 64 more repeats to go? Woohoo!!!

please weigh in...posted by Melissa

So, without this sounding like a complete cop out, I'm at a crossroads...I've just finished my first chart D and I have a big decision to make.   My gut tells me that I am not going to wear this knit.  As much as I love it, I'm fairly certain that it is going to languish in my closet for eternity.  It won't be large enough for a blanket in the light fingering yarn I chose, and it will be too large for a table covering if I complete the pattern as written.  But right now, without doing chart D for the second time, I can still do the border and have a beautiful heirloom linen that I will use.  Alot.  If I weren't knitting with all of you, the decision would be easy and I would start my edging.  I kind of feel like I'm cheating if I quit now, though, after encouraging the rest of you to knit along with us this year.  Sigh.  What to do what to do?  I would love some input ~ have you all made circular shawls that you've worn before?  Do you love them?  I will gladly continue on if I hear great things.  Any thoughts are welcome.  For now, I'm going to set this aside and ponder.  Ponder, ponder.  And Tanna, if you read this, I'm so glad you stopped pondering ~ I would feel awful not making the full size if I had been able to convince you that you would love the circular shape.

 

 

An unintended break.... Posted by Guest Blogger Jeff

So shortly after my last post on Saturday, I noticed a tickle in the back of my throat, which at the time, I just figured was because of the forced air heat at the place we were staying in Rehoboth (as opposed to the radiator heat we have at home). Though as the day progressed, I increasingly got more and more paranoid that I might be getting sick - and with the flu going around in the northeast like crazy this year, I was super paranoid. By the end of the day, I was pretty certain I was sick, and though I was able to knit on Saturday, Sunday was off and on knitting since I felt like pooh. I had hoped to get through Chart D over the weekend, but still have about 1/2 a repeat to go.  :(
I'm finally starting to feel a bit better (at least the chills are gone), so hopefully I'll get back to knitting soon. For the time being, it's just some laying in bed and zoning out on DVDs.

I do have to say, though, that Will has been fantastic at taking care of me in my infirmity. Love you, sweetie!

Another milestone.... Posted by Guest Blogger Jeff

First time through Chart D. DONE.

(Hope the pic shows up... I'm posting from my phone.) :)

Alpacas in the Leaves (of Grass) Update... posted by Guest Blogger Jeff

I'm officially marking my Ravely project page as 50% complete. At least I've used up 50% of my yarn, so it better be 50% complete!

I made it almost through round 25 of Chart D with the first skein of 660 yards.

I am really loving this pattern - and the yarn I'm using. The alpaca is so soft to knit with and is knitting into a lovely soft fabric as I'm knitting at a less airy gauge to be more of a throw than a shawl.

This weekend Will and I are going away on a knitting retreat with one of our knit groups. We'll be heading down to Rehoboth Beach, DE tomorrow morning and spending the long weekend knitting, and drinking, and eating, and just enjoying being away from home with a group of 16 crazy knitters. :) We'll see how much I get done.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Here we go a KAL-oling... posted by Guest Blogger Jeff

I was reminded the other day that I had yet to make my presence known to the Leaves of Grass KAL group. Oops.

So, I'm in... and I'm using a 100% alpaca sport weight called Heather Prime Alpaca for something a little weightier than the lace I'm using on the Neibling-a-long. :)

So, without further ado, here are a few KAL & NAL photo updates:

Leaves of Grass KAL ~ Ravely Project Page: Alpacas in the Leaves (of Grass)

Cast on at Midnight New Year's Day with some bubbly

 

Though this photo doesn't show it all, I am currently in my 4th repeat of  Chart C

 

 

Niebling-a-long ~ Ravelry Project Page: P♥M Wonderful - the Niebling-a-long

 

I'm through round 78, which puts me at 19,956 sts out of 101,148 (or 19.729505279392572%) of the small size of the pattern - though I do plan on adding a knit-on lace border instead of the crochet cast off (because I'm insane like that AND my crochet is awful) so that will add a lot of stitches - I just don't know how many yet since that pattern is currently undecided. :)

 

Happy knitting everyone!

 

the smallest of dents ~ posted by Melissa

 

My Fruhling so far... 

 

the center flower is complete ~ rows 1-26 are finished ~ 2,568 stitches so far

 

only 344 more rows to go...  and loving every stitch



Who needs electricity anyway? - post by Guest Blogger Jeff

So as most of you probably know, we got hit pretty badly by Hurricane/Super Storm Sandy on Monday and Tuesday. Will and I have been without power since Monday evening, though, luckily we have a gas stove and hot water heater, so have been able to enjoy coffee and showering just like normal.

But what's a guy to do once it's gone 5 o'clock and the candles need to be lit? Why, knit contentedly on his Niebling by the light of an oil lamp, of course!

I've determined that if I'm only able to knit the smaller size, that would be about 101,148 stitches before the bindoff (I'm also considering a knit on edging since my crochet technique leaves something to be desired). Based on the fact that I've gotten through row 62, that's 11,880 stitches and about 11.75% completed (provided I don't do a knit on edge...) I'm thinking I'll have enough lace to do the small size plus a knit on edge, but not enough to do the large size. I still need to calculate the number of stitches that would be on the off chance. :)

Happy knitting everyone!

I'm here! A post by guest-blogger Morgen

Greetings all!

Just a quick post to check in and let everyone know what I'll be doing this time around. 

When Melissa first floated the idea for a Niebling-Along I jumped at the chance.  How could I not?  A menu of patterns to choose from that rivals the Sears Christmas Catalog from when I was a kid, (I imagine now they "have an app for that" that my kid can get on his smartphone.) and the promise of a challenge.  A big challenge.  Just to add a little spice and kick it up a notch we'd be starting as everyone is headed into the holiday season.  I wanted a seat on THAT train of crazy.  Count me in!

I currently have 4 dogs.  (One summer I had 9!)  They are little dogs and they are better barometers of emotional energy in the house than anything else of which I could possibly think.  If I sigh in just the right way they are off my lap and out of the room like firecrackers.  They know when a storm is brewing.  (True fact and most times I am aware of it enough to take a step back and readjust accordingly.)  Suffice it to say they were wary around me for a couple of days as I sighed my way through the entire Niebling library.  I made lists.  I hemmed and hawed and assured myself that whatever patterns I loved and that I didn't choose I could always do in the future.  (Please don't let these be like potato chips where you can't stop at just one!)

One pattern I kept coming back to and it is the pattern I chose.  It is called Jesien ("Autumn"...a nice counterpoint to Melissa's "Spring")   But the pattern itself posed a bit of a problem for me.  What attracted me so much was the sheen that seemed to reflect off the piece which told me I needed to use a yarn with plenty of silk.  A yarn that was spun in such a way as to really bring out that sheen in the solid portions of the work. First I had to figure out what kind of yarn, then I could think about color.

I happened to stop into Serial Knitters in Kirkland and Debi, enabler that she is, said "Hey Morgen ahve you seen the knew Sweet Georgia we got it?  It's in the basket right up front, sock in the top, lace in the bottom.  She's mean.

I went to look and saw a couple of skeins of Merino Silk Lace in a gorgeous color called Tumbled Stone.  It was one of those rare colors that defies description.  If I had to call it something I guess it would be a beige of sorts, but in the right light it has a purplish sometimes pink cast to it.  It certainly wasn't what I had expected to choose, but it had the sheen.  Right there in the skein it had the sheen.  I bought all 4 skeins that Debi had.  That gives me about 3000 yards to work with.  I don't think I'll need anywhere near that much but better safe than sorry.

NOW my dilemma is what size needle to choose.    Again for me it is all abou the sheen and that will be conveyed in the solid portions of the leaves which I think will need to be knit at a slightly tighter gauge.  I'm thinking of a 3 or 4.  I don't know.

But I will have a few days to figure it out yet.  Wednesday I head out for the Fort Worden Retreat, so I am not officially casting on until after I get back, probably next Monday.  I took the picture of the yarn and printed out the pattern yesterday, our official start day.  Blog post today, and my plan is to spend one hour every day working on the Niebling in some capacity or other, gauge swatching, color coding the chart, winding up the yarn and finally casting on.  One hour per day committment until it's done (at which point I will likely be committed.)

What does it say about my life when I am looking forward to the one hour each day of a NIEBLING to provide balance and calm???  Ha!

I am really looking forward to this!  I am so glad to see everyone on board and am especially thrilled to spot on Ravelry that Kelly has already started and is also doing Jesien!  I'll have someone to bounce ideas off of if I get stuck!  (Plus she lives in my old stomping grounds where I grew up! ~~~~Waving to Kelly!)

THIS is going to be fun!

Hugs to you all,

Morgen

should have done more homework ~ posted by Melissa

So, this post no longer holds true ~ I was debating needle sizes this morning and after a lengthy Ravelry search of circular projects, I think that my 2500 yards of 'daffodil' will not be enough for 370+ rounds, even if I go down 2 or 3 needle sizes from the size I want to use.  Bummer.  Ah, well, better to get a late start than knit 350 rounds and run out of yarn after a lot of hard work.  I'll be watching from the sidelines for a week or so until my yarn arrives ~ I decided to stay with the Zephyr Jaggerspun but instead of a half-pound of 'daffodil', I'll be starting with a full pound of 'ice blue' and not the slightest worry of getting to the end of my cone before the end of my pattern.

 

Hope you all are having a good weekend ~ batten down the hatches, all you east coast peeps :)  ~ Melissa

 

 

I'm using my husband's computer today and found this old picture of Dozer when he was just a puppy ~ napping on the dock while we fished for trout a few summers ago.  It was a good day ~

see you next 'fruhling' ~ posted by Melissa

can I get a drumroll, please.......

This is it ~ my jaunt into the insanity pool that is Herbert Niebling.  I've chosen 'Fruhling' (or 'Spring', which in all honesty is probably when I will finish this project).  I've decided to go with the Zephyr Jaggerspun in 'daffodil' and I cannot wait to cast on.  You can follow my progress here on Ravelry and I'll try to do periodic blog posts, also. 

Can't wait to see Andrea, Kelly and Morgen's choices.  I do think we all decided on different patterns so this should be really interesting!  The countdown continues....2 days to go!  ~ Melissa

...and when Jeff talks, ladies, we all should jump 'cause well, he's Jeff, that's why...let's see some pictures!!!

My foray into insanity, once again - posted by Guest Blogger Jeff

Hello there!

Once again, I've been convinced by my knitty friend on the West Coast to join another crazy insane KAL. (Actually, to be truthful, I think I may have been the one who ignited the Niebling spark for this KAL, so apologies all around *grin*).

This knit-a-long should be a lot more engaging than the last one. Don't get me wrong, the Bridgewater is a beautiful shawl, it just didn't keep my mind very focused on the knitting with all that garter.... :) (and I like to be engaged in what I am knitting). I think this time around I might have a lot of "huh? wth?" moments, and there may quite possibily be a lot of profane words being muttered under my breath. So excited!

And now...for the big reveal from JeffInAmbler (formerly jmkorn - too many people were calling me "Jim" so I had to change it!), I plan to cast on the Pomegranate pattern on Saturday. Though, based on the amount of laceweight I have for this project (2625 yards), it's looking like I'll only be able to knit the smaller version.

And... my lace of choice for this is Sweet Nothings Silken from Bittersweet Woolery in the colorway "Icelings":

Isn't it lovely?

 

I was tired of doing all of my large lace projects in white JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk, so when I found this lovely 80/20 Wool/Silk blend with subtle tinges of pink and blue throughout at the Garden State Sheep Breeders Sheep and Fiber Festival last month, I couldn't resist. I think it's going to be perfect! What do you think?

 

I'm dying to see what everyone else is doing pattern & yarn-wise! (That means post your choices! NOW! *grin*)

 

Postscript: This is a shameless plug to check out my partner's blog: Strings-n-Stuff where you can read all about our Rhinebeck experiences this year! :)

ta dah! ~ a post by Jeff (guest blogger)

it. is. finished.

 

i'm not dead... yet ~ a post by Jeff (guest blogger)

one... more... side... to... go...

Slowpoke's Update

the end is in sight! only 50 sts left on the needles. i will finish the garter square tonight! woot woot!

Hallelujah!

205 stitches on the needles.

maybe in another 3 weeks i'll have all the decreases done!

oh, yeah, i'm supposed to write in this bloggy thing, aren't i?

so... progress has been slow. i had almost 100 stitches on the needles when, oops, the needle came out.

it was late at night and all attempts to salvage the stitches were just making it worse, so a little time out was called for.

today i decided to rip back to just below the booboo. i'm not smart enough to use lifelines (i like to knit dangerously), but at least i was smart enough to pick up the row of stitches below the whoops before i started ripping back.

it worked perfectly, and now i'm back on track to start the never ending garter stitches again.

seriously, what was i smoking when i said yes?

oh - and i'm using JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk 2/18 i have on a cone as it was the only lace yarn i had enough yardage of. :)

~ jeff in pennsylvania