It's a good thing elves are immortal...

At this rate, my Evenstar Shawl might get finished before the entire species becomes extinct. Wait, maybe not.

I started strong, what with the choosing and buying of items to make the shawl. Then waiting for them to arrive is always convenient for me, since it involves me doing nothing but whining about how I can't start the project yet. Then, when all had arrived and the time came, I pounced! I pulled out my size 4 DPNs and made the called-for swatch. Yeah, I jumped up a needle size from the recommendation right away. That's how this tight knitter rolls. Oddly, the swatch came out a teeeeny bit smaller than guage. So this left me with a choice. Do I knit it on the 4's, and end up with a slightly smaller Evenstar? Or do I go up a size, and risk making a very expensive mess?

This, as always, is where things always go ugly for me. Technically, both answers are right. According to my math, making them on a size 4 would make the shawl something like 58" in diameter instead of 60". Using a size 5 will make it a little bit more than 60". Is either bad? No. Can I make this very simple decision that makes no difference to anything at all? Nope.

So here's what I have, and have had for about a month now:

More than 100$ in yarn and beads, a lovely swatch, and a beautiful project bag that is languishing with no knitting being done.

For anyone who knows that they could do better than this given the same lovely items, here's where to get them:
Evenstar pattern, by Susan Pandorf
Silk Thread II in the colorway Ravenscroft, by Blue Moon Fiber Arts
Metallic Teal Green Iris 8/0 beads from Earth Faire
and last but most definitely not least,
Gorgeous black and toile project bag from Buttermilk Cottage on Etsy

No, you can't have mine. I am getting out the size 5 needles, and I am casting on for the actual shawl tomorrow. Then I'm going to stamp my little (shuh, size 10) feet and complain that I should have used the 4's, and it still won't make a difference.

As a side note, Susan's bags are AMAZING. I have two bags and a matching case for my DPNs, and one of the bags has been used as my everyday purse for a few months now. Also, Susan the person and business owner is a lovely human being to deal with. She made my first bag as a custom order with exactly the fabrics I wanted, and in this era of nonexistant customer service, she has been accomodating, kind, and all around wonderful to do business with.

For the record and as always, I am receiving no kind of compensation for shilling talking about any item or business. But go buy a bag from Susan anyway.

Anyway, I did promise last week that there would be an update that included a Loopy Ewe order. And the order was made, sent, and received. Why am I late? I am a klutz who tried to kill myself by doing a faceplant on the ground in the garage. Fortunately, I am again walking and no longer dizzy and lacking in focus... well, no more than usual.

So here are the lovelies from the Loopy Ewe:

Handmaiden Sea Sock in Topaz, Malabrigo in Aguas, and String Theory Caper in Periwinkle. They are all lovely and will make beautiful socks. Yes, I am going to make socks out of them. Yes, I think that would be considered a crime in some countries. In this house, though, we call it 'YAY, SOCKS!'

I exist outside my own mind!

What am I so excited about that I had to post in the middle of the night?

The lovely and personable Mary from America's Knitting contacted me yesterday to ask to post my Stripe Study shawl as an example of their shawl and beading projects.

After nine months of occasionally being convinced that I was largely talking to myself here, I have proof that there is life in the universe! A picture of my shawl has been posted, along with some of the loveliest things anyone has ever said of my crafting ability. Personally, I blame Madelinetosh, who makes incredible vibrant colors that are impossible to dislike.

Speaking of which, I think I need some more Madtosh sock yarn.Maybe some green. And purple. And blue.

Catch a Falling Star

We're going to try a little time travel here.

First, this is what I unpinned from my impromptu blocking area (read empty carpet with a sheet spread over it) this morning:

It is the Yvaine Pattern by Liz Abinante, whose patterns I wholeheartedly recommend. Even this, a free recipe for a very simple shawl, was written out in an easily understandable way. The original pattern was named after the main character in the Neil Gaiman book, Stardust. If you have not read this book, I strongly recommend that you do so. The movie is good also, but as in nearly every case, the book is superior. Especially when the book is by Neil Gaiman.

I followed Liz's instructions for the first section, then when the color repeats started, I began each color repeat with 4-8 rows of the seed stitch, then stockinette until reaching the next color shift.

A few weeks ago, this bit of lovely was this yarn:

This yarn is possibly my favorite thing in the universe. It is 550 yards of navajo plied polwarth that contains a total of nine stripes of color, from deep purple/red to grape green and back again, with dark, almost blackish shades in the color shifts. I also made it. It used to be a beautiful braid of polwarth fiber dyed by the most excellent and skilled Cloudlover.

This is a picture of a braid of the fiber in question:

I apologise that this is not in fact a picture of my braid of fiber, because the genius that is me forgot to take a picture before starting. This is the picture that I totally stole from Cloudlover's website, sorry about that. It's pretty well representative of what I spun, but really, stealing pictures is bad! I was so impressed with the fiber, that immediately after finishing spinning it, I ran out and signed up for the Cloudlover fiber club.

I got my very first braid from her a few days ago, and am very pleased. It's not a color I would have ever bought, but I'm completely in love with it. I really want to spin it next, even though I have other plans for my next project.

Next up, hopefully Thursday or Friday:

~I have once again expanded the stash by making an order from The Loopy Ewe, and I suspect it will be here by then.

~I have my very own spinning wheel, who is so beautiful that she deserves to be spoken of.

~There is more knitting to be discussed, as I am taking on the project of doom: EVENSTAR.