miss september

Posted on annePosted in designing, lace/shawls, projects

you know how sometimes it seems like you work and work and work on some things and never have anything to show for it?
i felt like that most of august—perpetually behind with nothing to show for myself.
but now it’s september and i think that is all going to pay off in you seeing a lot more FOs. because the work has to come to something, at some point, after all . . . right??
(BSPs don’t count; you’ll see those “down the road a stretch”)

i had hoped to have the twinings pattern all set to publish today, but it is still waiting, forlornly, for its cover photo. i got my stole half done, alright, and blocked (hold on the pix are comin’), but the onslaught of humid, hot, soggy air that invaded our area last evening is playing havoc with the drying time.

it’s been sitting there drying for over 12 hours and it still feels quite damp. if i unpin it now, it will just be a saggy mess of a piece. debbieKnitter will have my head for not bringing it to class tonight, but she can just hoof it over here and look at it on my floor if she’s that desperate. there won’t be posing shots for this one today. pattern will be out tomorrow for sure, though (susanne, i SWEAR, it will be tomorrow).

the flip side of the humidity being, of course, that the fiber stays nice and plump instead of getting all flattened.

let’s back up a sec before we look at any more blocking porn (i KNOW—miss september is such a tease!).

let’s review the luscious yarn because i know everyone will want to know. my version of this stole is being knit in fearless fibers merino laceweight, colorway rubicund. i know i run on about deb and her fabulous yarn all the time, but trust me, it’s all true.

as further evidence for why we should all love her to death, i present reason #829:
it doesn’t bleed out.

this is my stole half soaking in warm water for over an hour last night. it has not been rinsed and the water has not been changed. the water has only the barest tinge of color, and to date, that has been my experience with every one of the many yarns i have received from deb. even the darkest shades produce a minimum of bleeding.

now, i know as well as anyone that bleeding does not necessarily signal a bad dye job or even any harm to the yarn at all. but it sure is nice not to be having a heart attack wondering what the final, dried piece will look like. it always looks just the same as it did during the knitting. and i know for sure that this is the end of it, too. there will be no bleeding in a rainstorm on the recipient’s new white blouse.

first let’s look at nan’s version. nan test knit the petite size stole in misti alpaca laceweight. nan was more than exceptionally helpful in this process, since i couldn’t start my own right away. we worked so well together, and i hope we will again.

how breathtaking is that? it was it fresh off the blocking board. now check this shot out (remember, for the purpose of scale, that nan is tiny)

uh, nan? don’t hide from us next time . . shawl porn is nothing to be ashamed of.

we also have debbi (blogless) knitting one in briar rose yarn. i haven’t seen it yet, but i bet it’s a beauty, and will most likely be on display at rhinebeck.

so, how about some more merino luv-a-liciousness?

mmm, those long, lo-ong leggy vines . . . so . . sinuous.
oh, BTW, my initial estimates for yardages was a tad off. i thought at first that i could get half the stole out of one skein of yarn, but i had to go into a second one. . . so it looks like the yardage will be three skeins for the petite size, and four skeins for the tall size. but you’ll probably have enough leftover for mitts.

omg—mitts would be fab. i can just see them climbing all the way up the arm (my sweater knitting gets yet a little smaller in the distance).

ok, now hang on, here come the big one (put your sodas down)

oooh. that was good. was it good for you?

i know this may not be the time, but there is another FO, patiently waiting its turn to be pinned down, stretched every which way, and blocked til it can’t walk any more.

hmmm . . we might need to find another catchy name for the living room.

41 thoughts on “miss september”

  3. Oooohhh… that WAS good for me! Just what I needed as the Briar Rose version nears the halfway mark. Miss September certainly doesn’t disappoint!
    🙂 –Back to knitting

  4. you are taunting my stash!! I’ve had two skiens of rubicund just waiting for a good pattern to call out to it.

    and I completely concur on Fearless fiber yarn. wonderful, wonderful stuff.

  5. Well since we probably don’t want the living room to become the knitting porn room maybe we can call it the blocking room.

    Beautiful, by the way!

  7. Oh it’s just beautiful! And your bee is done! Congrats!! I keep looking at mine and thinking ‘I must!’ and then I find a new sweater pattern and cast on for something else. I need to get reinvigorated for the bee!!

  9. Oh the tension!! How can you keep leading a girl on this way???

    Seriously, I’m sitting here knitting a scarf whilst watching Sense & Sensibility and fantasizing about buying a scad of fingering weight with which to knit one of your stoles…*sigh*

  11. At a loss for words here….You just never cease to amaze me! How do you do that? The shawl pic’s just never get old, especially the long shots. And I gotta say I love the picture of honey bee waiting in the wings while Miss September is ever so beautiful stretched out in all her glory winking at us from the corner. I could almost swear though that Honey is saying “humfhh…you little show off, steeling my thunder like that!!”

  13. “Blocking room” would be more matter-of-factly descriptive than catchy… but I’ll keep thinking! 😉
    Beautiful work, as always!

  14. Before I tell you how gorgeous the shawl is I must say, not sure if you remember all the gardening, and vegetable picking, cooking and eating. That could have something to do with feeling like you don’t have much to show for August. The shawl, as usual is breathtaking. I will be rushing to buy this one too! Thanks for sharing your wonderful designs with us.

  15. Gaaah. That’s the only sound I can make as my jaw has dropped to the floor in amazement. I best go find a tissue to wipe the drool off my keyboard. 🙂

  16. OMG!! It’s so beautiful. Another one of your designs that will be a ‘must do’. Will have to get the yarn too. Too beautiful!

  17. We all need a new list of adjectives to describe your beauti. . .uh, stunni. . .uh, breathtak. . .uh, here we go, it’s ALL of these and MORE:

    Roget’s New Millennium™ Thesaurus – Cite This Source
    Main Entry:
    beautiful
    Part of Speech:
    adjective
    Definition:
    attractive
    Synonyms:
    admirable, alluring, angelic, appealing, beauteous, bewitching, charming, classy, comely, cute, dazzling, delicate, delightful, divine, elegant, enticing, excellent, exquisite, fair, fascinating, fine, foxy*, good-looking, gorgeous, graceful, grand, handsome, ideal, lovely, magnificent, marvelous, nice, pleasing, pretty, pulchritudinous, radiant, ravishing, refined, resplendent, shapely, sightly, splendid, statuesque, stunning, sublime, superb, symmetrical, taking, well-formed, wonderful

  18. Gorgeous work, as always! Will you be selling it as a kit as you did the bee fields? I’m knitting the Bee right now, and loving it!

  20. Woefully behind on comments (a recurrent theme here, I suppose), but chiming in to say yet ANOTHER lovely project. Sigh. Add it to my list……

  23. I’m so glad the pattern will be out tomorrow – but since I ordered my fearless fibers yarn weeks ago – waaaaaa – I think I may have a yardage problem, since I ordered the two skeins you originally thought……..

  24. My mother caught sight of this shawl as she was peering over my shoulder and almost drooled all over said shoulder. Hmm………guess what she’s getting for Christmas?

  25. Oh.MY.GOODNESS.
    I know what you thought I was going to type, right?
    STUNNING. (both, but especially Miss September! I’ll rave about Honeybee Stole when the time comes…)
    (sigh)
    Absolutely amazing, my dear Anne!
    (((hugs)))

  32. That was so good I want a cigarette. And I don’t even smoke! Hope the pattern is ready soon, cos the money is burning a hole in my pocket.

  33. That is fabulous. You’re designing them faster than I can knit them. But I have a sense I know what is in store for me after Bee Fields and Wing of the Moth.

  34. I love it!! Is the edging knit on afterwards, and what edging is the top and bottom going to have?

    Gretchen

  39. After my fearless fiber, smokin’ socks were dry I stood petting and squeezing them convinced that the yarn would be divine draped around my neck.

    And here, just when I think I’ve decided which lace pattern I’d like to tackle you flauntingly display a another stunner. 🙂

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