knitting by a pool in January
Each Wednesday, I take stock of the projects I’m working on.
KNITTTTTTTTTIIIINNNNNNGGGGGG!!!!
(by a pool).
(in January).
(and then picnicking).
(outside).
(without freezing).
(California has it’s perks).
(it’s also got some great yarn & fabric shops).
(which is not a perk – it’s a necessity).
Of course, there are also botanical gardens
& parks
& walks
& museums
& charming shops
& stunning street art
& cute restaurants
& meeting up with amazing people.
But I’m suffering from photo overload again this week.
So in the mean time, knitting.
photos, stories, sharing, and swatching
Each Wednesday, I take stock of the projects I’m working on.
I’m pretty sure I spent more time sorting through photos for this post and trying to whittle my selection down under half a dozen – then I’ll spend writing it.
I’ve taken hundreds of photos in the past week and a half. Some of them are ending up here, some on Instagram – but mostly they’re organizing themselves into stories & collections.
But the problem is, they’re not organizing themselves into chronological stories – the kind of stories that can be told while they’re happening. The photos I’m finding myself taking are organizing themselves into pattern-like stories – patterns in street art, and plant forms, in architecture and color, and funny street signs.
These are the kind of stories that can only be told after the fact – when you can get perspective, and see all the dots, before connecting them.
All that said, I do want to start using little stolen bits of time (waiting for coffee, or for food to come) to start sorting and sharing – before I get to the end of this trip, and find myself faces with an overwhelming number of thoughts and photos.
(Oh! And I also started swatching for a new sweater – looking forward and starting to plan for two 18 hour long train rides, from Oakland to Portland and back).
“Ordo” – a new brain bending shawl pattern
Order and chaos.
Order created from chaos.
Chaos facilitating order.
One begins – the other follows.
The two swirling around each other.
Two strands of yarn,
twisting around each other,
creating a whole new color.
Intertwining paths,
built with negative space,
splitting, intersecting, looping back around.
‘Ordo’ is Latin for “order, rank, or class.”
Order begets chaos. Chaos begets order.
Add a stitch. Create a hole. Make some lace.
The Important Pattern Details:
Yarn: 1,750 yards of lace weight yarn; 2 skeins of Toil & Trouble’s “Filament (Merino Silk Lace)” colorways: ‘Smoke Signals’ & ‘Apollo’
Two strands of lace weight yarn (one strand of each colorway) are held together throughout the shawl. This gives you a marled fabric, and at the same time, lets you use a not so itty bitty needle.
Needles: US 5s (3.75mm) 40″ circular needles; larger needles for binding off
Notions: stitch markers (8); tapestry/yarn needle
Gauge: 20 stitches & 34 rounds = 4 inches (10 cm) with smaller needle, in washed and blocked stockinette stitch
Dimensions: 40 inches (101.5 cm) blocked diameter
Skills Used: reading charts; casting on; knitting; k2tog, ssk, yo, k3tog, k3togtbl; binding off; weaving in ends; blocking lace
Please note that this lace stitch pattern is charted only.