Act II: An (Even)Star Shawl is Born

Scene: EK's bedroom. She is alone in the house except for the collies and birds.
Action: The Evenstar "toe" is on the needles, ready for more wrestling into submission.

EK: (takes deep breath) OK, I boiled the cables of the Addi Lace needles beyond al dente. Oh I like that, cables with no minds at all! Let's move these stitches onto compliant needles. (moves stitches, starts knitting). Behold!! Sharp tips really matter! Soft cables are so much nicer. Joins could be a tad smoother, but what an improvement.

In the space of a few hours, what looks like a shawl, and not a toe, is created:


EK: Wow, 3/4 of the way through the chart. If I didn't have to go out tonight, I'd finish it. What joy!

DH walks in; is shown infant shawl.
DH: Lovely lace but it doesn't look like a shawl yet.
EK is left pondering other uses for sharp needles.
End of Act II.

Knitting on Inox Pryms

Well, now that I've tried these cheapie Inox Prym needles, I must say that they are quite nice. Oh the joins aren't as lovely-smooth as on the Addis but the cord relaxed without needing to be heated to near 100 deg C, and the Teflon coating moves the yarn along with just enough grab that I don't fear dropping sts (Addi Turbos are a little too slick sometimes; not the Golds though). And besides, Addis do not come in 2.75 mm, so there! And you can see how one knits a watermelon out of wool. It's fascinating to watch the pattern develop just by doing stockinette st over and over and over again. I do find the wool to be a bit on the scratchy side; Marian says it softens and fluffs up with washing, so these will be washed in Eucalan until they soften enough.

Ah, the reason for the mindless knitting project - Tuesday night, the neighboring town's council decided to pull the pending ordinance in the face of impending implosion from the flood of at least 50 of us who opposed it - and a lot of us came from out of town. Good to see democracy in action.

Look What Else Came!

No not the partly-done sock, the needles. Do you know what those are? They are among the last of their kind, Addi Turbo Gold-plated needles (size 2.5 mm). Why were these ever discontinued? I love them, they are a tad less slippery than regular Addi Turbos (a good thing, imo; dropping sock sts off the end of a pin terrorizes me), the cords relaxed without heat, the joins are so smooth, and the size is engraved in the pins. If you want to buy a pair, and I know only small size with 32" cords are left, go here. In fact, check out the Needlepoint Joint's whole website for unusual gadgets and notions and hard-to-find-elsewhere miscellany. I found the row marker for circs there, Margaret Stowe's lace book for a good price when everyone else had sold out of it, and these Addis. And I picked up the 2.75 mm Inox circs too.
Back to the socks here, Jeanie Townsend's Lilacs: The cuff was started with King Cole Anti-Tickle DK on 3 mm Addi Turbos. I casted on in the K-P method on both pins, then started the 1x1 ribbing across for 2 rows before joining and continuing the ribbing in the round. I'm hoping this makes for a stretchy cast-on, sort of like the tubular method I used before. The pattern was modified thus: besides the cast-on, I shortened the 17 repeat to 16 sts by changing the central P1-K1 tbl-P1 motif to a 2 st RT. And I eliminated rows 9 and 10, making the pattern 10 rows in all. The leg is started in Sundara sport merino in Meridian, still on the 3 mm needles to fit my lower calf (I want these to be a bit long; Peach Petals came out a bit too short and slouchy around the ankle (yes they are done!), but I'm wearing them anyway). Now done with the 2nd repeat, the sock is on the gold Addis. At the ankle, I may change the RT to K1 tbl, for a snugger fit. This is a fun and easy pattern.