We're having a KAL!

"Life is what happens while you're making other plans."

John Lennon

The cast is off! Yay! I still have to wear a brace, but can type and knit again! The last 6 weeks have been interesting, to say the least. Had I known life was going to force me to slow down, I would not have taken my sabbatical in the Fall.

I have now hit the ground running. Finished pattern for Helm's Deep is heading to the proofreader tomorrow, Rohan is close behind, and Ringwraith will head into testing this coming week (drop me an email if you are interested in test knitting).

Thank you to everyone for your well wishes and most especially your patience with me. I promise to fulfill your faith in me & my designs as quickly and efficiently as possible from here on out.

More about Helm's Deep, Rohan, & Ringwraith in a later post; this one is about the next KAL.

As I have not yet finished all the patterns in the Two Towers series, I am not able to devote adequate design time for another mystery shawl until later this year, after the other patterns are complete.

What to do with all that free time, you say?

We're going to do a Knit-a-long for the Mithril Vest!

While the pattern is no mystery to most of you, the pattern is a challenging one that will benefit from the additional support & guidance a KAL provides, from both myself & other knitters.

Details on the pattern can be found here & here

MITHRIL VEST KAL

You will have from now till June 10th (3 months) to complete your vest. That should be enough time for everybody, even those getting a late start.

I will set up 2 new threads on the Ravelry Lord of the Rings Project board: one for pattern questions, which I will check & respond to daily (scout's honor) and one for WIP & FO pictures. We'll keep general chatter in the Mithril KAL thread, OK?

There will be Lord of the Rings prizes in June:

LotR themed Gradiance yarn sets from Unique Sheep in



Mirkwood &



Arwen's Cloak



Socks Inspired by Lord of the Rings (books One & Two) from Unique Sheep & Lobug Designs


fiber batts from Inglenook Fibers



Goldberry



Smaug



The Music of The Lord of the Rings Films: A Comprehensive Account of Howard Shore's Scores

and a full set of Return of the King patterns from me!

All winners will be chosen randomly from those who have completed their vests, save the grand prize which will be determined by popular vote on Ravelry.

As in previous KALs, I want to make this a charitable effort, so $2 out of every $10 Mithril vest pattern sale during these months will go to Doctors Without Borders.

Ready?

Set?

GO!

Mithril Errata

Mithril corrections to charts 3 & 4, rows 55 & 57.

Pattern calls for YOs in row 55, sts 4 & 101 respectively. This results in a st count of 23 per chart. Row 57 as written calls for 22 sts, leaving an additional st. The question is whether to omit the YOs in row 55 or add a corresponding decrease in row 57.

I have gone all the way back to my Neibling source material in German to find the answer. I have tried to see what I did in my original and cannot make an accurate determination.

I think either one works, but assuming you have already completed row 55, just do decreases in row 57, sts 1, as follows:

Chart 3, row 57, st 1 should be k2tog.
Chart 4, row 57, st 104 should be SSK.

Chart 3, row 57 should begin: k2 tog, k1, yo, ktbl, yo, k2, yo, sk2p, yo, k2, yo, ktbl, yo k2, ssk, k2, yo, ktbl, yo, k2, k2tog

Chart 4, row 57 should end: ssk, k2, yo, ktbl, yo, k2, k2tog, k2, yo, ktbl, yo, k2, yo, sk2p, yo, k2, yo, ktbl, yo, k1, SSK

Sorry this took me so long to figure out…

Housekeeping

"Perhaps all artists were, in a sense, housewives: tenders of the earth household."

- Erica Jong

I am a lousy housekeeper.

No ifs, ands or buts. I would rather be creating something new, than maintaining something old.

My house is a pit, my lacework impeccable - sigh...

Which is why it has taken me this long to put my house in order.

Now that all of the patterns in the Fellowship of the Ring series (first of the Lord of the Rings Collection) are out, I have compiled them into both a comprehensive E-book of all 13 patterns (including Evenstar) for $60. This is a $12 savings over purchasing them individually.

I have also separated them into three"mini-collections" of four patterns each.

Wee Wonders $18

four small accessory patterns

Bag End, Goldberry, Rivindell, & Bombadil

Traveling Togs $22

four cabled patterns

Argonath, Dwarrowdelf, Lothlorien, & Strider

Elven Delicacies $25

four lace patterns

Evenstar, Galadriel's Mirror, Legolas, & Mithril

This way, those of you who love lace, or cables, or small projects can purchase a selection that includes only your favorites and still take advantage of a reduced price.

You can purchase here on the sidebar, or on Ravelry's website. Either way, you will download through Ravelry, so can keep the patterns in your library if you so desire.

You do NOT have to be a member of Ravelry to use their download provider.

I have also made another page that features the Fellowship Patterns.

*****

Now, anybody do windows?

Mithril At Last!

A Elbereth Gilthoniel,
silivren penna miriel
o menel aglar elenath…

'O Elbereth Star-kindler,
Glittering white light slants down, sparkling like jewels
From the glorious firmament of the star-host…

MITHRIL VEST $10


Fellowship of the Ring Series
a lace vest from the needles of Susan Pandorf

Pattern is intended to be oversized for Medium through 2X, with a finished bust measurement of [42, 46, 50, 54, 58] inches. If you wish a smaller vest, I suggest you go down a needle size.

Materials: 700 yds fingering weight yarn
1000 size 8 seed beads
size 3 (US) 40 inch circular needle
9 markers


Gauge: 4 st = 1 inch (blocked out) in repeating side panel pattern
Advanced lace knitting
Charted Pattern

Vest is knit in one piece with shoulders seamed at finish. A beaded front angles down to a long pointed back. Sizing is accomplished through the repeated stitches to the side of the lace panels. This pattern has 12 charts and uses short rows for shaping.

While not for the faint of heart, this vest is an heirloom quality piece, sure to be noticed wherever you wear it.

It is also a lot of fun to knit.

Sneak Peek Saturday, er Sunday, er Monday! Yeah! That's the Ticket!

"Enthusiasm, like measles, mumps and the common cold, is highly contagious."

-Emory Ward

Lord, I sure do hope so!

I have been sick this past week with the cold that wouldn't die...

Started sniffling on Wednesday and still hacking the following Monday.

Puts a real crimp in a gal's social life, don't ya know.

But it does wonders for the WIP pile.

I holed up with a tall glass of juice, my two current projects, and a weekend long Friday Night Lights marathon, courtesy of Netflix.

And lo & behold, they are both ready to join Treebeard & the Mere in testing. YAY!

First out of the starting gate is the Mithril Vest, last pattern in the Fellowship series.

I would do a modeled shot, but have not done my hair since last Tuesday before the plague cold hit. It's not pretty folks...



All that is left is to weave in the ends & knit the I-cord for the closing tie. I have some knifty little gold "Tree of Life" pendants coming for the ends of the ties.



Going to lace the I-cord through the front edges for closure

Mithril is knit in one piece - only seaming is at the shoulders. It has optional beading on the front only.

All the glitches are knocked out of it, the sizing issues have been addressed satisfactorily and she is heading out the door to all the wonderful test knitters in a wide variety of sizes - Hallelujah!

Haven't been this excited to see something leave home since my brother-in-law got his own apartment - lol

close up of upper back lace

The other WIP is something y'all haven't seen before.

This is Isengard, a highly textured lace stole knit up in Rowan's Fine Milk Cotton, which is fingering weight.


Isengard is all about linear length, contrasted with circular motifs. The tension between the tall tower and the circle at its base.

I had to do it, folks. After all, if Tolkien had stopped with Barad Dur, it would have been the One Tower, no?

You remember when I said Two Towers subscribers would be getting a little surprise somewhere down the road?

SURPRISE!

This pattern will be emailed free of charge to all Two Towers subscribers, just as soon as my test knitters are finished with her.

The pattern will eventually become available for individual purchase for $8 at the end of the year. Till then, the pattern will be exclusive to Two Towers subscribers, as my way of thanking them for their faith in me.

Not too late to join the fun. Sign up over on the sidebar or on Ravelry...

Speaking of subscribers, Fellowship of the Ring subscribers should check their in boxes this week for a little surprise from me to you to make the wait for Mithril a little less frustrating. I have not forgotten you and I appreciate your patience.

Now, if y'all will excuse me (WOW! I need to stop watchin this Texas hoedown of a series)

I have patterns to write...

At Long Last...

"Little by little, through patience and repeated effort, the mind will become stilled in the Self."

-Bhagavad Gita

Mithril is finally off the needles for good & blocking. Thought I had her ready for testing in May, but had to pull back a bit & add some short rows to the front to get the shape right.

Will get her out to one test knitter in each size by end of week - whew...

I know many of you are counting the days and wish it was done sooner. Me too!

All I can say is:

Something like this takes time & patience & extreme focus (which is often hard to come by in a household where a 2 year old has taken up residence.)

Mama had WB all last week, so was finally able to get in several days in a row of nothing but thinking & knitting & frogging & thinking some more.

I hope you think she is worth the effort and the wait.

I do.




Thank you for your patience with this challenging & rewarding design.

Perseverence

"Men perish because they cannot join the beginning with the end."

-Alcmaeon

We are coming to the end of the 0ne year and the beginning of the next, so the above quote seems particularly apt this time of year.

I was actually looking for a quote on persistence.

I have spent the last two days immersed in Herbert Niebling's wonderful designs, along with those of other German lace doily & tablecloth knitters. Yes, I know most of them are not available in English, but they are charted and they are such masterpieces, I wanted to learn from them.

With the aid of an on line translator and a lot of patience, I am swatching and learning oh so much. the charts look nothing like the final piece. They are complex, visually exciting, and intimidating.

When I saw this motif in a set of curtains, I knew I had to adapt it for Mithril.

This is the yarn I am using for my model: Filature Di Crosa Giolello: a lovely laceweight mohair with a gold filament. You can also get it in silver if you prefer.

Originally repeated as an edging, I split it in half and subdivided it. By flipping it diagonally, I designed a really special closure panel for the vest. Beading will be concentrated in this area.

I added to the lace openwork to curve upward into a neckline & added a placket that curves around the front and top. This might seem easy, but figuring out where to add the stitches to achieve this result took twelve hours & three different swatches in some stash yarn I had. (I didn't want to waste any more of the real yarn in experimenting)


You can really see the diagonal nature of the motif in this yarn. The diagonal line will continue in stockinette for the front opening & round its way to the back.

Now that this part is done, I am moving on to designing a complementary design for the back, either at the hem or yoke (haven't decided yet- weigh in through the comments if you have an opinion)

This is the final design for the Fellowship of the Ring Series. Even as I am finishing this final design, I am firmly ensconced in initial design work for the next leg of our journey.

The Two Towers

Mystery KAL
In Dreams
triangular shawl based on Galadriel's Crown
in Unique Sheep Gradience


$9

(one dollar of each purchase goes to Knitters Without Borders)

February 2011 - Sign ups open December 15th

Series
$45
Coming April 2011 - Sign ups open March 1st

eight patterns, cost $56, if purchased separately

Helm's Deep (shoulder warmer in Rowan Lima)
Emyn Muil ( cabled lace kerchief in MadelineTosh Lace)



Ringwraith (lace stole in Blue Moon Geisha)



Tree Beard (lace smoke ring in Filatura's Giollelo)
Balrog (mosaic cowl in String Theory Caper Sock)



Rohan (fair isle cape in Knit Picks Pallete)



Eowyn (twisted stitch. lace up gauntlets in Woolen Rabbit sock )



Elven Woods (lace ruana in Unique Sheep Gradience)

Sign ups for the Mystery Shawl KAL open on December 15th. And though sign ups for the series won't open until March 1st, I am offering through Christmas, at the request of some of my knitters...

Sunflower Designs gift certificate
good for the entire Two Towers series
$52
includes In Dreams Mystery KAL

Purchasers will receive a gift certificate in the form of a pdf, which can be printed out for wrapping & placing under the tree.

So, those of you who wish to put an entire year's worth of happy knitting on your Christmas list, can now do so. Button is on the sidebar, and I will try to get something up on RAV in the next few days.

And now I had better skedaddle; time's a wastin' & I need to get Mithril & In Dreams out to my test knitters.

Later gators...