Wednesday, April 07, 2010

A lot of this and that

Yesterday I received my first installment of the Year of Lace 2010 club. I've signed up for this in summer 2009, and almost forgot about it.
Recently I've followed the talk in the forum of YOL on ravelry, which is always quite interesting. With this kind of thing there's bound to be some who don't like the color of the yarn, or have trouble with the pattern itself. The pattern is called Miss Chatelaine by Kate Atherley.

The yarn is Schaefer Yarn "Audrey", 50% merino wool, 50% cultivated silk. At first glance I liked both, pattern and yarn. Although green is my favorite color, it's the warm greens I like especially. This skein has yellow in it, which does NOT make the green any warmer, since it has a blue-ish tint. I'm still not sure if I'd like to use this yarn with this pattern, since I'm not so fond of variegated yarn for shawls and stoles, and I think this yarn is not subtle enough for my taste.
Or - should I just suck it up, don't think too much, and knit it as it is anyway?

Miss Chatelaine-1. YOL 2010 package

This is almost a daily occurrence now. Happy is terrible bored, and gets into trouble all the time. No toilet paper roll is safe from him.



Here he "drowned" one of his chew toys. He likes everything with a long tail, so he can throw it through the air. Look at that disgusting grey, wet, slimy tail!!! I think every chew toy in the house has had to endure this procedure at least once so far.
The back yard is still wet and muddy, since it's rained the last two days. The hole he dug is filled with water, and I don't feel up to cleaning him up like the last time, so he only gets to go for walks right now, and he does puppy runs in the house to get rid of his energy.
Happy drowned his sheep

I know, I still owe you pictures of the other two pairs of Burning stripes socks, but I'll just finish this up quickly and then show you the lot.

3.pair of burning stripes socks-sock one

***

16 comments:

knottygnome said...

ooh i love the bright green of the socks. the shawl pattern looks pretty from the pic. i'd probably use a different yarn or try to overdye the yarn you got to a more solid color. my 2 cents.

Michelle said...

I can't offer any good advice on the lace yarn since I don't like variegated with lace either. I actually don't like variegated much at all anymore. Poor Happy with his boredom. It's interesting how they can find their own entertainment if you don't find it first. And the pink/green socks are very pretty!

Wanderingcatstudio said...

I'm with you -I don't really like using varigated yarns for lacy shawls. Unless it's something with garterstitch, for some reason that makes it okay.

And Happy isn't being bad - he's protecting you all from the evil toilet paper roll monster!

shannon said...

we have a near 13 year old cat that no toilet roll is safe near. although she strikes whenever, so we aren't always good about keeping them hidden. :)

i LOVE the socks. that stripe jog, with the alternate color...so so ingenious!

Sharon said...

In order for Happy to be a good protector, he has to practice - on everything: recycling, toilet paper, toys, whatever. Just be glad it's not your shoes!

Your socks are way pretty, too!

Toby said...

I won't even try to advise you on what to do with the kit. I was mulling over a similar thought this morning of 'what would I do if I didn't like one of my Shakespeare in Lace kits?'. If someone I know will love it I think I'd knit it and give it to them.

My least favorite shawl last year is Midsummer Night's Dream. I enjoyed the challenge of knitting it, but I will never wear a shawl that large. I'm actually considering ripping it back and re-working the pattern to make it smaller.

Alexandra said...

Can't wait to see all your beautiful stripey socks! If you don't like the yarn with the pattern, use the yarn for something else. The pattern does look lovely, very pretty!

RC said...

poor Happy! do you have a treadmill for him to walk some energy off? :)

lexa said...

Maggie has chewed up a roll or six of toiler paper in her day!

Walden said...

I don't recommend just sucking it up and knitting it . . . because I have never been very good at that. Why knit if we don't love it?

Love the back of the socks!

Susan said...

Funny, I have toilet paper rolls that look like that here too.

2paw said...

I don't think variegated yarn shows up a lace pattern as well as a solid either.
Toilet rolls, boxes of tissues, newspapers, even books: these are all things that are not totally safe from a puppy!!!
Very nice socks!!

B said...

Ditto on not using variegated for lace patterns. Both the yarn and the pattern are beautiful though.

Cloudberry said...

Love the sock!!
I don't have any good advise about the yarn. I think I would knit the shawl in another yarn ;) The pattern is beautiful though.

Pat said...

Hmmm - those stripey socks would be perfect for handspun - into the queue they go...
Looks like a really pretty shawl pattern - I think I'd use a solid color yarn and save the green/yellow for something else.
LOVE the muddy pictures above :-)

Anonymous said...

I love the little stripe down the back! so cute =)