Eyelet Lace Square

Hello:

I have been making a bunch of the beautiful Eyelet Lace Square designed by Chris Simon.

I am making 15 " versions for the Quidditch "Explore the Positions" game for HPKCHC.  I'm making these in the school colors of our local high school because I plan to donate a lap-ghan to their fundraising auction in the spring.

We are having a running blanket square swap in the HPKCHC group on Ravelry.  Every month, I make a square for my "target" for that month.  I like to make this square because I like the square, but also because I have it memorized.  For the swap, we can make either 12 " or 8 " squares.

I like to use the Gryffindor colors.  First, of course, because it is the Harry Potter .... Club.  But, secondly, because they look really good.

So this month, I knew the swap partner wanted the smaller sized square.  But, as I was making the square, I couldn't remember if it was supposed to be 8 in. or 10 in.  For some reason, I decided it was 10 in.  Not sure why.

I made this square:

Then, I decided to reread the PM with the information on it, and of course, I needed to make an 8 in. square.

So I made this square:

Not sure what I will do with the 10 in. square.  But I do like the look.  I will probably donate it to the Gryffies' Babies Squares.  This is a thread where you can donate a square for an afghan that is being put together for a House member who is expecting.


Peace,
f1berfat
shaping the planet with lace.

Fiber Friday out of the rain

Hello:
It's really nice to get out of the house on a gray morning and head out to Crossroads to meet friends for knitting.

CathieC beat me to the mall.  She was working on her Racing Raindrops shawl.  She has made some nice progress and is well on her way in the decrease section.  She left for yoga before I got my camera out.

CodyJunk brought a beautiful cowl, Sugarplum by Kate Gagnon Osborn  It has a lace bottom and a garter stitch top.  We had a chance to help her decide if she was finished or not.

Winterpromise31 brought her finished Twisted Trellis Hat for Show and Tell.You can really see the pattern through the variegated yarn.

She has started a baby blanket.  The lace edge is quite lovely, but not so open that it would be a problem for a baby's fingers.

Constance49 is also working on a Racing Raindrops scarf.  She is using a striping yarn with a long repeat.  It looks very different from CathieC's.

JulieMustKnit has finished her lovely Union Square Cowl, buttons and all.  She did not bring it in for show and tell (sob), but I stalked her Ravelry page, and she has some lovely photos of it there.  She did  bring a baby sweater that she has almost finished.  Quick knitter.

All in all, a wonderful time out of the rain.

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet while dry.

Art

Hello:

No sun today.

Last weekend my daughter, Moogie, the one who is at NYU, called.  She was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  "Did you find it?"  I asked. "Not yet, but I'm looking."

"It" is a painting by the great Spanish artist Diego Velasquez.  Velasquez was the court painter to the Spanish King Phillip IV in the mid 1600's.  He's the guy who painted family portraits and captured "everyday" family and court scenes of the Spanish court.  He painted portraits of the "little people" that the king collected (I know, weird and sad).  At one point he went on an art buying trip to Italy for the king, and while he was there, he wanted to get some portrait business for himself.  He painted a portrait of his slave, Juan de Pareja, and had de Pareja take it around to wealthy people to show how great a portrait painter Velasquez was.  He got a commission to paint the Pope. That painting, the one of Juan de Pareja, is the "it" that Moogie was looking for.

A while ago, I decided to do a series of poems about art.  This portrait is one of the art pieces I chose.  I did a bunch of research on the artist and  the subject.  I reread (having read it when I was a child) the Newberry Award winning book, I, Juan de Pareja, by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino.  And then I spent about a month writing and rewriting a poem.

As Velasquez's slave, de Pareja helped in the art studio.  He was educated, so knew how to read and write, and in the studio learned all the pieces of how to paint, building the frames, stretching the canvases, making the pigments, mixing the colors, making and taking care of the brushes..  He traveled with Velasquez.  They became friends. de Pareja began to paint.  But, that was illegal, for a slave to paint.  So, Velasquez freed both de Pareja and his wife.  Paintings by de Pareja can be found in museums in Europe including the Museum de Prado in Madrid, Spain.

The poem I wrote won the grand prize for poetry at the Whidbey Island Writer's Retreat, and was published in Cricket Magazine.  I had never seen the portrait.  I knew it was at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, but, I had never had a chance to find it.  For some reason, the one time I had been to New York as an adult, we went to the Guggenheim instead.

A few minutes after the phone call, I received a text from Moogie.

She had found it.  I started to cry.  I texted her that I was crying.  She texted back, "I'm crying, too."

To Juan de Pareja on the painting by Diego Velasquez
by C. A. Losi

I painted you all in brown, unadorned
but for simple collar edged in lace, worn

over brown wool as plain and tough
as the slave you once were.  Your rough

brown hand, comfortable with book,
hammer and brush, rests unaccustomedly still.  You look

straight from the canvas through brown eyes,
steady as your heart, strong as our friendship, and wise.

And, since art is truth, I painted your brown
hair curling round your head like a halo, or a crown.

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with great art.

New Members = 2 Tables

Hello:

What's that brightness?  Why, the sun, of course.  Another gorgeous day in the Pacific Northwest, today, and what was even better, Eastside Stitchers met at Crossroads in Bellevue.  We had two new to me people join us for stitching fun.  I am just going to say that I had to take the photos of everyone's projects out of order, and well, a lot of people brought new projects, so if I mess up who was doing what, tell me and I will fix it.

That being said, who was there and what were they stitching?

Wajio was learning how to kiss a fish... or knit a fish lips kiss heel. 

Chockelet has made huge progress on her crocheted afghan.  Yes, crochet is faster than knitting.  But, Chockelet, while not new to crochet, has not crocheted in years.  And yet, she is already so fast!

AspenD was working on some gorgeous black lace.

VanesaPolo is almost to the hip increases in her Serra Cardigan by Laura Aylor.

Skeinherder was busy knitting in Malabrigo for Stockpile 2013.  Tonight's project was a Footie slipper (I hope I got the right pattern.)

BlueBerryMary, another crocheter tonight, brought a finished lace shawl for Show and Tell, and a lace shawl in the same pattern that she is currently working on.

It is amazing to me how different the two shawls look. 

Wireknitter is back from her vacation with a beautiful new shawl she is test-knitting.  It's So I Gather by Susan Ashcroft.  It's a bit tough to see the texture caused by the gathering in the pattern in this photo, but it is a very unusual and striking pattern.

She also brought her finished Cameo for Show and Tell.  The lace edging is the perfect finish.

MustHaveSun has started a new Drops Cardigan.  She is using Eskimo Yarn from Yarn Studio.

MsWiz brought her red sweater.  She spent most of her time staring at the pattern.  I should have taken a photo of the pattern. Ha ha ha ha.

One of our new members, CrunchyNumbers, brought the back of a cable cardigan by Amy Herzog.  It is the Kittiwake Cardigan.  She is using Wool-Ease yarn in a lovely soft gray.

The cables in this piece are very interesting.  Not at all your typical cables.  We had a fun discussion about knitting cables with and without cable needles, the pros and cons.

Another newer member joined us at Crossroads tonight, JitteryKnitter.  She brought a beautiful vest by Elizabeth Zimmerman, the Rib Warmer.   She is knitting this as part of a KAL with the Seattle Knitting Guild.

Skeinherder and VanesaPolo were a bit late.  Why?  They were visiting our newest Eastside Stitcher, Addie!  born yesterday, October 8. Welcome, Addie, and bring your mom and grandma to Crossroads for some knitting.

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet from Crossroads.

Slip Sliding Away

Hello:
For my October SKA (Sock Knitters Anonymous) socks and the first part of my HPKCHC Order of the Phoenix Mission (or B.R.O.O.M.), I am knitting a mirrored pair of socks with a slip stitch mosaic pattern.

I am using the green and orange yarn that I dyed this summer with the Eastside Stitchers.  This yarn started out as a bare sock blank from Knit Pick.

I used green and yellow food colors to dye it.

I needed a good contrasting color to bring out the slip stitch pattern, and since I am knitting from stash, I am also using some  Berocco Comfort Sock in navy. 

The challenge states that the socks must be a mirror of each other.  So, I have started each sock with a different color.

It got interesting when I started knitting the slip stitch chart.

I really love how the two different color yarns set each other off.

These socks call for a "Peasant Heel."  This has me knit in some waste yarn on one side of the socks.  The waste yarn will be taken out when the socks are finished, the stitches picked up, and the heels knit.  I am past that part now and am knitting down the feet.  The soles are striped and the mosaic pattern continues on the instep.  I am really loving knitting these.

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet while slipping.

Arithmancy OWL

Hello:

I have been working on my Arithmancy OWL.   This month you can turn in 50% of your finished owl for points.  Although hooking the squares together is not a part of my proposal, I wanted to have a finished afghan when I am finished.  For me, this means, hooking together as I go.  Otherwise I will be overwhelmed wish the finishing.  Much better to do it as-I-go.

Here is what the afghan looks like when it is behaving like an afghan.

Hoping to hear some good news from our friend, GwenS before too long. She is in labor as I write.

Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with 2 rows finished.

A Quick Photo of the Raccoon In My Yard

Not the greatest photo, but this guy was actually shy.  He/she came in at about 8 am but backed up when I went out on the deck to get the photo.  Usually they don't care at all if we are on the deck.  They act like the yard is theirs.