shininess

Thinking about getting back to some mosaic work has been haunting me of late. So, I was very happy when my friend G. brought me some photos of a piece I had made for her many years back:




I had forgotten how pretty it was! Now I want it back. The piece is approximately 20 inches in diametre. To the best of my recollection, it was made using an old tabletop I found in some garbage area or other.

Speaking of garbage, I just learned about the work of Rod Humby, who is a real genius when it comes to making mosaics out of found objects. For example, this piece uses old chair backs:



This one was made using blocks stacked one on top of the other:



And this?


Everything but the kitchen sink! Anyway, check out his website,
The Joy of Shards Mosaic Resource. If you don't immediately rush out and buy some tile grout and cover a table or two in your place after that, there's something wrong with you.

Having said that, I won't be able to get back to any mosaic work today. Why not? Because I started work on Project Purple yesterday and am now obsessed. Sorry, no pics: I'm thinking about trying to get it published. It should be done in the next couple of days, everything being equal.

(What's that? You thought I was going to start on the Pheonix Rising by Sivia Harding? Hah! Approximately 23 minutes after deciding that, I changed my mind and hauled out the Silken.)

Speaking of Sivia Harding, she has just published a new pattern for the River Rock scarf, which was previously only available in the No Sheep for You book. This was my version, made last year:


This year, Sivia has outdone herself, coming up with four variations on the theme and providing a great bead tutorial as well:

The pattern is available for sale on her website. And, not to blow my own horn of fabulousness, but I have a small connection with this version: Sivia asked me if I had any suggestions about the pattern before publishing it, and has very graciously given me a credit!!

Which makes me feel all shiny and happy...

Happy Sunday!

PayDay, redux

PayDay came twice for me this time around, at least on the expenditure side.

Why? Because I've decided that I must make the Muir shawl

right after I finish my little mystery project, April Waters.

But don't you have all that lace yarn in the stash? you might well ask. Well, yes, I do... but I didn't have any Rowan Kidsilk Night...

...which is what, in my tortured mind anyway, this shawl begs for.

But just look how it sparkles!

Can't decide whether to put beads on as well (I have some plain crystal ones that would do nicely) or whether that would just be over the top.

While I was at Romni, I just had to snap this up as well...

Because, after all, I don't have enough lace patterns in my Ravelry queue - I might run out by 2015 or so and by that time, what if this book has gone out of print?! Sheesh.

Anyway, imagine how glad I was when I got back to the office to find that my first kit from the Year of Lace 2008 had arrived in the mail!!

WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD!




Check it out!!!
This lovely pattern is by the fabulous Sivia Harding. My great good luck to have an original and otherwise unpublished pattern from one of my favourite designers!

The yarn is by Claudia's Handpaints in a colour created only for this particular kit, and is called "Sivia's Hot Orange Brick". 1100 metres of it. I love it!

And it's a good thing I love it, actually... because the colour came off on my hands when winding it yesterday. Oh, I also learned something new - this phenomenon is called "crocking", not "bleeding" as I would have thought. Anyway, I figure that while I'm knitting it I'll just look like I've had henna tattoos on my hands.

Anyway, I'm thrilled with the kit, although I may have to sell this valuable gem from my collection in order to pay the rent today...

Just kidding. It's not mine. This is a 72.22 carat diamond, worth somewhere between $10 million and $13 million according to today's Globe and Mail (hey, what's a couple three million amongst friends, really!).

The Globe and Mail also told me today that it's OK to go to work and pull some April Fools jokes on the colleagues. Seriously. If you don't believe me, read this:

Playing a prank on a colleague today can "encourage creativity and teamwork," according to the executive jobsite TheLadders.co.uk. Some favourite pranks, it says, are unplugging a keyboard, moving the contents of a desk and fibbing that it's "crazy shirt day."

Creativity and teamwork through pranking? Wish I had known about this when I was a manager!

(Actually, that word "teamwork" is one of the words in the English language that I have come most to despise. Anyone who has been in a corporate workplace, or especially a not-for-profit workplace, has no doubt come across those schmaltzy motivational posters:

I used to have a boss who was right into this crap, and even wore a "Teamwork" tieclip every day to work. Augh.

Now, this is more like it:

...but I digress.)

Anyway, I'd better behave at work today. I'm not a manager any more (I gave up all that power and the high life making $35,000 a year in non-profit to get called to the Bar and make slightly more money some time back), and they might just put me in the corner again:

Hey, did you know, by the way, that the dunce cap originated in the 13th century as a tool to promote learning by funneling knowledge to the wearer? Seriously. If you don't believe me,
check out this link

Well, on that happy note it's time to get to work and start...

Happy April Fools' Day!!!

lace and beads and yarn, oh my!

I feel like an Olympian goddess today!!



Why? Because yesterday I got a special delivery at the office:



The Moonshadow Yarn Kit!

The pattern for the gorgeous stole is by Sivia Harding, one of my favourite designers - and she's Canadian!

Ellen at Earthfaire put together the kit with this absolutely gorgeous yarn:

It's called "Leili" and is available from Kelly at The Unique Sheep. It's a superwash merino/mohair blend and oh so soft - and WASHABLE!!! I don't remember the last time I used washable yarn, aside from my beloved Super 10 Butterfly, of course:


But I digress. The kit also comes with these lovely crystal frosted megatama beads!

And - Ellen was kind enough to provide me with a different colourway than that used in the original kit, which, although lovely, was not quite vivid enough for me. This one is called Velvet Turquoise. The co-workers oohed and aahed over this colour yesterday when I passed it around. I actually had to yank it from one person's hands ... !

And, since one can never have enough beads... Ellen also sent me some more.

I can't even remember what all I was going to use these for, to be quite honest. Sigh.
I'm sure I'll sort it out at some point in the near future.

Oh, in other news: because I apparently don't have enough of a life, I've been thinking about starting up another blog. Regular readers will note of late that I have been doing quite a bit of ranting about society's ills as I view them on this blog. However, I'm not quite sure that the crafty/ranty stuff is a comfortable fit, especially as I become increasingly irritated. So - I may start something a bit different up on 1 April, which I thought a fitting date: April Fools Day and all. Stay tuned...

Now I'm off to party with my yarn work.

Man, I'd love me a couple of those hats... wouldn't you?!

Sincerely yours,

the Brouhaha cure for the flu...

...why, yarn, of course!!

(It won't get rid of the flu, but you'll feel much, much better psychologically. Trust me!)

Now, I am down with a cold or the flu. Really. So in this regard, I had to drag myself out of the house to get to Shoppers Drug Mart for some meds and more orange juice (given that JJ was home from work and even sicker than I. Sigh.

Well, as it happens, Shoppers is only about one block away from Knitomatic. Since starting the Swallowtail, I have been on a mental quest for more Handmaiden Mini Maiden. So, I mustered up some additional energy and headed down there.

I found some of the Mini Maiden in the Woodland colourway:

...and could not resist snapping up some Lace Silk as well, in Buttercream:
...and a coppery shade that I can't find on their website:

The relatively subdued range of colours I bought are probably a good indication of how under the weather I feel. Sigh.

I think I will use the buttercream for the Icarus shawl from Interweave Mag Summer 2006 issue:

Or, maybe the Woodland? Or one of the other two million colours of Lace Silk I have in the stash? Sigh.

I did also manage to make some progress on the Swallowtail and last evening completed through the major pattern repeat sequence:

(I had actually willingly frogged back from what I last posted here as I didn't care for the bead placement. Here's my new scheme:

Pretty, eh? I also introduced some clear purple-lined beads).

Well, obsessing about lace helps me feel a little bit better. I may be able to start the SOTSii Clue 6 today as well... I got a printout while at the drugstore yesterday.

I've also decided to order some Sivia Harding lace patterns so that I can start plotting uses for some of the lace stash... I had best win the lottery soon, as I'm thinking I'm coming pretty close to a lifetime worth of lace knitting in the stash.

If you see a crazed-looking woman wandering the streets of Toronto dressed only in lace stoles, please come up and say hi. I don't bite!

Cheers, and happy Sunday!

Shazam! a free pattern

Please note: this pattern tutorial is also available at my new blog, Bespoke By Brouhaha! as well as some other FREE patterns and tutorials. Why not come on over and say hi?

This is something that's been haunting me since the summertime, so it's about time I got it done!

I submitted the pattern a couple of places but no-one bit (likely because the beauty has more to do with the Handmaiden Silken - colourway Sangria here, by the way - ole!!! - yarn than the pattern!). So, I've decided that it should be my little midwinter blues-buster gift to myself and anyone else out there who cares to knit it.

The pattern is heavily inspired by Sivia Harding, who created the wonderful River Rock Scarf (that pattern is found in the No Sheep for You book). The zigzag pattern is modified from one published in a "Lace Primer" article by Eunny Jang in the Interweave Knits Summer 2006 issue.


I ordered the beads from Earthfaire and I strongly suggest that you do the same if you're going to attempt this pattern. The beads that Ellen provides are without compare (at least, in Toronto).

The colours used here are gunmetal and olive gold-lined.

I'm reminded a bit of Bart Simpson's head when I look at this photo!

So, what's next? A crown, perhaps?! Hmm...

The scarf as I made it took a bit less than one skein (100g/250m) of Handmaiden Silken and 750 beads. Dimensions are 40" long by 5 1/2" wide.

Well, I'll stop blatting on now, aside from to wish you all a happy (#$@&($*&@(#$*????) Monday - and to write out the pattern!

Shazam!

A knitting pattern by Kristina "Brouhaha" Brousalis, 2008.

Please feel free to print out for your own use and to share with other knitters or link from your own blog. However, kindly do not repost in full without crediting me. All rights reserved.

Supplies:

• Yarn: 250 -400 metres of DK weight silk or silk blend. The yarn used here is Silken by Handmaiden). I used a bit less than one skein (100 g or 250 m).
  
• Needles: 4.0 mm straight or circular, your choice (I used circular). US size - either 5 or 6 - I'd likely go with the larger ones first.
  
• Beads: 1250 beads in 6/0 weight. I used beads by Earthfaire in two colours - 750 in gunmetal and 500 in olive gold-lined. I imagine that you could get away with half the amount of beads if you really want to - but I like the full line.
• Notions: bead threader or dental floss threader (for threading beads), tapestry needle (for weaving in ends).

Tension:

(approximate only)

20 sts and 22 rows = 10 cm (4")
one full pattern rep (20 rows) = approx. 15cm (6") wide by 10.5 cm (4.25") high

(But don't get stressed if you don't get this tension! Given that this is lace, much will depend on what type of lace fabric you prefer, of course.)

Instructions:

1. Thread the beads directly on to the yarn before you begin knitting.

• Use either a beading needle (available at bead shops) or a dental floss threader (available in quantity at most pharmacies). I used the latter.

• There is an excellent tutorial on how to do this by Sivia Harding in the Knitty Spring 2006 issue.

• My further suggestion: to save yourself hassles while knitting and minimise having to push the beads down, when you have approx. 40 or 50 beads in a group, push them down several metres and keep doing so, keeping several metres' distance between each group of beads.

• I don't think the crochet hook method of placing beads will work well with this pattern - but please do correct me if you find out that I'm wrong! (I know you'll be shocked at that notion, but it's been known to happen!)

• Of course, you can always skip the beads. However, I quite like them.
  

2. Begin knitting!

legend:

K = knit
P = purl
pb = place bead
yo = yarn over
k2tog = knit two stitches together
ssk = slip slip knit (slip the next stitch, then the following, then knit the two slipped stitches together)

Cast on 30 stitches loosely (I used the cable cast-on method).

The pattern is repeated over 20 rows - the entire scarf as I knitted it is 250 rows long, with a half repetition at the end of the scarf.

Knit the pattern:
Rows 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9: P1, PB, *P1, ssk, K2, yo, K1, P1, pb* then repeat the part between the asterisks three times, then last stitch P1.

All even rows (2 through 20): K1, *pb, K1, P5, K1*, repeat the part between the asterisks three times, then last stitch K1

Rows 11, 13, 15, 17, and 19: P1, PB, *P1, K1, yo, K2, K2tog, P1, pb* then repeat the part between the asterisks three times, then last stitch P1.

** I'm sure this would look quite lovely as well if you skipped the beads on the even rows, which would make your knitting life easier.... for my part, I'm quite happy with the even line, but whatever works for you!**

The pattern, when knitted, zigzags naturally like this:


Repeat Rows 1 through 20 a total of 12 times, then repeat rows one through 10 once = 250 rows.

Bind off LOOSELY (if you knit tightly, or you're just beginning, it might help to bind off with a needle one or two sizes larger than what you used to knit the scarf).

AUGHGHGHGGH! How do I place beads, you ask?

Simple. The beads belong between the stitch preceding the "pb" notation and the one following. Just push one bead as closely as you can to the base of your working yarn, then knit or purl the following stitch as directed. Don't worry if the bead appears loose - everything will fall into place eventually.

Blocking:
I use spray blocking for this type of piece. Grab a towel and place on a blocking board (or, if you're like me, the floor on top of a towel). Spray the scarf generously with water from a spray bottle, then flatten out and ensure that all of your little peaks are looking perky and that your beads fall into line. Spray some more and then leave to dry.

It won't probably be the end of the world if you want to do a wet blocking by soaking with water with a bit of mild detergent, shampoo or Eucalan instead. However, I don't vouch for that as I haven't tried it... I would just say be gentle as silk can stretch dramatically.

Enjoy!!!!

Please note: this pattern tutorial is also available at my new blog, Bespoke By Brouhaha! as well as some other FREE patterns and tutorials. Why not come on over and say hi?