New camera!

Our new camera (a Canon Powershot A710) (which I just noticed is now almost $5 less at Amazon than it was on Sunday, when I ordered it--huh) came on Tuesday, and today is really the first day I've had some time to play with it. Here are my first attempts at photos of the Large Rectangle in my oh-so bee-u-tee-ful Posh yarn:



The silk/cashmere blend is hard to put down, and the changes in color are fun to watch. I made a new "design element" in the fifth and sixth repeats, but it's hardly noticeable (at least, of course, until you actual notice it--then it's hard not to see)--the center leaf in the bottom photo is one of the mistakes. I somehow managed to make the exact same mistake two repeats in a row before correcting myself without even realizing it. I didn't see the mistake until I had done another four repeats, and couldn't really bear the thought of ripping back. So I'm leaving it in.

I've done 13 of 30 repeats so far, but it's already almost 35 inches long. And I started the second skein 6 rows ago; I'm debating how many more repeats I actually want to do. The finished, blocked measurements in Victorian Lace Today are 27" x 74", I think, and I still have to add the border. And block it.

I've never done a knit-on border, though, and it will take some tinkering to figure out how many single-, double-, and triple-joins changing the center length will take. My other concern is that I've read several accounts of needing more yarn than VLT calls for; I ordered 3 400-yard skeins, which is exactly the amount the pattern says I need. So if I knit 30 pattern repeats, and wind up with a longer center panel, I'm afraid I'll run out of yarn on the border.

Right now, however, I'm just going to keep going on the center panel, and not worry to much until I hit 25 repeats or so.

Tomorrow, DH and I are leaving for Bermuda--4 days, 3 nights, pink sand. We've both had a lot of craziness and stress going on in our personal and professional lives, so this is a nice treat. No phone, no internet (no student emails!), no plans other than sitting on a beach. We'll both probably take some of our own work with us, but it will be our work, not papers to grade, so even that will be something of a treat.

Progress on the large rectangle

I am thoroughly enjoying knitting with the Sari yarn--the fabric it's producing makes me want to roll around in it, neked. Or maybe knit lingerie out of it--that would be lovely.

I've done 5 of 30 repeats of the main rectangle of the scarf, but our camera isn't digital, so no pictures. We've been holding off--our "real" camera is a good Nikon, with lots of lenses to play with, and my DH--the one who always takes the pictures--wants to get a good Nikon digital, so we can use the lenses there, too. We've just about settled on getting a small one, too--it would be more portable, and better in some cases for that reason. DH keeps telling me to just buy one, but he knows more about what we're looking for than I do. I look at the eleventy-million versions of small, portable digital cameras and feel slightly dizzy trying to figure out how they're different, and why one is worth three times the next.

So no pictures right now; I'm going to push for the camera this week, though, because we're off to Bermuda for a long weekend next weekend. Since the New England weather has been something of a revolving door (it's spring! it's winter! it's spring! it's winter! 60 degrees! 6 inches of snow!), I can't wait for a nice pink beach.

yarn!

After waiting with bated breath (it actually only took a week for the package to get here from England, which is completely reasonably, but I was so excited that it felt like forever) I finally got my package from Posh yarn -- three skeins of the lace yarn (45% cashmere & 55% silk) in the middle. The color is "Sari"; in real life it's got more pink and orange than I was expecting, but it's absolutely beautiful. And soooo soft that I keep petting it.

It's destined to become a shawl from Victorian Lace Today. The shawl (p. 54) is called "Large Rectangle in leaf and trellis pattern with trellis border." Kind of a blah name, but a fabulous shawl, and I can't wait to get started. I'm (still) supposed to be grading papers; I'm holding off on starting until I've made more of a dent in them. I did wind up one skein into a ball last night so I could fondle it.

I also got two skeins of cashmere lace yarn called "Yesterday"; it's a dreamy blue-gray-purple color. It's got some very cool sections with more purple than you can see in the photo (on the right); an added little bonus. I've got a couple of possible patterns picked out, but (particularly at the rate I've been knitting lately) I'm going to wait until I've at least made a dent in the large rectangle.

The large rectangle will be my second shawl; I made Icarus last fall from IK using Misti Alpaca--what a great knit. I know that Mim put up some errata; I didn't notice any mistakes in the pattern (which says something about me, not the Mim's beautiful design!) and found it very easy to follow. I've knit some other smaller lace things--scarves and a socks, mainly, but I've never done a knit-on border, which the large rectangle (it really needs a prettier name!) has, so that's my new skill for this knit.

My new skill for blogging will be learning how to put the photos where I want them to go in the post, rather than at the top, which is where blogger keeps putting them.

Coming soon . . .

Real, actual content. But since it's my first post, and I'm supposed to be grading, I'll keep this short.