Finished by the skin of my teeth January 15, 2008 ~ 3:00 pm
Posted by Julie in : Craftiness Is Next To Godliness, Rick, The Girls , trackbackLast night I learned something. Sea Silk that has been dyed red? Bleeds red when you wash it. After three soaks and a final bath with a bit of white vinegar, I think I’ve stopped the bleeding. I wrote on the little note that accompanied the shawlette that it might need another vinegar bath and maybe she should think about not wearing it over white shirts at first as a caveat. Wouldn’t want to ruin any clothes with it.
As far as the fuck-up I wrote about yesterday goes…I don’t think she’ll notice it. She is not a knitter, and the chevron pattern combined with the variations in hue and the drapey nature of silk mean that it’s not as easy to see the fuck-up as it might have been had I used another yarn.
So, without further ado, I give you the project that went out in the mail this morning. Behind the cut, of course, because there are pictures.Pattern: Clementine Shawlette by Michele Rose Orne (appeared in Sp ‘07 Interweave Knits)
Yarn: Handmaiden Sea Silk (70% silk, 30% seacell). I think the colorway is Berries, but it might be Sangria. The labels never list the colorway for some reason
Needles: Addi Turbo Lace US Size 4, 32″ circs. I heart these needles. My love for them is great.
Would I knit it again? Maybe. It turns out very nicely, and it’s a simple pattern if you don’t knit it by Christmas lights and mistake the right side for the wrong side. (Yep, I realized this morning that’s how the fuck-up happened. Will I never learn about the perils of knitting by Christmas lights?
Pictures:
Pre-blocking. Boy, this picture is dark.
Also pre-blocking. I really need to build a lightbox.
Post blocking. You can see the happy little chevrons much better.
Pretty. 
And on that note, I am off to Tampa tomorrow for my vacation with Rick. We aren’t flying down together because he’s in Massachusetts and I’m in NYC, but this will be our first vacation together. We’ve been road-tripping before, we’ve spent many weekends together, but never have we ventured to parts unknown together. We’ll be staying with Rick’s brother and sister-in-law, and I’m sure golfing will be involved, but I’ve also talked Rick into Disney, the beach, and maybe even Sea World. I don’t know what my internet access will be like, so the blog may not be updated before next Thursday. In the meantime, be good to each other. I’ll be looking like this (minus the drool):
Samang likes beer bottles because they’re cold. And because if adults have them, they must be something she should have, too.
Comments
very pretty! I love the blocking magic. and I think we obsess WAY too much about the mistakes we make in knitted gifts for non-knitters. Non-knitters think garter stitch scarves are MAGIC, so…you know…lace tends to blow their minds.
Have fun on vacation! Even if you don’t do internet access….remember you can ALWAYS tweet! Vacation twitter so we can all be jealous!
Your knitting is amazing as always. Very nice job.
Enjoy the sun. Have a few servesas for me. And a few more for yourself.
The shawlette is gorgeous! Don’t sweat it. ESC is very right.
And have fun!
Absolutely gorgeous! I’d give my left hand to knit that well…
Uh, maybe not quite that much, but it’d be cool to be able to do it.
Lovely shawl. Enjoy Tampa - I hear the weather is beautiful.
Looking forward to hanging out Miss Knitting Queen
By the time you read this… you’ll be back from your vacation in the sun… I hope the freeze didn’t reach you in Tampa!
For the bleeding you could try go to a quilt shop and get some Retayne or Synthropol, the are good for setting in dyes and stopping bleeding, I use then mostly on any hand dyed fabric. The shawl is very pretty. Love the color.
I bleed red, too.
If I were a Vulcan, I’d bleed green. Or if I was a car’s radiator.