Appalucie Fiber Arts

Raspberry Wrap

2008-07-12T06:37:00.000-07:00

This wrap was adapted from a pattern that doesn't really have a name, from Victorian Lace Today. I made the border one repeat wider and added a third vine to the center panel. Yarn is Zephyr that was hand dyed a gorgeous raspberry color, purchased on Etsy from Zen Yarn Garden. Wrap is about 70" long, and was knitted on size 4 needles.

Virginia State Fair, 2007

2007-10-08T13:07:00.000-07:00

Here we go again! so far I have a perfect record of getting a ribbon for every item I've entered in the State Fair. This year I was fortunate enough to be awarded First Place in the Expert Lace Section, as well as Second Place for my shawl in the Knitting: Shawls, wraps, and stoles division. There was some really beautiful work on display this year, and I'm thrilled that the judges chose to recognize my items. Still no Best in Section for lace, as I had hoped, but I'll be baaaaaaaaaack. :)

Lotus Flower tablecloth, displayed in a glass case. Scroll down to previous blog entries to see it in its full glory on my dining table.

Print o' the Wave Stole, pattern by Eunny Jang. This was knitted with Misti Alpaca lace yarn, can't remember the name of the color, can't remember needle size. aren't I helpful? I love how it turned out, and they really displayed it nicely.

The novelty fair food of 2007: Deep fried Pepsi. After last year's famed Deep Fried Coke that was the hit of the 2006 Texas State Fair, knockoffs are popping up all over the place. This version, sold at Porky's BBQ at the Virginia fair, looks nasty but actually tasted pretty good. They used pepsi to concoct some sort of pudding-like center, folded it in a sheet of dough, and fried it. It had a strong Pepsi flavor, and the presentation brought out the cola's spicy character. Reminded me a bit of Indian Pudding. On the left is fried PB & J. My friend Renee, whose hand is in the photo, liked the PB & J better, while I preferred the Pepsi.

Lotus Flower

2006-11-23T18:12:00.000-08:00

Here's the Lotus Flower cloth on my dining table.

Lotus Flower cloth, finished and blocked

2006-11-23T08:53:00.000-08:00

My newest knitted object, and my first ever Niebling design. "Lotus Flower" tablecloth, 43" diameter, size 20 DMC Cebelia thread, US size 2 needles. Tomorrow when it's dry, I'll take pictures of it on my table. This took about two months to complete.

State Fair Results

2006-09-30T20:13:00.000-07:00

The results are in!

Winner: Lucie Melahn City/State: Arlington, VA
Place: 2nd Department: Arts & Crafts
Competition: Knitting - Shawl/Stole/Poncho

Winner: Lucie Melahn City/State: Arlington, VA
Place: 3rd Department: Arts & Crafts
Competition: Lace - Expert - Knitted and Crocheted lace

You can see my Apple Blossom edging and my Frost Flowers shawl by scrolling down this page.

I was a little disappointed not to repeat my best in show, but the winning shawl was beautiful and well deserving of the win. My third place in the Expert Lace competition was a great surprise, since I cranked out the Apple Blossom edging at the last minute.

Next year, I'm determined to take both categories. The game is on. :)

And of course, the real reason I go every year ... deep fried Oreos. Don't lie, you know you want them.

Apple Blossom Edging (finished)

2006-09-17T08:48:00.000-07:00

It's finished, starched, blocked, and ready to send to the state fair. DMC Cebelia thread size 20, size 1.5 US needles. Here's the original pattern (and whoops, I got the name wrong, it's really Apple Leaf Lace).

Apple Blossom Edging

2006-09-03T14:37:00.000-07:00

This is my current WIP. I hope to enter it in the Virginia State Fair in a couple of weeks. So far I've only got 6 repeats, but it's going pretty quickly (this is two evenings' work).

Flower Basket Shawl

2006-04-30T12:40:00.000-07:00

Just finished! This took about three weeks to knit. I used leftover Zephyr in Cinnabar, held double, with size 7 needles, and I did 9 repeats of the lower flower basket pattern.

Frost Flowers, Unfurled

2006-03-28T15:35:00.000-08:00

I decided to be brave and model it myself this time. It's huge! These were taken outside of my work this morning.

Frost Flowers, Finally Finished!

2006-03-27T20:37:00.000-08:00

It's finally done! I started it in January, so it took about 10 weeks. I skipped the final pattern repeat, and thank goodness I did because it blocked at 66 inches, which is taller than me, and I didn't block it particularly hard. I will definitely have to wear it folded in a rectangle. For this shawl I used 7.8 ounces of Jaggerspun Zephyr yarn in Curry, with size 4 needles. Tomorrow I hope to get a nice portrait of her, unblocked.

(Frost Flowers and Leaves Shawl, designed by Eugene Beugler, in A Gathering of Lace).

Springtime in Red

2006-01-05T18:18:00.000-08:00

I recently finished a second Springtime shawl, the same Marianne Kinzel pattern that won first prize for me at the Virginia State Fair, this time for a friend. This shawl was completed in December 2005. I knitted this with Jaggerspun Zephyr yarn in Cinnabar. Needles were size 3. As always, Kinzel's pattern is flawless and a lot of fun to knit.

update: My friend Frances was nice enough to brave the frigid wind and model it. I wish it looked this good on me!

Violets by the River

2005-10-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

My latest. I wanted to finish this before July, but my yarn didn't arrive until the middle of that month. I finished it a few weeks ago and just finally got around to blocking it. The pattern, Violets by the River, is by Hazel Carter and is available at Blackberry Ridge Farms. It was much easier than my last several projects, so it was kind of a vacation. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace in Sherbet; and I used size 5 needles. Because the stockinette edges tend to roll, I finished the shawl by spraying it lightly with starch.

Virginia State Fair

2005-09-25T18:51:00.000-07:00

From reading the knitted-lace list, I got the idea of entering my knitting in a fair. I missed the Arlington County Fair deadline, so I thought, what the heck, I'll aim high and try the State Fair. I was torn between the Shetland Tea Shawl and the Springtime shawl, but since the STS has an awkward join at the edging, I went with the other one, and entered it in the "Knitting: Other" category.

Much to my surprise ... I not only won first place in my category, I also won Best In Section for all knitted items! Today I went to the Arts & Crafts exhibit at the fair. My shawl is displayed in the glass case with the other Best In Section winners. I saw some beautiful afghans, scarves, and sweaters that had also been entered, and am very flattered that the judges chose my piece.

It turns out there is a category for knitted and crocheted lace in the Lace section. There are two divisions: Novice and Expert. Their definition of novice is someone who has been making lace for less than two years; so I think if I enter that section next year, I will have to enter the Expert division. There were some wonderful crocheted tablecloths, so I think the competition there will be tough. I'm already thinking about what I want to enter.

This was so much fun. Next year I think I'm going to try to coerce my friends into entering other competitions. Duct tape, anyone?

In the photos below, my shawl is the blue one on the left.

Beach knitting: Violets by the River Shawl

2005-07-20T19:26:00.000-07:00

I've been taking a break from knitting for the last couple of months due to moving and recovering from neck spasms. My summer trip to the beach was a great excuse to start up again. My current project is Hazel Carter's Violets By the River shawl, from Blackberry Ridge. I am using Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace yarn in "Sherbet"; with size 5 needles. So far it's super easy to follow. I learned the chart after a couple of repeats and am not using any pattern markers. This looks like it will be a quick and fun one.

Knitted Lace Spheres

2005-06-27T20:26:00.000-07:00

I'm getting ready to move to a new apartment so haven't been knitting much lately, so I thought I'd post these in the meantime. Aren't these cool? The pattern was invented a few years ago by Judy Gibson, who I consider to be one of my online "mentors" in lace knitting, even though I am sure she has no idea who I am. A couple of years ago I did a whole series of these spheres and gave most of them away. These are knitted longitudinally, using short rows. If you want to try making your own, see Judy Gibson's patterns for both plain and fancy knitted spheres.

They're a bit hard to photograph so I included several views each of the red and the white one. As always, click on the image to see a larger version. If you look closely, you can make out the gold beads in the red sphere. The bottom photo of the white sphere shows where the seam goes.

Both spheres were made from inexpensive size 10 crochet thread from the craft store. I have no record of needle size used, unfortunately. They were "blocked" by soaking them in glue and inflating a balloon inside them while still wet. The finished spheres are squashable, but they are very easy to re-block with a new balloon.

Try some yourself!

Springtime Shawl

2005-05-20T22:26:00.000-07:00

The Springtime Shawl is completed and blocked. It was knitted with Jaggerspun Zephyr in Marine Blue, size 3 needles. Pattern is from Marianne Kinzel's First Book of Modern Lace knitting. The shawl is blocked to 53" on each edge, and could have been blocked harder. I need to buy blocking wires so I'll have an easier time with these straight edges.

Click on picture to see larger image.

Still almost there

2005-05-15T21:36:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post this almost-done picture to show what one of these shawls looks like when still on the needles. Pretty unattractive and baggy! The magic happens later -- hopefully in a few days.

The white threads you see in the knitting are my lifelines (threads run through the knitting to hold the stitches in case I drop one or want to rip back).

Work in Progress: Springtime Shawl

2005-04-30T21:33:00.000-07:00

Here's my current project -- Marianne Kinzel's Springtime tea cloth, knitted as a shawl. I'm using Jaggerspun Zephyr (again), this time in Marine Blue, on size 3 needles. I'm sort of making it up as I go. After three repeats of the leaves, I took it off the needles to get an idea of the size. Here it is, before and after pinning out.

The size after pinning out was 19 inches. I could probably have stretched it to 20 inches with no problem; plus, I am pretty sure I could have stretched it significantly more if it had been wet. Since I have never made a square shawl, I am not sure how big I want it to be. Those of you who have made square shawls, I'd love your input on the size issue. I don't think I will use the edging that Kinzel uses, but will replace it instead with a small lace border worked around the edge.

Balmoral Thistle Dinner Cloth

2005-04-17T10:55:00.000-07:00

This cloth was completed in spring of 2002. The pattern is Balmoral Thistle from Marianne Kinzel's Second Book of Modern Lace Knitting, and it was made from #30 DMC thread. I wrote down how many balls of thread I used and lost it, sorry. I have seen examples on the web of the smaller, "tea cloth" version of the pattern, but this is the only example I've seen of the full dinner cloth version. It's my largest project to date, taking three months to complete. I had to start it twice, because after my first week of work, I actually left it on the subway in Brooklyn (doh!), so I had to start over. If I remember correctly, the final rows had nearly 2,000 stitches, and the blocked diameter is about 60". On a 48" round table, the outer border of the pattern falls precisely on the edge of the table. I think this must have been a deliberate choice by Kinzel, and it's very impressive.

If you are reading this and you are a lace knitter, you can see that I had a yarn over issue on one side of the solid shapes. I noticed that Michael Kaprelian, an expert knitter, had the same issue with his version of Balmoral Thistle. However, I don't see the same effect in the photos in Kinzel's book. If anyone has comments or suggestions to improve, I appreciate your input. I knit continental, if that makes any difference.

Click on the photos to see the full size image.

Shetland Tea Shawl

2005-04-17T09:48:00.000-07:00

Completed 3/26/05. This shawl, which took me about six weeks to knit, was knitted from Jaggerspun Zephyr yarn (I think the color is Elderberry, but it was not marked on the cone), using size 3 needles. The pattern is "Shetland Tea Shawl", designed by Dale Long, in A Gathering of Lace. If you are interested in knitting this, you should know that for the hardcover edition of the book, there are errata. I have heard that later editions of the book corrected the errors. In my first edition, the diamond madeira chart looks drastically different in the errata, so if you can't see a difference, you probably have a corrected edition and can skip the errata.

Click on the image to see the larger version.