beautiful things

Kushu Kushu scarf

Well, if you thought 82 photos was a lot to take of a scarf, how about the 180 photos I took of the finished Kushu Kushu scarf?!!! Yes, that was both pre- and post-felting but one of the reasons it has taken me so long to post this project is because I'm having a hard time editing it down! But it's time to give it a go...

Kushu Kushu scarf

Date:
July 11th - August 4th, 2007

Yarn:
About 240 yards(?) of Habu silk stainless A-20-16 lavendar
About 180 yards(?) of Habu super fine merino A-177-00 off white (only shown on the kit page)
I bought a kit and this was before I had a digital scale so I actually have no idea how much yarn came in the kit or how much I used... or how much I have left!

Needles:
US #8 SPNs (Takumi bamboo) for the stainless and merino portion. I switched to a smaller needle size for the stainless only portion, as per the pattern, but I can't remember what, only that I didn't follow the pattern exactly.

Pattern:
Is it Kushu Kushu or Kusha Kusha? It seems to be referred to as both, but at any rate, it is kit 78 by Setsuko Torii. The pattern is also posted online at The Purl Bee.

The story:

Wow, this seems like so long ago! This was my first encounter with Habu. Inspired by other projects online, I visited the store (just mere blocks from my office!) and fell in love. And what better setting to swatch than by a lake?

I knit quite a bit on the subway (my first experience with GoKnit pouches - I recently bought a few more to handle my multiple active projects. It was also one of my early iPhone photographed and posted projects). I also knit by the river.

To be honest, it wasn't my most favorite of knits - I didn't have too much of a problem with the stainless but it didn't have the lush tactile quality that I enjoy so much about the process of knitting, and it was also somewhat monotonous, especially under the deadline of my sister's birthday. In fact, I had to "give" my sister the scarf unfinished at the beginning of a shared vacation in South Carolina, only completing it towards the end of the trip in time for her to take it home with her.

And because I was in such an intense production mode while knitting the scarf I didn't really get to "look" at it properly until I was finished and then... wow. The final product certainly didn't disappoint, and it helped that I had access to a beautiful natural light and surroundings to take final photos before sadly parting with it.

In progress shots:

Pre-felting:

Felting (yikes!):

Post-felting:

Here you can see the whole length of the scarf:

For all the various abstract, textural and/or draped shots though, I have to say that this is one of my favorites just for the perspective:

Flickr set is here.
Ravelry link is here.

More kushu

I'm still trying to narrow down my kushu photos but in the mean time, here is another.

I didn't ruin it!

Yikes!

Kushu pre-felting

I finally finished the endless rows of stockinette. Actually, the  stainless-only rows went quicker, but it wasn't until I bound off and  wove in the ends that I could truly step back and... wow.

I'm almost scared to felt, but I'm going to go lightly and I'm not  going to chicken out... wish me luck!

Trying to finish kushu

As you may have noticed, I haven't had much time to do more than some quick iPhone photo blogging lately. Work has been busy, and I've been desperately trying to finish some gift knitting for my family who I am
currently visiting in South Carolina. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get it all done so had to give half finished gifts and then keep knitting while I'm here! I'm onto the stainless steel silk only portion of Kushu... only 110 rows to go. Actually, if anyone has the pattern, can you tell me how many rows are on size 6, 4 and 3 respectively? I forgot to bring the pattern with me. Thanks!

Kushu by the river

Handknit Holidays

So yeah, subway knitting. I've knit a little on the subway before but the GoKnit pouch makes it so much easier!

Anyway, I had some nice packages show up at work today, the fruits of some online shopping last week. Included was Handknit Holidays. I know, it's the middle of summer, but I was very taken by my friend's stained glass scarf. I looked around on Ravelry and fell in love with these beautiful beaded votives. Yes, they are knitted out of wire! That does sound a little painful...

That was enough for me to decide to buy the book and while some of the patterns are a little on the traditional side, it is literally the patterns that are - the shapes are pretty modern so I could knit them in just one color, skip or simplify the patterns, and they would be more to my taste (like this shawl).

Plus there are several projects I like just how they are. Actually, I love the Snowy Triangle Scarf and Hat, also shown here in my beloved Manos, although actually I really like the yarn shown in the book, Fiesta La Boheme. It's sparkley - look!

I also like the knitted ornaments (scroll down, and yes, Jenna made Fetching too!), family of funky stockings (mmm, green and purple), the striped stocking that goes with this crazy floral tree skirt, and the winter solstice table runners (although they seem like they could be a little monotonous/lengthy to knit).

I really like the evergreen shawl and the very cute Brussels lace camisole. And, the felted wine bags (I know, most of these links are from the same place, I can't find that much else online for most of these projects).

I probably won't start knitting any of these any time soon, but it's nice to know there's something to look forward to about winter!

Kushu on the subway

This is no newsflash I know but GoKnit pouches are awesome! And this is posted via email from my iPhone!

Knitting update

My knitting is currently ahead of my blogging! I have two FOs to post that I have photographed, and one more that I need to photograph. I also have stash photos of not even that recent purchases.

I also have to sort myself out so I have a mobile project to carry with me in my newly purchased GoKnit bags. I think that might be the Kushu Kushu scarf, once I get it going. It might be a bit delicate for subway knitting so I will have to see. I did however solve the mystery of how come some people's scarves look more like regular stockinette - they are using fine rather than super fine merino! This was a relief as the discrepancy and unexpected result was kind of bothering me. Thanks too to Michele for the encouragement. I feel comfortable enough to get going now, and I think I might felt slightly less than my swatch. I don't really feel like doing another swatch though.

So - exciting!

In the meantime, I finished the front of the lacy hooded tunic, but I am a bit baffled by the instruction to attach the front and back with a three needle bind-off, given that they already had me bind-off the back. This must surely be a mistake in the pattern! However, it is not in the errata, and I have yet to find another person online who is knitting this thing. Maybe I should e-mail Vogue Knitting although I know I can wing it and plough on. I want to finish this in time for my trip to the beach in early August.

By the way, how cool is it that I managed to get in on Ravelry so early? I'm not even sure where I heard about it first because I think it popped up on several blogs and podcasts all at once. Like I said, I'm not usually in on things that early (I mean, I don't even have a gmail account yet!) so I'm kind of pleased, especially as there are almost 10,000 in the queue now waiting for invitations (if you're waiting, the Ravelry creators have asked that you be patient. Invitations are being sent out in batches on a first come first serve basis. You can check out the Ravelry blog for more info).

Finally, it's a little late I know but here are my stash stats as of the beginning of the month. These are my first full month stats (running totals with the totals since last month in parentheses). It was a big month for knitting and not so much for purchases, which is good as the previous month was the other way around!

skeins purchased: 102 (12)
skeins knit: 38.95 (10.4)
yards purchased: 15,355 (2,954)
yards knit: 4,529.15 (1,213.2)
$ spent on yarn: $998.31 ($176.07)
knitting since: 1/27/07