done!

I finished this morning! Well, I use the term "finished" loosely here, because I have yet to block it. But at least the knitting part is done. I will block it on sunday when I have some time. But, i LOVE it! I will definitely have to knit another one for myself, but I would like to use more of a lacey yarn. i think I would like to try the double-wide version, too. We'll see....
Anyway, just to re-cap, I used Rowan Calmer in coffee bean, and size 10 needles... I did a total of 32 repeats. I am so glad that I tried this scarf. I was so apprehensive about trying lace, but I was determined to figure it out. It took a few attempts, but I am glad i didn't give up. Now I feel like I can do all kinds of lace patterns! I already have a few in mind!
I will post some pics again after I have blocked. ; )

Third try's the charm?

This is getting a little silly, but here's the beginnings of my third attempt at the BO scarf. I think I was just using the wrong yarn, so I broke down at got a skein of the Silky Wool in a color I like to call "golden wasabi". This yarn is really great to work with. It's light, drapey, and I should have started with it all along. Well, live and learn.

My branching out progress!

I'm 23 repeats in, I plan to go until I'm out of yarn. It's knit using renaissance yarns in azalea pink, fingering weight. Its SO soft and light.
















My blog: http://lickmysticks.blogspirit.com

seeing double

Yes, you're seeing that right...2 pattern repeats side by side :D

I've finished my branching out! And more details and whatnot can be found here.

Just want the nitty gritty?
Finished dimensions: approx 6 1/2 x 60 inches
Needles: US4
Yarn: Laceweight/Cobweb lambswool/angora

Ta-dah, Ta-dah, Ta-DONE!

Doing the Happy Dance here: Branching Out is done! Blocked, ends woven in, well and truly done! Yee-haaw! (Oops, that slipped out. Westerner Days here, you know.)

I went with just the three balls of yarn and a good thing, too. Blocked, the scarf finished out at a comfortable six inches wide, and eighty inches long! The scarf grew 20 inches in blocking!
I used two ironing boards end to end for the blocking. And I discovered that it is nigh well impossible to block a straight edge with pins. This is good to know as I embark on the Kiri shawl. I will have to get some of those thin stainless steel welding rods for my next blocking episode.
Modeled the beret and scarf, and I look tres chic. This set will be just the thing for spring/fall wearing on all those deceptively clear-skied days when you don't need a parka, but you sure do need something to keep the chill off.
The hat is matching only in that it is made from the same yarn. I briefly considered trying to incorporate the lace pattern into the hat, but quickly abandonded the idea in favor of retaining my composure while learning to knit with porcupines.

I sure wish I could post a picture, but my digital fell a while back, and is now fit only to be the doomed subject of my son's fascination with screwdrivers. Thanks for tolerating the blather, and I look forward to reading more adventures with Branching Out here.

Janina in Red Deer

Branching Out has a Friend

Hello, all. Just a quick progress report. Last post, I had run out of yarn and was waiting for the postman. The yarn came, but as I was planning to knit a matching beret, and use the remains from the hat to finish the scarf, the hat had to come first.
And so it did. The beret is finished, blocked (on a plate, by the way) and looks and feels great on. I am pleased with myself: for the beret I had to learn to work with both circulars and DPNs. My tension is even, and there is no laddering of stitches. And I got it done in less than a week, which is a pretty heady feeling for me!
So now I am back to the Branching Out, and have about ten repeats to go. Either I can't count, or I was resolved NOT to run short of yarn again, because it looks like I will have an entire ball leftover.
Hmmm... a ball for the beginning of a "leftovers" stash-- or an 80 inch skinny lace scarf? What to do, what to do?
Janina in Red Deer

Too busy for branching out ...

The last week has been hectic, and I haven't had a chance to work on my BO scarf. However things are starting to slow up in life so I will have more time to work on it. I think I went 4 or 5 days without knitting anything that's how busy I've been ... Yesterday (and the day before) I finsihed a baby cardi, and now I have no *important* projects to do except Branching Out! Hopefully I'll be able to report to you with some actual progress soon! :)

Happy knitting!

My progress

5 repeats, yay!

See photos in: http://knittingthrough.blogspot.com/2005/07/branching-out.html

New to the KAL

Hi All,
I've just started 'Branching Out'. I'm knitting it on 5mm needles in a 2ply yarn I bought off Ebay and over-dyed with Pink Lemonade Kool Aid. There's a pic on my blog. I'm enjoying it so far!
Sue

thanks, now I can knit again

I had to tink back 5 more rows, thats probally about a repeat and a half all together!
it turns out I messed up on row 2...

thanks again for all the help

back to the knitting....

I started tinking.....

thanks for the help...
I looked at it and was trying to figure out which were knit and yo stitches to stick the needle thru to save it that way....
and after heavy thought I decided against it, and tinked it back 4 rows....
but now I counted and I have the k3 on each end and 24 sts in the middle?? no where in the pattern am I supposed to made that amount, so I think I lost one st somewhere?? and now I don't know what row I'm on either..
aaarrrgggggggg..
I can guess but I think thats what got me into trouble in the first place...lol....
oh what a time I'm having with this scarf this time around...
I think it's because I'm not concentrating as much, and I really have to!

any ideas on how to figure out what row I'm on??
thx

I made a boo-boo

BO screw up
Originally uploaded by DandyLion1974.

some where 3 or 4 rows back I made a mistake... somewhere, somehow?!!? I'm not to sure what I did but the one leaf is pointed the wrng way and the middle row of stitches jumped over a stitch or 2... ok now for the help... silly me didn't have a life line, and I'm not sure how to fix it, if I rip it out it'll be in worse shape than it is now, and I'll have to rip it all the way!
Do any of you know what else I can do?

Thanks so much..

will it never end?

I'm 17 repeats in now and it seems to be draaaaging - is anyone else experiencing that? I'm still enjoying it when I can find the quiet time to work on it. I have realized the hard way that it definitely needs all of my love and attention when I work on it. I wish I had a picture to share but it wouldn't look a whole lot different than last time anway. Oh well, hope everyone has a good weekend! =)

I'm making progress...

After two restarts on the Alpaca fingering weight yarn in midnight black, I dropped it for this wonderful Bamboo yarn by SWTC, in Tequila. I'm loving it. Working with this yarn has made a huge diffence for this pattern and myself to work together. I was sooooo frustrated with the Alpaca. I will use Bamboo yarn again in the future.

Good knitting to you...

Question about edging

In the Knitty picture, there is some nice edging on the ends of the Douecur & Soie version. There doesn't seem to be instructions on how to do this. Anybody know how?

Silky Wool Branching Out done

It's done. I finished it about 10 days ago, but it took a while to find time to block it. I knit it with Elsebeth Lavold Silky wool, charcoal on US size 8 needles. I did 28 repeats. I wish I could tell you how much yarn it took, but I started with an almost complete hank of wool (I had used a little of it for something else), and had to wind another ball to finish it.

There is a close up on my blog as well as a picture of it blocking (not that that is very interesting, but it was my first real blocking project.

I'm really enjoying the KAL -- I don't post much, but I read all the posts. Keep it up! It really is a fun knit, although challenging. I had little happy parties when I could make it through a whole repeat without tinking.

Kim
Sandpiper Knits

I already have a question...

...and I just started!

In the first row of the pattern repeat, after I finish I keep ending up with a stitch left over. I do end up with 31 stitches but have 1 "un-knit" stitch at the end. I followed the directions pretty carefully and can't figure out what I am doing wrong. Arrrgggh. I WILL, however, finish this scarf! :)

Thanks in advance for any suggestions -- it's probably just something really silly I'm not seeing.

1st timer

I am so excited, because this is my first knit-a-long, and my first attempt at lace. I messed up quite a bit in the begining, but I think I've got it now. I am using Rowan Calmer in coffee bean, and size 10 needles. Its probably not the best yarn to use for lace, but it is so wonderful to knit with... super soft. There are a couple of mistakes in the beginning, but thanks to my lifeline, I have been able to avoid any more!

slow going..

I'm at 10 repeats, only did 2 today and haven't picked it up in days... bad huh?

but it will be done by winter, ok hopefully by the end of this month.

Just wanted to show my progress ;~)

Bamboo Out

Pattern: Branching Out by Susan Pierce Lawrence via Knitty
Yarn: Eden by Madil 100% Bamboo in color #626 109 yds per ball, just under 2 balls.
Needles: Addi Turbo size 8 US

Pattern review: Very easy lace pattern. If you're not used to working with lace weight yarn I would suggest a DK or sport weight yarn. The pattern itself is very logical and produces a wonderful open scarf.

Yarn Review: Heavy for it's size. Very easy to work with as long as you don't split it. A little bit loose on the needles, and this from a 'tight' knitter. Not much elasticity, but it's not really needed. Very slippery yarn that moves nicely on Addi Steel needles. The Bamboo makes this yarn very silky and wonderful to knit with. Blocking is easy, gentle tugs is all it takes to shape it. No visible signs of damage when washed, and it retained its color very well. I will be buying more of this yarn since I have fallen completely in love with it.

I loved making this scarf, and with this yarn I didn't want to put it down. I went ahead and memorized the pattern about half way through just to make the other half take less time. (I have a ton of things to do before I leave for vacation, so I had to get this done quickly) This was such a great knit that I've already cast on another one for the car ride from Denver, CO to Galveston, TX in a two stranded lace weight merino wool/alpaca. I thought I would socks in the car, but this is more entertaining. Have fun!

Buttons, come get your buttons!

Ok, as you can see, I put our beautiful homemade buttons in the sidebar. Thanks to April for allowing me to access the template.

You can grab the buttons by rightclicking and saving them to your computer and then uploading them to a photo hosting site. (Just to make sure my Photobucket's bandwidth doesn't get flooded. Let's see how long they'll last!)

CarrieScribe, I made your pics just a tad bit smaller as they were pushing down the sidebar.

Back to my second repeat... *sigh*

Branching Around

I started my Branching Out like forever ago and got stuck after abou seven repeats (in part because I had to redo every single row). So I sat down for two hours in a quiet place early in the morning and finally memorized the pattern. At first I had refused to use the chart because I thought it too hard. But it wasn't until I gave in and started using the chart that I was finally able to memorize the whole thing. It's much better now and I'm about 22 repeats in.

I'm using US#8 needles and some handspun wool/mohair/silk stuff from Northern Idaho (I live in Southwest Idaho). I have a picture on my blog (I can't figure out how to post a picture here...any help? I'm a bloggin' baby).

Uh-um...going so well, then...

I started late last night, but even with my Ott-Lite, working Midnight Black Alpaca was a bit too much. So, while at dentist office with kiddo's, I am knitting on my second set of the 10 row repeat, got to row 9 and lost a stitch, where oh where did it go. The lighting was not so hot in the waiting room either, but once I frogged what I had going and started over, I am now back up to row 9 and all stitches are there. This is what I get for enlarging the pattern row repeat for my eyes to see.

Will work away on it this afternoon while it's day light and save a less eye-straining wip for this evening.

Good knitting to all...

Buttons

If you like, I could put the three fancy KAL buttons up in the right sidebar for all our blogging pleasures?

MJ

Fast as an Arrow

Wow AprilBroken, that was a very quick Blogger invite reply, thanks!
Just cast on today, let's see where it goes. Love all your multicoloured versions; mine's going to be an off white cotton.

Happy Branching!
MJ

Progress

Hi again. I frogged the 2 repeats I had knitted in 3,5 mm needles and started again using 4,5 mm needles. This patterns allows us to go up some needle sizes without getting too much holes...

I have already knit 4 repeats (without life-lines) and I'm quite happy with the results.
As soon as I can, I will post a photo!

tgz

Hello All!

I've started, and frogged and restarted again...
I'm using a reclaimed lace weight yarn - merino-angora blend in a vibrant red. I first started on US7s and found that I wasn't getting the stitch definition I was hoping for, and also noted that the scarf was quite skinny....

So I've restarted on US4's and I've doubled the pattern :)

Say, is there a button for this KAL?

Branching Out #2

Branching Out #2
Originally uploaded by DandyLion1974.

I started on #2 last night... got to the end of the third repeat, then found at least one mistake in each one...
yep, the frogs were singing at my place,lol.

I started at 10pm so I'm thinking thats why I didn't turn out great..

This is what I've done so far today:

My daughter is impressed that she can dye so well... I love the colors too!

finished knitting and blocked

Branching Out
Originally uploaded by DandyLion1974.

I finished knitting early this afternoon and it's dry from blocking at 5:30, gotta love summer heat!!

Stats:
Twinkle Toes sock yarn ( not sure of the colorway)
4.5mm Clover needles
36 repeats

LOVES IT!!!

I'm going to cast on another one... this was just about too much fun..lol

Finished Pics!

I finished a while ago but I'm only just now getting around to taking pictures. I still need to weave in the ends and I'm annoyed that the bunching in that I really liked on the beginning end didn't happen on the other end. So I'm going to need to try to block it out.

I used 1 1/2 balls ofRowan 4-ply cotton in Marine (dark navy blue). I really like this yarn for lace. I think it's 36 repeats long



Obligatory outdoor shot:





If this scarf has taught me nothing else it's that:

1) Lifelines are my very best friend

2) Row counters are my second bestest friend

3) Don't just buy one ball of yarn on impulse because whatever you decide to make w/ it months down the line will take more than one ball and you will spend two weeks trying to find it at all, much less in the same dye lot (I did end up w/ the same dye lot. god bless purlsoho.com)

4) I love love love knitting lace

This will live on my dining room table as a table runner. I'm thinking of making another one..

My progress

Not quite 1/2 way done. :)