Swaps: ISE5 Angel scarf & goodies - piccies!

It's been a busy few days in Casa Craftybernie. In between sleeping as I get over the dreaded 'lurgy and keeping Katie busy during half-term, I've been slowly working my way through all the recent finished projects and swaps, posting photos of everything that I have received or completed.

About 1/2 an hour ago I finished uploading the photos of everything that I received from my amazing ISE5 Angel, Martha.

Check out the results of Martha's hard work starting with this beautiful scarf in Rowan Felted Tweed. The scarf pattern is Eugen Buegler's 'Streaming Leaves Lace Scarf'. And it is DIVINE! It's so soft and squishy. Martha was a little concerned about the alpaca guard hairs but it's not a problem - it feels lovely and soft against my skin. Beautiful! I love it.

Martha also kindly included a second scarf, Edgar from the fall 2005 issue of Knitty knit in Silk Garden Lite, for Katie. I guess I could have claimed it for myself but I will probably end up borrowing it anyway and this way Katie feels spoiled too! She was seriously stunned that a stranger across the ocean remembered her in this way and she asked me to say that she "absolutely loves the colours and the pattern". Thanks Martha (from Katie!)


Another indication of Martha's thoughtfulness, is the undyed wool and Kool-Aid packages that she enclosed so that Katie and I could dye the wool together. How lovely is that!! Katie was very interested in testing the Kool-Aid for herself when I explained that we would be using it to dye wool and not drinking it! "Imagine what it does to your insides", she said! Kids. Lol.

The box was absolutely stuffed full of thoughtful little extras and I know that Martha & her hubby had a lot of 'fun' squeezing everything in. By no stretch of the imgaination was this a small box. There is enough fiber, yarn, beads and more to keep me going for months of projects!

I put together this little photographic collage of the items that my amazing Angel sent me. Working left to right, starting with the top row we have:


1) Clover Natural Wool Roving
2) Bluefaced Leicester
3) Dream in Colour Sockyarn
4) Precious Petals
5) Tubes of Street Bead Connections
6) Naked Cat Fiberworks
7) Edgar Scarf in Noro Silk Lite
8) Patchwork Fat Quarter Bundle
9) a Beautiful Notebook (has graph & plain paper inside!)
10) Sugar'n'Cream Dishcloth Cotton

There's an element of crafty Kharma that goes with being a swap Angel. Stepping in at the last minute to make and send to somebody across an ocean is a challenge-and-a-half, especially when everybody else has had months to get to know their pal and work on their projects. The kindness of our swap Angels is invaluable. It takes a special person to fulfil their duties in a swap, only to do it over again for a second pal.

Thank you Martha for being a true Angel. xx

About my Scarf Angel: Martha lives in Vancouver Washington, with her husband, 2 dogs, 3 cats and 1 or 2 of her 3 children.

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ISE5: my scarf Angel came through for me

I know this is a bit of a teaser post but I wanted to let everyone know that I had the bestest scarf Angel in the whole wide world! Photos coming soon...
Told you it was a teaser! ;)

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ISE5 Angel on my shoulder..

My wonderful scarf angel has been in contact with me via e-mail and I am now officially very excited. I've been an angel myself in other swaps so I appreciate what a commitment she has undertaken. Thank you Dorothy, my ISE hostess, and thank you Angel for stepping in.

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ISE5 scarf pal missing in action

My ISE5 pal is MIA and sadly no one has heard from her. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a teensy bit disappointed., however, the hostesses are looking for an angel for me.

I always make a point to stay in contact during swaps, even if things don't always go to plan. Afterall it's part of the fun writing to and teasing your pal. I just hope nothing bad has happened to my spoiler as it seems she has been a reliable swapper in previous exchanges.

'Thank You' ISE5 Hostesses for dealing with this so efficiently and I look forward to 'meeting' my angel.

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Exchange: ISE5 Scarf Finished & Sent

Everything is in the post today. Ok, it's 4 days passed the send by date but better late than never!!! ;)


The scarf is an adaptation of a pattern from Scarf Style (name to follow as I can't find the book right now!). I used 3 balls of Debbie Bliss Cathay Silk and could probably have used the 4th as my pal likes long scarves, but I was worried that the weight of the yarn would be too much. Having said that, the cabled sections are quite well tensioned so the only droopy bit might be the st st section in the middle.


I love the feel of this yarn. And although it nearly drove me to tears as it twisted back on itself while I knit with it, I would probably use it again. I'm a fan of cotton or cotton blend yarns as they're kind to my sensitive skin although I would love to be able to wear thick woolly scarves and jumpers with ease.


I popped in a few little extras - some Hope & Greenwood Hot Chili Dark Chocolate Buttons, the 4th ball of DB Cathay Silk, Stitch Markers and a packet of tissues.

The Hope & Greenwood chocolate is interesting. I had a sample of it at the shop down town and while the dark chocolate is just to die for (scrummy!), the chili afterburn was an interesting but not-to-be-repeated-for-me experience. I hope my pal likes everything and that it arrives safely!!!

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Knitting: Scarves

I logged on earlier this morning to post some photos of various WIPs. However, as usual I got distracted by the new widgets and hacks on Hackosphere, which resulted in me tinkering the blog layout.

I can't believe it's been at least 5 months since I made any changes to the blog layout and boy have I missed out. There's some really cool widgets out there - if I get the opportunity I'll post my finds on the Knit1blogtoo blog. Anyway, my blog is not quite how I want it yet but at least it's presentable.

As far as knitting goes, I've been fairly good this week. I've made good progress on my mini Clapotis which I'm knitting with the STR yarn that my ISE4 pal gifted me earlier this year. It's so lovely to knit with and the colours are so vibrant. It's enough to lift anybody's depression. Maybe I should have a monthly subscription!!! :D Not sure if it's cheaper than Prozac but it does put a grin on yer chin.

Having knit this much of the mini Clapotis, I would love to have a go at a full sized one. I do have a few skeins of Arucania Atacama Alpaca knocking about my stash drawer so perhaps they will work. I was saving them for the Lady Eleanor Entrelac Shawl from Scarf Style but there's not enough! And I want the full monty of Lady Eleanor - right down to the knotted fringe. The works!

Some folk have been surprised by my use of the STR for the mini Clapotis but to be honest, I've resigned myself to the fact that I am never ever going to finish even just one pair of socks so the sock yarn has to be put to good use (not that I have much). And, as I don't seem to get on with Laceweight (a kind e-friend even sent me some Malabrigo laceweight to fondle ) I imagine there'll be a few sock yarn scarves floating around this place by Thingmas.

The other scarf I'm working on is this cabled beauty for my ISE5 pal. Not terribly complicated but about as much as my tiny brain can cope with. It's 'Vintage Velvet' from Scarf Style and I'm knitting it in Debbie Bliss Cathay. I think the colourway is Periwinkle.... I cast on for this last night and judging by my progress, I should be finished in good time for the send out date. The nice thng is, the cable pattern is reversible and very easy to memorise. Did someone say MEMORISE???? Yup. Me Memorise? Imagine that. Pah! It's a straight forward rib pattern with a 6 stitch cable that 'twists' every row 5 and 16.

It's been years since I knit cables and I'm not quite sure why I've been avoiding them - especially since I've been back knitting for 18 months AND they're not nearly as scary as some lace patterns out there! Although it probably would have been better to use bamboo needles (Santa I hope you're watching) with the Cathay silk rather than my metal ones. The work is all terribly slippery and I'm only a sneeze away from it all sliding off - picture yarn diarrohea!

For those of you who have been watching me swatch for the heartstrings beaded scarf for my ISE pal, I really didn't have any yarn in that did it justice which also matched the beads in my stash. For now, it's going to be another one for my 'to knit' pile.

One thing that I'm not terribly please about is the way the Cathay silk comes out of the ball. It's lovely to knit with and has a glorious sheen to it. But it flippin' twists and tangles like mad. Has anybody else had a similar problem? Anyone?

I'm off for a bacon buttie now - yum!! Penelope pig, close your eyes pet.

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Knitting: ISE5 Swatches

Here's the first of 4 swatches for the Heartstrings Beaded Scarf that I plan on making for my pal. I'm aiming for a scarf that's about 6" wide(ish) and 50-60" long. The actual pattern is for a scarf 11"x60".

This first swatch is some King Cole Merino DK that I have left over from ISE4.


I'm not planning on using this actual yarn - I'm more interested in the Merino DK and how it knits up. I have a Jaeger Merino DK in mind if I decide to go with this weight.

Although this scarf calls for laceweight, I personally prefer working with DK or 4ply. I don't know why, but I seem to get on better with them. Maybe it's because the work grows quicker. I have been considering some Lane Borgosesia laceweight from Jannette's Rare Yarns on e-bay. This would be so perfect for my pal but it's LACEWEIGHT! Maybe once I've swatched (till my fingers bleed) I'll have a better idea.

The next swatch will be Rowanspun 4ply. I'm about 1/4 way through the swatch and will post piccies once done. Already I can see that the texture of the Rowanspun may detract from the pattern and beads. Let's wait and see...
The pattern repeat on this scarf is so simple yet very effective. In fact you could modify the pattern to accommodate any of your favourite yarns.

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Knitting: ISE5 Update

This is my 3rd International Scarf Exchange (ISE) and once again it feels like my first. I start off with the best of intentions - researching, stalking, planning. Then indecision kicks in, followed by a confidence crisis, topped off with a pinch of performance anxiety.

Best intentions are fine but they're not very productive. So having coasted through a myriad of emotions and possibilities this week, I think I may have narrowed it down - the pattern anyway. I'm desperate to have a go at a lace scarf which incorporates beads. Sadly I cannot cope with a lace pattern with more than a 4 row repeat. This is due in part to my impatient nature and also down to the medication I take. Roughly translated, I have the attention span of a gnat!

Lace knitting is supposed to be intuitive (I had a discussion with myself about this when I made the Backyard Leaves scarf) and many people who dare to attempt the beautiful shawls out there just amaze me. It's not a complete loss since I can identify where the YOs are and whether to use a K2tog or a SSK on the small pattern repeats, but that's my limit.

At this point, my plan is to cannibalise some of the lace patterns that I like. I think I've narrowed it down to two contenders - Yarnharlot's snowdrop shawl - I think the center panel would make a nice panel for a scarf, and Sivia Harding's diamond lace bookmark (which looks coincidentally a lot like the Angel Pearls Beaded scarf.

I had thought about making the Heartstrings Beaded Lace Scarf II (left) for my pal but I really don't think I could cope with it just now. It's certainly one I would love myself and I fell in love with it when I saw a few versions made during the ISE4. Maybe next time round I'll tell my pal that I like it alot!

One other scarf/shawl that I wouldn't mind trying (eventually) is the Lady Eleanor Entrelac Shawl from Scarf Style. There's something magical about it - perhaps it's the yarn, or the knotted fringe. I'm not sure, but I do love it.

The next hurdle is yarn. I'm trying to decide whether a lacy whispy scarf with beads or a heaver DK weight scarf with beads. I'm working on some swatches at the moment (yes, me, swatching, amazing!) with everything from laceweight to DK. Guess I'll wait and see which one turns out best.

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Exchange: ISE5

It's time for ISE5 (International Scarf Exchange, 5). I just got in by the skin of my teeth yesterday with the cut off date being today!!!

I don't know where time is going at the moment but everything seems to be whizzing by in a blur. It only seems to speed up even more once September has passed and before you know it we're on the home straight to 'Thingmas'.

I wish I could manipulate space and time like Hiro Nakamura from Heroes (did you catch the re-run of episodes 1-9 at the weekend on the Beeb?).

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