Category: Shawls for Barbie

Knitting Gauges Galore

Marie Haigh4 Comments

Before I rant about all the gauges I knit today, I first want to thank Anastacia for featuring my “Ode to Quilting” afghan on her blog. I’m truly enjoying designing this afghan, but I’m more excited that others have enjoyed it too. Thank you!

About those gauges … I knit 3 different versions. To refresh you, this pattern will be the lace sections within the Barbie Shawl. Note that this pattern needs to complement – not upstage – the stocking stich knitting.

Option #1
Mermaid Mesh from Barbara Walker’s 2nd book


Option #2
Mermaid Mesh revised (basically, I removed all the double yarn overs to make it easier to knit)


I think it suffered for it. You can no longer see the diamon pattern.

Option #3
Diamond Mesh by me
It consists of 2 different types of diamonds, one which leans to the left and another which leans to the right.


Bias aside, I think I like #3 best. It is subtle enough to complement a stocking stitch, yet fancy enough to hold its own in a shawl.

What do you think?

On a side note, I have found another reason I need to learn how to spin. White Starr Shop is giving away Suri Alpaca fleece. I can’t put my name into the hat for fear I would actually end up with the fleece. Then, it would sit in my cedar closet for 3 years the way my sheep’s fleece has. I must learn to spin. I must.

I can’t wait for the weekend. I have so many gardening projects.
1. Plant mint seeds
2. Plant anise seeds (they say anise helps repel mosquitoes … I’m willing to try anything! Plus, I use anise in my christmas cookies every year).
3. Transplant Mr. Bunny (a bush that is being suffocated by Cartman, the fat pine tree … doesn’t everybody name their plants??)
4. Trim the hedges behind the shed

Oh, I almost forgot. I have one more pic to share with you. It’s another square in the upcoming 9-patch block.

A cone of Alpaca

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My thanks go out to White Horse Farm (http://whitehorsefarm.net/) for this gem.

Isn’t it stunning?

I danced all the way home.

My husband’s reaction was disappointing (it was a smaller sized cone than he was expecting). What does he know? My Jake was excited … or maybe he just liked the smell of it.

I will use it to knit up the full-size version of a “Shawl for Barbie” (http://knittedgems.blogspot.com/2007/04/shawl-for-barbie.html). First things first, it’s gauge time!

Other knitting news: As you can see, I am halfway done seaming the sleeve into the body of the striped sweater. It’s starting to look like a real sweater now and not like a vest-gone-wrong.

Grudgingly, I have also started to knit the right sleeve. I haven’t made much progress, but I knit better when there is a baseball game going on. Thanks to the Phillies crazy schedule, there is indeed a baseball game tonight.

The funny story behind this sweater (ignoring the story that I ripped it out once and then once again) is that the person who has agreed to model it for me just announced she is pregnant. As if I wasn’t already dedicated to finishing it before the dog days of summer, I have to be now! There is going to come a time when she’s not going to fit into it.

Business news: I sent in my very first order of business cards. For shame, I should have done this 6 months ago, but I was trying not to put the horse too far ahead of the cart. Now that I have started to increase my marketing budget, it only makes sense to get them printed. I plan to put my very first card on the fridge. I’ll refrain from framing it … for at least a week.

Gardening news: I just want to say that I am SICK AND TIRED of raking up the seed pods the two sweet gum trees sent down this winter. I have already taken 6 trash bags full to the curb. I can easily fill two more. Plus, I recycled a bunch of them. The recycles are being used as mulch beneath the trees while the soil lays dormant. I ripped out all the grass last fall. Later this spring, I will plant Creeping Phlox in its place. (This was hubby’s special request. He hates trying to mow beneath the trees because the roots always muck with his mower).

A shawl for Barbie

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After many alterations to my original shawl pattern, I finally have a design I am satisfied with. My original design was going to be an homage to King Tut’s collar. The yarn had other plans. What came to be is an interchanging pattern between an open lace technique and beaded chevrons. I think my compromise is both feminine and elegant. To showcase the pattern, I knit up a miniature version of it. As you can see, I borrowed my niece’s Barbie for a model. For more pictures of the shawl, please see my Flickr album. (There is a link to my album on the right hand side).

The shawl is knit with 100% alpaca wool, made in the USA. The alpaca yarn seen in this picture is from Rich-nes Alpaca Farm. I used 13 yards of alpaca and 39 different colored beads in this miniature version. Thus, I approximate the adult version will use about 700 yards of alpaca, excluding the amount needed for determining the gauge, plus 320 beads. The goal is to have it finished by November 1st.

I don’t want to talk about the striped sleeves right now. The ever dwindling ball of brown yarn worries me.

On a completely different subject, I am happy to report that I have finished cutting down the hedges in my backyard! Everything is at least one foot or shorter. Some of it was so dead, I could just lift it out of the ground. I think, all told, it took me a month to complete this ambitious plan of mine. It sure doesn’t look pretty right now, but in 2 years time, it should be healthy and bushy. I will never let it get so tall again. (It was taller than my husband! – who is 6 feet tall … on a good day, as he would say).

Yesterday, I started to divide my hostas that were outgrowing the garden along our walking path. Since we have several bald spots underneath our pin oak tree (thanks to our family of squirrels and Jake), I used the divisions to hide the lack of grass. Unfortunately, there is still more to do. There is also no lack of dead spots in our lawn.

So, today, my gardening plans include dividing more hostas and trimming my Transfer Bush. This is a bush (sorry, I don’t know the type of bush it is) I moved from the west side of my house to the east side in the hopes that it would get more sun. The lower branches on it have died back, but I gawked today when I saw how much new growth it had on it. I think it just might be happier in its new spot. One could hope…

Have you seen the Phillies? We won 3 straight games in a row. I’m beside myself. We are no longer the worst team in the National League. It all started with Moyer’s great start last week. We’ve been slowly gaining our confidence back ever since we had that win. I can’t wait for tonight’s game!