One of the joys of a damp British Bank Holiday weekend is that I can sit and knit without feeling I should be doing other things!
I managed to attend a family birthday party on friday for Matt's nieces and enjoyed visiting with his Aunt who had travelled up from Wales. I sat there knitting with the sari silk and she was knitting a shocking pink fun fur whilst the rest of the family tried to get the cats to pose for photos.
Today I finished the Raj shawl and it is slowly drying / blocking. The pattern was simplicity to work, the charts made life very easy and as always I was surprised at how the lace blossomed when blocked. The Sari Silk was interesting to work with, not as much vegetable matter as I've experienced in the past . The only drawback was the weight of the item at the end - nearly 800 gms - my wrists were protesting for the last few rows.
The 2nd pink fur bolero is well on it's way - just 2 sleeves to finish by wednesday and I can then give it to my sister, Kate, to take home for me. There's a litle girl in Sheffield trying very hard to be patient whilst Auntie knits it. Her big sister has agreed not to wear hers until the second one arrives - so no pressure there!
I made the mistake of moving a box today and found another partialy completed project - Neroli - using Jaeger Chamonix which must have been started 3 years ago. I think this will be the next one for the finishing line and then I must finish the Apple blanket as my commuting project for the next few weeks as the baby is due soon.
I have a couple of small lace projects planned and then want to find something spectacular to make with 1800 yards of handpainted 2ply - anyone want to suggest a pattern?
Posted by Yvonne at April 16, 2006 10:46 PMI, too, cleaned out the yarn room over the weekend and found way too many half done projects. Some I can't even find the pattern for (or even know what it is supposed to be). Good luck and I hope you get everything finished, especially the pink fuzzy for your very patient neice. :)
And I can commiserate about the Sari Silk. I crocheted a bag from it and it is oh so very heavy though not as much as it would have been with knitting. Can't wait so see pictures of the shawl.
And if you can't find anything to do with the 2-ply, I would be willing to take it off your hands. ;)
Agggh, now you've made me feel guilty about all the unfinished stuff around here. I need a mission...
I also need to step away from the beads... you should have tied me to the garden.
Posted by: noonie at April 17, 2006 04:28 PMI'm knitting the Shoalwater Shawl from Fiber Trends in some hand dyed yarn from Fibreworks in Australia, bought two years ago at Ally Pally. The yarn has blues shading into (guess what?) purples and looks lovely in this pattern, an Old Shale variation. I think some of the lovely lace patterns/shawl patterns around are too complicated to show off the colour changes in hand dyed yarn. I'm also getting to grips with using a circular needle for the first time which feels decidedly odd. Sounds as though you've had a nicely relaxing Easter; me too!
Posted by: Wibbo at April 17, 2006 01:34 PMwhew, sounds like a busy weekend. and the sari silk, is that the stuff with all the bits of fuzz, because they're leftovers from handwoven saris? my LYS recently got some in, and i ALMOST bought a skein with my birthday money. i decided to be practical, and bought some cascade instead, lol.
and 2 ply, is that a lighter weight, like dk? if so, i have no clue, lol. if it's more like worsted, maybe clapotis? (i know, EVERYBODY has done clapotis (except me, lol))
Posted by: minnie at April 17, 2006 12:28 PMYou sound like me! I found a chamonix jacket knitted and sewn, just needs a zip.
Is your handpainted very variable or mainly one colour? I always get very frustrated with multicoloured yarn and lace patterns. I find something wavy like f&f or something with a regular repeating pattern, like large diamons and a st st background.
I've not done as much knitting as expected, too busy food shopping and cooking, yuck.
Posted by: dawn at April 16, 2006 11:15 PM