Well the saga of this year's Rowan Tree exchange is finally over!
Knitting for other knitters is sometimes nerve-wracking; sometimes exhilarating and sometimes it pushes you into stretching your boundaries. This year was all three!
I knew the intended recipient loved lace & that she loved jewel colours - no problem there then. Then the reality dawned that she also owns a wonderful LYS and can take her pick of yarn. Stalking her posts on Ravelry gave me some ideas for patterns and then I realised there was a significant birthday around the exchange time - everything crystallised once I found the yarn!
I knitted the shawl in I Knit or Dye's Alpaca/Cashmere/Silk mix (the jury is still out as to if this is a 1 or 2ply yarn) in a wonderful colour "Off to see the Wizard" - so new to I Knit London that I picked it off Gerard's drying rack whilst still damp!
Most of the problems I had in knitting it were due to needle malfunction or operator error - I should not knit lace when tired or leave it lying around at knit night!
The pattern is Vesper by Paulina Popiolek - there were 2 mistakes in the pattern that were amended and republished within an hour of being noticed. The pattern was also reformatted and a new copy sent - excellent service from Paulina. Very clearly written and I really miss working on it.
My home is not conducive to blocking large shawls and when I took it to Mum's there was a new baby & a 3 1/2 year old that made it impossible so I wimped out and sent it without a thorough blocking and I can only hope I'm forgiven for doing so!
Here's some of the final pictures:
An indication of the size compared with a 3 seater sofa
An indication of the drape
Stitch patterns
I'm pleased with the fact that I made myself undo large chunks to get it right, I can still see a few minor errors but on the whole I'm fairly proud of my knitting exchange for this year.
My nephew arrived this morning weighing in at 9lbs 8 ozs - no name as yet - it will make a lovely change from pink knitting!
I got the message just as Wales were scoring their second try against Ireland, they went on to win the quarter-final.
Minutes after the game ended the doorbell rang and there was the postman with a parcel for me. The wonderful Louise had decided to rectify the fact that I'd never knitted with Posh Yarn - I'm now the owner of a skein called "Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know"
The day has gone downhill from there but that just means it was a normal Saturday of grocery shopping and chores.
The plan for tomorrow is laundry & knitting; watching Rugby & Knitting; watching the Grand Prix & knitting.... you get the picture!
There is a delay in finishing my Rowan Exchange gift for this year:
I bought cobweb instead of 2ply and can barely see or feel the yarn.
Then I broke a needle - one of the new Knit Pro Cubics which I was loving knitting with. That disaster was possibly my fault as I threw a book in my bag forgetting that my knitting was at the bottom.
I switched to Addi Lace needles but those stitches were slippy!
The next problem arose when I dropped a stitch and it ran down 10 rows, I picked it up and carried on quite happily until ...
Thursday, when major disaster struck - perhaps trying to knit on this project whilst at knitting group wasn't a good idea. A whole heap (15) stitches came off the needles. I tried to do an emergency repair by dropping them down 8 rows to the start of the pattern sequence.
I picked them up and knitted them.
They looked slightly wonky but I hoped they would straighten in blocking.
They didn't...
On Friday, I spent the journey to Chesterfield unraveling 28 rows to get back to a boundary that I recognised, then realised I'd lost my Addi needle en-route.
They don't sell knitting needles at Steam Train rallies
so the stitches lived for 48 hours on a band of dental floss.
We're now home, the stitches are picked up and I've completed 2 rows.
That's enough excitement for this weekend - I'm off to bed!
ps I'm loving the yarn, the pattern is enjoyable and I think ( if I ever finish it) that this is possibly one of the best things I've knitted for years!