Recently in Field of Flowers Category
It occurred to me, while cleaning up my project list and gallery, that I'd never posted the stats on my SIL's Field of Flowers half-a-shawl.
Pattern: Field of Flowers by Evelyn Clark; distributed by Fiber Trends
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Sportweight (100% baby alpaca; 50g/1.76 oz; 146 yards) in #7000 Black, 6 skeins
Needles: US7 for the body, US9 for binding off
Finished Size: 74" wide by 37" deep
Half-a-shawl? The pattern for a square shawl was easily converted into a triangle; I used the "flowers" motif, the row of eyelets, and the waves, but I omitted the finishing lace border because it didn't match the waves. The waves, which I believe was an 17-stitch repeat, would have clashed--in my eyes--with the 12-row repeat of the lace border. I don't remember the number of rows, but I felt it would look better without. So there you have it.
Misti Alpaca Sport- and Lace-weight seem to be my standards for lace, although having talked to several people I feel the need to try Jaggerspun Zephyr. It's thin; in fact, it's the same weight as the 18/2 (or is it 2/18) cone of alpaca I purchased last November at the GLASG show. I'm dreaming of a brilliant but deep red, a mossy green, and a buttery cream. Yummmm.
Right now I'm dreaming of sleep. Oh, that must feel good, to close one's eyes and pass out in bliss. I've been staring at the monitor for the last 12 hours.
Woke up late and had lazy breakfasts, followed by lazy walks. Did one errand (food shopping). Skipped outdoor climbing for gym climbing because it's too hot and traffic in and out of L.A. is a nightmare. Walked down to the pier for the annual Fiesta Hermosa, which is a celebration of massively embarrassing consumerism and not of remembrance of our war veterans. BF liked the Led Zeppelin cover band; I thought they were pretty good. Watched 3 DVDs, all of which were ho-hum and forgettable ("Stunning!" claimed one DVD review. Yeah, it stunned me). Baked an eggless, butterless Moist Chocolate Crazy Cake (scroll down this article), my first *ever* baked item! I may have overbaked it a little and I think it needs more chocolate. But I made it! :-) And BF ate it! Started on a new top-down project, details to come soon. And of course, blocked the beeg shawl.
I love how the pattern emerges with blocking, don't you? Lace, above all other knitted projects, gives the best knitter's high.
I stretched this thing to within an inch of warping. I told you I'm merciless!
Perfect symmetry. I've got 8 ends to weave in, no biggie compared to the 46 million ends of the top-down deep v-neck sweater! I'm curious about the Russian join that I've seen around the blogs; I'll try it next time I've got a shawl project.
I've found another Forest Path Stole, this time knitted by Krys in lovely green! She also kindly pointed out the errata; I've got it bookmarked for when I start on mine.
Blogworthy: If you can believe, this is design and illustration company. That's a lot of work. A lot of free time, perhaps? Here's a BIG boo-boo: if you scroll to "the dark side" (right), you'll see... Half Dome. Apparently there are dragons flying near Half Dome.
but pretty. Plus it doesn't curl up like stockinette.
I hemmed and hawed about the edging. See, the feather-and-fan is a 17-stitch repeat, and the edging is a 12-row repeat. The resulting knit edge would not follow the graceful curve of the feather-and-fan, so I left it out. I can always add it later, but right now I like what I see.
I like the gentle point here. It's really beautiful just the way it is, but of course I'll block it mercilessly! I have ice in my veins when it comes to pinning helpless things to the ground, he he.
Eet ees beeg, oui?
Blogworthy:
◊ 1,500 year old Peruvian mummy of a woman found with "bejeweled spindles and spindle whorls for spinning cotton".
◊ Get the best software and hardware for design.
◊ Robert J. Lang's origami sculptures in natural-colored papers. Neato.
