Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Progress


Voila, my new project. I hesitate to call it "new" because I have been working on it for the past several weeks. The color is a light, heatherly mulberry color, in a thin, mohair blend. I had six balls of this, with six white balls languishing in my stash forever. Finally the right (I hope) project chose the yarn. I saw a dramatic long-tail shawl on Mason-Dixon knitting a few months ago, and it seemed to fit the bill.


I am halfway through the first ball now, and the shawl is large enough. . . .to cover my neck. 165 stitches wide already, so obviously, my yarn is much thinner than the originally intended yarn. Size isn't all that important for a shawl, as long as the relative proportions are preserved, right? Except. . . something is wrong. Is it supposed to be a large semi-circle. That isn't what the picture looks like. Am I doing something wrong? I am following the directions.




Ah-ha! Much better. Now the border part of th directions make more sense too.








My favorite model was awake this morning, so I tried having him model my knitting. "Tried" being the oprative word. This was so much easier when he just laid there.
Bugaboo, don't pull on Mommy's needles.




Can you show the knitting a little better?




Who could resist that smile?








Today, it is all about the model.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

In Memoriam

The crafting world lost a devotee last week. My aunt died. After 63 years, her needles and hooks are still. I remember her working on endless Dr. Who scarves in the 80's. She crocheted a Christening gown for my son. I am well stocked with cotton dishcloths and potholders. She crocheted Christening blankets for a church. I just don't ever remember a time when she wasn't knitting or crocheting something.



When she died, sure enough. One last blanket in progress. I told my uncle that I would finish it, and send it to him. I should have looked at how far along she was (and how much there was left to go) before I opened by mouth, but there it is. I have long preferred knitting to crocheting, but I remember how to do it, and I found the instructions in the basket.



Ironically, I gave her the yarn to begin with. A mound of white, gray and blue balls from a long ago abandoned project. This yarn is haunting me, coming back to force me to use it again.

Meanwhile, I hope heaven has yarn stores.

Today, it is all about the honoring.