Today I can show you what I've been working on recently, as it should have reached it's destination by now.
Yesterday was my friend Sandra's birthday and I wanted to make her something special. Sandra is very good with her hands and has made me all sorts of fabulous things in the past - they're always special. I usually struggle with what to make for her each year, but this year I knew exactly what I was going to do.
Sandra is one of the few people I know who will really appreciate how much time and effort goes into making something like this . . . because she puts just as much, if not more, into her own projects. Maybe I should do a separate post with some photos of some of the lovely things she's sent to me over the years.
So, the yarn is spun and dyed. Next step, knitting.
I decided to make another Annis shawlette. I made one last year for my sister's Christmas present and it gave me so much grief I'm amazed I ever got it finished. The main problem was that I didn't have the right size circular needles, so decided to use ordinary knitting needles. Big mistake! The outside (pointy) edge of the shawl is the cast on edge. That's 363 stitches! I made them fit on the needles, and off I went. It took me about three days to do the first 4 or 5 rows. At one point I had to cut the yarn and start afresh because the wool was getting worn out. This pattern has so many yarn-overs, and if you can't see what you're doing it's easy to make mistakes. Amazingly, after all the blood, sweat and tears, once I'd finished it I immediately wanted to do another. Just to prove I could!
This time, I invested in the right size circular needles, so this time it was going to be a doddle - right? Yeah, right! Actually, I only had to pull out a few little bits so it wasn't too bad.
And here's the finished shawlette :-
OK, confession time! I finished the knitting, washed it and pinned it out to block it to shape. And there it was, right in the middle of the patterned edge - a dirty great big hole. A dirty great big hole that shouldn't have been there! I was so horrified I nearly cried. To fix it properly would have meant pulling the whole thing back and starting again. And it had to go in the post the next day.
HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN TO ME???
Well, it was obviously a dropped stitch, so I got a crochet hook and carefully picked up the stitch and worked it up to where it should be. Then I stitched it together to hold it. If you look very closely, it's visible. But if you half close your eyes at that point, it looks fantastic!
And no, I didn't take a photo of the hole . . . and no, I'm not going to show you the repair. That's my secret! (You won't tell her will you?)
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| Hand-spun merino and silk |
Sandra is one of the few people I know who will really appreciate how much time and effort goes into making something like this . . . because she puts just as much, if not more, into her own projects. Maybe I should do a separate post with some photos of some of the lovely things she's sent to me over the years.
So, the yarn is spun and dyed. Next step, knitting.
I decided to make another Annis shawlette. I made one last year for my sister's Christmas present and it gave me so much grief I'm amazed I ever got it finished. The main problem was that I didn't have the right size circular needles, so decided to use ordinary knitting needles. Big mistake! The outside (pointy) edge of the shawl is the cast on edge. That's 363 stitches! I made them fit on the needles, and off I went. It took me about three days to do the first 4 or 5 rows. At one point I had to cut the yarn and start afresh because the wool was getting worn out. This pattern has so many yarn-overs, and if you can't see what you're doing it's easy to make mistakes. Amazingly, after all the blood, sweat and tears, once I'd finished it I immediately wanted to do another. Just to prove I could!
This time, I invested in the right size circular needles, so this time it was going to be a doddle - right? Yeah, right! Actually, I only had to pull out a few little bits so it wasn't too bad.
And here's the finished shawlette :-
OK, confession time! I finished the knitting, washed it and pinned it out to block it to shape. And there it was, right in the middle of the patterned edge - a dirty great big hole. A dirty great big hole that shouldn't have been there! I was so horrified I nearly cried. To fix it properly would have meant pulling the whole thing back and starting again. And it had to go in the post the next day.
HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN TO ME???
Well, it was obviously a dropped stitch, so I got a crochet hook and carefully picked up the stitch and worked it up to where it should be. Then I stitched it together to hold it. If you look very closely, it's visible. But if you half close your eyes at that point, it looks fantastic!
And no, I didn't take a photo of the hole . . . and no, I'm not going to show you the repair. That's my secret! (You won't tell her will you?)
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