At loose ends
I am experiencing that knitting mini-slump that so often comes after finished a large, complicated, and time-consuming project.
Oh, I cast on and finished a quick dishcloth out of hemp yarn, but that hardly counts. That is so small and utilitarian a project as to be almost embarrassing.Â
And I made a little swatch out of the Elann Pakucho organic cotton
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to calculate gauge for the baby sweater I will soon be making, but I need to throw it in the washer and dryer in order to really get started, and I haven’t done that yet.
Naturally, I have other items I could work on, not to mention spinning projects, but somehow I’m just not hearing the siren’s call from any of them.
And what is calling my name right now?
Well, in a word, lace. More lace.
The Handsome Triangle turned out so well–really just the way I had envisioned, which is truly a rare and wonderful thing, that I just feel this inexplicable urge to start another large lace project.
This yarn,
which the observant will note has appeared on the blog before, has been burning a hole in my stash, so to speak, since it arrived on my doorstep several weeks ago. (As an aside, isn’t it funny how some yarns can live in the stash for weeks, months, years and never present themselves inexorably to our minds? Yet others, like this yarn, insist on being used right away. I feel almost a compulsion to cast on with this gorgeous stuff.)
Anyway, I’m thinking (as noted a few weeks ago), of making another shawl from Victorian Lace Today. I’ve narrowed it down to a couple of choices.
This:
Or this:
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And, with the weekend coming up, what’s to stop me, really?
May 4th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
Oh, the second one has caught my eye. I have some wonderful hand spun natural color mohair laceweight that I bought last winter that would be perfect. But I am project monogamous, so I’ll have to finish my Argosy first.
May 4th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
They’re both so gorgeous! In fact, I have a difficult time choosing amongst any of the patterns in that book!
May 5th, 2007 at 9:34 am
Choice number two, modelled in black. But you know I’ve always liked that one…
At the risk of repeating myself, the Handsome Triangle came out just beautifully. You have every right to feel proud!
May 6th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
I actually nodded when you said “lace”. I also have just finished a large project. And what do I do with the leftover Koigu KPPPM? Cast on for that lace cap at Knitty.
Love both the designs. Enjoy!
May 9th, 2007 at 9:00 am
You know that part where you said some yarns present themselves inexorably to our minds and insist on being used right away? Well I have this problem, but it is with ugly yarn. I have 8 skeins of incredibly ugly yarn I bought on sale. The stuff was normally $8 a skein, on sale for $1.99 a skein. That means it’s mandatory to buy it, right? (I am a new knitter, can you tell?) It is varigated bulky weight novelty yarn with the colors ranging from an almost garish orange to a dark green. I was so struck with the ghastliness of it that I thought “I bet this is really beautiful when it’s knit up!” Does anyone else suffer with this form of mental illness?
Anyhow, I bought this treasure and immediately made up a swatch to test the gauge, planning a sweater for my best friend, thinking how the orange and green – so retro! – would flatter my friend’s auburn hair. While it feels nice, it looks, at best like some sort of camoflage. I thought about the effort that the sweater would require, and decided my friend might not be so wild about it after all.
Okay, so what to do with the 8 skeins of incredibly ugly yarn? This has been the thought that has plagued me for 3 weeks. How about matching ponchos for my 1-year old and 3-year old nieces? Their mother would think they are too ugly in a military/hunting sort of way for those cute little girls. How about a hoodie for my 5-year old grandson? Don’t think he would be caught dead in anything orange. Okay, how about I make myself a sweater out of it? Uhhh, don’t think that bright orange and green camo in bulky knit will do anything to camoflage my plus-size figure.
So I proceed with my knitting projects (finishing a sweater for my granddaughter, have a felted hat project and first pair of socks lined up). But I cannot get those 8 skeins of ugly yarn out of my mind! They inexorably present themselves to my consciousness with every pattern I look at. Maybe – made up in a lace pattern on gigantic needles, the ugly yarn will finally look beautiful.