This and That

I'm certifiable. I'm addicted to lace knitting, no question about it. Either that, or I have knitter's ADD. It doesn't really matter, does it? At least, I'm creating something beautiful.

So, what did I do now? Well, I finally cast on (for the second time) the Orkney Pi Shawl. A few months ago, I joined a knitalong for this shawl, started it in laceweight hemp, made a mistake somewhere, couldn't find it, frogged it and put the yarn back into the stash. This time, it's progressing very well and I'm really enjoying the process.

Right now, it doesn't look like much. It's a blob. It's going to be a large blob. One woman blocked hers out at 9' across. That's a big shawl! The yarn I'm using is, once again, the Jarbo Garn Gastrike Lace 1 tr (ply). For shawls, I really love this yarn. It's almost like a handspun; you can tell by feeling it that it's wool, but once blocked, it's quite soft, with lots of body. This is the third shawl I've used this yarn for (Icelandic shawl, my Evolution Pi shawl, and now this one).

If you'd like to see what the Orkney Pi shawl will look like when finished, click here. This shawl was designed by Liz Lovick of Northern Lace, and is comprised of traditional Orkney motifs. The lace itself isn't as open as most because these shawls were meant to be worn and used by the Orkney women. They were functional, rather than dressy. I like that.

This morning, someone on Ravelry posted an interesting link to a turn of the (previous) century publication that's been scanned and posted to the worldwide web. I've read through a few pages and intend to spend more time exploring this document; it's fascinating. It's meant for the ladies of the time, and contains knit and crochet patterns and information, as well as recipes for their toilette (or as is written, the toilet). Check it out here. Pretty cool!

And finally, I have a list of blogs I like to read and one of my favourites has got to be Franklin Habit's "The Panopticon". This past week, he wrote a post about this obsession that is knitting (at least, it's an obsession for some of us). It's a post worth sharing and I would direct you to this post. Click here. Share it with any golfers you know (read the post!).

See you next time. I'm off to create something beautiful.