Happy Birthday, John!

It's my husband's birthday today. I won't tell you how old he is; I'll just say that he'll never catch up to me!

While I was browsing in the Bibles for Missions shop earlier this week, I came across this...

It has been gifted to John. It is a hand knit Cowichan-type sweater. The price on it was $25.00. Normally, these sweaters sell for way more than that, especially to the tourist market. It looked like it would fit him and so, I bought it. There is a bit of a stain on the front (looks like someone may have spilled coffee on it), and I did take it to a dry cleaner to see if they could get it out. The dry cleaner, however, recognized the sweater, had already cleaned it once and was unable to get the stain out. I've decided that if John wants me to, I'll tea dye it; then the stain will no longer be visible. What do you think?

At any rate, I couldn't let it go at that price. Heck, I wouldn't even be able to buy the yarn at that price! It fits him perfectly and he loves it. And yes, I'll try to get a picture of him wearing it.

And, just as a teaser...

Now, it's time to get this day started. Seeing as it's a gorgeous early autumn day, with the promise of summer temperatures, we've decided we have GOT to get outside today. After a very busy week, it's time to do something just for us.

Time for and Update, I Think

It's been a while since I posted about the Butterfly dress. I know that Stacey (the bride) has been wondering how her dress is coming and she reads this blog, so.....

Although I haven't been working on it as much as I should have been in the last couple of weeks, it is definitely progressing. I've started the decreases to the waist on both front and back.



My intention was to work both at the same time on the same needle, but, seeing as the entire dress uses three balls of yarn and I'm knitting with two balls at once, I'll have a problem when those two balls are done. Besides, it feels as if I'm making more headway having one side on the go at a single time. Does that make sense?

This afternoon, I have the house to myself for a couple of hours, so I'll be working exclusively on the dress. That will result in progress, for sure!

Apart from Stacey and John (my John), no one else has seen the dress in person; I do not take it to Sit & Stitch or to the lace classes I'm teaching. I figure that the first person to see the dress in person should be it's owner, right? However, because I don't just knit at home, that means I have to have something else on the go. And, as you all know, that's never just one project.

Seeing as I finished the Sunshine and Shadows shawl, I've cast on for another shawl. Yeah, I know... I haven't finished the other three I have on the needles. Oh well, they'll all get finished at some point.



The yarn is Rowan Kid Silk Haze in the colourway called "Marmalade". I'm using 4.5mm (US7) needles. The pattern is from Victorian Lace Today, "A Handsome Triangle".



I found the beginning of this project to be a little confusing. The chart shows one half of the shawl, which isn't a problem. What confused me at first was the fact that the second half of the shawl is a mirror image of the first half. Once I got it straight in my mind, I had no problems with the pattern. It's a four row repeat, with patterning on each row. Incidentally, the colour in the first of the two pictures is the more accurate. It's definitely orange. That's okay, though. I like orange. :)

Finished!

It feels like a long time since I've completed anything (other than the doll's hat). Well, the Sunshine & Shadows Variation is finished, off the needles, blocked and on my shoulders finished.





That's the unblocked shawl. The colours are fairly close to what they are in reality. It always amazes me the difference blocking makes.







I love the texture of this shawl. I love the colours of this shawl. I love it when a yarn and pattern come together just as I'd hoped they would.



This last picture shows the colour the best. You can see, at the bottom edge, where the knots in the yarn were; the black/grey/mauve striping repeats. All in all, I'm not unhappy with the way the lower edge came out. My main desire was that it end with green (I have no idea why; it's just something I wanted) and it did. The only thing I was unhappy with was the fact that the second ball of yarn had three knots in it (see yesterday's post). Would I use this yarn again? Probably. Though it was like knitting with handspun, and somewhat rough to work with, the yarn softened up nicely after a Eucalan wash. It blocked beautifully (I didn't even block it agressively) and shows the lace pattern quite nicely. The colours, as always with Noro, are stunning. I have a feeling this shawl will see a lot of wear over the next months.

The details...

The pattern is a variation of Evelyn A. Clark's "Sunshine & Shadows" shawl from the book "Knitting Lace Triangles", published by Fiber Trends, Inc. Finished size is 67"x36". The yarn is Noro Kureyon sock yarn, 75% wool, 25% nylon in the colourway S188. I used two balls as I wanted more than a scarf sized shawl. The needles were 4.5 mm (US 7). The entire project took me just under two weeks to complete, all in all an enjoyable and rewarding knit.

Now, it's back to the dress (which has not been ignored!).

I Am Not a Happy Knitter

Noro Kureyon sock yarn... two balls... $18.95 each.... first ball, no problem... second ball... 3... count them... 3 knots.. two of them within the space of a single row!!



Nope, I am NOT a happy knitter today!

(I'm also not happy because Blogger's not showing me the paragraph justification options; I like to center the photos and it won't let me.)

Nope, not happy.

A Day at the Fair

As mentioned yesterday, John and I spent a few hours wandering around the IPE (Interior Provincial Exhibition), also known as the Armstrong Fair. This was the 109th year of the fair and we enjoyed ourselves.

I made sure that we checked out the handicraft competitions (knitting, crochet, etc.) and I must say that I was singulary unimpressed with the entries. Most of the crochet (doilies) was worked at very loose tension; the majority of the knitting looked like it was done in Walmart yarn (nothing against Walmart yarn, but quality was definitely lacking) and there was absolutely no lace knitting whatsoever. The only lace knitting we saw was a beautiful triangular shawl knitted by someone in the Vernon Spinners & Weavers guild. It really was lovely.

In our meanderings, we even came across a competitor who is distant family (a second cousin of my mother's, if I'm not mistaken). He raises Frisian horses in Deroche, BC, not too far from where I used to live. It was a lovely surprise to have an opportunity to chat briefly with both him and his wife.

Now, I'll leave you with some pictures of our day...