Show and Tell

Ice Blue Shell. I had gotten about 3-4 inches done on this and then re-measured my gauge. Uh-oh. I had done a gauge swatch (several) and gotten gauge somehow on the last one. How does that happen? You knit along and get gauge with size 7 needles on the swatch, then on the actual project you are suddenly knitting lucy-goosey. Ugh...anyhow, I frogged the whole thing, rewound the ball of yarn and began swatching again. Finally got gauge with my size 5's. That's right. Five's! I also switched to my Boye needles. I have the Boye needlemaster kit. It is wonderful and I use it as often as my Denise needles. I love both sets. I tried the Denise needles, but the plastic sort of makes the yarn drag with it having so much cotton and all. The metal needles just slide through the stitches like "but-ah". So, I have begun again and will show you progress when there is progress.

Meanwhile, here are pictures of my "twin" shawls. The pattern is from A Gathering of Lace by Meg Swansen. Called A Beginner's Triangle. Here is the first one I made from Jamison's Shetland Spindrift in Twilight. Love, love, love!! Here is Danielle modeling it for me:

This one took me longer, since I did so many projects at the same time. But I love this yarn. It is a shawl I would love to keep for myself, but I made it with someone in mind and I will stick with that. I really thought about her as I knit it and it would just seem to me as if I were keeping a shawl that didn't belong to me now. Tempting, but I think it is perfect for her. Can't wait to hear her reaction when she gets it!

A back shot and a close up of the stitch detail here:

After loving that shawl for each minute that I knit it, I decided to do another one as a gift for someone else. This time I chose a heavier yarn, since my recipient goes camping and I can envision her all cosy in her shawl during a cold evening. I made this one out of Berroco's Ultra Alpaca in color 6285. Why can't they all name the colors instead of just having numbers? This is a turquoise blue and has such depth. The pictures I take can't possibly do it justice. But here they are. It isn't blocked yet, but Corinne modeled it beautifully, don't you think?


Loved this pattern so much that it is hard to think of not doing another one, but really between A Gathering of Lace and my new book Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby, I have enough lace shawl and scarf projects to last me a lifetime.

Ok, enough for now...I have to give Danielle's hair a trim and actually do some knitting today.