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Thursday 17 March 2011

Chaos

Hi everyone

Yes I am still here
Just sitting in chaos at the moment
D2 and her partner have temporarily moved in with us
D2 has not lived with us for over 10 years and her partner never has
So we have squished 2 homes into 1 at the moment
And squished is a good word for it
There goes our freedom  :-)

I have had a finished project which I have been wanting to show you
But for some reason, I just could not get around to blocking it
And it has a long story to go with it
So grab a cuppa and some nibbles and here I go ....

Once upon a time (smirk) ......
About 6 years ago I started glancing at blogs, particularly knitting ones
I was absolutely astounded at the beautiful work I saw
Particularly when I chanced upon a few who were making lacy shawls with fine ply (2-3)
They were absolutely gorgeous
And a longing started
A huge longing, a craving, a want, a must-have

Yes I can knit
Yes I can do lace
But these shawls usually ended up with well over 300 stitches!!!!
And it was done with such fine yarn!!!!
My memory and patience is just not that great any more

So I kept looking
I found crochet blogs with just as amazing shawls
But I was not confident with my crochet skills
Granny squares were my limit
And I had to make the grey matter work to remember them

And then came Ravelry
I heard so much about it right from the beginning
I heard about the 'oh-so-long' wait to join
But that changed and yes it was wonderful!!!

Ever since I joined Ravelry, I have browsed and queued so many shawls - knitted and crocheted
I could not help myself
But no, nothing was started

And then only recently, from out of nowhere, I found a pattern - I loved the look, I think I could do it, I even had stash that immediately sprang to mind when I saw the pattern

Now to add another quirky thing
I have always had a fascination with leaves in knitting projects
The first project I made for my babies was 2 small blanket with leaves as the feature (sorry I can't find a photo to date, but I'm still looking)

Do do you remember this?


This project took me a while to do
Memory lapses ensured that I frogged it a lot
Even with a very easy pattern
So glad I chose a crochet pattern and not a knitting pattern
It would have ended up totally frogged  ;-)

And here it is ...




Am I the only one or can you all see those pretty leaves?
Leafy Lime

Now it is not fully blocked, not too sure exactly how to as it is made with cotton.
It has had a light steam block

Haven't worn it yet, so you will have to wait for those photos
But it sits lovely with the shaping at the top
It's light and delicate and semi-soft

Now to find a shawl pin!!!

Details here
The pattern is called 'Small Talk Shawl'
It is a beautiful, simple pattern repeat
I can already see this in autumn shades in a heavier weight wool, maybe something slightly silky .... mmmm

BTW - I should mention that hubby's team has made it to the Grand Finals
So another weekend spent on the side of a cricket oval
And another project to find
A very, very, very, very simple one this time - my concentration may not be on my fingers  :-)

16 comments:

  1. It's lovely and the colour is too. Well done.
    You know Maria you undersell yourself. I watched you churn out all sorts of beautiful garments , for yourself and others, both knitted and crocheted. Stop under selling yourself. You're terrific at handcrafts !!
    cheers
    Helen

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  2. That shawl is absiolutely gorgeous!!! The color and everything is perfect! Nice job!

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  3. Beautiful - and yes, I see the leaves.

    Block it as you want it to be - cotton is not elastic like wool and should hold the shape you give it. But don't stretch it too far, you can not make it go back again - once stretched it stays stretched (as we have probably all found with cotton knitted/crocheted garments).

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  4. Stunning Maria stunning :)) I love the leaf pattern, and the colour...
    What a talking piece it will be when you wear it :))
    Thanks for the link too ..

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  5. That looks very beautiful Maria and the colour really suits that pattern. You've done a great job with it :)

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  6. Maria, that shawl is a beautiful work art, wear it with pride, you have done a great job.x

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  7. I think I have that one queued too!!

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  8. What a beautiful shawl Maria!! You can be very proud of yourself.I love the leaves. It still scares me to do a project like that.

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  9. Maria, your shawl is beautiful! Such a pretty green and leafy leaves :-) It's gorgeous! Ros

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  10. wow well done, what an achievement! Yes i can see the leaves too! You could always make yourself a broach out of crochet flowers etc!

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  11. This is beautiful and yes I can see the leaves!!! You should be very pleased with your self!

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  12. Love the shawl! I admire anyone who can knit one - I'm battling with a swatch and reading the charts before starting a lace shawl and that's bad enough!!

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  13. Your work is terrific Maria,
    this one is simply the best, absolutely gorgeous!
    Hugs suex

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  14. I hope ll of the "squishing" goes well...it will take a few adjustments.

    I love the leafy colors and your little history. You are very talented.

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  15. Oh WOW!!! This is just gorgeous Maria!!!

    I love the colour and the pattern is just divine!!!

    Great Job!!!

    Hugs - Jodie :)

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  16. Yes the shawl is beautiful. It must have taken a good bit of concentration. I like that shade of green.
    I hope the squishing goes off well.

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