Archives for December 2007

I got one more project completed for 2007.

Behold the Angel Lace Shawl, unblocked.

Angel Lace Unblocked 123107

And blocked:

Angel Lace 123107

As usual, my little helper appears as soon as I put lace down on the carpet.

A close-up of the pattern:

Angel Lace Close-up 123107

The Angel Lace Shawl (by Evelyn Clark, pattern leaflet published by Fiber Trends) took 2 50-gram skeins of Handmaiden 2-ply cashmere, with 10 grams left over. I did 2 extra  repeats of the main pattern. Blocked, it measures 72 inches across the top, and 36 inches down the center back to the point. A quick knit and a fun one, I recommend this pattern!

Happy New Year! Thank you so much for reading my blog and for your friendship in 2007. See you in 2008!

One of Lucy’s more important duties is to be photographed with visiting dignitaries. She had the opportunity to perform this duty last night.

Lucy and Donna

Donna and Em took time out of their world tour to stop in to see us. We had a lovely visit and I think Lucy has decided that there is nothing nicer than a teen-aged girl. She’d like Em to come back and play with her any time she likes!

Lucy and Em

On the knitting front, I am still working on my Angel Lace Shawl.

Angel Lace 123007

The pattern directs you to knit 13 repeats of the main pattern before knitting the edging pattern. I seem to have plenty of yarn, so I’m on the 15th repeat right now. I think I’ll stop after 15 though — don’t want to run out on the edging.

There was question in the comments about how I’m finding the yarn. I’ve had no problems with it snapping or breaking, and in the 1.5 skeins I’ve knit through thus far, there have been no knots or problems. This is possibly the nicest-feeling cashmere I’ve ever knit.

I love the pattern — easy to knit and easy to memorize, but complex enough to keep my interest.

I ask you, what’s not to like?

Thanks for all the comments on the Pinwheel Sweater. Guess what? I haven’t tried it on since I finished it.

This often happens when I complete a sweater. Once it is knit, I lose interest in it. Part of the problem is that for the past couple of years my internal thermostat has been completely wacky, so wearing sweaters is impossible. I still like to knit ’em, just can’t wear them right now. Hopefully that will change sometime. Soon, I hope.

That’s one reason why I like knitting non-sweater items — lace and socks? Those I can wear.

Speaking of lace . . .

Angel Lace 122707

That’s my current work in progress. It’s Evelyn Clark’s Angel Lace Shawl.

Angel Lace Pattern 122707

The pattern is available for purchase as a leaflet published by Fiber Trends. I bought mine from elann.com.

The yarn is pure luxury — Handmaiden 2-ply Cashmere. I’m knitting it on a US 6 needle. It’s as light as a feather and exquisitely soft.

If you look at the lace from the wrong side, you just see little circles formed by the lace pattern.

Angel Lace Wrong Side 122707

But on the right side you can see that the decreases form little angel wings. Cool huh?

Angel Lace Closeup 122707

Meanwhile, Lucy contemplates the stupidity of humans.

Lucy 122707

Happy Boxing Day and thanks for all your good wishes! Thank you as well to all of you who have donated to Heifer.org through my registry.

Lucy, the KOARC, and I had a lovely holiday. Lucy was very excited to received some baby chicks from Shelda:

Felted Chicks 122607

Lucy says “Thank you, Miss Shelda!”

Lucy with Chicks 122607

Her daddy gave her some new toys as well, including this cute little fish on the end of a fishing pole.

Lucy with Toy 122607

He proceeded to wear her out playing with them on Christmas morning.

Lucy Resting 122607

I finished my Pinwheel Sweater. Here it is, being modeled by Gwendolyn.

Pinwheel Front 122607

And the back:

Pinwheel Back 122607

The photography is not the best, but it’s a grey day — it’s been pounding down with rain all afternoon.

Could be worse, could be snowing!!

Here’s the view out my windows when I got up this morning:

Fog 122307

At 11:00am, the fog hadn’t burned off yet.

More fog 122307

Forbidding-looking, no?
All in all, it looks like a good day for drinking hot chocolate from my favorite mug.

Hot Chocolate 122307

I was very industrious yesterday. I gathered up some ingredients:

Ingredients 122307

I made Boeuf Bourguignon. Four different kinds of mushrooms. Yum!

Boeuf Bourguignon 122307

I didn’t use a written-out recipe — it’s in my head. And the results are stored in the fridge for Christmas Dinner.

Oh, and I finished the Pacific Islands Shawl. Here’s a blurry picture:

Pacific Islands A 122307

And a close-up:

Pacific Islands Closeup 122307

As you can see, Lucy approves of it!

Pacific Islands B 122307

She’s made herself quite at home!

Pacific Islands C 122307

To recap, the Pacific Islands shawl is a design by Laura Patterson of Fiberdreams. The pattern is available for purchase at her site (I can’t access it right now, she must be having server problems, but I’ve linked to the site in past entries). I knit mine from Wollmeise laceweight in the “Gewitterhimmel” colorway, purchased from The Loopy Ewe, on 4mm needles.

ETA: Laura is ineed having server issues with her site. If you’d like to buy the Pacific Islands pattern, it costs $5.50 — send her an email at laruaanneATgmailDOTcom and she’ll send you a Paypal invoice and will email you the pdf of the pattern as soon as payment is received.

I’ll now return to the Pinwheel sweater and finish that up, now that I have the extra yarn I need.

But first I’ve got some gifts to wrap . . .

I’ll likely not post again until after Christmas, so I’d like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays, or Happy Solstice, et cetera, or simply a happy Sunday. You pick. Thank you for stopping by to read my blog and admire Lucy!