But I will not show you pictures. I started a different shawl with the other ball of Anne yarn. It's still taking no yarn, and I love the way it looks, but the washed out pictures I took this morning don't do it justice. You'd think me nuts for even considering it in comparison to the yarn being worked with the green. I'll try for better photos this evening and maybe then you will see what I see. This shawl is being worked on straight needles, mostly in a stockinette stitch. I wasn't happy with my quality of knitting with the circulars, and the garter stitch was starting to really look sloppy.
It's possible that I sell myself short, that the garter stitches would have been fine once the shawl was blocked. I felt that with the weight of the shawl as the yarn grew, the shortness of the firm part of the circular needles was not serving me well. I was finding it increasingly hard to feel confident about the quality of my work. I'm not a perfect knitter, but I do want to show off my efforts to their best advantage. The garter stitches worked loosely is probably not the best advantage. Anyway, it still sits on the needles. I won't actually take it apart till I need the yarn. (Butt covering 101) It is possible that with only the Anne yarn, the shawl won't reach the size I want.
For all my play, I've no pictures. So I will show you this. 
This is a blanket which lays across the foot of my bed. It is some amorphous fabric from the fabric store's bargain area labeled as unknown. It was under a dollar a meter. From the feel of it, and the weave, I believe it to be Ramie mixed with something. The loose weave is close to even weave, though not perfectly so. The embroidery thread is basic whatever I could find in the bin, in this case, some size 10 (whatever that means today) ungassed crochet cotton. The fabric and thread are not normally used for hardanger work, but the heavy cotton thread did suit the coarser fabric. The stitch simplicity is based on what I could remember, but overall, the very simple stitching suits the fabric too.
As you can see by the openness of the embroidery, this is not a blanket meant to be washed and tossed often. It is not perfectly firm where the fabric threads are cut, as most hardanger work is.
Here is a shot of the hemstitched edge. I was really pleased with the way that turned out, considering I had only tried it once before with less than great results.
This is one of my favourite things just for me. I have yards more of this fabric for pillows, a table topper and a set of pockets to hold books and things at my bedside. Though hardanger is principally a kind of embroidered lace work, it suited the fabric, and it's simplicity suits me. It was a great way to get something handmade into the room without feeling overwhelmed by lace.
1 comment:
Hi! Thank you so much for your comment on my blog. I forwarded your comment to my niece and she thought that was sweet. The only think about that tidbit (re: 4 am stoplight) is that both my niece and I are particularly strict rule followers. She said maybe we should be Canadian! :)
I love your embroidered piece in this post. I am not familiar with Hardanger but I googled it and what beautiful pieces! Yours is lovely and I like the more rustic look of the green not-quite-even-weave fabric. Wonderful work!!
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