Another busy day

It's going to be another busy day at work, so I'm going to have to be quick. Last evening after that late and short post, there was some light consumption of a particular port I enjoy. Acompanying this consumption, there was sock knitting. About 2/3 of this happened

so I am well pleased with my progress. There has been very little real time put in and yet the sock is actually growing. It struck me as odd last night how fast it is growing (thinking it was odd was directly connected to the port), but morning light tells me that socks appear when you actually spend time knitting them and that since I am no longer avoiding them, I should not be surprised they are growing.

Feeling very good about socks (and the port) made me feel ready to tackle a new lace design. Again, I found it in Mildred Graves Ryan's Encyclopedia of Stitchery. It is called Cats Paws Lace, and is again an old Shetland pattern. Its has 3 rows of thinking and 3 rows of purling over 7 stitches. This I can do.

Right now, this lacy light design, as pictured here on this free pattern by Elizabeth Lovick, is in the running for the delft blue coloured yarn. There is another stitch design I'm looking at, but this one was the first I worked up.

There are all kinds of stitch variations out there for this stitch pattern and other ways to place the design within your project, such as blogger round n round she goes uses it, to make many variations of it. Its a lovely versatile stitch pattern and it would look nice no matter what yarn you worked it in.

Of all the lace stitches I have tried so far, the ones I have had most success with, and found the most easy to use are traditional Shetland patterns. They are so simple, and yet produce such lovely delicate things. It makes sense they would be.

These patterns were developed by women in small homes lit by fire and candle light. There were worked on in snatches of time between the heavy labour of keeping a early 19th century home on a small and rocky island. They were simple so they could pick up and quickly know what they needed to do next without referring to a pattern. They were passed by memory rather than by writing them down, by looking at previously made shawls rather than looking at charts. Celtic Memory refers to an Irish custom, Women's Christmas, or perhaps, St Distaffs Day, were likely the only time they might have just done for themselves, if they followed those traditions at all.

They were a far hardier sort of woman than we are, and yet, like us, they loved things of beauty, and delicacy. Those hard working women gave us the legacy of lace. With every stitich I make as I play with these lace patterns, I am aware of that every shred of elegance and beauty that appears so magically, was gifted to me by them.