Ends and beginnings

I finished the lovely shawl I have been working on. Its not blocked yet, so I'll save photos for tomorrow. Its was a delight.

But with the end of one big projects, I had time on my hands and nothing specific to do. I could have worked on the Lehe shawl, but I knew this weekend was not going to be the right time. There were just too many things needing doing. The garden pots all needed planting, there was tree shopping and planting on the agenda, I hoped to get to felting, I wanted to clean out the van so it was ready for next weeks adventures. Combine these with working Saturday, and the weekend's short hours just left bits and pieces for knitting and yarny pursuits.

I wound a bunch of skeins of yarn into little yarn cakes ready for use whenever the mood strikes me. It began because I have a powerful hankering to work with one specific yarn, and I needed to wind up my rich deep red lace weight for the Edmonton Group's summer knit along. (More about that later)The yarn I have been waiting impatiently for is Ella Rae's Lace Merino, a really lovely hand dyed lace merino. The Merino is spun so it maintains its lovely squishy goodness and the weight of the yarn , slightly heavier than an average lace weight, makes it a real delight to work with. As I wound, I realized these skeins, so carefully picked, from the same dye lot, still have a great deal of variation, as do all hand dyes. The ball on the right is quite a bit lighter than the other two, the middle ball is slightly lighter than ball 3, and ball 3 has the richest and deepest tones of all. How do I make a really great looking shawl from them?

This yarn wants to be a Shoalwater Shawl. The colours just are so right for a shawl of that name and a stitch with that history (Old Shale, an old Shetland lace pattern). I thought about working with the 3 balls all at once and alternating rows, but this seemed like a lot of fussy effort. If you looked at the water, the water is always a range of colours. Why not the shawl? So my plan is to use the lightest yarn first, and as I move out to the ends of the shawl, I will slowly add in the darker ball 2, alternating strands with ball 1 till it is gone, then work a bit just with ball 2 and then begin to alternate 2 with ball 3, finishing the shawl with the deepest richest colours. It is a sound plan and I really hope it works. I'd cross my fingers about it, but the knitting would be awfully slow.

Another yarn I wound was some really elegant Woobu, a yarn from Blue Moon Fibre Arts, that has just arrived at the store. Seriously fine, really gorgeous. The bamboo adds such an interesting thing to the merino. They don't take dye the same way, leaving a subtle heathered look to the finished product. Don't even get me started on how scrumptious it feels in my hands. (It ought to come with a warning that it will seduce the unwary.) This photo does not do it justice. These many multi colours are going to make a really great little shoulder something. I have not decided between a simple shawl, a mobius wrap, or one of the elegant wraps from Wrap Style. There is a pattern from Ilga Leia, a little shoulderette thing that might be right for it too. Or maybe one of her wonderful wraps.

And then in between all the rest of it, on the drive to pick out trees, while waiting for dinner, and all the little bits through the afternoon, I knit on this. Its the first of the pairs of bed socks I am knitting as part of River City Yarns Knitty in the City event in support of the Alzheimer's Society. They are a simple 100% ribbed sock, toe up or top down, makes no difference. I'm working on 60 stitches with a dk weight yarn on a 4 mm needle. If you use a fingering weight yarn, consider knitting over 72 stitches. (A lot of elderly people have wide feet) The ribs mean that no matter who gets these, they will fit. Wide feet, narrow feet, all will be accommodated. There isn't any heel. No worries about fitting properly to size.

Knitty in the City is part of the festivities of WWKIP day and the other shops in town, the yarn distributors, and some really great businesses are helping us raise awareness and funds for this worthy cause. Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia are devastating conditions. It is so much more than a slow loss of memory. It is a slow loss of self to the sufferer. It is the slow and painful loss of a sweetheart to a partner, it is a mother slowly forgetting if you are child or foe, it is a regression past childhood, to a devastatingly long goodbye.

Its a busy week ahead, and I am really looking forward to the weekend. This week is Stitches Saskatchewan, and the knitting part of the conference starts Friday.