Tuesday 1 December 2009

Swallowtails

I'm on to the 13 th repeat of bud lace, so this shawl is moving along with great speed.

As happened last year, when I knit with this yarn, I am overwhelmed by its delicacy. It is so incredibly soft. Like down without the feathers. Like a cloud without the cool wet. It a sigh, a whisper, a shimmer of light off rippling water, ethereal.

The yarn is a local product, from an Alberta alpaca rancher, Amber Autumn Alpacas. There are still some skeins of last years milling in the south side store, worsted weights and a few skeins of finer weights, and there is an alpaca merino blend from this year that should not be missed. Really great yarn.

I'm finding I am contemplating nupps as I knit this morning. The next section of lace is 3 repeats (IIRC) of the lily of the valley pattern. While the nupps look delicate in laceweight yarns, I don't think they will add to the look here. I worry that the balance, the rhythm and flow of the patterning will be upset by the sheer volume of nupps.

I don't know that I'll add beads either. Beads would be nice but this is for the bride's grannie, and grannies deserve warmth and comfort in the things they wear about their shoulders. Beads would attract cold.

But most of all, I fear running out of yarn. I don't think there is anymore of this marvelous concoction available anywhere, so if I run out, I must come up with a different plan. Surely, skipping the nupps is going to save me many feet of yarn, miles even.

So on the marathon of knitting goes. I don't think I'm going to get to knitting circle today. I really want to make progress on this shawl today. If I don't now, I might end up taking short cuts that this yarn and this delightful pattern don't deserve. If all goes well, all the shawls will be finished by next week, and I'll be able to show them all off.

The operative phrase is if all goes well.

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