My, oh my. I've been very busy knitting lately! I wanted to wrap up all my unfinished KAL projects before we kicked off 2014 with Spire.
First there was this gem, which was a complete joy to knit. It was easy to pick up for "bite-sized" knitting sessions, where I might only have 15 minutes, but I wanted to have a project in my hands. It wasn't tricky, fussy, or persnickety, just straight up lovely-to-knit lace.
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| Rachel's shawl, KAL Fall 2013 |
Nest up is the biggest, most intricate, fabulous piece of knitting that I have accomplished in my time: Leaves of Grass. I look at it and think "heirloom" knitting, because this is art. I bow down to Jared Flood, who is a true genius of fiber and space between stitches. I am pleased to be the final participant to finish the LoG, and to have so much inspiration to draw from, seeing all my fellow KALers on this blog.
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| Leaves of Grass, New Year's Day KAL 2013 |
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| Prairie, KAL Summer 2013 |
The last Knit-A-long project was a looooong time coming! I don't know why, but I just couldn't wrap my mind about picking up a strange number of stitches for the border. So it lingered, and stared at me from the corner. Eighteen whole months, it sat as a silent reminder that I was NOT keeping up my end of the KAL bargain, but I just couldn't bring myself to do anything about it. A few weeks before Ho-Ho-Ho day, it emerged from the corner and my little girl said that she wanted me to finish it for her for Christmas. While I am usually loathe to set gift deadlines, sometimes it's the only way that something gets finished around here! Lo and behold, it's exactly what I needed to tackle that border. It still needs blocking, but hey, nobody's perfect :)
The color still needs some tweaking as well. I took some pink lace and overdyed it with a packet of Kool-Aid. I think the color looks good from a distance, but when you look at it closely, there are undyed bits that are not so pleasing. Now that it's finished, I think another dip with some Kool-Aid would take care of the problem areas and leave me happy.
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| Sempervivum, Summer 2013 |
Last, but certainly not least is this Mother of a lace project. Sempervivum. It was an impromptu KAL between me and Melissa. While it might have sucked some of the life force out of me, I've never been so happy to have something finished. With God as my witness, I'll never rip another row out of this shawl. You know how they say hindsight is 20/20? Well, now that I've knit enough of this pattern to make two shawls, I am a firm believer in placing markers for every pattern repeat. Just saying. The yarn is my first foray into MCN (Merino, cashmere, nylon) and I had been saving it for something really fantastic. This luscious yarn saved the project countless times, because I refused to throw it away, rip it out completely, or cut it up into pieces...The yarn was simply too special. Now that it's done, I wear it often and lovingly, knowing that a piece of my soul is somehow captured within it.
Whew! I think I 'm all caught up with my KAL progress, and I hope to stay a little more current with Spire! See you all on New Year's Day!
Kelly
well, it's a banner day in blogland ~ both Kelli & Kelly posted ~ love this time of year when things are winding down and gearing up all at the same time
ReplyDeleterelief that projects are finished and tons of anticipation about things to come!
all of your knits are fantastic, Kelly ~ thanks for knitting Rachel's shawl, I'm glad you finished Prairie for Chloe (like I said, how could you say no to that cutie pie?), your Leaves is MAGNIFICENT & Semper... what can we say about Semper? I'm glad we knit that together or neither of us may have finished it :)
TWO MORE DAYS TIL SPIRE, LADIES! looking forward to knitting with you in 2014 :))))
Thanks for being my Semper Cheerleader, your encouragement was very appreciated! We got though it together, yahoo!
DeleteLooking forward to 2014 ;)
I knew you (we) could do it :)
DeleteSo much lace!!! I think I got a bit dizzy there for a moment :P
ReplyDeleteLOL, me too ;)
DeleteWoo Hoo what a post. So many beautiful pieces! I'm waiting patiently by the mail box waiting for my fiber to come in. I have a feeling I'm not going to have it for the cast on day.... but there is still hope! I'm looking forward to the Spire KAL!
ReplyDeleteyou knit like the wind so you'll probably still beat us all :)
DeleteI hope you post a photo of the fiber before you spin it (hint hint) ~ I'd love to see the whole process...I'm completely intrigued!
Thanks Andee! I just cast on your Penny Infinity Shawl tonight, and besides some operator errors, things are going very smoothly! Great pattern!!!
DeleteI can't wait to see how your Penny Scarf turns out. I've been wearing mine so much. I need to make another infinity pattern so I can change up my wardrobe.
DeleteMelissa of course I'll post pre-spun fiber. I can't wait for it to arrive!
Glad to hear that you're considering making another pattern! I like this one so much, and am certainly enjoying the knitting.
DeleteKelly, you must be thrilled with these accomplishments, and liberated? LOVE the color of your "Rachel". It WAS a joy to knit. I am working on "Leaves of Grass" (like it very much) or was until I needed to dedicate my time to hats. I'll have to look up "Prairie". Not familiar with that one, but the color you chose is yummy. Even better -- your model is A-dorable. Post a photo of the blocked "Prairie" on RAV when it's done. :)
ReplyDeleteHa, I do feel a bit liberated ;) Although, I am quite happy to have so many laceweight shawls to wear. It's hard on my hands to knit with lace, but the result is so delightful ~ light, airy, warm, and pretty. Now that my cupboard is full of shawls, I'm sort of turning my attention to knitting cowls. I knit one this weekend, and started another last night. They're like potato chips!
DeleteKelly, quite an accomplishment! I never get tired of seeing Leaves of Grass, yours is in a beautiful color.
ReplyDeleteDoes your daughter have fun modeling? She's precious. Can't wait to see what you bring for Spire. See you around~
Thanks! I love the color too, but don't know what to do with the leftover lace, I think I've got about 800 yards. Chloe always does a good job modeling, but it does take bribes :) Everyone says she could be a child model, but I think she'd be miserable!
DeleteThere is a definite color palette here... it's nice to enjoy that end of the spectrum without having to knit it! I love your handdyed Prairie... kudos to your daughter for loving lace!
ReplyDeleteI finished up a lace wrap for my sister in the last few weeks, and I know what you mean about it taking a lot of effort. The end result is so gorgeous, I know I'll be suckered into another before much time passes!
Leaves of Grass --- Woooot! It's beautiful. My sisters cuddled under mine during a visit Christmas Eve, and each promptly put in a request for one next year. How can I resist? After all, they actually gave me fair prep time. (And I began a Girasole for one of them a few years back... she already knows it won't be a LOG)
Yeah, my color wheel seems stuck on a wedge of the warm side! I have a tendency to knit in streaks of color, and I still haven't gotten past my orangey-red phase. I started an Ashby in the Ginger colorway of Felted Tweed. I do feel a shift coming up though...
DeleteMy daughter has always loved my knits, and is starting to talk about learning to knit herself. (I am not giving up hope of her taking up spinning too.) I listen to the Knitmore Girls' podcast, and the Mom had the daughter taking spinning classes from the time she was a preteen. Now, she gets gifts of handspun yarn for Christmas. I'm definitely taking a page out of that book! But in all honesty, I really hope that Chloe and I can share the same love of fiber, and have such a close-knit (yep, I said it) relationship.
I actually love to gift handknits, mostly because my recipients are very gracious, as your sisters must be! Leaves of Grass is a definite accomplishment, and I would totally knit it again (and again)! Your sisters sound like gems, how many do you have?