Tuesday 27 September 2011

Estonian lace is not TV knitting

I do quite a bit of knitting in front of the TV. My lovely lacy scarf is NOT TV knitting which left a little hole (well it didn't, I have other TV friendly WIPs I just didn't want to knit on them) so I had to cast on something simple.

I went with my go-to project when I want something simple and mindless, stockinette socks. For once though these are not for me, hurrah! A moment of not-selfish-knitting. Quite unlike me really as I'm a terribly selfish knitter generally. These are for the lovely Mr.NM (that man with the size 11 feet, that's A LOT of mindless sock knitting!) in yarn that has been in the stash for ages which he chose.

The yarn is Four Seasons Gründl Marathon Pompeji, a pretty standard German sock yarn which I'm sure will wash really well and be hard wearing which is necessary in his socks as he wears through standard, shop bought socks at an alarming rate. The pattern is nothing exciting but fits well and there are more details on my ravelry project page.



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I'm using magic loop which has become my standard for stockinette socks, I'm terrible for getting ladders using DPNs but don't with magic loop...plus it doesn't fall off the needles so yay.

I have also returned to my purple jumper with the cable down the front in a determination to finish it so it's ready for a real turn in the weather. I think I have one or possible two more repeats of the cable to do for the body then I can knit the sleeves which should be quick and simple. We'll see.

I need to do more interesting things with my time or at least knit a lot more so I can get back to frequent blogging!

Hope everyone is well and has a lovely week.

Tuesday 13 September 2011

Lovely Estonian lace

I've been rather neglecting my poor blog of late, almost a month since my last post! Whilst I've felt rather guilty about it I've also failed to find anything much to blog about. My knitting has been going at a snail's pace and I haven't been doing anything interesting non-knitting wise to share either. I have not forgotten you though followers and I have not abandoned my blog or knitting, I promise.

In an attempt to feel the love for my knitting again I gave in to the urge to start something new. I had been so very well behaved sticking rigidly to my chunky woolly jumper that I'd gotten bored by the whole thing. This urge was to start something very specific. It seems so many of the blogs I read have been having lace adventures lately and oh how I wanted to cast on some lace. I resisted and resisted until I got to the point where I could resist no longer.

A quick stash dive (and some input from Mr NM) came up with this, Juno Alice Lace in Shadow Cave.


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Oh my it's LOVELY. A blend of baby alpaca, silk and cashmere in an absolutely divine silvery grey. It's so unbelievably soft with a slight sheen and I adore it.

I did not particularly adore winding it. Laceweight is something that really gives me the urge to buy a ball winder and swift, it took absolutely ages to turn it into a ball. Sadly we have a long list of household "needs" and not enough money to buy them so a ball winder and swift falls way down the list. I watched some TV worked with what I had.


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I picked a pattern from Knitted Lace of Estonia which is a fantastic book if you don't have it but are a fan of lace. Lots of history of Estonian lace knitting, some great tips, lovely patterns and a section on stitch patterns so you can create your own Estonian style lace shawl. I used a pattern from this book last year when I knit my MiL a scarf for Christmas (which she has never worn grumble grumble).


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The pattern works in much the same way as the previous one I knit from this book. You knit one end piece first, put it on a holder, knit the scarf and then bind the two pieces together so the ends match. Actually the pattern says knit the bottom end and body of the scarf first then put that on a holder and knit the top edge but that sounds like a recipe for running out of yarn to me! It's a double strand cast on to make that edge a bit tougher and I do think the pattern is just lovely. It's called the Lilac Leaf Shawl though my intention is to wear it as a scarf as I don't really go to events where a shawl or (I think in this shape it's more a stole) is necessary!

I've finished the top edging so now onto the bottom edging and main scarf, the pattern even has nupps and whilst I left them out last time I knit a pattern from this book (as there were loads and I feared running out of yarn) I intend to do them this time as they're just in the bit of pattern where the edging meets the main pattern repeats for the length.


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I can't wait to wrap this snuggly softness around my neck. Obviously at the moment it just looks like a crumpled mess but we all know that's what the magic of blocking is for.