Finished?

I finished knitting this little piece yesterday.

It's a fine little capelet and weighs in at only 56 grams, but it's been a long term project. I spun the wool-silk blend a couple of years ago and cast on at the collar. After shaping the shoulders and the neck opening I worked a pattern of regular increases until I ran out of wool. If you're wondering why it took so long, there's something like 800 stitches around the bottom edge. That's a lot of knitting. Now the big question will be how it sits on the person for whom it's intended and whether the shaping actually works in an attractive way. I hope to find that out tomorrow. Meanwhile the ends have been sewn in and I'm on to a new project.

And Mine . . .

Here's the beginning of the capelet I mentioned yesterday: It's pretty fine--those are 3 mm needles, in case you can't quite read the number. And for the first time I'm wondering if I should be wearing my reading glasses while I knit. I haven't quite come to terms with that concept yet!

I'm knitting from the top down, so the first couple of inches are the collar. I've knitted in a fold line. The collar will be double thickness. I'll stitch it down after I've finished the knitting. After that I changed to stocking stitch and started shaping. I'm increasing at eight different points--they're marked with little loops of wool. You can see one in the top right of the pic. I do own a variety of pretty beaded stitch markers, but I just can't think where they are right now. Rather than getting myself frustrated looking for them in the mess, I decided to make the wool loops and get on with with knitting. When I've got the length I want, or when I start to run out of yarn--whichever is first--I'll finish off with a band of . . . something . . . I'm not sure what at this stage. Possibly a garter stitch band to match the collar or a lace stitch. By then I'll have a better feel for the character of the piece. It looks like the yarn will go quite a long way, but I only spun up just over 50 g, so it's always going to be light and easy to carry. Unlike the blankets, which are my other works in progress. I haven't forgotten them. Now that the capelet is taking shape, I'll be happy to stitch away at it when I'm out and about and focus on the bulkier projects when I'm at home. Especially if the weather stays as cool as it has been this past week--still only 10 degrees when I got up this morning. That's still well and truly woolcraft weather.

Delicious

I hadn't seen my friend V for weeks. It felt like way too long. So we arranged for her to come over for a coffee yesterday morning. The weather and other commitments were conspiring against us, but still she came--on her bike, in the rain . . . And here's what she brought to show me:It's her latest work on Esther Aliu's Red Delicious quilt. V normally favours machine piecing in her quilting, so watching her develop her skills in aplique while working on this quilt has been fascinating. I'm not the only one of her quilting friends who is subconsciously keeping count of the number of times she says, "Ouch" when the needle finds her way into a fingertip. But the result is far from Ouch, I really like it. And it's perfect to accompany a morning coffee. That's what I think.

As for me, I've had at least one appointment each day this week, so I needed a take-along project too. I've picked up one of my pet skeins of handspun wool-silk. It's been hanging around the house for a couple of months now and I had no plans for it. I've started a little capelet. If I knit from the top down, I don't have to worry about how far the yarn will go, since anything longer than a few inches will work just fine. So I have the pleasure of watching the colours appear on my needles. These aren't colours I wear, so it will have to find a home when it's finished. I somehow don't think that's going to be a problem.

A Hug by Any other Name

I wore this little darling on Saturday: I'd had a bad night and felt rather vulnerable. What's more it's been unusually cold the last few mornings. I'm not quite sure what to call it . . . I guess it's a little capelet really. I've knitted it from my handspun merino-silk yarn--one of the First Editions colour blends. The design is a simple stocking stitch circle with garter stitch bands and yarn-over increases. I love it. It's warm and light and soft and easy to wear. It's one of those pieces that is sure to improve my day every time I wear it.

I need to sit down with a ruler, pen and piece of paper, to measure and write down my pattern, so I can provide it to the growing list of people who have asked for it. Like so many of my experiments, I made it up as I went along. Meanwhile it's nice just to enjoy the textile hug.