I know, I know - it's already 7 January!! But, in my defence:
(a) I've been reading craft books in the interval (more below); and
(b) I started and finished this yesterday!
Another Moebius wrap by the increasingly fabulous (in my estimation) Cat Bordhi. This is the simplest knit yet (once you figure out the cast-on, which usually does take me a couple of tries) - only 14 knit rows!
The yarn used was Grande Godiva by Handmaiden (although I do now lust after Malabrigo, the Maiden is still first in my affections - this week!). It is a bulky 50% silk/50% wool blend and is absolutely luscious. It was knitted on 9mm needles and so went very quickly - it only took a couple of hours!
This, if you can make it out (I blame yesterday's fog...) is an applied i-cord edging - found either in the Cat Bordhi book or in one of the Nikki Epstein books.
(I had already made this one before Christmas - in a slightly different pattern provided with the yarn kit - but never posted it for some unknown reason [close your eyes, Mom...!!!]:)
In fact, I had so much time after finishing this that I got a good start on the Nina Shawl:
Super 10! Ah....
(as in "Ah... but what state is your apartment in right now?" You don't want to know. For one thing, there are piles of the 15 December PayDay yarn acquisition sitting in a corner of the living room, beckoning to me...)
As if all this knitting weren't enough, I have now decided to take up papermaking and dressmaking. (There is some unexpected leftover money from the holiday which JJ has kindly agreed to let me invest in a sewing machine. I do hope he doesn't think he is getting any clothes out of it!!!) Thanks again to Holly for putting me onto Craft Magazine (I think, anyway... at this rate, it's getting more difficult to leave the house, especially after three weeks off work!)
Speaking of vacation, here are some more boring vacation shots - sidewalk mosaic in Paris:
(both taken on the Rue de Rivoli) and subway mosaic in London:
And - here is the finest art exhibition that the Louvre had to offer!
Still chugging through the European and duty free smokes, I'm happy to report:
I guess that's enough for now. So, in parting, I wish you a happy Distaff Day. What is Distaff Day, you ask? Says Wikipedia:
Distaff Day, also called Rock Day, is 7 January, the day after the feast of the Epiphany. It is also known as Saint Distaff's Day, since it was not really a holiday at all. In many European cultural traditions, women resumed their household work after the twelve days of Christmas. The distaff, or rock, used in spinning was the medieval symbol of women's work. Often the men and women would play pranks on each other during this day, as was written by Robert Herrick in his poem "Saint Distaffs day, or the Morrow After Twelfth Day" which appears in his Hesperides.An excuse to stay home from work and craft? I wish. Maybe I could claim it as a religious observance day??? Hmm...
Some modern craft groups have taken up the celebration of Distaff day as part of their new year celebrations [emphasis added].
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