Ahem... well, that might be overstating it a tad. However, bloodied but not bowed, I return from the Land of the Secret of the Stole II (Clue No. 1) - triumphant!!!
Obviously the photographic skills still need some improvement... but you get the drift.
Perhaps my wee rant yesterday got my demons out of my system, I don't know. However, I finally have a beginning that I can live with - just in time for the release of Clue No. 2!
Isn't she pretty?
I'm glad I finally managed to figure out this diamond pattern in the middle:
It may be a bit messy, but it's mine! And I'm glad I switched back down to the 3.25mm needles - I like this fabric better than the first one I came up with.
So - clouds, silver linings, all that!
(It strikes me in hindsight that I should have been much less hard on myself - after all, I have managed not so long ago to come up with these works: the Montego Bay scarf:
...whic, as you may recall, morphed into this tunic:
...as well as these two scarves:
So, a couple of tips from the front line for other neophytes to lace:
- be patient and don't go flinging UFOs off balconies - in only because you brain a neighbour, you might get evicted, and then wouldn't have anyplace to keep your laceweight stash!
- as beautiful as it is, avoid using Malabrigo laceweight for a first major project. It sticks to itself a bit too much, making the inevitable frogging more difficult.
- do not delude yourself that you are so skilled as to not have to use LIFELINES. Millions do, apparently.
- do not attempt knitting lace when your eyes are tired from having spent 11 hours that day revising extremely boring legal papers on computer screens.
- did I mention LIFELINES?
It is actually still in progress - maybe. The pattern is the Beaded Tresses Hat by Cat Bordhi. I may or may not add the tresses... but don't you like the beads?
Yarn is Manos del Uruguay 100% yarn. Initially I wasn't too fond of the bumpy texture, but now I think it works with this design quite well. The scarf, by the way, is done in Fleece Artist Goldielocks and is also Moebius in nature.And what are the big plans for the weekend, pray tell? I plan to get a good start on a design project using this:
(Handmaiden Silken. The colourway is Sangria - more red than I can manage to reproduce here. Beads by Earthfaire.) I have submitted this idea to Interweave Knits sometime back but have heard nothing - so I suspect I'll be putting up photos next week regardless.But not tonight. Why? Because tonight is the monthly summit of the Tenant Advocates!!! Today's excuse: it's Rabbie Burns Day!!!! So right now I'm sipping on a wee dram (of diet coke - can't stand whisky!) in honour of the grrrreat JJ, King of Tollcross... and will be hoisting something a bit stronger come
Slainte!
|