Saturday, November 7, 2009

A Great Day.

Today was great. The Longhorns won, the weather was perfect, and I did something I really wanted to do: I took a class taught by Jared Flood - you can find a link to his blog on the right. It was fantastic. He is a great teacher, I learned so very much, and I really look forward to employing some new skills. The class was focused on lacemaking, and the project we worked on was a lace sampler, teaching a few different lace patterns combined with several general knitting tips.

This photo is seriously awful - the yarn is not really that dark, but in the evening light, it is hard to see it. I also haven't entirely completed the project. The main body of the knitting is complete, but I am searching for a lace edge pattern to add to it. Finally, I will need to block the knitted item to truly show all of the intricate stitching. Blocking involves wetting a knitted item in cold water, then pressing most of the water out of the item, and finally stretching the item. I will post a photo when it is entirely completed.
I am also working on a scarf for Steven's sister, seen here in burnt orange to the right. I love this yarn - alpaca and merino - and the color and pattern are also pretty great. This is my first exposure to knitting cables, and I love it. I will definitely be knitting something for myself in both this yarn and the cabled pattern sometime soon.

Finally: here is a photo of the photo provided to me graciously by Elizabeth, of the twins wrapped in their handknit merino baby blankets. I have been meaning to post this one for ages.