Monday, August 27, 2007

Flap your Wings and Fly AWay


Flap your wings and fly away...oh MS3 "Swan Lake" Stole to the finished projects basket ! Yup, I cast-off my Natural white MS3 last Friday night. I haven't had a chance to block her yet (something about celebrating my parents 50th wedding anniversary), so pictures will be forthcoming. I cast-on on July 8th and cast-off on August 24th, having spent 21 days knitting on this project. I knit this version exactly as written, with the "wing". I used a single 100g hank of KnitPicks Bare Laceweight yarn and US5 Addi-Lace needles. The final stole weighed 91g.

Having finished the 1st of my 2 Swan Lake Stoles, I have to say that the pattern proved to be a pleasant knit--not boring! I can't offer a final opinion on the wing until after blocking, but my current thoughts are still not favorable. I don't love how my join between the 2 sections looks and I still would have preferred some connection between the lace patterning of each section. The good news is my mother absolutely loves the wing! She tends to wear her stoles and shawls with one end wrapped securely around her neck--the optimal way for the Swan Lake Stole. So I will give it to her after I weave in the ends and block the stole and I will finish the blue version without the wing for myself. I guess there was a reason why I ended up knitting 2 after all :-)

With one stole done I resumed work on another of Melanie's designs, the Hanami Stole. This was Melanie's first asymmetrical design, but this one is much more to my liking. The 1st half of Hanami is knit in a basketweave lace and the rest is a varying gradient of YOs intended to resemble cherry blossoms falling. I knit most of the 1st section before the MS3, but am now well into the last section of the stole. I have 1 1/2 charts left to knit before the final ruffled edging. I joined a KAL group for this stole even though I am a "cheater" thinking it would help me get finished. Besides, I can offer my help to others having already knit much of this lace stole.


Today's photos include some of my favorite things. First up is one happy baby and her very proud daddy-My nephew Tyler and his daughter Isabella, now 2 months old. Can you dig that goofy grin??? It's hard to top chubby cheeks baby pictures, but emerging from the drought and triple-digit record heat is a spectacular flowering vine--the passionflower. This version is a cultivar and is a bit different from the Tennessee State wildflower passionflower which has a lot more purple in in. I hope to have some of the wild passionflowers growing in my garden too some day. I found some growing in a place where I can legally take a start without hurting anyone or anything, so I may just be lucky enough to not have to buy a plant from a local wildflower nursery. The structure of the passionflower is simply amazing and would be considered beautiful by any standard. Christians find extra appeal in the symbolism attached to the passionflower, said to represent Christ's Passion. Either way, I just love these flowers!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your great-niece is too cute!! Also love the passionflower. Good luck with the wild variety.
Marci

Anonymous said...

That baby is adorable! What a smile. And I love your teddy; clearly, that one was for you. Others for the children will come all in their own time. I have a handspun sheep I made, perched on top of my knitting books, reminding me to go knit.

My daughter, by the way, was the recipient of a small teddy when the paramedics were strapping her onto a board, at six years old--it gave her something to focus on besides her maybe-broken (turned out not to be, thank goodness) back. She hung onto that bear all the way through high school, with its little corporate PacBell bib.