Ann – Page 185 – Fiber Musings

Lace Objects

On 20 Jul, 2007

After spending a couple of hours diagramming the lace shawl from my dreams, I have a much better appreciation for the genius of lace designers. I’m still working on the increase rates of the shawl versus the natural increases in the lace motifs that I want to use. After examining published lace patterns, I have some better ideas of how to proceed. However, I have put that aside for the time being.

Instead, I will present you some finished lacy objects.

A cat walked across my scarf…

This is the last of the auction scarves. This is for Carol, who lives on her boat with her cat named Scuppers. The scarf is to represent the cat pawprints on a white topside in the morning dew…like the dirty skid prints you might find on your car windshield or across your deck on a frosty morning.

I have not been happy with the cat’s paw lace patterns I found in my references. They are really more like a daisy with 6 lace circles. I designed this so that it is more representative of a paw print, and aligned them such that it looks like the actual path of a cat.

If anyone is interested in the pattern, let me know. I’ll put the pattern in my sidebar.

Specs:
Yarn: Handspun Chasing Rainbows Cashmere/Silk in Purple Haze colorway; lace weight
Pattern: my own
Needle: US #3

Swallowtail Shawl

Specs:
Fiber: Handpainted Alpaca/Silk, purchased at Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat. I don’t remember the vendor’s name and can’t find the tag right now.
Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn Clark, from Interweave Knits Fall 2006 issue.
Needle: I don’t remember, but I followed the directions in the pattern exactly, so probably the recommended needle size.

Landscape Scarf

The shaping of this is ingenious. I love the long curved edges. Perfect for ties without pulling the scarf out of shape. I can imagine several scarves like this, but with different lace designs. (Yeah, right. See the 1st paragraph of this post.) All I can say is, Evelyn Clark is a genius.

Specs:
Fiber: Handspun Merino/Silk from Lisa Souza, colorway Shaved Ice; fingering weight
Pattern: Landscape Scarf by Evelyn Clark
Needle: Again, I followed the instructions blindly, using the recommended needle size for fingering weight yarn.

Dreams

By Ann

On 6 Jul, 2007

In Knit

I dreamed of peacocks and triangular shawls last night. Must be the effect of the MS3. The gap between the time I finished Clue 1 and when Clue 2 is posted seemed interminable. I need something else to do. Sweaters are too hot to have on my lap during the heat wave we are experiencing. Socks aren’t grabbing my attention. MS3 has my lace juices going again. I need more!

That must be why I was dreaming of lace. But peacocks? I have no idea, except that I was looking at a fir cone pattern the other day and thought that it might look like the eye on the peacock feathers. Would you believe that I even dreamed of the chart? I think I can draft out what I dreamed last night in about an hour with Barbara Walker and some graph paper.

This morning, I took a look at the web. Lo and behold! Fiddlestick Knitting already has a Peacock Feathers Shawl. It is very different from what I envisions, but gorgeous, nonetheless. It will definitely go on my project to do list. I have some variations that I want to make, but wow. That pattern makes me salivate.

Back to my dream pattern. I went back to Google Images and searched for peacocks. I realized that what I had envisioned didn’t really look like a peacock in full display. What I was dreaming was more like if you take individual feathers and placed them next to each other like a wing. It’ll still be interesting, but I like Fiddlestick’s better.

Does that mean I’ll abandon mine? No. I still want to play with it. Will it work out? I don’t know. We’ll see.

32nd America’s Cup

By Ann

On 3 Jul, 2007

In Knit

I shouldn’t have tried to knit lace as I watched Race 7 of the America’s Cup. I ended up unknitting more than I knitted because I was wrapped up in the race. Or I missed a maneuver because I was counting. Thank goodness for Tivo. I finally got smart and put the knitting down and just watched the race. Spinning is a much better choice.

It’s been said that watching a sailing race is like watching paint dry. Well, this series blew that idea right out of the water. If you sneezed, you missed an important maneuver that resulted in a lead change.

I think both the Swiss and the Kiwis did an excellent job of the race. It really could have gone either way. It all came down to 2 seconds. A couple of heartbeats.

I’m glad the Cup is over. I can now return to my knitting.

Random thoughts of a fiber enthusiast - mostly fiber related, sometimes coherent

Author: Ann Page 185 of 260

Lace Objects

Dreams

32nd America’s Cup