Noro, oh Noro....where art thou oh Noro.....

Well, you know I have told you about my exploits with Eden on the day after Boxing Day yarn shopping? One of my acquisitions was 3 skeins of Noro Silk Garden (16C) at 25% off. I thought it would be sufficient for a vest, but a few weeks after I started I quickly realized it would take a fourth.
I also had a bit of a time figuring out if it was worth trying to match up the colour repeats. At first I didn't think it would matter, but it did. It looked kind of weird. So I undid what I had knit (the back and 1/2 of the front) and started from the beginning. I decided to knit it in the round, which would eliminate the problem of matching colours up, but made the colour changes much longer. 160 sts on a 5 mm needle gave me a 44 inch width on it (although I think it came up a little bit smaller than that.

In the end, I think the affect is quite good. The colours are in longer blocks near the top (at the back and front) and then get stretched out as you go down. The pattern I was basing this on also called for no edging. Well, it looked unfinished, so I wound up picking up and knitting a ribbed edge around the arms and the neck.

It is a bit tight on me (incentive to loose more weight) but it looks great on Heather who I made it for in the first place. Being wool and silk, it should keep her core nice and cozy which I hope will extend to her fingers and toes that are icicles this time of year.

What's next? Not sure....I bought some fingering weight yarn at the same time that I picked up the Noro. But as lovely as it is (Handmaiden 50% cashmere/50% silk) I can't figure out what to do with it. I don't like having yarn in my stash without a designated purpose, so I might take it back for a credit. My next entry I will let you know what I decided.

Oh, if you are wondering about the back drop, it is in the laundry room. It was the only place that had white light and was truest to the colours in the yarn.

The Shrug

Not the kind you do with your shoulders, but the type of knitting you put over your shoulders. I had quite a few moments of angst over this bit of knitting. First it was the lace pattern. I think I have mentioned before, I am laced challenged. I don't have the ability to concentrate long enough to keep a series our lace stitches clear in my head. I forgot this when I started knitting the lace pattern on the back, and turned into a nasty knitter when I screwed it up (sorry Heather and mom). So, to compensate with this I have to use (and not forget to use) stitch markers to section off the pattern. Once I do this, I am fine (and retain my pleasant disposition).

The second thing I angsted about is the shrug itself. If you haven't noticed, I tend to be a traditional kind of knitter. Nothing too much out of the ordinary. Shrugs can be seen as a transient fashion trend, just as ponchos were a year or two ago. I am already worrying that the thing will be out of vogue before long, and I will look like yesterday's news. Heather also mentioned to me that it looks like a sweater not quite finished (ugh!!). But, as Eden said to me, if it goes out of style you wear it at home. True, Eden is often right about those things (when I wasn't sure if I could knit the lace section she said "You can TOTALLY knit the lace"). Sure enough, she was right.

So now what? Well, I mentioned in my last post the day-after-Boxing Day yarn store shopping that Eden and I did. One of my acquisitions was 3 skeins of Noro (at 25% off), which I will make into a vest for Heather. I have never worked with Noro before and although it doesn't feel the best (mix of wool and silk) the colour repeats are incredible (orgasmic wouldn't be too far off). This should be a quick knit, stay tuned for updates.

Fashion, Food and Fetching
First, left over business from 2006 (Happy New Year, by the way). At our last DKC meeting, we had a fashion show of items created by members. I was brave (foolish) enough to enter, and had a great time despite myself. Jacquie Blackman (our V.P. Programme) did an outstanding job of arranging the whole shindig, and took some fab pics of the participants (or 'the talent' as she liked to call us). It was a grand time, and I will be happy to do it all again next year. I am having a hard time downloading the ones of me, so you will have to have a looksy at them all.

Christmas 2006 feasting continued into 2007, with the arrival of a gift tower of food from Heather's sister Helen and her husband Mike. They are ex-pats living in Singapore, and every year send a wonderful assortment of goodies from a U.S. outfit called Harry & David. Here, Heather displays this year's offerings of red delicious apples (I have never seen apples this big), ripe juicy pears, chocolate truffles, chocolate bing cherries (a personal fav) and assorted nuts. Although we had plenty of food over the holidays (and who didn't) these are always a welcome treat (thank you Helen and Mike!!).

I already knitted a pair of these fingerless mittens (or wrist warmers) called Fetching for Heather this fall in alpaca yarn. Her hands are forever cold and I hoped this would help warm them up from the icy state they usually are in. She was grateful for them, and put them in a safe place. So safe, she can't find them. So, when Eden and I went on a day-after-Boxing Day crawl (another story) I saw this beautiful yarn of fine merino, silk and cashmere and thought I would knit her another pair (with idiot strings this time). Here we find Heather showing off one of two, the mate being worked on presently.