Friday 6 November 2009

Let Me Count the Ways

Well, the wedding went swimmingly well. Everything ran very smoothly so far as this guest could tell, and there has seldom if ever been a happier couple. I'm waiting to see the formal photographs but I'll share this one with you meanwhile.

The kilted chap is English and has a Scottish mother, and the chap in the red dress is Scottish. That's not what you thought, is it?

The Puzzle Stole had a bit of an accident. Can you see?


I think it happened on the way back from London, either in the packing or the unpacking so it's entirely my own fault, like so many things, but I think I've patched it up fairly successfully. Thank the Knitting Gods for Kidsilk Haze, which doesn't unravel but stays happily tangled together while you fetch the crochet hook and the repair needle.

I finished the Golden Gail while I was away but I only got it blocked this week.

I could have got another repeat out of the yarn but I didn't want it to be too huge: the bride isn't a tall girl and I want it to be more of a shoulder shawl. I'm going to give it to her as a birthday present as soon as I get it wrapped up.











































This is a lovely pattern and very easy to knit once you get past the difficulties presented by the charts. I made a bodge of the edge chart at the centre point- because I was talking and didn't pay attention to my inner voice - but it's fine. I think I'll probably knit it again. The yarn is 100% silk, custom dyed by Fyberspates.

The title of this post refers to the Navy Ribs which is driving me a bit insane. It's in an irregular rib. I like my fancy knitting to be fancy and my plain knitting to be plain, and this falls between the two. It's decidedly plain but I can hardly take my eyes off it for a moment - 3, 3, 3, 1; 3, 3, 3, 1; 3, 3, 1, er, wait a minute. I'm having serious thoughts about whether I actually want such a garment but I've got myself the 32 cms up to where something happens and I've cast off the 9 stitches at each end, so I allowed myself a break while I pick up and finish the Kidsilk Forest Canopy for my osteopath which has been neglected for a while .

It's a lovely bark-coloured blob of nothingness and I should finish it tonight or tomorrow.

At which point I will have to decide what to cast on next. I will try to keep the Navy Ribs going in the background, and I will pick up the Red Sandstone Cardi again, but I need something else, something um, fancy.

These have been on my conscience since I bought them at Woolfest. They are from the Yarn Yard, Fyberspates, and Ripple Crafts. I have two skeins of the one in the middle.

They're all sort of sock weight and about 400 yards. I'm thinking fingerless gloves, or little shawls or maybe even scarves, or something but in spite of spending inordinate amounts of time on Ravelry, I haven't settled on anything. I think the outer two wouldn't show to their best advantage in garter stitch so I can't do Baktuses and my current Karius is still lurking somewhere so there's no point in casting on another one. The Delft Blue one is strongly tipped to become a Shetland Triangle, but I'm still open to suggestions. I'm very tempted by the smallest version of the Aeolian Shawl but I think it maybe needs a plainer yarn.

I like all of them enough to want to keep them for myself but am realistic enough to be prepared to give the final results away as Christmas presents if I have to. (I'm not quite sure what I mean by 'have to' here, but I expect you know what I mean.)

Here's the ivory and gold dress.

You see what I mean about a happy couple?

7 comments:

lamazeteacher said...

I looked on Ravelry for a pattern called "Golden Gail" but the search came up with nothing. How can I get the instructions for making this beautiful shawl?

Sea said...

Beautiful shawl :)

Mary Lou said...

What about Gaia? On Ravelry. That shawl is fantastic. I am with you on plain knitting should be plain and simple. I've ripped out things that I thought would be simple after a few rows because it was more complex than I thought it needed to be.

Anonymous said...

The Golden Gail is lovely; a beautiful choice of pattern for the yarn. Your new yarn purchases are lovely as well.

The happy couple are indeed happy. Their smiles inspire me to do likewise.
-- Gretchen

Knitting Linguist said...

Oh, how fabulous -- I love that last picture, it's exactly the way one wants a newly-married couple to look. The shawl turned out beautifully -- I adore the color and the pattern shows it off really nicely. Welcome home!

shandy said...

That Goldern Gail is so lovely, especially against the dark colour. Is it Portuguese on the blog?

Raveller said...

The men in skirts, the wonderful stash, the Golden Gail, the really happy couple - it's almost too much to take in. So happy you had a super trip and hope you have recovered from it.

Seriously, that Golden Gail is remarkable against the black.