Knitting Blog: Maia
Right now I am putting Elizabeth Zimmerman’s motto to good use: "Knit on with confidence and hope, through all crises."
There is even a finished object to show for it. Maia - a shawl designed by Rosemary Hill, and knitted by me in Moonlight and Laughter’s yarn.
The original shawl is designed to be a small shoulderette, but my version was to be a gift, and I wanted to make a longer, more versatile shawl. Easy to adapt the pattern - just add more yarn than specified. I used nearly all of two skeins of a fingering weight merino/bamboo blend. The yarn was handpainted and it was highly likely that small color differences would create a visual join if I knit all of one skein then added the other, so I knit first two rows from one skein then two rows from the other. The end result was perfect - no pooling of colors, and no noticeable change from one skein to the other.
Pictures, please!
In the knitting. I think this picture captures the lovely interplay of colors in the yarn pretty well. It's surprisingly difficult to photograph the color of yarn.
In the blocking. After soaking for about a half hour, the shawl was very happy to relax into place. I used the wires to shape more than stretch this shawl.
Rear view.
Front view. Thanks to my husband for taking a good picture of both the shawl and of me!
I got to wear the shawl long enough to model it and fall in love with it. Then I showed it to Marilla, the dyer of the yarn. Then I carefully folded it, wrapped it in tissue paper and gave it to my stepmother.
The shawl was partly a birthday present and partly amends for a truly dreadful knitted gift of many years ago - a long, red cotton skirt. It weighs a ton and makes the wearer look like a barn door. The skirt was returned to me last fall, and sits on a shelf, waiting to be unwound, or cut up into towels. Fortunately my skills at knitting items to be given away have improved over the years. My stepmother loved her new Maia.
I will knit it for myself someday, if I don't get too distracted by all the other beautiful patterns that will come my way.
As to what I am knitting through - 2011 is a challenging year in my household on more than one front. I've blogged about part of the story already, a part that is rapidly sinking into relative insignificance. Some of what remains of the story is mine, but not all of it, and I have learned not to blog about other people’s stories.
There is even a finished object to show for it. Maia - a shawl designed by Rosemary Hill, and knitted by me in Moonlight and Laughter’s yarn.
The original shawl is designed to be a small shoulderette, but my version was to be a gift, and I wanted to make a longer, more versatile shawl. Easy to adapt the pattern - just add more yarn than specified. I used nearly all of two skeins of a fingering weight merino/bamboo blend. The yarn was handpainted and it was highly likely that small color differences would create a visual join if I knit all of one skein then added the other, so I knit first two rows from one skein then two rows from the other. The end result was perfect - no pooling of colors, and no noticeable change from one skein to the other.
Pictures, please!
In the knitting. I think this picture captures the lovely interplay of colors in the yarn pretty well. It's surprisingly difficult to photograph the color of yarn.
In the blocking. After soaking for about a half hour, the shawl was very happy to relax into place. I used the wires to shape more than stretch this shawl.
Rear view.
Front view. Thanks to my husband for taking a good picture of both the shawl and of me!
I got to wear the shawl long enough to model it and fall in love with it. Then I showed it to Marilla, the dyer of the yarn. Then I carefully folded it, wrapped it in tissue paper and gave it to my stepmother.
The shawl was partly a birthday present and partly amends for a truly dreadful knitted gift of many years ago - a long, red cotton skirt. It weighs a ton and makes the wearer look like a barn door. The skirt was returned to me last fall, and sits on a shelf, waiting to be unwound, or cut up into towels. Fortunately my skills at knitting items to be given away have improved over the years. My stepmother loved her new Maia.
I will knit it for myself someday, if I don't get too distracted by all the other beautiful patterns that will come my way.
As to what I am knitting through - 2011 is a challenging year in my household on more than one front. I've blogged about part of the story already, a part that is rapidly sinking into relative insignificance. Some of what remains of the story is mine, but not all of it, and I have learned not to blog about other people’s stories.
Thumbs up for shawls. People do not wear them enough. Great for opera, plays, drinking songs and saving on the heat bill.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. You are an inspiration to me.
ReplyDelete