FO Friday 175: It Ain't Easy ....

Victorian Flower Oracle

Well, all bar a few tiny grams of the Abstract Cat BFL Lace in 'Spring Greens' that Auntie Fashion gave me for my birthday is gone. But we have two nice crescent shawls to show for it; firstly, the SusannaIC Spring Fling MKAL, the actual name of the pattern is 'Fialka':

 There are seriously hundreds of beads, but you cannot see even one. Neither does the sunny day help in making the picture truly representative of the marvellous combination of blue- and lime- greens in this yarn.

And then, because I thought I would have enough yarn, a little crescent with the leftovers, 'Promise Me' from Boo Knits. I learned my lesson, and didn't bother with beads on this one:

I'm not 100% sure about the Boo Knits patterns - they look fabulous, in other people's projects. Mine ? Not so much. The lace looks like lots of holes, I find it difficult to see the pattern. But they are very light, delicate and airy looking shawls; ethereal might be the educated word to use.





Pop over to Tami's Amis to see more seasonal works ....

FO Friday 82: Quick, Quick, Slow

Well, not only is it the Easter holidays coming to an end - boo, hiss and boo again because I have really enjoyed having the kids at home - but I have two proper FOs to share today while they are boogying, grooving and generally getting on down with their bad selves to the UK Top 40.

Firstly, I finally finished the Candleflame Shawl, which I started ... umm ... an embarrassingly long time ago (July 2011, can you believe it ?!) but then again, there was no deadline for it. I will replace this rubbish photo if I can find someone to take a decent one for me:

And to show the detail of the flames with beads:

I altered the top edging to moss stitch from ribbing because I wanted something a little  firmer. This was made using BFL Laceweight in the colorway 'Fire Festival' from Laura at the Abstract Cat, on 3.25mm needles; I used about 600m, and have approximately 210m left for something. Dunno what the something is yet, though ...

And recently I had a request to make something specific; I was wary to start with, because who knows what an incautious 'yes' might have committed me to. But it turned out to be a hat for my young nephew, as his original had fallen into Dover Harbor and, when last seen, it was floating its way to France; the deal was sealed when I was told that my hat was the only one he'd wear - well played indeed, clever SIL. So here it is, another 3am Cable Hat, modelled by Mini Diva:

I even had enough of the original yarn left to complete it, Stylecraft Extra Special DK in 'blue marl': soft, machine washable, easy to knit with. And whilst searching for this half-ball in the yarn tub, I came across another yarn I'd forgotten about which I think will be just right for my next project ... more of  which another time.

Don't forget to check out all the other lovely FOs today over at Tami's Amis ...

WIP Wednesday 47: Hot in the City

So we eventually got the promised thunderstorm ... not on Sunday night as forecast, but yesterday. Everything is cooler, brighter and fresher because of it; fortunately we had got home from school before the heavens opened, so we could fully enjoy it from the inside.

Outside, the big jasmine is in flower, and at times the scent is overpowering; amazing that such a small flower has such a disproportionately intense fragrance:


Yes, it was me actually took this arty-looking pic

The same applies to untrimmed privet, although that doesn't have the same cachet at all.

I only have one current WIP, using a yarn I bought especially from Laura over at Abstract Cat;
not the first - or the last - time I have shopped with her because of her fabulous colors and great customer service. It is 400m of British Blue-faced Leicester sockyarn (4ply) in the colorway 'Sunday':

This is being turned into a birthday scarf for Uber-Cool Brother; he's the kind of person who buys organic from farmer's markets, doesn't mow so as to maintain an insect-friendly environment, and cares whether his prosciutto has actually come from Italy, so it seems logical that he would appreciate hand-made.

So far, it looks like this:



It's the Flame Chevron stitch pattern, which will be revealed to perfection when this is blocked - hopefully in time for FO Friday ...

As usual, many beautiful things to ooh and aah over at Tami's Amis ...