WIP Wednesday 210: 50 Shades of Beige

Hanson-Roberts Tarot

                         
                          At the weekend I went with Belo to visit my BIL The Cornishman, and my nieces. A drive of a couple of hours cannot be craft-free, especially when focussing on the craft somewhat quells the anxiety of being in a car: so, what to take ? 

Can't take the MKAL as I'm doing the allthebeadsintheworld version, and beads and bumpy roads are not ideal lovers. Working on Destructo Boy's blankey ...  hmm ... might be all right; but then, so many ends to weave in as I go .... nah: too ittybitty. Checkerboard Mitts ? No love. 

Which left the Madaket Cardigan that has been malingering in the WIP basket, as I didn't feel in the mood to decide on something new. I like the pattern, though it seems to be taking forever - doing borders, sides and back at the same time in one piece drags while you're actually doing it, but will totally be worth it in the end when there's hardly any seaming to do.

 I like the yarn, Drops Lima - so soft - but I was clearly suffering some kind of color sense aberration when I ordered it; the Drops website calls it '0619 beige'. I call it taupe. Everyone else calls it 'boring'. Those who have seen it, including Titch, my kids, and my nieces, look at it, then look at me, and ask me 'Why ?' Cuz they're articulate and eloquent, see ? They do not fully appreciate my attempt at subtlety, even if it is accidental.

And because I was so beguiled by the conversational excellence of my family - or maybe it was the amazing BLT they forced me to eat - I made a rookie mistake. Let me show you, with arrows and letters using Paint as otherwise you might be blinded by my yarn color choice:

 The letters 'A' show you buttonholes. The red letter 'B' and the stitchmarker show you where there should be a buttonhole. But there isn't. 

I know ! And that was before I had any gin ! While I ponder how to fix it, pop over to Tami's Amis and see what happens .....

FO Friday 151: Bow Tie Cot Quilt

Inner Child Tarot

   

Even snapping a needle did not prevent me from finishing this project in the nick of time, with enough of a gap in the rain showers to wash and dry it today, ready to travel tomorrow to its recipient, the Nephew (August 2013 Edition). Yes, he is here !

I made it almost entirely from stash: I only bought 1 fat quarter for the patchwork; wadding, 3.5 m of bias binding, a reel of navy cotton and this most marvellous soft furry fabric for the backing, to make it reversible. I luffs it, and without further ado present to you the Bow Tie Cot Quilt from start to finish:

 

And now go see lots of other pretty things over at Tami's Amis ....

I Like 'Em Round and Big

The title of this post is taken from the lyrics of a rather raunchy song by Sir Mixalot in which he discusses the finer merits of big backsides - with which someone close to me agrees, saying, ''she's like a lobster - all the meat in the tail''.

But I am talking quite innocently about knitting needles. Today I completed another scarf in Kidsilk Haze, a ZigZag Lace pattern, using 5mm needles; it wasn't a complex stitch pattern, but even so, it was quite quick to knit up.














I also completed a scarf in a Diamond Lace stitch pattern, in a fabulous color that I think is raspberry but is called Flora, using Wendy Allegra on 8mm needles: this one took me only two days (off and on) to knit.

According to the ballband, the yarn itself is a mix of 32% alpaca, 37% polyester and 31% acrylic; it feels wonderfully soft and squooshy, and had some slub type stuff going on along with the gentle variegation effect. It blocked pretty well considering the non-natural content.