FO Friday 157: Hey Presto !

Halloween Tarot

Seeing as how it's October and we are talking about the magical and mystical, how is this for today's theme song ?








I just love the transformative process of knitting. I could start with the sheep/llama/rabbit, but you already know where wool comes from; instead, let's follow the practical changes once the yarn has reached me:

Sirdar Country Style DK 'Heather'

Transformed via the Cafe au Lait Tam pattern to this hat for Nanny:

To match the Cafe au Lait Mitts I made for her last year:

And then we take a skein of maravilloso Malabrigo Lace in 'Natural'

And filter it through the Afternoon Tea Shawl pattern to get this penultimate result:

And after the truly magical metamorphosis that is blocking, we get this:

Yes, that noise was me heaving a very contented sigh. You'll hear a lot more of those over at Tami's Amis ....

FO Friday 141: Blue and Green

Spiral Tarot

 ....should never be seen
Without a color in between.''

I seem to recall being told this sartorial advice sometime during my childhood. Along with, never apply your makeup or brush your hair in public. Not eating when walking down the street may have been practical advice as well as sartorial.

Oh well. 

I have finally got around to taking photos of my most recent FOs. Unfortunately, it was quite breezy and so you can also see my interesting choice of small garden implements used to weight them down - no fear, they were clean, no mud or earwigs.

The 3rd Summer Flies Shawl, Term Flies, in Sirdar Softspun DK, colorway 'Duskie. This came out beautifully, and blocked nicely so that it is a huggable size: 60'' across the top, and 20'' deep. This one was commissioned by Destructo Boy for his class teacher as an end-of-term present, and I have to agree with him that she is L'Oreal ie. worth it.

 

The 4th Summer Flies Shawl, Harvest Flies, in Drops Fabel Uni Color, colorway 104 'purple'. This was requested by a SIL via my MIL, for her birthday this summer. I gambled and bunged in another set of butterflies and eyelet lace, as using thetanull's modifications as I've done 3 times before still left the shawl looking small, probably because is it fine yarn. The blocked size is 58'' wide by 21'' deep. Much as I love this pattern, knitting it 4 times (the last twice pretty much consecutively) means that I am pretty sure this was the last time I have made it, and now it will be honorably retired..


 

However, the Afternoon Tea Shawl is definitely one I shall make again, and not just because it is free; I don't think too many of the pictures on Ravelry do it justice - you can't really see the pattern detailing. This is for Mini Diva's class teacher, made using Sirdar Softspun DK in 'Teal'. Blocked size is 51'' wide by 24'' deep.

You'll see I have actually bothered to measure all these shawls, which I don't think I have done before. Mainly it was to satisfy myself that these are a decent size, and ought to be difficult to confuse with a scarf. You'd be surprised how many recipients have thought they'd been given a scarf. But perhaps this only means that they are not 'on trend' like wot I am, and do not know how cool and amazingly fashionable a shawl is. Even if worn as a scarf. Or a belt, may they be forgiven for stretching it in such a cruel way.

While I ponder whether I am already retro and just don't yet realize it, because I can't find one article online saying that shawls are cool, you may pop over to Tami's Amis and see what else is being completed ....

WIP Wednesday 144: Winter is Coming

Tarot of Leaves

Sorry, I forgot all about Friday. I was doing something. If only I could remember what it was now, I'd share it with you.

Today's rather autumnal card from the Tarot of Leaves echoes the weather right now: gales, heavy rain, and low temperatures. Totally not May weather at all - we are still wearing our winter coats and boots. So today's post is likely to be a short one: me and the dog need to time our walk carefully, as neither of us like getting wet.

I have cheated slightly on the KTQ13: I moved a shawl that had been in my favorites for a while, into my queue, and then started knitting it as an end of term present for Mini Diva's teacher:

Afternoon Tea Shawl

The main history theme for Grade 5 is Victorian times, and includes at least one dress-up day, so I thought a Victorian-looking shawl might come in handy. This too is made using Sirdar Softspun DK, this time in the colorway 'Faded Jade'.

My reading time has been taken up recently with 'A Dance with Dragons', book 5 of George Martin's 'Of Ice and Fire' series, which I had read so long ago I had forgotten all the details (to be fair, there are loads to forget). I had got used to his writing style and repetitive vocabulary- which needs better editing - and had somewhat adjusted to his habit of killing off major characters:

But not only was this particular book very slow in pace, full of details that had little to do with anything that had come previously, the introduction of random new characters that served no purpose to the storyline, but also one of my favorite characters is killed unexpectedly. In fact, you could read just the final 3 or so chapters and save some precious time to do other interesting things in instead of reading the rest of the book.

And to add insult to injury, Martin has still not completed the planned books 6 and 7, leaving so many plotlines hanging in the air it's ridiculous. He's notorious for the time he takes to write the sequels, and now I am worried that by the time he finishes the last 2 volumes of the epic saga, I will have forgotten the story again, and will have to re-read again. In addition, the televising of the books as 'The Game of Thrones' should mean he needs to complete sooner rather than later, so that the TV audiences are not also left twisting in the wind.

So, my grumping over for now,  Sebastian and I must dance between the raindrops all the way to the park; you, however, may stay in the warm and dry comfort of your chair, and check out other lovely things at Tami's Amis ....