FO Friday 145: Wowsers !

The Animism Tarot

       Well, there I was strolling around the interwebz looking for another Sun - and look what I found ! Isn't this card amazing ?

It's from the Animism Tarot, a deck created by Jo from  at Rainbow of Crazy; here is her Etsy shop, also full of pretty animal things that are full of vibrant color and whimsy. This deck just really appeals to me - I like the style, the art, the colors, its personality. No, I'm not Jo or related to her, nor do I owe her money. Yet.

Anyway. I can now reveal the two shawls I made from Knit Picks Chroma Fingering in the 'Seaweed' colorway; first was another Mrs.Tumnus Shawl, a pattern from my friend Eskimimi; this version is 'Mrs.Tumnus by the Sea', because of the colorway:

I am really pleased with how it came out - the subtle colors of the yarn really suit the pattern, I think.
 If you recall, knitting the Mrs.Tumnus was the wicked price I had to pay in order to have a boxload of Knit Picks yarn sent to me from my friend Paula in the USA. However, I had been sent two balls, for just in case, and this shawl only used one; what to do, what to do .... ?







I'll make a different shawl with the other ball !

Here is the Glissade Shawl, in the same yarn:

 

I finished these a little while ago, but I didn't want to post photos until they had been delivered - along with some sneaky English tea, jam and shortbread. I like to look after my enablers. And fortunately, Paula likes both shawls and titbits, so I let her think she is the winner in our deal.

And my crochet achievement that I'm crowing about today is the Heirloom Lace Baby Afghan by Terry Kimbrough:

I used a 5mm/USA H hook and just about 3 balls of Cygnet DK, 2 pale blue and 1 white - I had just enough blue left to edge the border; then I trimmed it with narrow navy satin ribbon to give it what I fondly visualize as a swanky finishing touch.

I found the pattern to be straightforward - the ripping back(s) involved was my own fault for making some silly mistakes - but it is easier and quicker to rip out and repeat than knitting, at least. My stitch gauge was spot on; row gauge .....  not so much.

 

The yarn itself has washed up nice and soft too, all ready for the Nephew (August 2013 Edition).

While I run away and play outside in the real sunshine, pop over to Tami's Amis and see all the other pretty things on show today .....

Blah Blah Raspberries

Tarot of Durer

I was too disheartened to post yesterday - it is June, it is grey all the time, and it is so cold that DH even put on the heating on Sunday. In June. As in, Summertime. I probably wouldn't mind quite so much if I lived within the Arctic Circle because presumably one gets more accustomed to the temperature and lack of sunlight if one lives there long enough.  Or one evolves into some kind of eyeless creature covered in long thick fur. It looks like I will find out - and to save you from the same trouble, I will report back. I am always thinking of others, even in my most anguished troubles.

On top of that, I have an intermittent toothache that I know will have to end up in a trip to the dentist; but right now I am totally burying my head in the sand because I have an overwhelming and irrational fear of dentists. I know, I know, I can't believe I'm such a wuss either; here, you can have my Big Girl Pants because I'm obviously not entitled to wear them any more.

They're damp, you say ? 

Sorry, yes, that is from the panic-stricken sweating which I get from just thinking about the dentist .... pop them in the washing machine, they'll be fine.

Gross ? Yes, indeed. 

But who else do I know well enough to share these intimate and revealing details of my psyche and knickers, but you ?

And if that wasn't enough, I had been doing so well on the shawl I was making with the Knit Picks Chroma - and then 8 rows from the end, I just wasn't happy with how the border was coming out. There were errors  I did not want to fudge. Good girl me, woo hoo, I had put in a lifeline on Row 82, in case of yarn shortage.

'Phew', I thought, amazed at my own unusual foresight, slapping my double-jointed self on the back in congratulations.

I ripped it back to row 82.

To find that somehow I had managed to put the lifeline in wrong, and had missed some stitches. So I had to rip it back right to the beginning. And this is where we are at after about 12 hours work altogether, including the ripping back .....

This is actually green yarn, 'Seaweed' colorway. But there is no sun, so my life looks like footage of Soviet Russia - everything is black, grey and white. So why is three colors called monochrome ?

I wish I liked chocolate more so I could turn to it for comfort - no, don't revoke my membership of the Sisterhood entirely, please ! Have pity ....

WIP Wednesday 147: Seaweed and Old Men

Old English Tarot

So this week has continued sunny, if a lot less warm because of the northerly winds; hard to believe it is so very different in Prague.

I know that you will be totally impressed to hear that in last week's holiday I only acquired a tiny bit of yarn. 

Well, 2 balls of it. 

Yes, each ball is 400g/14oz, but you wouldn't know that from the picture, so being stupidly honest, I just tell you brazenly..

I didn't even buy this. Shrek aka DH liked his last sweater so much that now he wants a cardigan. But not any old cardigan. Oh no.

 It has to be a 'Dad' cardigan, ie. frumpy old-man vintage and classic in style and design. It must have pockets. I am dreading the request for elbow patches and fake leather buttons.

you can buy these here. If you had to.

 

He had been mumbling about a fine yarn like a 4ply/fingering weight, but it's OK - I gave him The Look and squashed that crazy idea out of hand since as I haven't yet discovered the Fountain of Youth, I positively will not have the time to complete such a humungous folly undertaking before I grow old, wither away and die from the ensuing boredom.

Aran weight yarn for DH as I am not insane or immortal

My actual WIP this week is another eskimimi's Mrs.Tumnus by the Sea; the marine reference from the yarn's colorway, 'Seaweed'. I think it must be Arctic seaweed as I am sure even the manky dead stuff I have seen on the shore is brighter than this. But I had a tropical upbringing, so the appeal of subtle, classy colors tends to evade me. And the yarn itself (Knit Picks Choma Fingering) is really lovely and squooshily soft; there's a slight uneven-ness in the ply which is not quite enough to be described as 'slubby', but which makes it interesting.

subtle classy yarn in a subtle arty photo

And in last week's trek round the charity/thrift shops with Mini Diva - who possesses a very keen eye for a fashionable bargain - I found this lovely pattern for a baby sweater: I thought it was a little unusual because of the stripes, collar and just the one side cable, and shall be knitting it for the Nephew (August 2013 Edition).

Now I must rush away to satisfy my craving for Hobnobs, plain and undunked. But you who have not been afflicted like me can go and check out all the lovely stuff at Tami's Amis ....

WIP Wednesday 146: By Gollum

Hanson Roberts Tarot

When is a WIP not a WIP ? 

When it's Pre-WIP, aka stash. 

No, I know it's not as good as the door and a jar joke, but I get points for trying,  right ?
 
Here we are, half-way through half-term, and I've just popped in to gloat crow tell you about what arrived on my doorstep today, all the way from one of my lovely friends in the USA:

 

Yep, you're right, that IS a pretty dang mehusive box.

Would you like to see what's in it ?

And wow, that mehusive box was stuffed to the brim with yarn. Yarn from the American company Knit Picks who do not ship internationally, which makes their products a challenge to get hold of here. Which entails all kinds machinations and plotting - something for which I think this shows that I have showed an unexpected talent. I'm expecting a call from MI6 momentarily.

No, I didn't have to sell my soul to make this happen - all I have to do in return for all that lovely swag is make a Mrs.Tumnus Shawl out of this:

Knit Picks Chroma Fingering in 'Seaweed'

I did contemplate selling either a kidney or a child, or a child's kidney, to pay the iniquitous import tax; which in these days of a free trade world, they ought to at least  try and dupe us by calling it something other than a tariff.

What's that ?

What else was in the box ?

I can't give you all the good stuff in one go, now, can I ? You might die from the excitement and then I would feel a little bit bad for a second while, which is not what you want at all, is it ?

So I think in the meantime you should go soothe yourself with pretty things over at Tami's Amis, while I try to control  the almost irresistible urge to behave like this: