Crisis Knitting

Just when I'm thinking my life will settle down a bit and I can actually make some plans....a crisis pops up and any sense of certainty about tomorrow evaporates. These are the times I am most grateful for the certainty of knitting a favorite pattern.

This will be the third Pie Wedge Shawl I've made. It is a free pattern from the band of a skein of Helen's Laces by Lorna's Laces. I love this pattern! It's very easy and the result - a lacy, almost-circular shawl with lovely pointy things all around the bottom - is a pleasure to view. And I was amazed at what a nice warmth is felt when wearing this very lightweight shawl.

I made it in the original merino/silk yarn first, then I made it in some Cherry Tree Hill lace weight merino in the Country Garden colorway. Now, I haven't yet even blocked the first one, but I did make good use of my steam iron and fake-blocked the second. I gave that to my mother, who is always complaining about how heavy sweaters and coats seem to her. She has been very pleased with the functionality of this shawl, and also loves to tell me about all the fuss people make over it. They think her daughter is a Fabulous Knitter!

This shawl is being made in Misti Alpaca Lace, 100% baby alpaca - a nice heathery sage color which I just couldn't seem to capture properly in the picture. It's a very reasonably priced $5.95 for 437 yd skeins.




Of course, even in a crisis, I can't just have one thing to work on, so I also started this very easy little bag from the latest Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton Noro pattern book, called Noro Revisited.





















In the past, I've been rather disappointed with the size ranges in Noro pattern books - I'm a stout woman and I like loose, flowy sort of tops anyway, and they just didn't seem to include a size for me. But this pattern book seems to have directions for such a size in the patterns I like, plus it had some size-not-important patterns like the bag, which has directions for a larger one in Noro Iro, as well as the one I'm making in Kureyon.












Here are a couple of in-progress pictures. It's a great easy knit-up, and definitely a nice change from knitting the single-color slippery (but oh-so-soothingly-soft) baby alpaca.

The only complaint I have is that it calls for 100 gr. of Kureyon, and there is not enough left if you want to make the handle even a smidgen longer than the 10.5" allowed in the pattern. And there isn't enough left to stitch it together. I'm using a complimentary color of Cascade 220, and the stitching won't (hopefully) show that much anyway. But still....






All done, now awaiting the Finishing Up, which is always the bane of my knitting existence.











There is another pattern in the book I'd like to knit next, this cap and scarf made with a combination of Kureyon and Blossom.


I've noticed though, that the patterns calling for Blossom all call for multiples of 50gr and Blossom comes in 40gr skeins. So, when it says 100gr Blossom, do I assume they mean 2 skeins, or do I get 3? I always like to get an extra skein whatever the pattern, but when the yarn is pricey....







And oh, yes, I really love Noro yarn.... Here is the Noro Iro I bought during my birthday splurge:





Still hasn't informed me what it wants to be.