Sunday, June 28, 2009

Ishbel


I once heard unblocked,knitted lace, described as looking like a bag of cat sick! I think this is a little unfair but, it is true to say the metamorphosis is similar to that of Caterpillar to beautiful butterfly.
The last week I have been knitting Ishbel a lovely straight forward pattern by Ysolda Teague. The first was in Collinette Jitterbug,
the second was from stash three balls of Rowan Damask.
It shows great versatility on the part of the pattern that it looks equally lovely in both yarns. The first is warm and cosy perfect to keep out winter chills
the second is crisp and summer. I was a little worried that the Damask may not hold its points but, it turns out the points are lovely and crisp whilst the shawl has a great drape.
Unfortunately neither are destined to be mine. Though I have two equally gorgeous yarns earmarked to make it in sometime in the not too distant future. Maybe I will get to keep one of them.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Scrappy Nine Patch


A few weeks ago, I came across Crazy Mom Quilts and her one a day quilt along. I thought that it sounded like a good idea, one block a day, and a great way of using up scraps but, I had so much on the go that I probably wouldn't bother. I mentioned it in passing to my quilting buddies the little blue tortoise and J who got really enthused. We decided to pool our scraps so that we would all have a variety of fabrics. I had a major clear out of all the little bits I had pieces going back to my earliest quilts. Every Thursday for the last couple of weeks we have grabbed great handfuls of 2.5" square and handed over our nine patches. The rest of the week has been a frenzy of nine patch piecing as we tried to catch up. At the end of thursday evening the nine patches have then been spread across the floor and we have each picked one till they were gone. At day 53 we have 59 each and the target is 70 which makes a single bed size. We still have a lot of scraps and I am still enjoying the rhythmic piecing so maybe mine will end up a double.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Hey Jude


It is gorgeous! The fabric is heavy and very luxurious.The colour magnificent. The buttons a perfect match. The stitch pattern was interesting without being too difficult.
But Why did it have to take so much effort to finish? It has been my nemesis, my only garment for me this year.
It has been like a creative sponge zapping my enthusiasm for all other projects. The whole thing was so stressful it had to be pulled out so many times firstly because I made too large a size then because it was too short. If I hadn't wanted it so badly it would definitely have joined the never to be finished pile. The buttonhole band alone took about four attempts to get it set up straight. Would I do it again? Yes, I love it!

Monday, June 01, 2009

Catching up!



We have just had our annual visit to Brugge to visit the inlaws. I have been there so often I forget that it really is quite pretty. Anyway I got busy with the camera and brought you back some delights of the city.Hmmm Chocolate

There is a story about Brugge and the swans. I am not entirley sure of it but basically the people of Brugge did something wrong and were punished by having to feed the swans.
I spent my second wonderful afternoon in Hema with the knit and knatter group that I met through ravelry. The bright green pile is Jude or as I have renamed it the rip stitch sweater as I have pulled it off the needles so many times.

I also visited my favourite shop in Brugge (more than once)De Lander it sells gorgeous patchwork fabrics,patchwork and bear kits as well as lovely home gifts.
Katie who owns it was busy telling me how she hates having her photo taken (I guess she will hate it even more when she realises what I have done with it!) LOL!Though all of the quilts you can see Katie has made whilst sitting at the counter.

The sleepy canine is called Lander, I guess you know who the shop is named after.
Mario and I were sat on the square having a drink and watching the world go by,it was very civilised.

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