Home Stretch

Just a brief progress report . See above the finished border for the International Shawl. Estonian leaves and then I put Madeira and Diamond lace in next. This was not the agreed on pattern, I just stuck it in because it was the right number of stitches and looked OK to me so don't blame fleegle if you think it looks weird. That completed, I have to finish the edging for the International Shawl with a Danish Edging of leaves and then a crochet cast-off. Did I mention that I had not really looked at the chart for the Danish lace? That I had no idea where it starts for the corners and I'm not familiar with the stitch symbols? The edge now has 1090 stitches to go around it once. Oh well. No rest for the wicked! I finished plying the Peruvian merino wool that was sent to me as part of the Black Bunny Fiber Club. Very pretty and will be made into something for Season of Lace. I have joined for the Summer quarter but must finish the International Shawl before any other projects can be considered. I also have reached the center section of The Saigon Scarf by Badcatdesigns as part of "The One Shawl To Rule Them All" KAL on Ravelry. I love adding beads to it. I can feel my inner crow coming to the surface as I stare at the pretty sparkle of the beads. I will post later when I have a bit more to look at.

Generosity (Thy name is fleegle)

I took a little side trip to Lacis and Lo and behold! They have a lovely lace exhibit entitled "Lace I Love' A Selection Of Lace Pieces From An Anonymous Collector Donated by Susan Glinert Stevens (AKA fleegle). The lace is really beautiful and for those who can't get out to see it, there are the slides at the Lacis link above. What a wonderful way to preserve this beautiful collection! Bravo fleegle! Since a few people have asked me, I also took a look at the pattern re-prints that recently became available. The first are from KUNSTSTRICK MUSSER. The first is called Martha, then Susanne and Meteor. The next is Dahlie, then Narzisse and then Tausendschon. If you go to the Lacis link and scroll down to the lace, you will see the patterns. They also have the re-print of Beyer "Kunstricken, Beyer-Band 361" which has 30 lace patterns that are also said to be Nieblings. I also have this one but I did not pick it up at Lacis. To top it all off, they have also re-printed "Lyra". That elusive pattern that so many of you have asked about. It's only $7.00 and you will not regret spending that money to knit this beauty. The chart is big and easy to read and the pattern is in English! Lastly, I joined my very first fiber club. Black Bunny Fibers has sent me 8 ounces of beautiful Peruvian merino that I am spinning into thin pretty singles. There you have it. A surfeit of lace!

Gearing Up ( I'm gonna knit me some lace)

With my friend Louise on the mend, I find I have really been remiss in my lace knitting lately. However, I'm gearing up for the Seasons of Lace knit-a-long. Not that I don't already knit lace all the time but I love that others have the desire to knit it too :-) I've needed to relax so I've been spinning more than knitting, but in the end, that only leaves me with more yarn. So starting at the top, I have started knitting "The Saigon Scarf" which is a beautiful design by badcatdesigns. This is a free pattern on ravelry . I'm using the yarn I spun from the Palo Verde batts I obtained from Spritely Goods and it has the lovely addition of beads in this pattern. It doesn't use all the yarn I spun and leaves enough for an additional project. In order to put the beads on, I needed to add them with a small crochet hook. this required a visit to Lacis since I didn't have one small enough to fit through the hole of a bead. I got an assortment of hooks (.60/.75/1.00) and while I was at it, I picked up some "mini" crochet hooks that can be put on a holder and used when tatting as some shuttles don't have a point to pull thread through picots. My "stimulus package" fast dwindling, I spied another Danish lace book. "Kunststrick II" by Sonja Esbensen which I did not yet own. One must keep up one's library after all or find oneself no longer deserving the sobriquet "lacefreak". Must not have that so home it came. I have to say it was such a pleasure to spin the batts of Palo Verde that I ordered 10.4 ounces of "Bursage" (merino with angelina and firestar for sparkle) from Spritely Goods. It needed no fluffing or pre-drafting and spins perfect straight from the batt. Just pull off a length and off you go. You can't beat that with a stick! Lastly, a picture of my 4 ounces of Madder dyed BFL from A Verb For Keeping Warm. The really nice thing is that I can get more of this fiber after all so I have a particular project in mind for it. That's it for now. I hope the next post will have more actual lace content. Hope you all had a great weekend :-)