Sunday, February 10, 2008

Miss Lambert Done, on to the next

Miss Lambert's shawl is done and blocking. Here's a shot of the edging:


Here's a shot of the body:


Here's a close-up:



And finally, because photo loading is going soooo slowly today, a shot of the corner:



I like how this turned out so far. We'll see what happens when I pull the pins and the wires out. The yarn is 100% alpaca, which doesn't hold a nice, crisp block like a blend does, so I blocked it pretty hard to try to compensate. The whole shawl is 5 feet long, which is a bit shorter than I prefer. The whole thing was a pleasure to knit: just complicated enough to hold my interest, but easy enough to be kind of mindless at the same time. I'm not sure my corners are as perfect as I could get them, but I'm pleased nonetheless.

So, what now? Luckily, the new Interweave Knits arrived last week (Friday?) to provide inspiration. I thought the Winter Issue was pretty boring, to be truthful. Spring, however, was wonderful. There are a number of designs in this issue that I really like a lot. A couple seem a bit on the young side, but can be adapted a bit for a more (ahem) mature woman. The "Flutter Sleeve Cardigan" is going on my to-knit list as soon as I can find a yarn in stash that will work for it. It's a very flattering design, and looks to be a good mindless knit, too. The "Mirabella Cardigan" is also very pretty, but a bit on the fussy side for me. Same with the "Sylph Cardigan." This is the one that seems a bit young, but would be great with some adjustments. The "Auburn Camp Shirt" is another great basic that looks like a fun knit. The "Printed Silk Cardigan" is stunning, but I'm afraid I'd never wear it. If I worked in a chilly office, I'd have much more use for these kinds of sweaters, but otherwise, the heat and humidity of a DC summer preclude them.

The design that's going on my needles right away is Anne Hanson's gorgeous "Bleeding Hearts Shawl." This shawl has just the right balance of design elements for me. While I think that extremely complicated shawls are beautiful, I tend to be attracted to and to wear simpler designs. The BHS, with its main panel, simple outer design, and pretty edging, is complex without being too complicated for me. I'm going to use my Blue Moon Fiber Arts Laci in the Corbie colorway for this. (I did get the replacement skein of the Rook-y colorway did finally get here, but was still not exactly what I'd hoped. It was better than the other skein, but I think that the more tonal nature of the Corbie colorway will work best for this shawl.)

I'll need a simple knit to balance out the shawl, so I will cast on for one of those doilies, as well as, perhaps, the Flutter Sleeve cardigan (when I find the yarn.)

On the political front, I am still undecided. I change my mind from hour to hour, practically. So far the candidates are running pretty even, but Saturday's Obama sweep might change the delegate count. I am frightened of the prospect of a convention in which the superdelegates, and not the primary voters, control the outcome. Clinton, it seems, has more superdelegates than Obama. Could this lead to a situation where Obama gets more of the popular vote, but the nomination goes to Clinton? I HOPE NOT. I hope that we learned from 2000 that legitimacy and the popular vote go hand in hand. Even if most Dems would be happy with either candidate as nominee, resentment can build quickly. The last thing the Dems need is to shoot themselves in the foot by anointing a candidate who didn't win the popular vote. If I were a candidate in the position to win in that manner, I would direct the superdelegates to vote for the candidate with the popular vote, but perhaps that's yet another reason why I don't go into politics.

3 comments:

kippi said...

Well, you made me go look at the Interweave site. There are some beautiful choices in this issue. It is interesting to see so many cardigan type sweaters in one issue (thank you Eunny. ps I was so sad when she stopped blogging.) I really like the Flutter Sleeve cardigan. The Holly Jacket cracks me up. It is so very retro. The Camp shirt is lovely as well. I like the Printed Silk Cardigan but wonder how hard it would be to get it to look that good. It is already too hot here to wear sweaters. Saturday it was 82 degrees here. It is so strange to see the news and have such cold weather north of here as it has been so very mild here. So no sweaters for me. Nevermind the fact I'm too chicken to actually knit one.

The Bleeding Hearts stole is lovely, although I don't like the seam in the back. Is there a way to omit that part or is there a true direction to the pattern? Have you seen Anne's new work in progress? It is the snowflake something or another...it is square and quite pretty, indeed. She must knit like lightening and never sleep.

We were discussing that very thing: popular vote vs superdelegates. The entire process this year is fascinating. Even Huckabee is hanging in there. Tomorrow should be interesting. And for once, Texas might actually have a say in the outcome. Locally there was a 'support Hillary' rally. There were maybe 25 people there. We have close to 2 million people here.

Happy Monday!

Anonymous said...

I'm working the flutter sleeve cardigan (don't like the name, but love the sweater). I'm doing it in Elisabeth Lavold Silky Wool and it's working up very well! Not too heavy or hot at all so far.

You've made some beautiful lace!

Loren T said...

Thanks, Alice! I bet the Flutter Sleeve Cardi would look amazing in Silky Wool.