5 down... 2 to go...

That is how many shawls I have not only given as presents in 2009 for special friends with special birthdays but how many times I have spun laceweight and then knitted it up.... and enjoyed every minute of it from drafting and dizing the fibre to spinning, to choosing the pattern and to finally see the recipients face when they open the shawl.....

The final gift of 2009 ws to Christine (a friend / customer) who was 70 on the 11th December. I chose the 'Leaf & Nupp' shawl from Estonian Lace as it just seemed apt for the 'Fern' batts from Enchanted Knoll I spun up.....

Finished Size 18 x 63” blocked

I omitted the nupps to reduce yarn usage and worked 18 repeats of the main pattern. I also omitted the border and opted to just to do an edging at the CO & CO edges.

To work the edges I used the Leaf & nupp Lace Edge in the book, unzipped the cast on stitches and worked the pattern as stated EXCEPT knitting/purling as appropriate one extra stitch at each end of the row to use the 2 extra stitches. I also worked a row 10 as a plain purl row to secure yo’s from row 9 before doing the K2tog cast off.

After completing the 2nd Leaf & Nupp border (cast off edge), I worked the Leaf & Nupp Lace Edge as before.

This may sound a little 'vague' but when I check my ravelry projects I actually completed this shawl back in May!!! yes I worked all the shawls out of sequence just to add something to the mix and make life interesting or difficult... no really just to break all the 'green' spinning and knitting up.....

Next on the needles after Christmas is this - 'Chai' from Enchanted Knoll and this will become a Swallowtail for those who are counting this will be my 6th! a pattern I never tire off and IMHO is a classic... This will be ready for on or about the 24th January when my mum turns 80....

and for the fibre addicts among you this is how it stated out in life...... I can't speak highly enough of EK's batts....

I will just take this opportunity to wish everyone a festive Christmas and Happy New Year...

Its been too long...

since my last post but life has been not chaotic but steadily busy here at the littleberry residence.

Not only has my husband and his partner started their new business in IT Consultancy (OK they're software engineers) and all the associated paperwork that has been coming my way for that, as well as running my own business, I've had my husband's business partner's (and friend) daughter not only for 2 weeks work experience but living with us as well... so somewhere in all that went the first few week of July... and my enthusiasm for keeping my blog updated!

Anyway as promised several posts ago the last of my lace projects that were knitted in my absence of blogging...

Peacock Tail & Leaf Scarf from the Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush as I'm sure most people are aware... It was knit for Renate who was 60 along with her twin sister at the end of June (see previous post). I used my own handpsun, BFL Superwash which I actually dyed myself and hand carded (never again!) with Trilobal Nylon in Silver just to make it twinkle....

and a close up with a more accurate representation of the colour...

That's all the lace projects that are complete at the moment, there will be more lace started soon, but just at the moment I've heading towards the finish line with Mike's Ribbed sleeve Raglan jumper (based on EZ's % system) that was his Christmas present for Christmas 2008!!!


I've just joined the sleeves to the body and done about 1" of knitting so am just about to embark on the Raglan decreasing.....



Here's what it will look like when completed

apart from the knitting I've been doing quite a bit of crocheting, I've found that while everything has been in the air I could concentrate on crochet motifs, so more on that in my next post...

More from the Repetoire

As promised another update...

Finished mid May this was started back in February and I got halfway and just simply stopped, not just this but lots of other things too looking back now....

For those of you who don't know what the pattern is, it is the Leaf and Nupp Shawl from Estonian Knitted Lace by Nancy Bush.

and for those of you who like detailed close ups:

It has come out a respectable 18 x 63" when blocked and is destined for a 70th birthday present foe December.

I know I'm well in hand but the yarn said it wanted to be this shawl and as I'd spun it why not knit it! The fibre was from Enchanted Knoll (see my sidebar) and was the 'fern' batts which were lovely to spin. I used 3.75mm to knit the resulting 2ply yarn.

For the eagle eyed among you, you may notice that I have omitted the border all the way round and just used it on the top and bottom borders. I initially did this because I thought I wouldn't have enough yarn, but with hindsight I'd plenty, enough to work 4 extra repeats of the main motif, but I have to say I think I prefer it this way...

I have another shawl to show you in my next post that was completed a few weeks ago and other things too.... I think now things are a bit more settled in the household I'm having a 'finishing' off session which is making me feel good; projects that have been hanging around for too long are slowly getting finished :o)

I've also been working on my crochet in the last few months as well so there will be creeping in as well... but I will leave you with a link to a newly found blog which is very inspiring Attic24

Lilac Leaf Shawl

From this.... to this...

and finally to this...

in approx 5 weeks :o0

I used 3.75mm needles and all but 7g of my hand spun lace weight which came from Pumpkin Juice batts from Enchanted Knoll...

I however only got 10 repeats instead of 14 due to lack of yarn and was concerned it may not come out sufficiently long enough... it ended up a respectable 19.5 x 55" when blocked which is actually generous enough for a scarf or a shoulder shawl and with hindsight I think the recipient will get more use out of this than a bigger shawl....

I am pleased with this and have started Leaf & Nupp shawl in my Fern lace weight spun from EK batts :o) but I'll save that for another day.....