Finally Done!!

Well, let me qualify that. Remember the February snowman that I posted a while back? Well, finally, he's done. See the picture? With extreme respect to my quilting friends: Wowza. I can't imagine doing some of the more intricate quilts I've seen. This makes exactly twice that I have "quilted" and I think this is the least "quilty" of anything you gals can do!

Anyway, I also couldn't find his buttons. Yeah, the heart-themed buttons that I spent a good 45 minutes selecting. Aggggggggggghhhhhh!! No doubt in the wormhole that is my craft closet. I'll find them. Just about the time June's snowman is done.

And also, for my knitting friends, a little story. It's sad, too. My friend's son is in the midst of a bad struggle with a traumatic brain injury. Due to a miscommunication of doctors, it was at first thought that he had digestive issues. Turns out, not so much. It was a brain tumor. They thought it was one of the "over 90%" that were benign, but not so. He's 40. Anyone who wishes to send good thoughts to this man and his family, please do so!

I thought my friend might like a prayer shawl. I spent a little while discussing it with my LYS (local yarn shop) owner, a friend of mine and an absolute knitting maven. We finally picked out the yarn shown here: a beautiful Cascade brand - their ultra pima line, a fantastic, rich garnet color; 100% pima cotton. You can see the sheen in hank and in the wound ball. I thought that with cotton, and with the pattern I chose, it would be warm enough but not too warm. If she's sitting in the hospital or even just at home, it's got enough body to keep her warm without feeling stifling hot. And I wasn't sure how she felt about wool. There are folks out there who don't like it, and also - when you have a sick person at home, the last thing you need is to worry about caring for a garment. Cotton is king in that regard because she can just toss it in the wash and either hang it to dry or put it on "cool" in the dryer. Either way, much more user-friendly for someone who's likely to be distracted.

Take a look here, at the shawl I've started. It's about 1,000 yards of yarn, so we're talking 5 hanks, which is actually 1,100 yards total. This is stitched using size 6 needles, and is color number 3701. I did a variation on a "little arrowhead" pattern, and as it goes, I'll post a new photo. It's a little hard to see, but the arrowheads are going to all be going ^^^^ as the rows build, and at the beginning, I did a 6-row stockinette - which is annoying me so I may end up doing a single-crochet "picot" type edge on both ends, just to tack it down. In a way, I'm kind of proud of myself. Essentially, I'm knitting lace! No, it's not a spider web shawl or any of the absolutely phenomenal qiviut patterns. But in its own way, it's lace. And pretty simple, too.

Look at the stitch definition with this yarn! I'm really pleased with it, and I think it's on my list for a shell or tank top in the future. The colors that I saw ran from gorgeous whites and creams to pastels and the more jewel tones. I was sort of thinking of a spring-ish green, but when I saw this garnet color, I was hooked. You can find out more information at http://www.cascadeyarns.com/ - and I also encourage you to shop your LYS. Particularly, get to know the folks at your local store - not the big-box Hobby Lobby or Michael's - but your small local yarn shop where you can get great lessons, find knitting circles and make friends. Your LYS owner is there to help you and only by your support and that of other local knitters will he or she still be there!

Let me know what you think of February - I've got 3 months down, and March is on the scroll frame. I don't know if I'll quilt him or if I can find a good frame. Green is always a difficult color to match. I've only framed December, in a lovely folksy red frame. After that - of course - Michael's discontinued the style!! If nothing else, I can get dear hubby to break out the router and do a frame for me. I can pickle one and make it match better than I might be able to match with shamrock fabrics. I'd also love some new ideas for framing these little guys. I had an itch once to do a bunch of them in a row - but quickly discarded that because I don't have wall space to put a "bell-pull" type of picture anywhere.