Beaded Butterfly

DH came home with the new edition of Simply Knitting yesterday evening and there was my design . . .


. . . on pages 46-51!




I'm really pleased with the way SK have laid it all out and the fact that it's taken up a massive six pages! I was a bit disappointed with the fact that the schematics hadn't been included and also with the way the colour had been reproduced in the printing as the smoke blue of the Sublime Kid Mohair is darker in reality and much more like this photo . . .


. . . which is on the cover.

However, apart from the pattern itself, within the six pages there's an introduction on what inspired the design and how to care for it (washing, etc) with quotes from me and some close up shots of the crocheted edgings and the Rowan mother-of-pearl buttons as well as some photographic illustrations of how to thread the beads onto the yarn and how to knit with beads. Knitz & Glitz also got a mention on the Great Ideas pages where the Knitter Glitter Pencils were featured.


So, overall, as you can imagine, I'm rather chuffed!

Dark blue with beads seems to be a theme at the moment as I've just started to knit Lily Chin's Patagonian Night Sky Scarf from this book. I'm using Rowan Lurex Shimmer in the Midnight colourway and Jaeger beads. One skein and around 400 beads later, this is how it looks.


I had originally intended to use Jaeger Pashmina pure cashmere for this scarf which is an alternative suggested by Lily Chin. However, as this yarn was just about to be discontinued and I ended up with seven skeins of the flannel grey shade, I thought it would probably look more like sky over London on a rainy day than a Patagonian night sky so I decided to go with the Lurex Shimmer after all.

After mulling over this list of triangular shawl patterns recently and this one featuring rectangular shawls, I succumbed to temptation and bought the Leda's Dream Wrap pattern recently from Pink Lemon Twist but, as it requires KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud and KnitPicks don't ship to the UK, I'm now trying to decide which laceweight yarn I could use instead. Suggestions welcome!

A couple of patterns I rather like in the current Vogue Knitting are the multidirectional lace cardi and the lace tank shown below. (Click on photo for more detail).


Articles in the current issue include one on Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket with pattern, Neckline Know-How by Nicky Epstein, and one on being inventive with closures, i.e. using something other than buttons on a garment. All in all rather a good issue, I thought.

Last, but by no means least, I'd like to mention Piglottie's handmade cards of which I bought a couple recently.


You can read all about them here. The cards are excellent and all the monies from their sale will go to the Rainbow Trust Children's Charity!

Finished!

Finished and blocked earlier today!

Pattern: Sharon Miller's 'River' from Rowan 38

Yarn: Kid Silk Night in the Moonlight shade

Moonlit River

Back again and recovering from an exhausting experience! We had FIL (who suffers with Alzheimers) for six weeks and he was then joined by MIL who needed a lot of care (help with mobility, washing, etc) after her operation. They've now both returned home with a care package in place and I'm just beginning to resurface!

I regained my knitting mojo and have almost finished another 'River' in the moonlight shade of Kid Silk Night. Here it is forming the background to my most recent ideas for the art doll scarf pins. When it's complete, which should be very soon, I'll post a better photo.


I'm having a break from Knitz & Glitz for two weeks but these will be added on my return. My favourites are the punk, goth and ethnic you can see fourth, fifth and sixth from left. The punk one even has tiny little ring piercings in nose and eyebrow! All the latest art doll pins are on hand-carved bone sticks.

Here's a close up of the punk, goth and ethnic ones so that you can see them in more detail!


You'll also notice the little sterling silver teapot on the dark stained teak wood pin (second from left below). These are so cute and, if they prove popular, I'll be providing them in all sorts of colours and designs!


I've missed you all but I hope to be blogging more frequently now things have calmed down a bit.