Kirsti Knits

Time - such a precious Gift is it; To work, to read, and Yes, to knit. - Minnie Gertz

Monday, July 10, 2006

Not quite so long a wait!

At least it's not been a month or more since my last update... but I've still got a lot of catching up to do. First and most importantly, I have a long overdue THANK YOU to my Sockapaloooza pal Laurie for some gorgeous knitting and great socks. Here's the opened box...

They didn't actually travel very far - Laurie's based in Michigan too. And just to confuse me, she asked the guys at Threadbear to mail the package! Included inside the red tissue were some Red Wings goodies - pencils and a key ring .... and these:
The yarn is Fiber Gems Opal (navy) and Quartz (hummingbird). I've not seen or knitted with this yarn, and it's so so soft. I just love the colours - the flecks of blues and purples - and Laurie's knitting technique has me so so impressed. They are a little bit, and she suggested that I rip them out and reknit, but it feels wrong to destroy such wonderful wonderful work. Besides, I know I wouldn't be able to get anywhere close to that even tension and tight short row heel! So I'm going to try and tumble dry them after washing to see if I can shrink them without felting. Laurie, I'm sorry it's taken me this long to thank you - but I am so so pleased with these.
In the meantime, I've been finishing hats and starting some more. Here is the Shedir chemo cap, in Rowan "Calmer", for my friend Rose. I love how the cables look, particularly how the decreases worked to make the octagonal pattern on the top of the hat. It was absolutely worth the 110% concentration that the decrease rows needed!
And here is a finished Odessa hat, this time for me. I wore on Saturday night with my black pearls and a simple black dress, and got nothing but compliments on the 1920s style and how cute it was. It doesn't look quite so good when I'm wearing a T-shirt and squinting into the sun, but this does show how the deep bronze beads catch the sunlight.
And the final piece of knitting news ... I went to the Knitting Room in Birmingham today to return extra yarn I'd bought for Shedir, and they're clearancing out their Manos stock... so I picked up 2 skeins of variegated, and 1 skein of solid turquoise, at 40% off. Drool away...
And I've started Yet Another Odessa hat. When I gave Rose the green one, both her teenage daughters (who act as her fashion advisors in chemo caps, scarves and other style matters) thought it was so cute that they wanted them too. So I've just started one in blue (actually, I had 3 beaded rows done before realising this morning that I'd forgotten to change up to the size 6 needles after the ribbing, so I had to rip it out back to where the pattern rows start), and have one in pink waiting to be done. Thankfully it's a quick enough knit that it should only take about 3 days or so.
I've also got to do some more Broadripple socks for my godmother's birthday gift, and am dreaming of starting on the alpaca lace shawl, so that I can at least get in on the tail end of the Amazing Lace summer knitting. And I'm off to England on August 5th for 2 weeks or so, so will have some good plane time to knit. In the meantime, I hope everyone is enjoying the summer weather, with good friends and family, and no dropped stitches!

At 4:06 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The hats are great. And the manos...ooh...such pretty colors.

 
At 4:20 PM, Blogger Dana said...

Pretty hats, and yarn on sale is always a good thing!
See you soon!

 
At 6:22 PM, Blogger Crazy Knitting Fool said...

Wait, you return yarn? What's wrong with you?! Just kidding ya! The hats are beautiful!

 
At 7:41 PM, Blogger Dixie said...

Totally impressive, totally gorgeous!

 
At 10:47 PM, Blogger Zonda said...

Lovely job on the hats!! Great yarn sale too! :)

 
At 11:31 PM, Blogger Kat said...

Love, love, love the hats! Great job as usual Kirsti!

 
At 10:59 AM, Blogger Larjmarj said...

Kirsti, good to see you @ Sweetwaters! I like the other hat too. The cabling looks incredible!

 
At 11:26 AM, Blogger Lynn said...

Hey, you're blogging again! Yay!

And knitting great hats, too, I gotta make me and my loved ones some of them (hmm, Christmas is only 5 months off - yikes!).

Keep up the great work and have fun!
~Lynn

 
At 5:10 AM, Blogger Sharon said...

Lovely hats, well done!!

 
At 1:56 AM, Blogger The A.D.D. Knitter said...

Gorgeous, gorgeous cables!!

 
At 8:38 PM, Blogger Bridget said...

I love both your hats, they look amazing. Both look very impressive. I'd love to try one or the other. Thanks for the inspiration!

 
At 10:32 AM, Blogger equisetaceae said...

I stumbled on your blog from google. I'm a kirsti. who knits. and I'm working on the odessa hat RIGHT NOW!

we are living in twilight zone parallel lives. creepy.

*wave* from Canada.

kirstimadethiswithherhands.wordpress.com

 
At 9:51 AM, Anonymous Britta said...

Great hats and so nice colors!
Very nice and funny knitting blog! I love it!

 

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