knitwise

Summer time...

"This is definitively Summer here and it has been too hot to do any knitting..."    I have heard this song all over Blogland these last days.    But, strange as it may seem,  I have also read quite a few posts dreaming of the first Autumn knits.  I must admit,  I have found myself looking forward to the coming out of the Autumn-Winter magazines...

With the heat and the extra hours I had to work this week,  I haven't achieved much...  I have started a new shawl (looks like I knit in series...) as lace is the only thing I can cope with at the moment.  It is now resting in this lovely bag which I received all the way from Portugal in the Big Bag Swap exchange.  It was made by Beatriz.  Thank you so much Beatriz!

I  have also received this gorgeous  Mohair yarn from the lovely Kim .   It is too hot obviously to start anything with it,  but Colinette have issued a pattern book covering their new range of  Parisienne mohair yarn with a few patterns I like...  I might just order it...  Thank you very much Kim!

Halfskak...

Now,  why would I want to sit on what was probably one of the hottest evening of the year, with a shawl on my lap?  For the last row!!!

This is "Halfskak"  from Three Cornered and Long Shawl.  The yarn is Jaggerspun Zephyr  (beautiful to work with...)  The border is supposed to be knitted in five different shades of one colour which I didn't have,  hence the monochrome look.  But I still love it this way.  This shawl is incredibly light and I think it would be perfect for  cooler Summer evenings... if we ever get them again...

Story telling...

A few years ago,  I decided to make a quilt for my daughter's 4th birthday.   I took the inspiration from an Australian quilter whom,  I am sorry to say,  I forgot the name...   I wanted a very colourful quilt with simple, naive blocks.  The original quilt pictured abstract designs but I thought it more fun if each block represented something that meant a lot to her at the time.

Here are some of the blocks picturing her favourites songs ("The sun has got his hat on" and "Incy Wincy Spider"), her hand, her first writing of her name without help, clover for luck, lots of love, home and a few others...

                                                                                                                                           

I actually finished it when she was six! My daughter is now eleven and she still uses her quilt and sometimes she will ask me to sit with her and tell her the story behind each block.  I had a lot of fun making it and she has fun now "reading" it.  Technically,  it is not perfect,  I made my rules with regard to the binding and quilting, and the colours will fade with time, but I hope it will become an heirloom for my daughter to keep and cherish.

This post came to me as I took this quilt out for a wash after one of my daugter's nose bleed and I thought to myself  :  wouldn't it be nice to  make a new quilt for each of my two children for Christmas this year?...

Plodding along...

Soon the children break up for their Summer holidays...  But first,  as every year, the School calendar is packed full with  various events .  Tonight, we have got the Awards  ceremony which we must attend as my son will receive  a book prize for Music.  I am so proud of him!  Next week it will be Sports Day and I have got to be there to support both children in their races.  This will be followed by a  Music evening where again  my son will be performing in the Orchestra.  Two days after that, school breaks up and the Summer holidays officially start!

I wish I could show you some pictures of my on-going knitting but I am afraid there isn't very much to show...  Hopefully,  I might finish the bag for my friend sometime this week as I have just the handles left to knit.  The progress on my shawl is painfully slow as each row now takes so long to complete, but I am still working on it when I have enough time to spare...

At the moment I am itching to start something new.  I keep going back to my pattern books searching desperately for inspiration which doesn't seem to come...  I can't afford to buy new yarn at the present so it is : use the stash or nothing.  I must also finish a dress I am in the middle of sewing and think of something purple for the July Project Spectrum...  As you can see I am just plodding along...

No energy...

Sorry to say I am suffering a complete lack of energy today!  It is so hot at the moment that reading is the only activity worth recording at Knitwise!!!  (I am not complaining but just stating a fact...)

I have managed though to finish the front and back of my friend's birthday bag to my satisfaction.  The basic shape of the Victoria bag will stay the same.  I have just changed the pattern for the front and back... I am not quite sure yet what colour would marry the grey of the Sport'Laine and I might visit the fabric shop tomorrow to see if I can find the lining fabric and ribbon.

In the meantime: back to my book...