Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Benvenuto a Venezia!



Wellness Blanket
Pattern: none. Closed-loop cables from Viking Patterns for Knitting (Lavold) and Aran Knitting (Starmore). Traditional Aran rope cables from Cables Untangled.
Yarn: 14.5, 50g balls Mission Falls 1824 wool 100% superwash merino
Yarn Cost: $97
Yarn Source: Village Yarns, Cumberland, BC
Needles: 5mm bamboo circular
Finished dimensions: 70" long, 27" wide
Cast on: September 1, 2007
Bound off: September 27, 2007
Notes: Someday I may knit another Lavold chart again, but only if I have in the interim sustained a debilitating head injury which has rendered me incapable of either accessing my own memories or of understanding advice given to me by others, namely my mother or the other members of Riverstitch. In this teeny tiny little chart (the "three-bight happiness" sign shown alternating on the edge) there were two big mistakes and several things-which-could-have-been-done-better, necessitating extensive tinkering. And recall I knitted Gyrid to perfect gauge, in a size which should have had two inches of negative ease, to end up with something that would comfortably fit 1.5 of me. My mother is, at this moment, knitting Liv, a design from Volume 1, which is riddled with errata.



The Starmore chart, however, was perfect. No flaws. Flaw-free since 1999.



I took 8 days off knitting this blanket, due to the sore wrist, so altogether it only took about 18 days. The Mission Falls wool knits up fast and smooth and I LIKES it.


I didn't block the blanket because I think it'll take a good while to dry, and my friend goes in for surgery in 8 days. It'll probably need washing when she gets out of the hospital anyway, so I'll block it for her then. I'm sure it will grow in the process.



I didn't enjoy knitting this blanket, for the first couple of weeks. After I took the week off, I felt better about it - I had gained a bit of emotional distance and restocked some of my optimism reserves. I think it was important to feel as good about it as possible, and I suspect my mental state was what actually caused the sore wrist (which, strangely, didn't hurt while I was swatching for another project during the 8-day hiatus - only while knitting this blanket).

And fall has arrived here on Vancouver Island:
This is a cart return in the parking lot of my favourite grocery store. Nobody seemed to want to return their carts there, though. There must have been a dearth of hip waders worn that day.

13 comments:

clumsy ox said...

Well done on that blanket! I always like seeing the kids modelling your projects.

Great pic of the parking lot too. Brings back memories... of why I left!!!!

Kate said...

The blanket looks gorgeous, esp with the blond beauties modelling it.
And if you ever mention doing one of her designs again, we'll bonk you on the head.

The swamping parking lot is the bane of your favourite store's existence, trust me. I hear about it A LOT.

amanda said...

Wow, congratulations. I know this was a HUGE project and it came out great. I think your friend will love it.

Jo said...

It's gorgeous! Is that really how much rain you have had? I better call my parents and make sure they haven't floated away!

Gena said...

Well, it certainly is beautiful, even if it wasn't so much fun. I've had my wrist hurt only on certain projects, too. It always seems to be the ones that are frustrating me the most.

Tabatha said...

Oh Shan, the blanket is beautiful! Absolutely.

Ummm...it only rained here off and on today. I mean it was overcast all day but the sun did peak out a bit.

Anonymous said...

yowza, that is a lotta watta. Blanket came out gorgeous, as are the girls wrapped in it. Such lovely flaxen locks!

Ames said...

Ditto what everyone else said. I dub thee: "Shan, the Great Needle Wizard of the North."

YTT said...

Beautiful, beautiful blanket.
Beautiful kids, too.

And thanks for the warning on the Lavold. I've had a project queued from that book for a while, and forewarned is forearmed. Especially for those of us who haven't done cables yet.

Karen S, Lykkefanten said...

What a beautiful and very large piece of work!!! You should be very proud!

I have just heard, that the socks have at least been near me, but because of a move, I missed the package... I'll go hunt down the mailman tomorrow! I really hope that I can get to them before they return the socks! I really would loooooooove to have them (had actually given up, and thougth them lost to the Pond or mailmen somewhere)... Wish me luck!

Karen

Kate said...

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Also, am completely surprised that only your wrist ended up needing to be splinted. My brain would havce needed serious chemical splinting after those charts. I hope all is healing well for both you and your friend. That many cables actually managing to meet up gives hope to the concept of karmic balance ; )
(Jumped from Jean's blog, if you're wondering)

Olga said...

Beautiful children, beautiful blanet and beautiful woman who created them both.( well, birthed them both anyway...)

Sue H said...

Loving that blanket, and hopefully it will serve your friend well, for a long time to come.
Beautiful girls wrapped in a beautiful blanket, great pics.
Wow, that's some lake you have in that there car park.