DH's scarf Finished

I finished DH's scarf and am fairly satisfied with the end result. As with any project I contemplate the calamities of the adventure that will ultimately become part of the end product, whether annulled, assimilated or embraced, I always hope to learn something from each attempted undertaking. As we all know, when we stop learning, we stop growing and once we think we no longer have anything to learn. life becomes tiresome.

The obvious lesson in this adventure was that variegated yarn does not lend well when trying to achieve a Fibonacci effect. Though my intended goal was not met, in that respect, it certainly is a one of a kind, and that makes it unique. Unique is rarely a bad thing.....

Since Onida is no longer allowed to assist with my knitting I wanted her to participate in some way and think she does a much better job at modeling than knitting.

A Wonderful Gift

A couple of years ago my dh commissioned an iconographer to write an icon of St. Melangell for my birthday. Due to circumstances beyond her control it took longer to complete than anticipated, but time was really not an issue for me, and as I understand after talking with others who had icons written by other iconographers, 2 years is generally about right.

After viewing Denise's work on her website I knew right away she would be able to capture what I perceive, from what little is offered on her life, the spirit of St. Melangell. Upon receiving the icon in July, I see that I was right.

When Denise posted a picture of this, her latest work on her website, soliciting feedback from members of a mutual discussion list I was a bit surprised at the controversy it generated. There was a comment made about the concern over following "traditional guidelines/rules". In this person's defense I understand where he was coming from. I am all for tradition, it keeps us faithful. true to those things that should remained unchanged. Still every now and again trueness is captured in an untraditional style that can not be denied, nor dismissed. I feel this is very much such a case.

Saint Melangell spoke to me, when I became Orthodox, officially, through her love for all God's creatures, great and small, and the importance that she taught by example, of protecting these gifts from God and being a good steward of the environment. One of the criticism of this icon was that she looked a little too wild, and was likened to "Xena warriour princess" or something similar. I imagine that Saint Melangell was probably pretty close to this characterization, in that she did fight for the safety of the little rabbit that found shelter in the folds of her garment while she prayed in a field. Living as a hermit for 15 years in the wilderness one can imagine her hair unbound, moved freely in any breeze....thank you Denise for this wonderful representation.

DH's Fibonacci scarf

Last winter, nearing the end of the season, dh asked me, after returning from a cold camping trip to Tenn., to knit a scarf to match the Red Cross watch cap I knitted him earlier that year. Being that it was so late in the season, with spring so close, I knew I had plenty of time before scarf weather would come back around. So I put planning that particular project so far back in my mind, that I nearly lost it...until a couple of weeks ago... and now here I am, with November offering a hint of what little winter we get here in the south, scrambling to get it finished before Christmas. It's funny how the more time I have to prepare for a project, knitting or any other activity, the longer I let it go because I just know I have plenty of time.

So I picked out the few remaining skeins of Alpaca purchased at SAFF some years back, that I had left after knitting the hat and decided to liven it up a bit by, not only choosing a rather unique pattern, but also a technique (Fibonacci) to simulate nature, since dh loves being out in it so. After all he will be wearing it while camping amoungst some of God's most beautiful creation (in West Va. and Tenn.) on caving trips. I just hope that between the ladder pattern and the variegated yarn it won't stray so far from the plain knit cap it is meant to be worn with. Well we will soon see.....

Knitting in Tandem, conclusion

I can't believe I finally finished this lace headcovering. After having to put the work down for a few months to concentrate on helping Onida understand the difference between her toybox and my knitting basket (see "Knitting in Tandem February post below), along with other basic puppy lessons. As much and I enjoyed working on this project with Onida I was relieved when I could finally focus on finishing this gift for a friend, by myself, in some sort of timely manner.

I do love knitting lace and knew it would take some time, given the needle size, but did not realize that knitting 880 (lace weight) yards of a rather complicated pattern could take so long. One of the more significant time bandits was that with this pattern when a mistake was discovered some rows down, I couldn't just rip those rows out and put the work back on the needles easily, so, instead, I had to tink the rows, which can be very time consuming. It would have been more relaxing if it had not been for a friend, but rather something I was making for myself I would have been less concerned about the time it took. Still it was a real adventure and I always appreciate adventures, not to mention the joy working with alpaca.

Yes, I am still using my bed as a blocking tool. There are just too many other uses for my fibre allowance when I can make do with pinning it to an old quilt, open a window and turn the ceiling fan on high...takes no long time at all. The trick is to keep Onida and KiKi occupied until blocking is complete.