Irtfa'a Shawl (or 'Earning My Wings')

I went to the Botanics today to take some pictures (finally) of my humungoid Irtfa'a shawl, which has been nestled around my shoulders for much of this manic month.

Above I am spreading out the magical cloak of dreams. Its wingspan is so much bigger than mine; I think of the wandering albatross every time I wear it.

The gardens were in vibrant bloom, and virtually deserted - the perfect place for knittish swishing about.

It was rather tricky to show off its beautiful bigness on my tiny frame and, as always, the multi-dimensional brilliance of Lilith's yarn is difficult to capture.

I would recommend the pattern; I did get ever so slightly bored of the small feather section, but the finished effect is definitely worth the slog. This is the largest project I have ever completed, taking over half a mile of yarn! I feel like I have earned my knitterly wings.

That's shawl, folks.

Quoth the Raven

What to do when the last thing you knit was a large green shawl? Why, knit an even bigger green shawl, of course! Apologies for the rubbish photo - it's so hard to get unblocked lace to look like anything other than a worrying fungus. The photo also fails to give an indication of the scale of the thing: to do that, I would have had to photograph it alongside, say, France. It's HUGE. The pattern (another Anne Hanson creation) is called Irtfa'a, which apparently means 'raven's wing' in Arabic. This would be a raven of terrifying proportions, the sort that would block out the sun before conquering a city. Though perhaps a little frightening to look at, the raven would have very soft wings, as it made out of an Old Maiden Aunt Baby Alpaca/Silk/Cashmere blend, which I waxed lyrical about here.

When I show people my finished knits, a question that often comes up is 'How long did that take you?'. I normally find it quite a tricky one to answer ('Oh, I've been working on it for about a month, on and off, but really only a little bit in the evenings...'). This time, though, I can measure it by the audiobooks and podcasts I have listened to whilst knitting it: the total currently stands at about 30 hours, and I still have half the edging to go. As I said, it's quite a big green shawl.

Blogiversary Giveaway

It is one year ago today since I started this blog! To celebrate this fact, and to say thank you to all of you who have read and commented on my ramblings, I have got together some MIXTAPE-THEMED GOODIES to share with you! Most excitingly, I have one skein of Old Maiden Aunt superwash merino 4ply in the colourway 'Seen the Ocean' (do check out the link: her photography is much better than mine), part of her 'I made you this mixtape' collection that I enthused about here. This is a beautiful, saturated blue, which I found so irresistible that I simply had to get another skein for myself! It would be perfect for a special pair of socks, or a shawlette such as Ishbel or Milkweed, or the undulating lace of Anne Hanson's Rivolo scarf. In fact, I think this yarn would make just about any pattern look ravishing.

When I mentioned that I planned to include the yarn in a giveaway, Lilith very generously threw in lots of little extras - yarnie keyrings, badges, Love Hearts, and an adorable pocket notebook printed with cassette tapes. Thank you so much, Lilith!

The final item in this MIXTAPE-THEMED GIVEAWAY is, inevitably, a mixtape, or rather cd. This will be housed in a sewn cd cover of my own design (the photo above is of a prototype, which may undergo tweaking). 

For the chance to win all of this MIXTAPE-THEMED BOUNTY, simply leave a comment on this post telling me about a song you'd like to put on a mixtape, and why (to make the recipient think you are cool or cultured? Because it reminds you of a particular event? Because you just can't stop listening to it at the moment?). Please don't be shy about commenting, whether you've only just come across this blog or have been lurking for a while, whether you live in the U.K. or in Outer Mongolia, whether you are new to knitting or an experienced needle-wielder - all are eligible, all are welcome. 

You have until NOON (GMT) ON MONDAY 1 MARCH to enter.

Shall I start things off? I would include the song 'Let's Get Lost' by Chet Baker, because of its effortless cool, its jazzy romance, and the warm, mahogany timbre of Chet's voice. Your turn!

A Confession...

I... I don't quite know how to say this. Maybe through the medium of macro...

No? OK, well... remember that stash pledge I made? Oh, do I have to spell it out?

I bought some yarn. Some really, really good yarn. This yarn, to be precise.

It is an absurdly luxurious laceweight from Old Maiden Aunt, consisting of baby alpaca, silk and cashmere, in the colourway Bitter Bug. Now, you know how I feel about Old Maiden Aunt yarns - I have made them into socks, shawls, and an ill-fated cardigan. Lilith (the dyer) just has an unparalleled sense of colour: this particular skein is a rhapsody in green, ranging from an inky, forest darkness to intoxicating dashes of absinthe. On top of that, there is a really cool concept behind this latest collection of hers:

All of these yarns are inspired by her favourite songs; in the case of my yarn, this Indigo Girls number. I long been a believer in the mixtape as a token of regard, and have given and received more than I could count. As Nick Hornby described in High Fidelity, making them is a craft in its own right, but I love the idea of honouring them through other crafts. As well as that yarn collection, check out Floresita's adorable mixtape card tutorial.

My little brother and I have a bit of a mixtape war going on, with the battle-ground as my mum's car. My inclusion of this Ethiopian jazz classic was taken by both mother and brother as conclusive proof that I had lost this war, which I suppose goes to show that gauging your audience is the key to mixtape success (I still love that song, though). I'd love to hear other people's mixtape stories - has anyone ever given you a really memorable one? Have you laboured over a playlist for someone you've set your cap at in the hope of getting them to return your affections?

Train in Vain

The journey time between Edinburgh and Cambridge is about four and a half hours; I'm sure I spend longer than that every time pondering what to knit on the train. I had thought I would start this, in this superwash merino which sprung into my hands the last time I was in the K1 Cave of Temptation, thus ending my long quest for a black cardigan.

I've been having some trouble getting gauge, though, so I think instead I might make this with all my leftover yarn from Broderie.

Thanks to my charming friend at the Book Festival, I did briefly consider not knitting at all, and just reading a real, paper book. But, really, the lacunae in my shawlette collection are too serious not to address.

Four-and-twenty blackbirds baked in a beret pie

I have finished a couple of things in the last few days. Firstly, the Broderie cardigan.

The yarn is Old Maiden Aunt Merino/Bamboo 4 ply ,which produces a cushy, soft fabric with just a touch of bamboo sparkle. This is the same yarn I used for my Hungry Bees socks (which I really must finish...), and here as there it is a lovely thing to work with. This colourway, 'Lon-Dubh', means blackbird in Gaelic, and is a deep blue-black which to me seems to have an air of Victorian melancholy about it.

This is an excellent, well-written pattern. The only minor modifications I made were to knit the sleeves top-down and attached to the body, and to add a seed stitch hem to the bottom edges to prevent curling.

This may just be my new favourite jumper!

I also completed Ysolda's Rose Red Beret. I've had the yarn to make this for a while; in fact, I think I must have bought it shortly after the tragic failure of my first attempt at this pattern. I was still something of a rookie knitter at that point, and I found the lace so difficult I had to shut myself away from the world and enter a higher plane of concentration to attempt it. When I finally finished, I cast off victoriously... and far too tightly. Trying to get that hat on was somewhat painful, and rather resembled the international sign for loaf roasting.

By contrast, this time around it was a dream to knit, the fuzzy angora blend keeping me company like a little rabbit nestled on my lap. Beret nice indeed...

The Bee's Knees

This is just a quick post about some rather rad socks I've been working on.

They are (or rather, it is, for the sock is still singular) the most excellent Hungry Bees Socks, in some similarly excellent Old Maiden Aunt Merino/Bamboo in the colourway 'Whisky Galore!'. My Fairy Vomit Jaywalkers are still malingering on in the background, but I was really craving some grown-up yarn and this soft and subtle stuff satisfies this need perfectly. I love the pattern a lot - the different sections are amusingly titled and beautifully laid out - and I especially enjoyed the random placement of bees on the lower part of the leg: 'I feel a bee here!' 

The original honeycomb cuff was adorable, but not elastic enough to fit over my heel, so I substituted a slightly frivolous combination of double moss stitch and a picot frill.

These socks truly are the bee's knees - I can't wait to have a pair!

Before I scoot off to pack, here is a sneak peek of something else I have on the needles.