Archie The Wonder Dog

One of the knitted items on my  Q4 2015 FAL list  was a lace wrap.  This is how it looked when I wrote the list: It's knitted using Sublime extra fine merino (2ply) and is a free pattern ( find it here ).  I'll be honest, it was really boring to knit and I ended up forcing myself to do at least one twelve row repeat each day before I was allowed to do any other (more interesting) knitting or sewing! This is how it looked once it was off the needles but before blocking: Blocking it was also tedious - I've never blocked something that's supposed to be completely straight but has stocking stitch (and therefore curled) borders and it's not something I'm going to rush to do again.  I don't have a picture of it blocking but I ended up cobbling together a Heath Robinson-type affair with pins stuck in the carpet and crochet cotton.  Here it is after blocking: The yarn is gorgeously soft and lovely to knit with - I'd use the yarn again...

The only other thing I've finished from this quarter's FAL list is the Sakura shawl that Lynz and I did as a (very informal) KAL.  I've got to say that it was a lot of fun knitting alongside someone else (albeit via email!) and I hope we do it again soon!  ( You can see her gorgeous green shawl here .) This is how the shawl looked at the start of the quarter: And this is how it looked straight off the needles: You can't really see the lace pattern and, to be honest, it looks a bit like a heap of knitting at this stage! I put off blocking it for a while (I always do as I always overestimate how hard it's going to be and how long it's going to take!) but finally got it done last week.  First I pinned it to the carpet, using lots of pins!  It's the first shawl I've blocked which has made me think that it would be easier with blocking wires.  I can't see me buying any, though, as I'm managing with pins even if it does take a litt...

My new FAL list  contains two new items which makes a pleasant change, don't you think?! The first one is a Sakura shawl , using this beautiful alpaca/silk mix: Lynz  and I are knitting in tandem (and holding each other's hands through the tricky bits!) in a very informal knit along which, at the moment, has a lovely slow pace to it!  The yarn was found by Lynz at  Maple Tree Yarns  and was a bit of a bargain as it's no longer going to be stocked - there are a few skeins left in the shop and when it's gone, it's gone!  My yarn is 'Drake' and is gorgeous but hard to photograph, or that's my excuse! After a slightly sticky start (we had to email the designer for help with a couple of things, most particularly where to do a make one left and where to do a make one right and Leila Raabe * couldn't have been more helpful - she emailed back within a few hours and spelt things out for us and didn't make us feel at all daft.  This is one of th...

I'm breaking one of my blogging rules by writing this post (I don't have many blogging rules, apart from 'be yourself' and the one I'm breaking 'reply to most if not all of the comments from the previous post before you write another one') but I'm aiming to write a short post every day until I've shown you all of my finishes from my  FAL Q3 list  and linked them up with Katy and her linky party, I do hope you'll forgive me! At the start of the quarter I had two balls of yarn, a pattern and a set of needles and no idea when I was going to finish: Gorgeous lace weight yarn by Manos Over the next couple of months it grew steadily and I took photos at not-very-regular intervals (i.e. when I remembered and the weather was fine) so I could track progress: Getting started Three repeats Seven (I think!) repeats No idea how many repeats but this was taken the day before Archie's dramatic adventures on Bank Holi...

...and you probably need to be sitting down to read this... I've finished something!  Yes, really!  A proper, completely-and-utterly-finished finish! It gets better... It's also on my FAL list , which means that I'll have a 'ticket' in the raffle when it comes to the end of quarter two and, who knows, it could be my lucky quarter! I expect you all want to know what I've finished?  Oh, go on, then, I'll put you out of your misery: Yes, I've finished my Leaf Evolution shawl  and I'm thrilled with how it's turned out!  The yarn (Katia Jaipur, a 2 ply cotton) has been a dream to knit with and it's blocked beautifully.  Here's how the pattern looked before it was blocked: and here's how it looked after: If ever you needed convincing about the value of blocking lace knitting, I think those two photos will probably do it!  I took it off the needles about five weeks before I blocked it but kept putting it...