Sunday 26 July 2009

A Head Cosy....and some lace

Continuing the theme of knitting that looks better with someone in it I present the Loopy Ewe Tea Cosy -- modelled by gorgeous goddaughter Gen. We were rearranging my kitchen/dining room furniture and somehow the cosy ended up on her head.

Despite the warm weather the pizza delivery guy didn't seem to find the cosy hat odd which does make you wonder what else has greeted him on his deliveries.

On the knitting front I've started a lace shawl - Lerwick Lace from Heirloom Knitting. The pattern is included in a booklet which provides background on the history of shetland lace knitters and designs - and guidance and tips on different approaches to knitting the shawl which is made up of 3 distinct components. Although I can appreciate the value of this information I confess that when I started the shawl I found myself muttering - 'just tell me what to do'!

I'm making the shawl with a black cobweb 1 ply shetland wool on 2.75 mm needles. The yarn is quite uneven. In a few places it becomes a worrying sewing thread thickness which makes me nervous about breaks - but so far so good.

The construction of the shawl that I'm using starts on the inside and works outward. I've just completed the centre which is knit back and forth on 149 stitches for 289 rows.

Next I'll pick 181 stitches on each side of the square and knit round and round (with a few increases) for 120ish rows. I expect that may take me some time.

When I've done that I'll knit on a narrow 20 stitch edging. That will take forever but will seem even longer - as edgings always do!

I did this little diagram to show how the knitting works. I'm not convinced it makes anything clearer but it took me 15 minutes in PowerPoint so I'm including it anyway.

10 comments:

LittleBerry said...

Looks lovely and I don't do black ;o)

fleegle said...

I adore that cozy and thought it would easily convert to a hat. I must try this now. I hate tea, so cozies aren't really useful around here.

Lerwick is lovely! I ordered the pattern, but never got around to making it. On the list somewhere...

Gale Bulkley said...

what yarn are you using? looks like a big job.

Chris said...

Beautiful lace! I haven't tried lace yet, but I sure am inspired by your gorgeous piece.
Chris in Hesperus, Colorado

Dawn said...

Just beautiful! I'm so glad you showed how it all comes together. When I make a square shawl this is the way to do it! I love the tea cozy.

Shelley said...

I applaud your PowerPoint skills! I am a very visual person and love to make little diagrams like this -- it helps life make more sense, right?

Linda said...

Black lace is gorgeous but so hard to knit. I love the sheepy!

Anonymous said...

The cozy looks very cute worn like that, hehe. The PowerPoint visual has me completely confused though, lol! I'm glad I'm not knitting that, although I'm sure it'll be stunning when it's done.

Opal said...

oh i adore black lace! i'm doing the lyra in black. :)

Land O Lace said...

After making one of Sharon's patterns in the recommended single ply Shetland - I vowed NEVER again! I was a nervous wreck the entire project and as suspected, a couple of the thin spots did pop on blocking. Never again. I do wish you better luck - black is so stunning.