Kikki

I cast on this new project over the weekend. The pattern is Leoni from the Louisa Harding collection Venezia. It's written for a soft bulky yarn and 7mm needles but even going down to 5.5mm to get gauge, it's knitting up super quick. I find the sample garment in the photo to be a bit static looking. My version will hopefully have much more movement and drape.

It's quite wonderful to knit with Kikki again. This cotton/viscose/linen blend was one of the first yarns I purchased when I started knitting seriously again about seven years ago. I've two tops made with it that I still wear today. Working with the yarn now is like returning to an old love. All the various colours and textures lightly plied together, are a delight to watch as they blend into stitches. Sadly, the yarn was discontinued years ago but  a recent stash dive reminded me that I have twelve skeins of this colourway plus a full bag of blue and a scarf's worth of a third colour. Nice.

Witness

I've walked September end to end

barefoot room to room                     Adrienne Rich, Equinox (2004)

"Now you're weeping," he said into the phone.
"No of course I'm not," she said, wiping snot from her nose,
Pulling her knees closer to her chest.
"What are you doing then?" he asked.
"I'm walking around my apartment."
"What are you doing that for?"
"Why shouldn't I?" she said. "It's my apartment."

Lace

I've become quite fond of knitting lace. There is a wonderful moment during each lace project when one stops seeing the paper instructions and starts to see the pattern emerge in the yarn under the hands. From then on, you're in the zone. It flows organically, almost like sculpting, and the shapes appear one by one, row by row. Love it.
What I am not fond of is knitting to deadline. This is why I seldom knit big gifts. However, when my niece announced she was marrying, I knew I wanted to give an heirloom type gift along with whatever household doodad I chose from the registry.Wow, the shower came fast! Before I knew it, it was 10 days away with only a third of the shawl complete. I actually had to count the rows and budget rows-per-day in order to even have a hope of finishing on time. Then I decided to add one more repeat because it really was too small to start the border. Then I decided to bead the border. Because I am crazy.

It was painful, especially the midnight blocking the night before wrapping. These photos were taken just before popping it into a gift bag. Yet, I think it was worth it. The Zephyr wool/silk lace has that dry shiny crunch that I find so sensual in some silks and the beads add a lovely weight to the whole thing. My niece seemed to like it very much.

Disappointed

Here I frolic in a sweater knit from yarn I bought years ago at The Frolic.  It's not my knitting of this Drops pattern that disappoints. It fits beautifully thanks to a few personal modifications and I love the sculptural effect of the edge work.
It's the yarn that is the problem. It is long discontinued and it has become quickly obvious why. This Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora does not wear well. I've worn this sweater twice and it looks old already. The yarn sheds and pills and the jacket is stretching out. What a shame after all that work.

The House

in this house poems are broken, 

I would invent the end of poetry;

we are only complete when

     that image of me in you

     that image of you in me

     breaks, repairs itself.

you are the earth and the earth;

release those cosmic hands which held you

while I set out on my urgent journeys --

     in this house we repair

     torn walls together and do not

     ask how they were torn.

we work slowly, for 

the house is the earth

and the earth --

     the delicate people in you

     move

     from room to room.

Gwendolyn MacEwan, A Breakfast for Barbarians

Ryerson Press 1966

Summerworks Socks

A few times each day when working a theatre festival, there are sweet 15 minute intervals when you've finished everything you needed to do for the last show and it isn't quite time to start preparing for the next one. What to do? Knit on a sock, of course! (Actually, most people smoke).

The second half of the second sock here was knit during the few quiet moments of Summerworks. Hence the name. They are knit in a basic three-by-one rib spiraled by moving over one stitch every four rows. I think this is an effective way to present this hand-dyed Schoppel Cat Print. it breaks up the colour just enough. I also love the way each of my two skeins was lighter on one end so the colour darkens from the pink to a heavier blue and grey concentration as I knit down the leg and along the foot. What a cool effect.