Vivian asked if I had to climb on a ladder for the picture of the hemlock blanket. Actually, I always climb on a chair for the birdseye pictures. And yes we do have good hardwood floors in our 1925 house...oak downstairs, pine upstairs. The floors are the nicest thing about this place.
(Go look at Vivian's blog. I love her pug!)
Then Debbie emailed me about the kind of yarn I used. (It must have been Funny Pet Picture Posting Day....between that cat and the pug...)
Here are the specs. (I need to be better about all that from now on.)
I used: 4 hanks of Harrisville Highland style 2 ply worsted weight yarn. Color: hemlock. While it felt a little on the rustic side, it washed beautifully and came out nice and soft.
A word of CAUTION from someone who just almost ruined this blanket: I rolled it in two bathtowels to get the water out after washing it. Then I walked on the roll for a couple of minutes. It worked great for removing the water from the blanket, but I pretty near felted the thing!!!! Please proceed with caution when you do this...
For needles, the pattern tells you to use size 9 for the center motif, and then switch to size 10 for the rest. I used 10.5 the whole time. I didn't swatch, either. You will need a set of dpns, and circulars in 16, 24, and 40 inch lengths.
I know this pattern has been all over the net and blogs, but it is such a big deal to me not only because I got to make a nice gift for a good friend, but also I have never ever made anything famous. I have never made an Alice Starmore sweater, or a Clapotis, or Jaywalkers, or Monkey Socks...you know, the patterns that everyone is talking about. It's weird, but I feel like I am now part of some club or something....or is that called a herd? :)
Jackie (blogless) asked me the other day what I get inspired by. I've been thinking about that ever since.
I get inspired by people and their skills. Take Jackie herself. She is an amazing painter. I get inspired by my kids and my husband. Tall Son plays the violin so well he is a member of ESYO. He wants to go to college and be an engineer. Crafty Girl is coloring my world in many different ways; she's also very very smart and at the top of her class. Dear Husband is one of the most intelligent guys I have ever met. His blue eyes aren't so bad, either.
There really is no segway for this, but I get inspired by cloud formations, ploughed fields, poetry by Naomi Shihab Nye, knitting by my friend Anna, quilting by my friend Amy, mothering and crafting by my friends Abi and Leah. Drawings, knitting, photography by Laura. Photography, I can never get enough of.
Then, I get inspired by radishes.
Case in point:
You can't tell me that they are not the most amazing thing you have ever seen.
2 comments:
Bag the towel: all you need is a washing machine with the water turned off so it won't spray, and set it to the spin part of the cycle only. That will get the water out without any felting; you can even do unspun merino fiber this way, the most feltable thing on the planet, and it won't felt. IF the water doesn't spray as it spins it out.
My washer has a prewash cycle that automatically doesn't spray. Perfect.
Bucky is rather proud of himself :-)
Thank you for sharing your inspirations. While we all see the same things around us, some of us have the artful eyes to pick up the uniqueness in each item and occurrence, yet some others are inspired to re-create them in art form. You are very gifted indeed.
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