fo: ishbel

Pattern: Ishbel by Ysolda, from Whimsical Little Knits

Yarn: Oceanwind Knits Sock Merino, in Sweet Grass

Needles: 4 mm circs.

Comments: I began this shawlet last week, last Thursday evening in fact. It's for my mum's birthday (she shares it with my granddad).

Last year I made her a sock. Just the one. It was the Oriel Lace pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks in amethyst Cherry Tree Hill and I despised every moment of it. I couldn't bear the yarn -- it was coarse and so solid it hurt my eyes. The lace pattern refused to imprint itself on my brain. I have not ripped the sock out, but I know I will never, ever finish it. I think the yarn might be cursed for a start; it's the yarn I began my never-ending Pomotami. My mum would occasionally mention her missing second sock and I would fudge through with an excuse and change the subject. Interestingly, I am right at this minute listening to the Electric Sheep episode 'Whales and Guerrillas' which is all about failure. This was an unmitigated failure.

Ishbel, on the other hand, was not. If anything, I have had to stop myself from walking it round my neighbourhood to show off just how freaking brilliant it is: to show off how wonderfully well the fabric drapes; how subtly the lace plays with the light; how the colourway seems to shimmer; how it blocked like a dream. The yarn! How I love the yarn. The pattern! How I love the pattern! It's only because I told my dad about the combination of the two just as I was casting on that I will go ahead with my original plan and give it to her.

I have another skein of Oceanwind Knits, in Elderberry, and if they are not destined to become a second Ishbel, they will certainly become a shawl.

Oooooh, OR I might just buy a second skein and try for a delicate lacy cardigan. :: swoon ::

Comments

[katie m.]

So pretty! The color is gor.ge.ous.

[Eliza]

sometimes when i finish something that turned out really beautifully, i have to stop myself from whipping it out for every person i meet and saying "look at what i made! can you believe i made it?! i can't believe i made it!" because it is too pretty for me to have made. ^_^

[Laura]

Gorgeous...now I just have to get my mum to buy me Whimsical Little Knits for my birthday and then I can do mine! I'm thinking of using a skein of Handmaiden Casbah I've got.

[Caro]

I LOVE this! The colour is delicious - I suddenly want a dish of white asparagus in butter! I don't tend to knit lace (not femmey enough really), but, this is making my fingers itch. Gorgeous!