Thursday, October 11, 2007

because this is how my brain works

It started with this: a 900 yard skein of hand-dyed lace weight yarn given to me by a friend that was begging to be made into a shawl. I began poking around for pattens most of which were gorgeous but intimidating. I did find a pattern for something much simpler using heavier yarns. Intrigued (but not yet committed), I pulled out a few balls from my stash and cast on, curious to see how the patten worked. I added a few rows of one yarn here, something different there, and before I knew it I had the beginnings of a shawl on my hands. Given that I was a few days away from a dear friend's birthday and the way the colors were coming together I figured it was meant for her and I might be able to finish it in time if I "knit like the wind". And so I did--I dragged the project to work, to a faculty meeting, to our homeschool co-op, and watched a couple of movies. But I got it done! It was about 50 hours from cast on to bind off.

9 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Oh. My. You do knit like the wind! On Tuesday that thing was no bigger than a small dishtowel.

And it's gorgeous! You do work yarn magic.

shula said...

Oh it's gorgeous.

shula said...

Oh it's gorgeous.

Magpie Ima said...

Well, thanks. I was pleased with how it turned out and am already planning another.

Anonymous said...

Amazing! Or, as Lucas put it: "oh, that's so beautiful"! Does this mean you'll sleep through the weekend to catch-up? Doubtful, I know. Congratulations on meeting your deadline - not to mention making the time to blog about it. And to think I'm still limping along on the shawl I began a few months ago!

Magpie Ima said...

I can't finish anything unless I have a deadline.

Colleen said...

Beautiful! I'm so glad that yarn was inspiring...

Elisheva Hannah Levin said...

The colors are wonderfully bright. Just right for the gray of winter that is coming.

Do tell how your friend reacted to the gift.

Magpie Ima said...

Thanks for all the kind compliments. My friend loved her shawl. I'm about to start another one. This will be for my mother whose birthday is next week.