Goodies Galore



Check out the goodies I've recently received from far and wide.




The issue of Anna on top is the June 1986 edition containing Herbert Niebling's Lyra. It also has a couple of simple and pretty lace scarves and lovely yellow rose needlework designs. I'm definitely loving it.



Next is Pitsilised Koerkirjad the fabulous Estonian lace book I mentioned earlier. This book is even better than I thought it would be. There are almost 300 different stitch patterns inside. It is in Estonian, which looks kind of like Finnish. (I know it's strange but I had a little Finnish obsession when I was 19, which culminated in learning to conjugate one verb 'to divide' and say "Where is the ashtray?") There is a chart symbol translation key available online here. You can't get this fabulous book in the states but it is available from Martina's. Beware of the shipping, it is very expensive, but if you stock up on Addi Turbo's which she has at shockingly low prices, it's totally worth it.



Last, but certainly not least is Kunstricken: Grosse un kleine Decken. This little booklet has thirty doilies and tablecloths, several designed by Herbert Niebling. It comes with great big clear charts. The only possible negative is that the crocheted bindoffs are not charted and as far as I can tell not described in the limited German written instructions.



Knitting lately has not been going well. I whipped up this nifty swatch for Eunny Jang's Print of the Wave Shawl.




I used the same yarn and shade Eunny used for hers. I've never done that before and it was kind of an accident. It is Merino Oro from Ornaghi Filati. This yarn has been calling out to me every time I go to my LYS, Yarns2Ewe, but I'd never seen this color before. It just bowled me over. You can't begin to appreciate it's loveliness from a picture.

Well knitting the swatch was a breeze. I used the only size 0s I had at the time which were bamboo double points I usually knit socks with. I finally cast on for the shawl a couple of nights ago, and it was a total disaster. I have never had to frog a lace pattern four times during the first pattern repeat. I don't even think knitting my very first project was as frustrating. I dropped stitches, my stitch count was all over the place, totally dismal. I finally realized that dark yarn on size 0 Addi Turbos, requires a lot more light.



I know it's not the needles, because last night I gave up and cast on for one of the doilies with the same needles and things are just fine. If the needles were too slippery, size 20 cotton would have been hard to knit with, but it gripped just fine. I didn't add a lamp or anything, but the yarn is pure white so no problem. I guess I should get one of those fancy natural light lamps you see advertised in craft catalogues, but they are so expensive.



Well, fortunately days are getting longer so I may be able to make some progress on the Print of the Wave in the next few months. As for the never ending Forest Path Stole, I guess I should just admit that it is on hiatus. I finished the fourteenth tier about a week and a half ago and I haven't picked up since. I refuse to put it away, because out of sight really is out of mind. I find that if I put a project I'm stuck on away it never gets finished.

I really do think I just need a break. I worked on it and only it for several weeks and I don't think that was a good idea. I usually work on several projects at the same time. I think I over did it and I need to get re-energized with some new projects.