Starting Anew

I didn't know what I was going to take to the West Michigan Lace Group meeting, but as I got ready to run out the door, I finally decided:

I want to knit the fancy dishcloth my husband rescued from the armory.


I didn't get much done! My friend tatt3r brought the yarn she got from Knitpicks.com, a soft laceweight merino in a color called "Oregon Coast". Our taste in colors is wildly different, but I have to admit, up close the "Oregon Coast" is full of beautiful soft shades of blue and tan and purplish. From a distance, it's a soft brownish color, like a camel-hair coat. (Aww, come on, didn't everyone's grama or great-aunt have one of those tan-brown camel hair coats? With some tatting in one pocket, no doubt!)

We had some show and tell: a red knitted doily (now I wish I had thought to bring the camera), teneriffe lace, the Shetland Museum postcard tatt3r won in an Arachne raffle, and a handkerchief with a lovely bobbin lace edging.

I don't make bobbin lace, but as a weaver, I find the end result fascinating. My bobbin-lacer friends could point out the fans and spiders and the rose ground in the edging. That doesn't convey its delicacy and the daintiness! The member who brought it in said she found it in an antique store, and paid maybe $2 for it. [rolls eyes] For all that work, and likely as not, labelled "crochet"!

In double-knitting news, Knitty.com has a double-knitted scarf up in the Spring issue. The pattern is called "Exchequered", and I'll leave you to search it out on your own. Alice Bell can come join the Yahoo double knitting group (see sidebar) any ole' time she wants to.

Being a geeky person, I also enjoyed "Nautie", the knitted nautilus. The designer, Beth Skwarecki says, "Every scary prehistoric beast should be made into a huggable toy . . .", and I can't really argue with that!