Thursday, August 06, 2009

A quick, picture-less touchdown this morning – we’re off to Strathardle. We’ll be back for at least a couple of nights next week, as my husband has a hospital appt for a scan a week today.

After that it’s all systems go for the Games. At present, it looks like a near full-house. Helen's husband David may be the only absentee. I can take a complete Grandchildren picture for the sidebar, if so. I chose my menu yesterday (I am responsible for the tailgate picnic) -- simplicity is to be the note. Piles of sausages and barbecued chicken legs as usual. The three salads will be Claire Macdonald's tomato, from last Saturday's Scotsman; and a green bean and a chick-pea-and-feta one from Jamie Oliver. Lots of beer and cider and potato crisps can be taken as read.

But two out-of-the-blue disasters have hit Rachel and her family in the last five days: a burnt-out clutch which is going to be very expensive, and a diagnosis of breast cancer in her husband's family. So I am sad and worried, and edgier than ever about chicken-counting.

I spoke to James yesterday. They’re in Cheltenham, with Cathy’s family, so at least they get a bit of a head start on the long drive north on Friday.

Helen, from Strathardle, reports that there are so many courgettes that she is making soup. I have never achieved a glut, or even near-glut, before, and am pretty excited about this. The Fishwife gave me a book last year, “What Will I Do With All Those Courgettes?”, which so far I have not had real occasion to use. It’s a slim vol – Helen may not have spotted it in the cookery book shelf.

I finished the neck band for the Children’s Cardigan and picked up the stitches for the button band. I’ll have to take a textbook along to help with the buttonholes.

I’ll also take the jabot, as far as I’ve got. When the moment comes – probably not this week; they won’t want me pestering them at the weekend – I’ll thread it onto waste yarn and take it in to the Blairgowrie kiltmaker to discuss whether they can sell me a bib-and-collar and perhaps consider construction techniques, if they’re feeling chatty. At the moment I don’t see how it is to be folded back on itself to make successive layers. That may become clearer as I proceed. I would be embarrassed to go back to Kinloch Anderson to have another look.

Yes, Tamar, oddly, I have read of spray starch being used on woollen lace shawls. I can’t remember the context. That’s a possibility to keep in mind.

7 comments:

  1. An image search turned up a photo from Kinloch Anderson's website, among others. The lace almost all appears to be accordion folded, but to get the cascading effect I expect that it must be more or less triangular in shape when unfurled. This suggests a need to work out that shaping in the execution, assuming you're going for that look.

    I think I would approach it by casting on the width of the finished item initially (or slightly more so that the bottom will flare nicely), then working increases along one side of the width only until you've only the depth of the uppermost portion plus edging to complete. At that point you could cast on a number of stitches approaching that of the original cast on, finish off the depth to where you'd like the edging to start, do the edging and voilà.

    In theory, at least, this should give you a nice cascading effect as you accordion pleat along the cast on/increase edge, with this edge to be sewn inside the collar and away from public view. It seems the gossamer should be able to accomplish this with out giving you too much bulk, though it's all purely hypothetical on my part.

    ReplyDelete
  2. All summer I have read of your courgettes growing, thinking they were some exotic British vegetable. Today when I finally Googled the word, it turns out they are zucchini!
    Here in Ohio they are about the easiest thing in the world to grow, and they approach the size of baseball bats if you miss them among the leaves. I make zucchini bread, because I can grate and freeze the abundance we usually end up having.

    ReplyDelete
  3. =Tamar1:32 PM

    The impression I have of the folding is that the top edge of the lace is simply sewn onto the backing in a zigzag, from one side to the other and back again. The lace is not sewn onto itself, only to the backing. Try it with a strip of cloth and see how it works. The lace is all the same width, it's just a strip of wide edging. The edge that is sewn onto the backing is the edge that would be sewn to a tablecloth, etc.

    By the way, I expect to be offline for a few days.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dawn in NL3:46 PM

    Jean, have a wonderful time with all the family. Chill and let them do all the running around and enjoy your garden.

    Looking forward to the traditional Games report.

    All the best,
    Dawn

    ReplyDelete
  5. Years ago I had a lace jabot. The lace was sewn to a foundation of lawn or some such, straight across the bottom, up one side for a bit and then straight across to make the second tier and then up for a bit on the other side edge and straight across. My jabot only had the three layers. The length of the side sewn bits was tied to how wide the lace was and was set so the upper layer only overlapped the bottom one for some small amount.

    ReplyDelete
  6. oh Jean, I thought of you when I saw a gentleman in a LYS with tattoos, hand knitted socks (his own!) in hiking boots and one of these:
    http://www.utilikilts.com/?page_id=31

    A group of us followed him around the shop with our eyes, each thinking: is that a kilt? What does he have on underneath? Is it khaki fabric? But although he was chatty, none of us dared ask anything LOL. There is actually a photo of him on Ravelry on post #39 on this thread:
    http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/friends-of-by-hand-yarn/692559/26-50#44
    His wife was also with him; HE taught HER to spin!
    Maryjo

    ReplyDelete
  7. our zucchini succumbed to mold -- cool nights with dew, I guess!

    ReplyDelete