Friday, March 11, 2016

A big day, yesterday.

Here’s Juliet, our great-granddaughter.



We have a little family tradition of coincident birthdays. I share one with Greek Helen’s husband David, and Archie shares another with Theo and Jenni’s son Ted. If Juliet had been born a day earlier, she would have coincided with Ketki. But it didn’t happen.

As promised, I stopped what I was doing (possibly in mid-row of the Sous Sous, I didn’t notice) and started the Milo Bambino. There were a couple of false starts, but I’m well on the way now. It’s knit from the top down, and I’m doing the gradient with the last and brightest colour at the top. Picture soon. A moment ago I was wondering whether to wind the mini-skeins before my class on gradient yarns next week. Now I may have a whole Milo Bambino to take along.

And, apart from that, not only did I find that old Paton’s shawl leaflet yesterday, I also found the other serious missing item: my own copy of Mrs Gaugain. There are lots of books in this house, and lots of untidiness, but Mrs Gaugain is simply not a book that gets mis-shelved. My little group of 19th century knitting books sit by themselves. It’s not something I would lend, or even leave lying around.

In the event, after causing me several days’ anxiety, it turned out to be on the mantelpiece just beside that little group, lying flat, in a plastic envelope because the binding is loose.

Mrs G has a pattern for a Shetland shawl, quite different from the mid-19th-century one I quoted the other day. In Mrs Gaugain’s book, you cast on 244 stitches and knit, apparently, from one side to the other, creating a lace edging as you go, Orenburg-fashion. I hope to read it through today and see how much I can figure out.


I was a bit disappointed to discover that the 19th century patterns re-knit and on display at the Museum in Lerwick the other day were stitch patterns, swatches, and not whole shawls or scarves knit from old instructions, Franklin-fashion.

25 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:43 AM

    Congratulations! Juliet is beautiful and her parents look so happy! Thank you for sharing this beautiful photo. Chloe

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congratulations. What a marvelous gift to see and love a great-grandchild!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous11:04 AM

    Congratulations! Good health and happiness to all.

    Beverly in NJ

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, congratulations, Jean, and welcome to the world, Juliet! Happy day.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congratulations to all. A beautiful name for a beautiful baby.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Did the lost ipad ever show up?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lovely news! Congratulations to you all!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh, the joy of great-grandchildren! Blessings on the whole family.

    ReplyDelete
  9. How wonderful, Jean! Long life and happiness to Juliet, her parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents! What a happy post with which to start my weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Congratulations! All best wishes to you and your lovely family.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Is she the first great grand? Best wishes to all. Happy Mrs. Gaugain reemerged.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Congratulations!! What a beautiful family.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Congratulations on the most beautiful great-grandaughter you have! What a happy day!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Congratulations Jean! She is gorgeous! Have fun knitting that wee Milo. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Congratulations on the new family member. Babies are he most delightful people to knit for. Their size makes the knitting fast and makes even very expensive yarns more affordable. And their habit of outgrowing clothes quickly allows you to try all sorts of techniques, styles and colors.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Joy and wonderful wishes to all the family. Happy Days - and Nights.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Carol, San Diego4:06 PM

    Congratulations on your great grand-daughter's birth and best wishes for her for a long, healthy life. A joyful day, indeed!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oh - what a sweet little thing - and what lovely news! Congrats to all :-)

    ReplyDelete
  19. =Tamar8:32 PM

    Good news all around! Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous12:24 AM

    What a beautiful baby! Welcome, Juliet!
    I love the gestures of her tiny hands, as if she's ready already to take on the world and embrace it. May you all have every happiness with her.
    Carol in Long Island

    ReplyDelete
  22. So beautiful! Best wishes to Juliet

    ReplyDelete
  23. Many congratulations to all Jean. Having a baby in the family is always such a joy.

    ReplyDelete
  24. How lovely : ) Congratulations!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anne C. in Bethesda7:16 PM

    Oh, wonderful, congratulations on the arrival of little Juliet!

    ReplyDelete