I had a successfully strenuous day
yesterday, above 7000 steps on my pedometer which is twice what I
register some days. I feel the better for it. There was also some
excitement, unrelated to my trudging about, and I feel like that
character in Greek mythology who couldn't bear the secret he knew and
eventually solved his problem by digging a hole in the ground and
shouting into it, “King Midas has asses' ears!” I'll tell you
next month.
And I got my seven scallops done –
the day's target for the Unst Bridal Shawl edging. I should pass the
half-way point on the second side today.
I should mention that the yarn is
wonderful, Jamieson & Smith's Shetland Supreme 1-ply lace weight.
I wish I could remember the details more accurately: on our first day
in Shetland, at the museum in Lerwick, we learned from our delightful
guide on the Textile Tour that this yarn had recently been launched,
as a collaboration between J&S and the museum, to reproduce as
closely as possible in commercial terms the yarn that the old shawls
were made from.
My very first venture into fine lace
knitting, Amedro's Cobweb Lace Wrap for Rachel's 40th
birthday – that takes you back! – was knit with J&S cobweb
yarn. It wasn't very strong, it even broke in a couple of places. I
didn't use it again. (Somewhere in the introduction to Sarah Don's
Shetland Lace book you will find that the same thing happened to
her.)
This yarn is entirely different.
Inspired by what I had heard about it, I bought three balls when we
finally got to J&S on the last day. I can't find a weight on the
ball band – that's odd. I thought it was 50gr. Blame my old eyes.
400 meters, anyway. The first ball, with which I am knitting the
edging, is beginning to look slightly diminished. The pile of edging
already surprises me with how light it is when I pick it up.
I think it comes only as I have bought
it: white. Not stark white, more what a shirt I bought recently
called “winter white”. It's strong. I would almost call it
crunchy. I am sure it will block to glorious dimensions. I'll surely
have to order more at some point. Will these three balls see me
through the borders? The transition to the centre would be a good
point to switch lot numbers. Fingers crossed.
However that works out, this shawl will
always have the special merit of having been (partly) knit with yarn
I bought that day, standing on my own feet in Lerwick.
I started the Princess with a cone of
silk I had acquired from somewhere, and failed ingloriously before I
got away from the starting gate. Franklin has an account, with
picture, of a similar experience. If I apply myself, I might be able
to retrieve it from the bottomless lake of the Internet.
While "standing on my own feet in Lerwick" , that is exactly my memory each day as I knit with the Jamieson & Smith two ply yarn. I held it double when I knit up a Seriously Simple shawl from Ravelry. It will last til the cows come home, or at least until I've left this mortal plane.
ReplyDeleteI am in awe of your lace knitting capacity!
ReplyDeleteFranklin's post was May 22, 2008, called "Knit It Like Nietzsche".
ReplyDeleteI am as always in awe of your dedication and ambition, knitting such wonderful work despite your busy schedule.