So, What Next? (Including Exciting Lace News)

Besides political lobbying and licking wounds, I mean.

Well, I’ve been doing some casting on of smaller projects in preparation for gift-giving. First up is the Qiviut Neck Muff (Ravelry link; I couldn’t find any other pics on-line) from the new Luxury One-Skein Wonders: 101 Small Indulgences, designed by Jackie E-S of HeartStrings. I knit my first one in Fiesta Yarn’s Ballet (my new fave!) and am now working on my own variation of the pattern in a different colorway of the same yarn. Be forewarned that Jackie is a lace-pattern genius, and if your spend much time surfing her site, you’re apt to wind up with a very full shopping cart.

I’m planning on knitting one or more Promenade Scarves (another Ravelry link). I love the tailored look of this piece and the interesting stitch pattern.

I also have a Lace Ribbon Scarf on the needles in Rio de la Plata Multicolor Sock. This yarn is noro-esque in its construction, a marl of different colors that change at different rates, so one color or another predominates at different points. The colorway I’m using mixes black, brown, and teal, so the scarf is masculine and feminine at the same time, and really could be worn by either gender. I’ve seen this pattern any number of times, but was never inspired to knit it myself until i saw Ann’s version of it on Mason-Dixon Knitting (scroll down, you’ll see it). She really emphasized the zig-zags when blocking, and doing that made the scarf sparkle for me in a way it hadn’t previously.

And the exciting lace news… VintageKathleen from Ravelry has announced that in the new year she’ll be charting up and publishing on-line lace patterns from an 1884 sample book. They’re from a composition book she purchased that began with school notes, then moved clippings and recipes, and ended with lace patterns and knitted samples. This book is a wonderful piece of history, and I’m very much looking forward to working its stitches into some of my own knitting. You can read all about it here.