it looks like a bright pile of leaves from a sugar maple, doesn’t it? but it’s not—it’s the faroese sibling to the autumn arbor stole. i’m once again knitting in whisper merino lace from the woolen rabbit and i couldn’t be happier—the yarn is just lovely to work with.
the phrase autumn mantle keeps coming to mind when i think about this project. the sweeping shape of the faroese shawl reminds me of tree canopy, i guess, so i’m working with that image in mind for the final silhouette—the hem will look like a fringe of big, fat, overlapping leaves that leads upward through a tangle of more open lace to the shoulders.
i’m working this shawl completely different than the previous faroese shawls i designed. while i like working down from shoulder to hem, increasing steadily as i go, i wasn’t going to have the beautiful edge we all liked so much in the autum arbor stole. it would still have been scalloped but not the same way.
i’m designing this one on the needles to a certain extent, which has not been my usual way of going about it. and the shaping is all different, too. the lack of planning has potential to make me nervous, but so far, the design feels like it’s falling into place as long as i stay one step ahead of myself. wish me luck.
starting at the hem means that the rows are very long in the beginning, but funny enough, they are moving along more quickly than i expected—i love this stitch pattern and the length of each row has a zen quality about it which i’m enjoying (no need to check the chart very often, ha). still, i’m already 40 rows in— almost at the next transition, where i need to decrease down and continue with a smaller version of the same motif. the nice part is that it will get smaller as i go.
i love the new england red colorway—just what i need in february. when i look outside everything is thickly coated in white; we can’t even see the pavement or the sidewalks. the orange really brings a bit of sunshine into the place.
now, before i talk about any other knitting, i want to share some good news from deb kessler at fearless fibers, who is now taking signups for her whisper of spring lace club.
this is one of deb’s wonderful “short” clubs—three shipments of three lovely yarns and patterns for lace projects. what’s terribly exciting about this one is that deb is re-launching her incredibly lovely cashmere laceweight yarn for one of the club installments. you might remember that i’ve knit with this yarn a couple of times, and that my friend susie knit her casino shawl from it.
it was unavailable in deb’s shop for a while but she’s decided to start dyeing it again and the first recipients will be club members.
i’ll be doing a scarf design to go with it in this beautiful lavendar/gray colorway for the may installment. now if that doesn’t look like a gentle may breeze, i dunno what does—i can practically feel the fresh air washing over me.
in other knitting news, i also have quick little secret project on the needles that i’ll be able to reveal in a week or so which is providing a break from those long shawl rows once in a while (not that i need one very often).
what i need is to get a sock on the needles . . . can you believe i don’t have one to work on right now? i certainly have plenty of yarn to start one, hehe. the trouble is deciding which.
i also have another little neckwarmer i’ve been pondering—i did some swatches a couple of months back that i didn’t show you, one of which was this pattern
it reminds me of ice crystals and frost flowers that form on the windowpaness, so i thought it would be a great little quick-and-pretty project for february (and sure enough, it has been all-ice, all the time around here for the last week).
anyhow, i of course fell in love with the colorway i used in the swatch, which was just a small amount of leftover yarn from the rococo socks. and i don’t have any more. so i went a-hunting for a soft sock-weight yarn that might fit the bill and came up dry.
i sat on it for a while, knowing that something would come along, and finally, it did. when mona and stephanie at dye dreams told me they listed their dream sox yarn for sale on their site, i saw one listed that looked about right and they graciously agreed to send a skein for the project.
it’s a beautiful amethyst colorway with some pink and blue and lavender—i love it.
i need to find a nice, icy edging to go with it—something like the one on the snowflakes on cedarwoods would be great.
i think it needs to be smaller though. we’ll see . . . there are lots of edgings to consider.
i think i hear my knitting calling me now—better snap to it.
27 thoughts on “arbor day”
That’s gorgeous! Perfect marriage of color and design in both projects, but I’m especially attracted to the autumn colored shawl. Nostalgia and all that – I miss the turning of the leaves – doensn’t happen in this part of Texas.
Ooh, ooh! So many beautiful things to comment on. I’m loving the faroese; the colors are gorgeous, and the edge is going to be stunning, I can just tell. And the neckwarmer is lovely; I just ordered some of their BFL sock yarn, and I’m dying to start a pair for myself — soon, soon. Have fun knitting!
I love that color! Shawls that get smaller (and rows that get faster) are my kind of shawls. Can’t wait to see it done.
oooh pretty yarns. I love both colors!
I agree with Jocelyn—so many beautiful things! The soft lavender shades for spring are pretty and delicate, but the autumn colors of the shawl are more appealing right now since we have snow outside our windows.
Yum-O!!
So many gorgeous things happening at your place! How delicious! I can’t wait to see it all, including the secret project.
You must have two days to our one day in our lives. I’m always amazed at how quickly you knit. Kim’s yarn is beautiful. I think the sock design is one of my favorites!
Anne- I think that color is similar to Kim’s “sugar Maple”, isn’t it amazing?
Good thing I have a large stash of Woolen Rabbit.
That orange is a burst of color at a dreary midwest time of the year! I can’t wear it myself, but it’s so nice to look at right now! I bought myself a little bouquet of orange and white flowers yesterday to brighten up my desk–guess we were on the same wavelength!
I think that little frost flowers swatch would make cute socks!
You are killing me with that red yarn! Love it! I’m so on a budget imposed no yarn diet right now…
so much goodness going on at your house! It goes without saying I love the autumn shawl…and I really like your little sock sample. Pretty textures 🙂
it is so nice and i just can not wait to see it done. i have a similar blue here and i am planing…
Gorgeous color and that autumn shawl go perfect together. Can’t wait to see it completed. Thanks so much for sharing (not to mention that it made me miss the fall colors).
ooohhh – that red is just gorgeous, perfect for right now. i’m contemplating a colorful deep pink project at the moment myself, mostly in response to this weather! (at least it’s been sunny the past two days – so helpful.) it’ll be fun watching your shawl come together.
i really like the neck warmer swatch too – very crystalline. (and the yarn is a pretty color too – although a bit too close to home right now!)
I agree with Debbie…how do you get so much done in so little time? Please share your secret? You are one amazing lady!
It’s potentionally dangerous to look at your blog! All this yarn looking so gorgeous!
Oooh lovely sibling, we’ll have to see which one is my favorite 😉 I love the color!
Lots of beautiful colours to convince us that spring is on it’s way eventually. I like the idea of the shawl rows getting smaller, instead of longer and longer. I’m interested to see how the faroese works that way.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I hope you are off doing something fun and fibery.
I hear it’s your birthday! Have a wonderful day — I hope you’re celebrating in some wonderful way!
That glimpse of autumn mantle looks intriguing. I’m looking forward to seeing it grow.
And happy birthday, even if it is a day late!
That shawl is lovely. I love the color.
Gosh those yarns colors are just gorgeous.
You’re right, that New England Red is the perfect thing to combat the winter blahs…
can you tell me what pattern you got the design from? i love the crystal look!
Very interesting glimpse into your design process, as always! I’m looking forward to reading more about these projects (and the good thing about having to catch up is that I won’t have to wait days before I can see more!).
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