Sunday, May 29, 2005

Flash finish

Flash finish

I'm pretty pleased with myself. I started and finished this shawl all in one week. The final size is something like 90" wide and 35" deep. Of course I didn't get very much of anything else done.

The colors are more than a little off. The magenta and yellow are much brighter and the turquoise is clearer. Ann Mary has changed the way she originally draped the shawl, several times.

I think we're sold out on this colorway. But there are some others available. Just not quite so circus.

Now that this shawl is done I've started a small handbag using a kit from Habu Textiles. This is the first time I've used one of their patterns or any of their yarn. At first I thought the pattern made no sense but once I got over myself I realized that it's pretty logical. I don't know how like regular Japanese patterns this one is though. The text is in English so that's a help.

I'm using two yarns held together. One is viscose paper linen and the other is a nubby silk. I ripped about four inches of my first effort as the gauge, which the pattern says isn't terribly important, kept changing radically. So I went down two needle sizes. The gauge is still shifting as I go but not quite so much. But the pattern does say that the handbag is a living thing and will change sizes depending on climatic conditions. That's a new one.

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