Summer knitting

It's been a while since I blogged. Not much has been going on. It's been terribly hot and humid for the past month or so, and those sporting fur-suits have not been terribly happy. There have been signs of the demise of summer, a few cool nights, so things are looking up!

At the end of July, I was lucky enough to be able to take a few days and head up north to a friend's cottage for a mini-break. It was very relaxing to be able to disconnect from urban life and spend some quality time with good friends.

I finally was able to finish my Tour de France project (just a few days over despite steady knitting throughout July): Alhambra by Anne Hanson. This pattern is lovely, and showcases the subtle tonal variation in this silk-wool blend that Debi picked up for me at Effiloche in Montreal last year.



Speaking of Debi, she made me this beautiful scarf for my birthday. The funny thing is it was my "backup" gift since there was a knitting disaster with the original, a lovely triangular lace shawl in Niji (now called Mooi, a laceweight cashmere-bamboo-bison blend). Knitting happens, so she had to frog the shawl, and whipped up this scarf on her machine instead. I am so appreciative of the thought behind the original gift, all the effort that went into it - especially since it was her first lace project (and beaded lace at that!), and the fact that it was knit out of this incredibly luxurious yarn in the perfect colour. [In fact, if you are on Ravelry and search Niji in yarns, the feature photo is the actual skein Debi used.] If you are a knitter you know how incredible this gift is. I saw it briefly before it left this world as a shawl and returned to skein form...

Since Debi wasn't able to give me this wonderful shawl, she made this scarf up instead - whipped it up in a couple of hours on her machine, using one of the lace cards that came with it! It was a very nice piece. Because of the constraints of machine knitting, sometimes the end result needs a little hand-finishing because the ends or sides curl up or need an edging. So while I was at the lake, I added a crystal bead bling fringe, which totally makes this scarf perfect. It adds a texture and weight to this very fine scarf, which allows it to stay blocked and showcase the pattern and colour. It's a special scarf all on its own, but it's even more special knowing the story behind it. Merci my friend.