Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Print of the Wave

Making good progress now on a stole using a pattern from Gladys Amedro's book on Shetland Lace. As usual I don't have the right yarn, but a cone of what purports to be llama, bought in a charity shop for two pounds has suddenly found its purpose in life.
I had always wanted to try knitting on a lace border and just didn't realise how easy it would be once the pattern was set. Now I just have to keep going for the required 60 inches.

Holidaying in Central France recently we came across an antique fair where I was able to buy a lovely knitted lace doiley for three euros. If that had been antique bobbin lace it would have been many times that amount, but knitting? No one but me wanted it. That region of France has a long history of wool production, but the only knitted garments on sale were a sort of basic Aran sweater in a speckled beige wool. Sheep there are now kept for their milk which can be made into cheese. Some appear to be kept intensively in barns for this purpose. But wool was nowhere to be seen.