Wednesday, February 15, 2012

WIP: A Harebell Fichu

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I woke up on Sunday morning with a cold, so I've spent quite of bit of time sitting around in my pajamas for the last couple of days.  Not as much knitting has happened as I'd like, but I did cast on for a new project on Sunday night.  The pattern is A Harebell Fichu from Victorian Lace Today.  My mom heard me talking in awe about the book one day over the phone during my freshman year at Oberlin, and two weeks later I got a copy in the mail.  I immediately blew off my homework and took it to the library to read it cover to cover.  I actually haven't knit anything from the book yet, but it's remained one of those "someday when I'm good enough I'll totally knit tons of stuff from this" books.  Now that I am good enough, it's about time that I tried some of the patterns out.

I ended up ripping out everything but the cast-on the same night I cast on, but I started over Monday and have done a little bit more since then.  Originally the pattern had me knitting picots at each end, but I didn't like how sloppy mine looked - that, and I totally misread the pattern and had to rip back anyway.

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This particular project is yet another one inspired by my friend Ondrea, who cast on for her own probably  two years ago now.  I'm not sure if she ever got to finish it - the pattern is a little muddy in places - but when I saw she was working on it, I got this idea stuck in my head that I wanted to make it.  When I was out in California visiting friends a few years ago, I bought some yarn with this pattern in mind.

The fichu, sort of like a little mini lace capelet, is a little old-fashioned, but then again, so are shawls - and I love wearing shawls!  I have no idea how I'll wear this sort of thing, but I'll be sure to report what I come up with.

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The yarn is Curious Creek Meru in the colorway Plum Thunder.  It's a two-ply merino/tussah silk blend with a lovely hand - slightly crunchy, but soft.  The color is a saturated plum, just the kind of color I like to have next to my face.  I'm knitting it on size 3 (3.25 mm) US needles and I like the fabric so far.  I'm hoping that this will be a fun, fast little project - I've had it on my knitterly radar for so long that I'm anxious to see how it turns out.

2 comments:

Ondrea said...

noMostly I found that I couldn't set the pattern down for more than a day or two or else loose count. That was my downfall...trying to pick it up again months later without having taken copious notes of where I left off. I look forward to seeing yours!

Anonymous said...

Absolutely beautiful yarn. I can't wait to see how it knits up.