Miscellany and Unst

Well, I’m now settling in at my new home. The move when very well. The only thing they broke was a night-light bulb. I will always hire professional movers from now on. No more friends and family. It’s just not worth the trouble. Everything was done in less than four (4) hours!

Now I have to maintain two homes because my condo still hasn’t sold! At least here I have a garden. It has been sorely neglected over the years and since I’m not a gardener I’m having a hard time determining what is a weed and what is not. When it comes to flowers though, I don’t think it matters very much. I love wild flowers and it seems so do the insects.

I haven’t been doing much knitting. It cannot be said enough so I’ll say it again. Don’t knit, especially complicated lace on tiny needles with thin thread, when you are tired or distracted. It will just result in frustration, wasted time and effort, a lot of tinking and even outright frogging! So there are no new projects to show.

In case you were wondering, here are the stats on the Unst Stole. If you want to see more pictures of Unst, just go to my Flickr photos.



Pattern from Heirloom Knitting by Sharon Miller
Started: January 14 2007
Finished: May 29 2007
Yarn: ColourMartUK 100% silk Mauve - 2/28 – single strand : The stole used almost the whole 150g cone.
Needles: 2.00 mm Prim straight needles
Dimensions after blocking: 70 inches by 35 inches

I cannot say enough good things about Sharon Miller. This pattern was a pleasure to knit and her book is an indispensable resource for any lace knitter. I can’t wait for her next book, More Heirloom Knitting, to come out.

Thanks for reading and happy knitting everyone.

Drive by post

I’m moving on Monday and there is still so much to do. I’m not sure when I’ll have internet access again so here is a quick post of what I’ve been up to and what is to come.


I’ve cast on for another Merilyn’s Stole. This time in Hip Knits cashmere. I had some issues with the way I attached the edging on the previous one so this time I’m doing it slightly different.


I’ve also started a shawl, loosely based on the Sampler Stole from A Gathering of Lace. I love the pattern but wanted a larger more generous shawl. So, I modified and recharted the border; and I modified the center. I’m using this silk/angora yarn and 2.25 mm needles.


I’ve also finished modifying the border of the Spider Queen. I kept most of the elements but modified them for a more pleasing (to me) result. I’ll be using, of course, silk is a silver-grey colour.

I’m sorry, Hazel Carter. So far I’ve modified two of your designs. For those who are interested; if my changes prove to be successful; I do plan to provide these charts. I think it’s nice to have multiple options for a pattern. I don’t think I’ll be infringing on any copyright laws since you will have to have to original patterns in order to use my new charts.

Last but not least…… Unst is finished! Here it is in all it’s silken glory!


For so reason I used 2.00 mm needles instead of the recommended 2.25 mm so it came out slightly smaller that the one in Sharon’s book.

Have a wonderful weekend and happy knitting.