Not much time to blog this morning, what with getting ready for work and all . . . . but here is a view of hope:
What is this? You might ask. It's my 100-year-old lilac bush that I transplanted from my favorite home up in Iowa. It's alive. It once again survived another move. When we transplanted it here with this recent move, I wasn't sure whether or not it survived, but see it has! It's budding.
The other thing I long to do in spring is to knit lace. The last time I had this urge, two springs ago I think, I tried to knit, (over and over again) the Charlotte's Web Shawl. But alas, I was too impatient with myself to master that at the time. I've since incorporated a small bit of lace, such as these socks:
They were from the Summer 2006 issue of Interweave knits.
But usually when I have this strong urge for lace I read a book on lace. One of my most enjoyable lace reads has been this:
In the book on the left, byNancie Wiseman, she uncovers a treasure trove of lace patterns found in the attic of old house. She modernizes the instructions given in the old collection she found. I've never knit a thing from this book, but I enjoy reading it.
But this spring, on St. Patrick's Day in fact, I felt compelled to cast on my this shoulder lace shawl by Susan Lawrence (see links below for pattern and links to photos of completed shawls by her students).
My efforts look like this so far:
It's really easy and fun! I highly recommend it as a "first attempt at lace" project. Susan, you're a genius! I love this shawl so far. I'm making it in Collintte Jitterbug sock yarn in the color Toscany, size 8 needles.
3 comments:
Did you say 100 years old? I had no idea lilac bushed lived that long! Lilac was my mother's favorite, I guess the sign of spring. I've always wanted to plant it but never got around to it.
Maybe this season I will.
Good luck with your lace project!
Wow! You're fast! You'll be done in no time. It's gorgeous, too. I love those colors, very patriotic without being obnoxious.
Yes, from best we can tell, it's a 100 year old lilac bush. Somehow my 92 year old grandmother determined that. The house I brought it from was over 100 years old. Anyway, I didn't know they lived that long either. But no matter how old it is it is OLD and it's from my yard at the old farmhouse there.
As far as the lace shawl goes, one thing I will mention is that those horizontal threads going across are the lifelines I'm putting in every 8 rows just in case I goof up and need to rip back. It's an easy shawl so far.
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