Alexa: Gourmet Crafter

Gail

June 16, 2009 at 12:12 pm (Uncategorized)

One of my favorite things about working at a yarn shop (I work at Urban Yarns, in case I forgot to mention it) is the creative energy that flows around the place. There are always new patterns and yarns and colourways to inspire you and creative individuals working and shopping there. They can be a bit of a bad influence when I am trying to be good and knit from the stash but it is an easily forgivable offence as I am guilty of the same thing.

I had often considered knitting a lace shawl but felt that it was a bit of a ‘knit it becuase I can’ kind of endeavour. What does a 25 year old need with a shawl except for fancy occasions? I don’t even really have fancy occasions. I’m not really a fancy person. I knit a Rectangle Shawl in black Alpaca Silk from Blue Sky Alpacas and although it is lovely it quite frankly doesn’t get much wardrobe play. I had done some feather and fan and a little eyelet work before but nothing that was seriously lace. Then I met Emily. Emily recently started at Urban Yarns and she knits the most amazing lace shawls. The first time I met her she was wearing an amazing blue lace shawl about her neck and I thought to myself: now that is how you wear a lace shawl and remain hip. Not only was it well knit in a lovely lacy pattern (Laminaria) but it was also made of super soft cashmere yarn she recycled from a thrift store sweater and she had dyed it herself. So cool.

Emily was working on a Gail (aka Nightson) shawl in the shops newest beautiful yarn Alchemy Juniper. She used 2 skeins and did 6 repeats. I had to copy cat and she promised she didn’t mind. I had a skein of SweetGeorgia’s Cashsilk Lace in pistachio on hand and I didn’t stop knitting until it was done! I used every last drop of one skein to do 6 repeats of the pattern as well. It’s great! It’s just cool enough here this week to wear it too (last week, not so much).  Thanks for the inspiration Em!