Chitchat and the occasional in-depth analysis about fiber, knitting, spinning, crochet, cooking, feminism, self-image, and a modicum of personal blathering.

Saturday, February 04, 2012

I love rainbows

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Ever since I saw this on Ravelry, I have wanted to knit it. I found the perfect yarn in Aade Long, a rustic yet vibrant yarn from Estonia. The pattern scared me. It was a written out, not charted pattern and I prefer working from charts. It was a lot of pages and no pictures. There was grafting. Many of the projects on the pattern page were listed as "ZZZ" meaning they'd been asleep with no progress for a long time. Many others were listed as "frogged", which meant the knitters had given up. But there were many more that were finished and man, some of them were impressive.

So, when the first of the year rolled around, I thought "why not?" I caked the yarn and cast on. And less than a month later, it's done.

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Nice yarn cake, isn't it?

It wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. First, the center circle and the two wings are knitted.
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The pattern is fairly straightforward once you get the beginning done. It's intuitive and I don't' think a chart would have been especially helpful. The hardest part was attaching the border to the top of the circle section. It took me hours and about five times tinking it back and starting over to wrap my head around the process. But eventually, it clicked.
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The wings are then grafted on to the center, the bottom of it is "leveled" by adding the triangular sections and several rows, then the border begins.

The border was pretty tedious, there are 86 of the "feathers" and each one is 23-26 stitches, ten rows. That took about a week.

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I was determined to see it through and I stayed project-monogamous so the whole thing took 30 days. Much less than I thought it would, considering I have a couple of projects that have been lingering for a year and more.

It's my favorite knitted thing so far. I can't stop picking the faults apart but I still love it.
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I wore it twice this week and I got many comments, some from total strangers in the street. Kind of embarrassing. But neat.

I tried to take more photos of it but it's snowing just enough to distract the camera. And too cold out there to stay long. I'm sure more will turn up on my flickr sooner or later.

25 comments:

Amy P said...

Utterly stunning. Brava!

Rozaroni said...

Just beautiful!

Jan said...

That is truly gorgeous!

Calabama said...

This total stranger says wow.

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous!!

Anonymous said...

fabulous & stunning!

sostergaard1@wi.rr.com said...

Absolutely a gorgeous job! I added this pattern onto my "maybe someday" list in Ravelry.

Anonymous said...

I LOVE it and want one! Congratulations! It is beautiful!

Morgen M said...

Amazing! I'd love to try it in crochet. Do you still have the pattern? I'd love a copy.

AnneliT said...

Wow! This is so beautiful! (says a total stranger from Stockholm, Sweden!) Where did you buy the yarn?

nikoline said...

Me too WOOOOOOWWW

Txemi said...

cuando lo he visto me he quedado sin palabras! la foto lo dice todo una pasada!!!!
felicidades y gracias por compartir!
saludos desde Lemoa!

Unknown said...

Thank you everyone for the nice comments. Morgan, I Have not seen the pattern in crochet, but the knit pattern is available free on Ravelry. It's called "In The Pink".

Maya's Stories said...

This is really gorgeous. It looks like an Aztec bird or something! I looked at the pattern and can't understand how much yarn it's calling for. I found the yarn you used and am wondering how much you bought to make it. Can you let me know? So inspiring!!

Unknown said...

Maya, I used 1136 yards, 260 grams of the listed yarn. All the project specs are here on the Ravelry project page.
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/fennel/in-the-pink

Linda said...

Jamie - thank you for posting your beautiful, absolutely gorgeous piece of work. Skimming over Facebook posts last night - it stopped me dead-in-my tracks, had me spend at least 10 minutes oooohing and aaaahing over your post AND THEN had me spend at least 3 hours on Ravelry - an amazing site. See what wonderful gifts you bestow by so generously sharing? Thanks and this goes in my "bucket list" to complete before I'm 60. (gives me 4 years, I'd better start yarn shopping!!lol)

Anonymous said...

Absolute beautiful..

Peggyann said...

This shawl is more than just a knitting pattern it is a work of art. Just breathtaking. No one else can see the flaws so don't even worry about that.

Sarah ~ Crafts from the Cwtch said...

Awesome! Well done!

NS said...

Fantastic. Congrats. Doesn't it feel great to stick with something til it's done?? Great job! :D

Unknown said...

Thanks for the inspiration! I finished my replica of yours last night!

Unknown said...

Ok Jaquie, where are the pictures? :)

Verlie said...

This is so amazing..I am going to find the pattern and try this:) 30 days? I hope not! but it is so beautiful! Your pics and explanations will be most helpful :)!

Verlie said...

So beautiful I have to try..thanks for sharing your pics and info..it will help so very much!

Einstein's Brain said...

That is awesome yarn! I love this project!