Thursday, April 14, 2011

Traits to admire

Designer Romi Hill has such talent (and style!). First, I fell in love with Romi's shawl pins. I showed great restraint there and only have the little ram pin, because I have no shawls. Her pre-release sale of the ebook "7 Small Shawls to Knit" was the banana peel of my surrender to the shawls themselves; my first project from that book is finally blocking. Here is Maia, finished but unblocked:

And here she is
under the control of my new blocking wires and pins. (I opted for points instead of an even edge.)

I found these on eBay, but the seller (who is now a "friend" on Ravelry) also has an Etsy shop. I am really impressed with the set - as well as the seller's excellent communication and fast shipping.

When Romi unveiled a shawl design to be sold as a fundraiser for the crisis in Japan, the combination of her incredible talent with such generosity and compassion did me in. The pattern is purchased and printed, and I found the perfect yarn in my stash - a soft, silky/shiny bright burgundy "mystery yarn" that drapes like nobody's business (I think it's rayon). Here is the swatch (oops; the back side):

Sakaki will be my "after Brian's bedtime project," at least until I'm well underway. For "anywhere knitting," I have the Lanesplitter skirt:
I am well into the second skein of yarn, and am probably close to halfway done. The colors remind me of the hues in this photo of lilac buds:
(Photo taken on a MUCH drier day!)

That's it for now from . . .

12 comments:

Sharrie said...

Wow!!! You are one talented lady. The shawl is beautiful.

Michelle said...

Oh Sharrie, I just followed very good directions and used beautiful yarn someone gifted to me; Romi is the TALENTED one!

Franna said...

Romi needs to put you on commission! Gorgeous shawl!

Nancy K. said...

What a brave soldier you are on knitting your very first shawl! That is not a simple, stockinette pattern!

I haven't been able to knit or spin, since my accident and I'm missing it very much. Maybe I should go look at patterns...

Michelle said...

Thanks, Franna and Nancy. Once it's dry I'll try to get some detail photos that show the beads. Can't wait to wear it to church!

Susan said...

That shawl is absolutely beautiful! I may tackle that skirt myself, 'tho I only wear a skirt twice a year...I'll be interested to see what this new shawl project looks like. I love the yarn color.

Theresa said...

The shawl is stunning. Love, love love the colors and the size is just right. When you get that sunny day, please, let's see you wearing it with the sweet ram pin.

thecrazysheeplady said...

GORGEOUS!!!!

Michelle said...

Susan, click on the green words "The pattern" and it will take you to Romi's blog post with photos of the new shawl.

Ah Theresa, you KNOW I'm camera-shy!

Thanks, Sara!

Kelly said...

Camera shy or not Michelle, you have got to wear that and get a picture for us. It's stunning. I think you made a good choice when you decided on points for the border, it's the perfect finishing touch. Such talent must be celebrated.

Diane said...

That's just gorgeous! You may well tempt us all into making shawls! Yummy

Sharon said...

The shawl is gorgeous and I think the points are an attractive features. Good choice and wonderful yarn. Hope to see it this summer :)