The first postal surprise wasn't really a surprise in that I knew it was coming, but I still had a wonderful time ripping open the parcel to have a look. My sister in Australia had knitted me another Venomous Tentacula to contrast with the one which I knitted a while back. Hers was in a solid colour (winter sea)
and had beads!
I'd better whisper here, but I've never knitted with beads!! So my admiration for those who do is huge.
My second postal surprise was a complete surprise. It shouldn't have been, as Dorothy had told me she would make me one, but I hadn't expected it so quickly, and to be honest I'd forgotten she said she would make one. It is Swallowtail, a beautiful pattern which is a few years old now, but still a firm favourite with many knitters. I see this is now available as a free download from the link above. Swallowtail is famous for its nupps, the bane of many a knitters life. Dorothy chose to replace the nupps with beads, and I think it is stunning:
You can see better photographs of the finished shawl on Dorothy's blog. Dorothy used the remaining silk left over from the wonderful scarf which she weaved for me a week or so ago. She had approximately 50g left over from the weaving project, and managed to get swallowtail out of the 50g. So this means that with one 100g hank of laceweight silk you can knit 2 shawls - good value! Do pop across to Dorothy's to have a look at much better pictures than I have. They show the swallowtail in all its glory.
Thank you Alison and Dorothy for 2 beautiful shawls. I love them both!
2 reactions
1 From Dorothy - 08/03/2012, 19:57
Your picture of the Swallowtail is so much better than mine, you have captured the colour in all its glory ! I can hardly believe I knitted it !!
The beads are easy when you use a crochet hook, you have to try it !
Your stand is going to be well decorated !
Dorothy
2 From FoFo - 09/03/2012, 00:08