Saturday, September 25, 2010

Of scarves and shawls and socks

Somewhat belatedly, I'm jumping on the Stephen West bandwagon and knitting a Daybreak scarf.

daybreak 1

There have been many lovely versions of this scarf - which relies on geometry and colour for its appeal rather than delicate laciness. The colour combination I'm using almost chose itself. I wanted to use the skein of Schoppelwolle Zauberball I'd bought on a visit to Cologne earlier this year. It's a combination of greys, orange and rusty red, and was perfectly matched by some Malabrigo Sock yarn in Boticelli Red I'd been hoarding. [As an aside, much as I like the Zauberball yarn itself, I'm particularly attracted by the way it's wound into what appear to be hand-wound balls, with each colour change marked by a new direction in the winding].

I'm using for the first time some tiny enamelled stitch markers that Jody sourced and supplied. I think I've found the perfect stitch-markers - aesthetically pleasing but very practical. I hope you can see the tiny blue oval-shaped marker in the pic below:

daybreak stitchmarker

It seems to be ages since I've posted anything about my knitting. I have been working on it - I have a shawl I'm blocking, having finally gathered the courage to shop in Bunnings to buy the jigsaw-like blocking mats I needed. And I've almost finished my current Personal Sock Club socks - but look what happened:

Tide pool socks 2

I ran out of yarn just a few rows short of finishing. Fortunately, a friend has offered a small amount of yarn in the same colour-way, though I'm so close I have been tempted to finish with a single colour toe-tip. I was feeling very proud of myself because I was so far ahead of schedule with these socks, so I think this small hiccup in my progress will remind me (yet again) that pride and set-backs are often closely associated.

7 comments:

Bells said...

I know! Those zauberballs are truly lovely to look at aren't they?! You described it so well.

Lovely to see what's keeping your fingers busy, Lyn.

jp said...

Daybreak is such a stunning piece with great colour contrasts.

I do have your sock yarn. I am sorry I wasn't at knitting this week to hand it over.

Rose Red said...

The knitting always gets you in the end...

I have yet to jump on the S.West bandwagon, so you are ahead of me! Soon though I think...nice stocking stitch and stripes, good for me right now.

Yarna said...

Great colour combination, Lyn. You have such a good eye si I'm sure the result will be stunning.

Anonymous said...

eeck! so close on the toe, how annoying. i would have finished with some contrasting colour but i suspect youre right to wait and do it properly! very productive on the knitting front, and that daybreak will look amazing.

Brendaknits said...

I love Daybreak and also love your colour choices. Looks great.

1funkyknitwit said...

your Daybreak is going to look fabulous Lyn and that colour Zauberball is on my "WANT" list, it's my favorite colour combo out of the crazy ones :D