sock yarn black conscience

I meant to write into the blog for quite some time now, but time has been short - again. if you're not into making presents by hand, you might think I am mad - but not so! unfortunately several present-intensive birthdays follow right after christmas for me, so the christmas madness is followed by birthday madness immediately... but - I finished the lily-of-the-valley shawl in time and the socks are nearly done as well. the shawl is not a normal triangle, but has a crescent shape. it follows old patterns of tie-shawls, which don't only stay put on the shoulders, but can be tied behind the back to secure the ends and ease the use of your arms, e.g. when you are working. the yarn is a blend of silk and cashmere, very soft and warm, but also silky with a little lustre. in a moment of madness I started calculating and ended up with a bit over 40.000 stitches in one shawl:)) it weighs exactly 400 g, but it's fairly large and would fit just about anybody, I suppose. sorry for the grumpy expression on the photo - it's not easy to model and give instructions to the very young photographer (the older one wasn't available just now...).

here a detail of the lily-of-the-valley border - the rest of the shawl is worked in garter stitch.

in the original pattern there is a 2 stitch i-cord (called horse's rain finish) given as a finish after the lace pattern, but no special border on the top of the shawl. I wanted the upper border to look a bit more "rounded" and stable, so I worked an attached i-cord (3 sts) on top and all around and also for the tie bands. the original pattern is available from Dorothea in germany (available in english too!).

I thought I might take a pic with the photographer wearing the shawl - but it looks a bit like a coat stand with a head:) maybe the shawl isn't suitable in this size for people of less than 5ft3in?

for the black socks I wanted a lovely yarn and a very reduced patterning - in manly conservative colours:)) I don't think knitting with dark blue or wine red would have made it very much easier on the eyes than knitting with black - but I have to admit that I have been knitting with the help of a daylight lamp all along - and my eyes still complain after two hours or so of knitting:(( I think after I finish the socks I need colour - and lots of it, after knitting with just white and black for some time! the yarn is "royal" from austermann, a very soft combination of mainly merino, with some silk and cashmere - handwash only, but the recipient is not only conservative in taste but also very careful with his clothes..... the socks are knitted in my usual way, I just added the narrow band of 2stitch cables to have a bit of understated patterning - let the yarn speak for itself!

I also try to prepare for the next workshop by the OLG, flax spinning - and hope that I'll be able to find more time for this than I managed for the "beads and braids" (which amounted to next to nothing:(() the usual story - to many pots on the cooker at the same time! why should the new year be different from the old? I haven't managed to do any spinning or bobbin lace - but I am hopeful that I'll have some more time after the weekend.