2 Comments Aubergine Goodness

I am tireless when it comes to knitting, it seems. Just recently I finished this ridiculously lengthy project, and guess what? I started another one the very same evening! Crazy me, I know. But I suppose I simply got too used to making something with my hands in the evenings while watching TV with family. Kind of like a newly acquired habit.

So, there goes that. Anyway, you may or may not know that one of the biggest public holidays celebrated here in Russia is approaching rapidly – the 8th of March or International Women's day. This day girls and women of all ages are being shown their appreciation in the shape of flowers, gifts and other possible goodies by their families and friends.

It is also the first holiday of spring, and generally the weather would already have started getting nicer, warmer and greener. So everybody is getting kind of hyped around that time, the happy kind, naturally. Ah, the sweet anticipation! 

Since the weather is fairly unpredictable here during mid-season, despite the spring bloom, and simply knowing that my mother loves her warmers, I chose to make her one of those cuddly rectangular shawlettes/wraps to wear at home.

This lovely "lace capelet" pattern by Tanis Gray was featured in Vogue Knitting SS2010 issue. I set my eyes on this one about a year ago, when I was doing my random pattern browsing on the Internet, and instantly knew I would LOVE to make one of those (damn these manipulative bastards with their sleek and elegant professional photographs!) And now was the perfect occasion.

I took my mum yarn shopping some time back when I was still on my cardi project, to have the yarn all good and ready by the time I was done. She picked some soft 100% wool in a lovely saturated aubergine'y colour (nearly identical to Rowan's Kid Classic in colour 835 Royal). We got a total of four 100g skeins 250m each, and I ended up using up almost precisely three skeins. 

It was a relatively fast knit, I was done with it in about a week working evenings. Patterns are very simple and are well explained, making them practically foolproof. And knitting with 5mm needles was such a treat, too!

The middle lace part and the border are knit separately and and then joined together before blocking. Gathering the two pieces was a bit tricky, mostly because of counting stitches you have to raise, and I hate doing that. I then blocked the finished capelet by gently steam ironing it, going twice on the middle section since the lace motif was stubborn and bubbly. 

A slight confusion was that despite following the guidelines precisely, the finished piece was noticeably larger than stated measures especially in width. Although in my case it turned out even better to have it that way – moar knitted cuddliness! On top of that, made from pure wool the capelet is very warm yet soft. Needless to say, my mother loved it! 

So, here goes the gift I made for my mum. I gave it to her already, because she kind of saw the whole process of making it anyway. I know it is a couple of weeks early, but I was starting it in advance in case it'd take me a while to make. So will need to buy a box of chocolates on the actual day, I suppose :)

I hope you guys like it, too! Let me know what you think in the comments ;)

E.V.