The Butterfly Effect

Oh, it was the best of knitting, it was the worst of knitting. Some things just go so smoothly and some fall apart almost as soon as you've started them. (T., you know what I'm talking about.) I've been trying to whip up a little lacy scarf out of some Koigu I picked up in Vancouver. (I'm making a scarf cause you have to handwash the Koigu and I don't handwash socks.) I've tried countless times to make this work, as my previous posts can attest. I finally discovered Orenburg lace which originates in Russia which is close to my homeland. Ok, not MY homeland but the birthplace of great grandparents. Ukraine. Home of the perogy and many high carb delicacies. So I took the idea of the Orenburg lace, which is really just a few simple patterns that in the hands of experts becomes magic, and tried to apply it to my very amateur scarf. Sigh. This experience has been very humbling. I thought I could make an intricate pattern by placing the patterns here and there in an artistic manner and thus become the talk of the knitting community. Foolish girl. It took me an embarassing number of attempts at this lace for me to remember that simple is often best.

And so I present to you, Baba's Garden. It's got some of the peas pattern at the edge, then a couple of strawberries, a honeycomb and then fields of strawberries. Just like I remember my Baba's garden on her farm. Bigger than a stripmall and full of yummy homegrown goodness.

In other news, I've finished a pair of wee socks for a wee girl who will soon be one. Don't tell Mayson! I don't think she suspects but her Mom can be pretty shifty.

And my butterfly has finally taken wing. Her first flight was to stitch and bitch on Monday and I'm happy with the way she turned out. I use Cotlin from Knitpicks. I find it a little rough at the moment but I think a couple of trips through the washer should take care of that. The pattern is my own creation. It fits a bit big but overall I'm quite happy with it. It's my first original design and I'm quite proud of it. Let me know what you think.

And finally, T. and are doing a Monkey-a-long. I thought it might just be the two of us but there seems to be a few other people out here knitting Monkeys, too. I started my pair today with some Lorna's Laces in the Aslan colorway. I know that Aslan is a lion but the colors seemed like they might work for a primate as well. (Are monkeys primates? And does this make my socks Mions? Lionkeys?)

The weather here is going to be hot this weekend so I think I'll take my knitting out to the pool. Life is good.