I don't like purple

I don't like purple.



And yet there I am, wearing a purple shawl which I made. With purple yarn.



I am not ashamed to admit that I am loving this shawl, even with it's rampant purpleness.



Late one night - one very cold night when all I could think of was crocheting warm and pretty things -  I was seduced by Suzy Haufrau's online shop, and somehow I couldn't resist some nice yarn in aubergine. What. The. Heck. Aubergine is a colour best seen in an eggplant curry, as far as I'm concerned. I am not sure what came over me, but doctors suspect that my mouse clicking finger had identified a purple-deficiency in my system.



The yarn is Holst Garn (75% wool and 25% silk) and the pattern is a free Japanese one called "210-211-34 Triangle Shawl" by Pierrot Yarns. It was a very easy pattern but so effective once blocked. I think I'll be making this one again, for a gift perhaps. I've ravelled it over here.

Last night I started a crochet test for a scarf/shawl called "Dorothy's Tail". Yep - that Dorothy. You'll see what I mean when I share the photo with you.



I love this pattern very much. The yarn is hand dyed merino/cashmere nylon which friends gave me instead of flowers when I was in hospital. There is love in every metre of yarn. And there is an inside joke about this shade of yellow, but I'll share it with you once the scarf is finished.

This wonky life

It's almost as if my life parallels the quilt I am currently making. This quilt = wonky.



My life = also wonky. But I'm working on it. Recovery from major surgery is hard, and long, and so, so slow. But this quilt is helping me feel more normal, and it's giving me energy thinking of all the quilts that are going to come after this one.



I finished the wonky quilt top this morning. After looking at the quilt blocks with the grey and white backgrounds on the design wall for a couple of days, I decided that the grey made the blocks sink into the background fabric, whereas the white gave the blocks more dimension. This is not a quilt that wants to hide, so I went with the white.



Anyway, I really like this quilt. A lot. I think it's clever that it is made from only two fabrics, but looks like it has been made from sixteen. I like that yet again I've broken every rule in the quilting rule book. I like that this quilt possesses my thoughts during the day, and in my dreams, as I come up with ways to make it really sing with what I have in my stash.

I still have to make the backing and scrounge for some batting in the stash baskets. I want this quilt to be made entirely of stash materials. But while the quilt top was still on the design wall this afternoon I decided to work out how I was going to hand quilt it.



A ruler, an erasable pencil, and some imagination is all it took. Once the backing and batting have been sourced, I'll layer them all together and make this the project that keeps my knees warm for the rest of winter while I hand quilt it.



In searching for perle cottons to quilt with, though, I came up short. I want the colours to be perfect, and these are not the right ones for this quilt.

Looks like I'll have to go shopping after all.




P.S I had one project bag left over from the market in July, so I've listed it on Etsy in case you were interested.