Sunday, October 02, 2005

Autumn Leaves

Bet you think this will be a post about me getting ready to rake up the 80+ bags of leaves I typically have in my yard every fall . . . but NO! I found a free knitting pattern called "Autumn Leaves" a while back, but it came with no picture. The poster (Michelle on the Knitlist) had included this delightful paragraph:

"A few years ago my Grandmother passed away and I was given her stash of yarn and all the books, patterns, knitting needles and crochet hooks. In going through them the other day looking for something to make I came across a pattern that was in her handwriting with a note saying whom she had copied the pattern from. In reading through the pattern I realized it was for a beautiful shawl which I remember her having and letting me use when playing dress up when I was a child (I am now 39). I'm not sure where this was originally published but I thought someone might enjoy making this."

Initially, I started out just to see what it would create - and used some of my really old, acrylic "crap" yarn from the "dime store." If I'd been more clever, I would have just done a piece of the pattern or two, but NO! I cast on the whole thing and began knitting. At one point, there were so many stitches with the thick yarn, the circular needles I was using broke. Instead of ripping it out and just saying, "ok, now I know," I ran a string through the stitches, ran out and replaced the needle and kept on knitting.


Funny thing. In real life, when you go to the doctor you take along your knitting and knit while you wait. Same with the dentist, same with the auto mechanic, or whatever. For the unemployed, most hours of most days are life's waiting room. So, to keep myself busy and out of trouble while waiting for the phone to ring, I've been knitting. Socks, shawls, tiny purses, more socks, and now, more shawls. So below, I post some lovely pictures of the Autumn Leaves Shawl (minus fringe, which I don't intend to add), finished, blocked, and actually quite soft now that it's been steamed.

So, here for your viewing pleasure, the "Autumn Leaves Shawl."









1 comment:

Gwen said...

Wow!! That turned out fantastic. It looks so much better since you blocked. The leaves are really "popping."