Laminaria | Anna Bright designs

Tag Archives: Laminaria

11/07

laceweight sundae

I have been consumed by laceweight projects over the last ten days or so. Even though I have other projects on the go that are heavier weights, I just can’t stop knitting this fine yarn with these tiny needles!

The pink project is the Laminaria shawl that I started in January. I put it down in February, feeling that the shocking pink was just too … pink for the depths of winter, and went on to make a green version instead. Now that summer is here, I am wearing much brighter colours, and I found that the uncompleted pink shawl was calling to me from the yarn cupboard where it had been hibernating. I’m making a larger version this time around, and can’t wait to have it around my shoulders!

The blue project is another Ishbel, again knitted as a gift. This version is in Malabrigo Lace. It is not a colour I would wear, but the recipient is blonde haired and blue eyed, and I think it should suit her very well. Again, a very quick knit, but I’m going to stop making stuff for others for a while – I’m too selfish to want to spend all my hobby time on other people.

The green project is the beginning of a Featherweight Cardigan (Rav link), also in Malabrigo Lace. I saw Linda’s version-in-progress, and was so inspired by it that I immediately ordered yarn and cast on the moment it arrived.

Unfortunately, I think I may have bitten off a bit more than I can chew! I also have some socks on the needles that I haven’t mentioned yet, and only three nailbiting weeks to go before my month-long yoga teacher training course starts in August. I’m going to go all out and try and finish all of these projects before then, but I’m not sure I’ll make it in time!

Share this

24/02

finished object: laminaria shawl

Warning: this is a photo-heavy post – I got a bit camera-happy in my excitement about this shawl!

Pattern: Laminaria

Yarn: Posh Yarn Cecilia, 50/50 cashmere/silk, in the Fern colourway

Needles: 3.5mm

This has been a joy to knit from start to finish. The pattern changed frequently enough to keep me interested, and the yarn was sublime to work with. I’ve been entranced and a little obsessed with it, and I have even seriously considered picking up my unfinished pink version and working on it again straight away…

I love the little alien faces:

Details on my Ravelry page here

Cute pointy edging:

The yarn moves subtly from blue green to yellow green, not enough to stripe the shawl, just enough to add depth to the colour.

I got to wear this for the first time last Thursday when I met Arienwen for the first time and we went to the knitting night at Iknit London together. I’ve got to know her through her blog, and it was lovely meeting up in person.

Share this

02/02

laminaria reiterated

I waxed lyrically recently about the shocking pink yarn with which I was knitting my Laminaria shawl. Truth be told, I was trying to convince myself as much as anyone else about the … pinkness of the yarn. I kept on trying to love it, but it just wasn’t doing it for me.

It’s probably just the wrong season, or it could be just the wrong time for me. I do wear very bright colours but, just not this colour, at least not now.

So, I’ve started again. Same pattern, yarn by the same dyer, just a different colour.

This is Cecilia laceweight Posh yarn, made from 50% cashmere and 50% silk, in the colourway Fern. It’s a delightfully soft, grassy green that gently moves from blue-green to yellow-green, but in a way that is subtle enough not to stripe the knitting, just to give it interest and depth.

I’ve got about as far with this version as I had with the pink. That one, by the way, I haven’t frogged, as much as put into hibernation for a sunnier day…

PS. Thanks to all of you who made suggestions about knitting charts for my Druidess beret pattern. I’ll be working on it this week.

Share this

07/01

new project: laminaria shawl

It’s been a while since I knitted any lace, and I have really missed it. I have a passion for making lace, it satisfies something deep inside me that no other knitting quite touches. So as my other post-Christmas treat for myself, I am making a Laminaria shawl.

I decided to make this just before Christmas, and so my yarn-purchasing was a bit more rushed that it might normally be. There are no local yarn stores that sell laceweight yarn, which meant either a flu-ridden trip to London or some online shopping; not surprisingly, the latter won out!

I bought this incredibly bright pink Newgale yarn from Purlescence, and it arrived just in time for me to take to Dorset with me. It is from Cariad yarns, the sister company of Posh Yarn. To be honest, I did have slight doubts about the brightness, but I think it’s just that it is a very summery pink and stands out against the darker, more sober colours I tend to wear in the winter. Whatever, it is certainly a shockingly cheerful colour with which to knit on these gloomy days!

This is the first time I have made a triangular shawl, largely because I can’t really see myself wearing one. But I was inspired by Swampette’s version (Ravelry link), which I think looks stunning worn as a large scarf. So I am making the smaller shawlette version.

The pattern is straightforward to follow, except for the fact that it is written on an insane nine pages, with the pattern chart, key to symbols and explanation of how to do the stitches spread out over three pages. Train knitting it is not.

I have finished the first section, which was actually more fiddly to knit than I had expected. It is just a four-stitch pattern repeat, but it was hard to figure out what to pick up if I dropped a stitch. I love how it looks though, and can’t wait for it to be permanently stretched out…

… and I am now about three-quarters of the way through the second pattern section. I am entranced by this blossom pattern, it’s not quite like any lace I’ve knit before, and I am constantly stopping to stretch it out to appreciate its beauty:

It feels good to be making something so beautiful, so bright and cheerful and so … mine!

Share this