Bye Lace...Hello Fair Isle..

I have been bitten by the Lace bug for many Months now...but suddenly it was enough and time to move on...My last lace shawl is this one. It is the Dew Drops Shawl and you can find the pattern here.

Knitted in a very slippery ,but very soft alpaca yarn. I like the result very much.

This afternoon my dear friend Mechtild will get it as a gift. We know eachother since Artschool and kept in contact over the years. So a longtime known friend and every now and than we meet up. We always start talking from were we finished last time. Hopefully she will wear it at the the christening ceremony from her niece next week in Romania. Imagine the scene her bringing in the baby and wearing this shawl.

But..enough Lace-knitting for the moment... Time to move on into.... Fair Isle.....and..into a big project immediateley. When I saw this vest in the Spring issue from Twist Collective I bought it. At that time not sure when or how I would knit it..but I just fell in love with it. That summer - while having a holiday at the Shetland Isles - I met up very unexpectedly with the designer Mary Jane Mucklesone. It was during lunch and all of a sudden it became clear to me that she was the woman who designde that lovely vest. We also had in common that we both love Marimekko and at that day I was wearing my all time favourite striped Marimekko shirt.

She is -next to being a very talented knitwear-designer- a very lovely person. Hopefully we can meet up again in the future. Her book: 200 Fair Isle Motifs: A Knitter's Directory just came out and is already on my list.

So, while on Shetland I bought yarn for my biggest Fair Isle Project so far. I had done a little stranded knitting..some gloves.. but never a real big piece. That winter: nothing happened..the yarn stayed in the bag and so was next winter..No Fair Isle..Nothing like that..It was Lace, Lace and more Lace.
But a few weeks ago, while knitting on the white shawl, I suddenly had enough of lace. A challenge...that's what I wanted. A real challenge. Suddenly "The Bag" came in sight and out came the balls of beautiful coloured J&S yarn.

So I did cast on while remembering MaryJane telling me that it was better to take 1 size smaller than I used to have.

And than....Addiction started. It is kind of magical to knit Fair Isle. Not very difficult at all: only 2 colours in 1 row. But the thing I really like is that not 1 row is the same. The colours I had chosen suddenly became something I didn't expect to happen.

But one thing could have been different perhaps. The 2 blue colours do not have enough contrast.

I had the idea to change it in the next repeat of the pattern..perhaps purple with blue, but I am not sure if it will look good. Maybe it is better to leave it this way and continue.I am still thinking about it. In the mean time I did cast on the Endpaper Mitts in Green and RedPurple Rauma FinUllgarn I had in my stash. Just something simple I can take with me to work and knit a few rows during a break.