Bookmark Progress

I finished knitting two kimonos for my grandson-in-waiting, and I needed to take a break. I worked on the bookmark, and finished couching this morning.

I love this part. My idea is still fresh in my mind, and I'm satisfied with the translation to paper and pattern. I've couched the cordonnet and can see such potential in this little sketch.

Everything is ripe, waiting for my next attempts. It's like you have a dream that's wonderful and exciting, you can't help but put it into words - a story or a poem. The words never exactly capture your feelings of wonder and excitement, so you have to settle for a pale shadow of your original inspiration.

I know my next steps won't do justice to the graceful flowers in my mind's eye, but I'll do my best. Who knows, I may try again when my skills are more refined.

Most of the time, it's all about the journey. Getting there is all the fun.

Blue on Blue

What was I thinking?

Obviously, I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. Here you see my little bookmark, blue pearl cotton on blue cardstock. I have white cardstock, but picked the blue out of habit. I had the blue thread all cut before I realized I was doomed to work blue on blue for this project.







In a perfect world, I could simply print the pattern on white card and proceed, but my printer needs ink, and I drew the pattern by hand. I scanned my hand drawn pattern before beginning to couch the cordonnet. If it works well, I can make another. I should have ink by then.

Bookmark Exchange - First Thoughts

Our lace group has a bookmark exchange in March, and it's never too early to start planning. Here is my first idea for a needle lace bookmark. I found a flower I liked in a Point Lace Collar, but had to simplify for my skill level.

My printer is out of ink, so my next challenge is to copy this pattern to my blue card. The actual size is about 4" x 2", and I think that will be just about right. I don't know how or if I will attach a tassel, probably not.

I'm not sure what stitches I'll use, but I think I may use #8 pearl cotton. My earlier project with #12 shows how uneven my stitches are.

I enjoy creating new projects, but I know from experience that my finished objects don't always resemble my plans. That doesn't stop me from trying. We'll see how far this little adventure progresses.

From WIP to UFO

When does a Work In Progress become an Unfinished Object? I started this needle lace in November, hoping to have an ornament to swap at our Lace Group Exchange.

I was never happy with my work, and put it aside for a quick tatted Christmas tree. Now that my Christmas knitting is done, I would like to work on lace again. I like to alternate an easy knit project, like socks, with a more challenging lace project.

If I continue on this project, I will use it to practice my stitches. It's pretty bland, being all white, but I wanted to work with #12 perle. Someone posted a link to an article that shows how to make embroidery floss into perle cotton. I think I might give that a try. It would be tedious to do enough yardage for a tatted or bobbin lace project; but a yard of perle cotton would go a long way in a little sampler.