women of a certain age are like sunflowers; they know how to turn their faces to the sun.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Magic?

"You can do magic
You can have anything that you desire
Magic, and you know
You're the one who can put out the fire"
-America

The needles have been flying so fast at Sunflower Designs, it's a good thing I knit with metal needles.

Otherwise, the friction from wooden ones might have been enough to set off a conflagration!

Designing a "little sister" scarf project to echo the lines and feeling of Moroccan Days/ Arabian Nights has proven an interesting challenge thus far:

How do I deliver all the beauty in half the size and twice the simplicity?

How do I come up with a second design that both references the original and provides knitters a fresh twist.

The very best projects take flight on the wings of our imagination.

So how do I make the Magic Carpet fly?

Once again, I went back to my mantra: Just because I haven't doesn't mean I can't. I also remembered some dandy advice on the best way to write, which I read somewhere.

Apply seat to chair.

Sometimes the truth is far simpler than we make it out to be.

I swapped out the beaded fringe for a nifty little scalloped cast on and a beaded rib. Same impact, less intimidating.

The next challenge? Finding a simpler and narrower way to add a little bling along the sides of the scarf. Solution? A little 5 stitch 2 row repeat beaded edging with a yarnover for interest.

The persian windows remain the same as on the larger piece.

Another challenge I set for myself: except for the Persian lace at the end, the entire scarf has plain purl back rows. No two sided lace here.

Two lines of palmetto leaves march up the sides, divided by one repeat of the chevron pattern.

The palmetto pattern eventually dissolves into a transition panel, which winds up as five repeats of the chevron pattern.

This stitch pattern continues to the back of the neck. Second half is completed the same way and joined at the halfway point, as in the stole (but no beads to irritate or rub.)

Scarf will block out to 12in. by 60in. and take 850 yards of Kim's lovely laceweight.

The sample is knit in her Moroccan Spice color, and it is precisely the faded red of my grandmother's oriental carpets. I used gold beads.

Kits will be available on Friday, March 7th, exclusively at the Woolen Rabbit.

Can I do magic?

NO...

But I can do hard work.

And sometimes...

that's enough

19 comments:

vi said...

oh wow that is worth the wait.....


that is very good

vi

Anonymous said...

Very very nice. I think I will purchase. Will it also be available as a download only?

Carie @ Space for the Butterflies said...

Definitely magic and that colour is to die for - wonderful faded carpet red.

Kris said...

I am amazed at how quickly you have turned out this version! I can't even imagine...

Cheryl, the jungian Knitter said...

You are a magician!

Kim said...

OMG....if I thought Moroccan Days was wonderful, I love this even more! Of course this is one of my favorite colorways, which makes it even more yummy! What color beads did you use...I am putting my order in!

Megan said...

all I can say is WOW!!!! It is truly amazing and I can't wait to order it!!!

Anonymous said...

Just stunning! I'll need to knit both now -- one to wear inside my coat, the other to drape outside around my shoulders.
Madeline

Pat K said...

Wonderful, wonderful. I think I'm hooked.

La Cabeza Grande said...

Awesomeness! You're definitely doing the fast and furious knitting tango, with fantastic results.

This might even be something I can do.

Anonymous said...

I think I hear Beethoven 9th coming out of that scarf and it might have to be my first lace project. So beautiful!

Ronni said...

Oh my, that's gorgeous. Ok so I'll have a shawl and a scarf, eventually. I'm totally ordering the scarf kit tomorrow.

And while I know it was hard work, it still looks like magic. The old, any sufficiently advanced work/technology looks like magic to the unskilled/unenlightened.

Agata said...

Lovely! Chris (chrisknits) is totally right, you have a gift for designing lace. When you wrote that you wanted to include "bling" on the sides, I giggled out loud ;)

I'm still waiting on the kit for the shawl, and who knows how long that will take me, so I'll hold off on the Magic Carpet for now but it's joining its older sister (brother?) in the queue.

I'm so glad that Magic Carpet is a similar but not the same version of its older, bigger sibling - I guess I assumed that it would just be narrower, but of course your designer's mind was a few steps ahead.

That Moroccan Spice color is so gorgeous!!! Man, you and Kim are a match made in heaven :)

Lucia said...

Contrary to popular belief, sometimes making magic is hard work. Well done!

thegabbyknitter said...

It looks beautiful and I love the color. What talent!

Kristina B said...

Looking fantastic. Just spent the rest of the yarn budget for the half month yesterday... but will be ordering a kit on the 15th - PayDay!!!! Hopefully there will be some left...

Kristina B said...

Re. Barb's query about about download: I understood that the pattern would only be available through the kit by Woolen Rabbit for at least the next couple of months...

the yarn looks fantastic so despite my already huge stash of Handmaiden, I will be ordering!

Lost City Denise said...

Upon prompting from my partner, Christopher, (an Earhlamite) who suggested my next project be something challenging, I just ordered the MD/AN shawl! Can't wait for it to arrive!

Kristina B said...

I just ordered the scarf kit! :-) Thanks, Susan and Kim for providing it - and I find the price very reasonable indeed... which is wonderful.