Monday, May 18, 2009

Finally Revealed - My fall knitting project

Way back in the fall of 2008 (or perhaps was it August?), I met with Ilga Leja and she gave me a beautiful project to knit for her. It was a sample of a new pattern for her City Collection.

Little did I know, when I met with her, that I would soon become pregnant and lose the will to stay awake past 5pm. What should have taken me just a couple of weeks of evening knitting, soon dragged out to an embarrassing amount of time. I met with Ilga and had to tell her the reason why the project was taking so long. Thankfully, Ilga was very understanding and I kept plugging away at the project.

It wasn't until I was charging away into chart D that I realized, "Wait a minute! Ilga asked me to knit the smaller version of this!" I emailed her to confirm and, after a brief period of mourning, I realized that I had no choice but to rip.

I wasn't so crazy as to rip everything out, so with great care and after staring at the charts for quite a while, I threaded a smaller needle through all of the stitches at the end of the last correct chart:

what NOT to do when knitting a sample



Believe it or not, after ripping down to this section, I checked every stitch and every stitch was in the right place! YAY!

I happily handed the unblocked piece over to Ilga quite a bit later than I would have liked - it was in the same calendar year that I started - but I hadn't seen the piece blocked until Ilga emailed me a few weeks ago to let me know that I should check her site.

Here is the finished project:

In-the-Garden-Capelet-Yellow-008-1



Pattern: In The Garden Capelet
Designer: Ilga Leja
Yarn: Lucy Neatby's Celestial Merino
Photo: by Ilga Leja - used with permission

Isn't it pretty? Personally, I can't wear yellow, but I think it's quite pretty on Ilga's "model" (aka her beautiful daughter). I also love the stitch definition you get with this yarn. And the pattern itself holds your interest and keeps you knitting - you know, when you aren't newly pregnant and falling asleep every evening.

Despite the length of time it took me to knit this project, it is actually quite a quick knit. It would be a perfect little capelet for bridesmaids or for some formal occasion where it might be just a bit chilly or when you just want a splash of colour.

I'm quite proud of this bit of knitting and am really happy to see it turned out so nicely.

4 comments:

  1. Oh wow. It's really, really sweet. I love it in yellow.

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  2. That is lovely. Just lovely.

    You should be very proud!

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  3. Bridesmaids or bride was exactly what I thought when I saw this. Must find dress first though.
    Lovely work.

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