Because I Promised

I saw my aunts recently and they both read my blog. And of course they were on me for not updating it more often. But with summer on, the kids at home and just everything happening, having the time to settle in and share has been short at best. So a little craft round-up.

Last spring after spending way too much time lurking about the Lady Eleanor page on Ravelry, I swore that this fall I would take a class on Entrelac. Entrelac is crazy easy, but when you read the instructions it is hard to just have faith that it will work. It is rather like Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket. Just knit it as the instructions tell you to, and don't sweat anything past your current row of knitting.

Then joyfully and triumphantly watch it all come together.

But for some reason I couldn't take that leap of faith with entrelac and resorted to taking a class at Renaissance Yarns in Kent. Yeah, I could have probably found a bunch of tutorials on YouTube, or done it by digging in and knitting it, but I thought taking a class would do the trick quickly--immerse me in the technique and learn the tricks.



And I boy did I love it! I was hooked by the second tier. This is my working sample done in Wisdom Yarns Poem.

I was also spurred on to learn entrelac by a one skein project I saw at Seattle Yarn, the Simply Lovely Little Clutch. Before I even took the class, I'd picked up a skein of the Noro Tidiori that the pattern calls for.



So I took the class, fell in love, and then the next day, we went off on vacation. I had the clutch pattern and one skein of Tidiori, and knit the clutch up the first day--falling hopelessly and helplessly in love with entrelac and this fun pattern.



When folded for the clutch, it looks like this:



or this, depending on the side. That is the joy of this yarn, both sides are unique.



So the next morning I jumped online to find more yarn, imagine my horror when I discovered that this particular Noro yarn has been discontinued. So I got online and hunted down as many skeins as I could find--between eBay and Ravelry I had enough to feed the obsession.



Since then, I've been knitting Simply Lovely Clutches for everyone. I've done eight of them so far. I made myself quit this weekend, before I forget how to knit anything else.



I plan on finishing them with i-cord borders and line them with a bright and fun silk fabric. They close with the magnetic snap. And voila!

So what am I going to do with 8 clutches? Christmas gifts, folks. Teacher presents, friends, but not aunts. I've got other plans for them.

Comments

StampingJoan said…
was doing a search for Tidiori and stumbled across your post. I have 18 skeins of this and need to do something with it or sell it. Do you have completed photos of these? I am not much of a seamstress with lining things etc, and wonder how easy these are to make!

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