Thursday 24 January 2013

Japanese Inspirations. . .

My latest projects seem to be inspired by the Japanese. I'm currently knitting the Japanese Feather and Fan Shawl, a free pattern on Ravelry designed by IzzyKnits.  


I'm using some Madeleine Tosh Prairie  (I think the colour is Ink, but I've lost the band) that is in my stash.  It's a lovely midnight blue and I chose it because it reminds me of the background colour to a lot of Japanese sashiko stitching projects, like this cushion cover I picked up at the Quilt Museum in York.  I'm very eager to get stitching on this (there's a great tutorial on how to do it at the wonderful Purl Bee blog here)


My other current knitting project is some more linen stitch, experimenting with three balls of Japanese Noro Silk Garden.  Originally, I was using one skein at a time but the stripes got a bit too intense colourwise.  Now I'm using three separate skeins and I like how the colours are merging into one another. It's almost like an English garden in full bloom.


Not sure if this will become a scarf, a long cowl, a cushion cover, a table runner, or I might even felt it and see what happens. I'm just going to keep knitting until all the balls run out.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

That feather and fan shawl is lovely, and I really like the color you chose! I might have to give it a shot if I have time after my February sweater.

Blithe Spirit said...

Thanks! It's a good pattern although I have made a few mistakes - I'm hoping it will look okay when it's blocked and will be a bit forgiving. I do like shawls that purl on the ws, but there is a point where you have do a few knit stitches on the purl side and I completely forgot. This is my first time working on a mirrored chart, but I think I have the hang of it now.