Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Winter is Coming!

We have had a very warm November so far, but I fear my kale will meet its doom this week as the temps head downward into the teens by this weekend.  I am finishing up the last of my 'fresh from the garden and ripened in the basement' tomatoes today in a hearty black bean chili that is simmering on the stove for supper.  Fresh produce is soon to be a thing of the past, so it will be time to hit the larder or freezer for the stored soups and sauces.  I've been able - both because I've been home, unlike last year, and because it's been warm and without snow cover, unlike last year - to keep up with the leaves and sticks in the yard, so there should be a lot less work to do come spring.  Today, the leaves from the willow finally decided that perhaps it is time to succumb to the wind and leave the tree. 


On Saturday, I got a book.  It's all Cheryl and LaJuana's fault ... but I did put it on my wishlist, and my dear mum got it for me.  It's a craft that isn't knitting, so I am torn.  I'm a knitter, and could happily knit the rest of my life and not make everything that is beautiful and gorgeous and knit.  But there was this Facebook video, see, and they didn't know what the technique was (being in Turkish made the point a bit fuzzy for those of us who do not speak Turkish), and it was this utterly GORGEOUS needle lace ... Mediterranean Knotted Lace, to be precise ...
From the cover of Mediterranean Knotted Lace








and I fell in love with it.  Now I am juggling learning needle lace with knitting.  I am competent at one of them, and it's not the needle lace. There's quite a contrast between knitting a shawl with worsted yarn held double, and making knots with size 50 crochet cotton.

Fat yarn, skinny thread

My First Attempts at Needle Lace
Until next week!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

What is the name of the book? Are the instructions easy to follow? What supplies do you need?

LaJuana said...

What fun! I'm sure you'll soon be creating beautiful pieces of Turkish lace. Be sure to post pictures!

Carolyn said...

Cheryl, the book is Mediterranean Knotted Lace, by Elena Dickson. It is a fairly inexpensive hobby ... one ball of crochet cotton (she suggests size 50) and one needle is all you need. I'm using a darning needle size 3 -- millnery/straw needles are also recommended. BecomeInspired on Youtube has a nice 8-part video, too. I'm not sure I would have been able to follow her without having worked a bit in the book.

Unknown said...

I would "love" to do this. I will put it away for future reference. I simply love to create these sorts of things.

Carolyn said...

Let me know how it works out for you! I am really enjoying it. Except for a few minutes last night, when I noticed that my wee little center loop had come undone, apparently due to an injudiciously short yarn end on the far side of a knot. EEEK!