First things first: Monkey did the honours and pulled a name out of the (knitted) hat. The winner is Seahorse! Congratulations - please could you email me and let me have the address you would like it posted to? Details of the finished Celtic Knot Stole
Yarn: Posh Yarn Camilla 100% cashmere in Memories
Needles: 3.5mm Inox circulars
Blocked measurements: 35” by 65”
Needles: 3.5mm Inox circulars
Blocked measurements: 35” by 65”
This is the yarn I won from Posh Yarn in the photo competition last year. Thank you Dee for the yarn. It is so soft and has been a delight to knit with. Plus I’ve already had so many compliments on the colour.
I’ve seen a few posts recently about why people knit and this led me to start thinking about myself (Monkey might say that wasn’t unusual!). There are a lot of reasons but one of them is that it is a chance to extend the fantasy stage of acquiring an item of clothing. I’m sure that most women will understand this stage when I explain it. It is that period of time from when you first spot the article of clothing in a shop/catalogue/pattern book, during which you think that the said article will, for example, make you more popular, make you better at your job or make the guy you’ve always fancied at school finally notice you. After wearing the article of clothing a number of times, you usually realise that this won’t happen. However, by then you’ll have already seen that life-changing pair of shoes that will do the trick instead.
Anyway, as I was saying, knitting extends this stage for me and the fantasies I can build up about a particular garment can be pretty far fetched by the time I finally cast off. While I was knitting this stole, I pictured myself as the heroine of some Victorian gothic novel. Standing on the heathered brink of a lonely moor wearing a dove-grey silk dress and desperately trying to escape from some mad woman locked in an attic. But nope, here I am in my flat cooking gingerbread and modelling this in some rather crumpled old clothes. But I still love it and every time I wrap it round my shoulders I do feel a little closer to the windswept moors!
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34 comments:
What a beautiful stole:) Well done
That stole is so beautiful.
Your stole is definitely worthy of the cashmere! It is stunning. No wonder you think Gothic it is worthy of the great novel. :)
Congrats to Seahorse :)
Totally stunning Kendra, a work of art :)you should be so proud of yourself.
Yes I understand were you are coming from re knitting, and fantasy's etc and I think it reflects the type of person we are ; full of imagination ;-)which I think is part of being creative. As long as we know when ,at least for me ,I do a reality check every now & again. I have a very long, nearly black cashmere coat which I call my 'Scottish Widow' coat after the TV ad and just putting it makes me feel elegant ( as long as I don't look in the mirror !! )
stunning luxury! wonderful.
Beautiful! Great job!
It is lovely to have something wonderfully beautiful like your stole to lift the spirit and stir the soul. My mind is filled with the thoughts of windswept hills now and stoles flittering like wings - good to have those creative impulses to drive your knitting on to such beautiful work! Well done!
Oh! *faints* I never win anything! What a fabulous pick me up after a less than perfect weekend! THANKYOU!
The stole is stunning. Truly, a superb achievement.
It is stunning!! Absolutely stunning!! well done
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous, wow!
It turned out amazing and I can't believe you designed it, you are so talented!
That is soooo beautiful, Kendra. Absolutely gorgeous. Enjoy wearing it and imagine yourself in that fantasy everytime!
What a beautiful garment, and you must feel so proud of knowing that it is all your own work too. I think it is that sense of accomplishment at the end of the knitting, where we can look back and think how clever we are to create something so gorgeous.
HOoray that is so beautiful! I have been dreaming of knitting lace for a while. Heirloom knitting and their blocking wires are high on my birthday list. Lovely to catch up a little bit - happy blogiversary. I'm chuffed to be reading your blog again.
Congrats to Seahorse!!
The stole is so beautiful, a piece of art, and to think it was all your own work, you should be so proud of yourself.
The images you described took me to the windswept moor! Maybe certain items just evoke memories and fantasies we have stored in our heads? Who knows, but its fun imagining being there!
That's a beauty, I totally get what you mean about the fantasy thing. I think when you wear that, wonderful things may well happen ;)
Hooray for Seahorse! Couldn't have gone to a nicer winner :D
Flippin' 'eck, Kendra. That's pretty amazing.
And what you say about your reason for knitting really rings true with me.
Beautiful stole indeed, what a fabulous pattern! I think you hit the nail on the head about the fantasy/imagination element with knitting :-)
Congrats to Seahorse too!
Sooo lovely. I need to get to working on a stole...maybe I'll just start with a lace scarf. I've been working on blankets and could use a quicker project.
Unfortunatley I don't have the same kind of fantasies as you, but I wish I did!! Beautiful stole, what a really impressive! :)
Stunning stole, and wonderful images! Will you be sellng the pattern (please!)? :)
The stole is beautiful!! You did an amazing job on it.
I enjoyed reading about the fantasy element of knitting. I'd thought about that for store bought clothes and cosmetics, but not in terms of knitting. I think that you are absolutely right though, especially when you spy a pattern in a book or magazine that has a gorgeous location in the background. When I see that item, I want to be in the place where it was photographed, and it's fun to imagine the story behind it. I think I need to daydream more while I knit!
Definitely a stole fit for a Bronte heroine.
I know exactly what you mean about the fantasy stage - that Flair I've got planned is going to make me the cutest girl around :)
The finished stole is gorgeous and now that you've shared your gothic heroine fantasy I want one of my own!
Are you going to be selling the pattern?
Oh Kendra it looks even better now it is blocked. You should be really proud of it. I know exactly what you mean about crafts, and hobbies generally, being a chance to extend fantasies. You are also quite right, you would have fitted perfectly against a moor backdrop wearing wonderful corsetted dress with your stole drapped around you!
Congrats Seahorse!
Wow, Kendra, your stole is absolutely amazing. I completely agree with you about the fantasy of knitting and aquiring new clothing. You must feel amazing every time you wear this.
I just "found" your blog, and I am just swept away by the beautiful Celtic Knot Stole! If you do offer the charts at all, I would certainly love to have a copy to try my hand at it.
Very, very beautiful.
And I completely understand about the fantasy-clothing-moments. :)
Beautiful, and very romantic. I'm glad you're planning to keep this one for yourself.
That stole is absolutely divine!! It looks stunning on you!
IDotS, it's absolutely stunning, and I bet it was wonderful to knit. Will you wear it as a stole or scarf? I'm always not sure how best to wear something like this - it's almost like it needs to be a wallhanging to show it off!
That stole is amazing!! I love the picture with the sun shining through it - just gorgeous.
thats a lovely stole and looking forward to you sharing the pattern, which is most generous
Your photographs of your knitting are beautiful - really well presented. And seahorse is a deserving winner. Love that stole.
The stole is just gorgeous! It is so true about knitting being steeped in fantasies too. To me knitting is like giving birth to ideas that come from, well I don't know where actually - somewhere ethereal, and then go through our fingers and take on "physical bodies"... I like your picture of a romantic heroine. Bravo!
Kendra, This stole is beautiful. I would love to knit it for my Aunt's 80th Birthday this Winter. But, I would like to make the shawl a bit longer. Is it possible to add a repeat of the knot in such a way as to not mess up the border pattern? Any hints?
Linda Dziubala
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