Lime Llama?

Hello, Everyone,


It's a nice mellow early Sunday morning.  I can't sleep, so I may as well knit.  And blog about knitting, LOL.  Music is Austin City Limits on KPBS.

I had Nate for a day and that was great!  Took him back to his mama after dinner with Anita and Peter.   I'll have to do a toy roundup tomorrow before I step on something sharp.  He was so cute.  Anita ordered a nice, healthy salad, so he offered to share his french fries with her.  Sweet boy.


I was looking for a pair of #3 needles, the ones I had just gotten were not working in the sport weight stockings I was making.   The slippery texture of the new #3 needle caused the gauge to open up so it was as if I were using #4 or bigger needles.  Couldn't get the fabric I wanted for the stocking to save my life.   Ever had this happen?  Frustrating, as these were new #3's bought just for this purpose.   So I started digging about in a bag of UFO's looking for something on #3's I could steal use.   I found this lovely lime green horseshoe shaped alpaca shawl and realized that (a.) it only needed a lace edging bind off to be done and (b). it was on #3 needles, nice wooden #3's with a normal texture that would work great in the stockings. 

So I started in merrily in to finish the lace edging muy pronto, only to find that I hated working it.  So I changed the edging to a simpler one I made up that I call an eyelet bind off.  I like it much better and I'm about 1/2 of the way done now.

I was working on this at a friend's house and she said it reminded her of her lime green llama.  She is a partner in a wonderful deli in the Hillcrest neighborhood of San Diego called the Deli Llama.  (Great sandwiches, BTW, stop by if you are ever in the area.  She doesn't skimp, only the best of everything.  Yum!   And the sweets are really yummy, too.)  The deli has a circus theme and painted on the mural above all is the lime llama, as I recall.  Well, the shawl is close to a lime llama, it's lime alpaca, with a lime mohair (goat) band in the middle.  Cousins of llama.  Cousins of camel.  Just cousins.  Maybe even kissing cousins.

So, as soon as I finish the Kissing Cousins Shawl,  I'll post pictures and then write up the pattern.  It's my own design, so I may as well write it up and offer the pattern on Ravelry.  Here are a few detail pics to tide you over. 

The impossible fussy lace edging  on the outer edge (with 3 pearls placed with a crochet hook per repeat).   I did not want to repeat it on the inner edge.

The eyelet bind off I did on the inner edge.   Floral design below the edge is one you have seen recently....Remember?

1 skein Cousin mohair (Crystal Palace Kid Merino) kissing 2 cousins Misti Alpaca Lace.  Estonian Nupps in the section below.  More details to follow.  Just wait until you see it all blocked out and showing the pattern...  Hmmmm....  I wonder how you block out a horseshoe shape?  I'll find out, won't I?   News at 11!


Lilo sez "G'nite".  She's wanting to to sit on my lap a lot and tell me how terrible it is that there is a painter putting lime green paint on the house trim.  What's with the lime green right now?  Must be mystical, LOL.

Bye,
Julie