Things have been all go lately. I decided last February that it would be great fun to organise a chamber music festival in my home town in Co. Sligo. I really missed playing with other people and figured that putting on an event was as good a reason to get together as any. I applied to Sligo Arts Office for some money to rent a piano and they were generous enough to provide me with enough to ensure that the project could go ahead. I came home last week and have been busy printing posters, tickets, ringing people, rehearsing, practising… I have woodwind friends coming to stay for a few days before the concerts so that we can rehearse together so things have been busy! I will post more details later.
Of course, being me! Shortly after I got my rejection letter from Mannheim, I started researching other courses only to discover that the very thing I was looking for is provided in DIT. Apparently it is only kicking off this year, which explains why I didn’t come across is during my initial search. After a flurry of emails, I was told that if I got my application in lickitysplit, I could audition in early September with a view to starting in mid-September. So, I spent the weekend getting my application together and got it sent off yesterday.
But enough of shop talk! Here’s what you really want to see….
The pattern is Henley Perfected from Interweave Knits Winter 2007 and I’m using Rowan Calmer that I got for half price in Lola Rose in Galway. I love the yarn! It is so soft and the matt finish really took me by surprise. It really goes the distance, too – I am nearly finished the back and only cracked open my 4th ball last night.
I love the lace detail.
The only modification I am making is by working the body in the round. It is written to be knitted flat but really, life is too short for such things. However when I came to the three lace panels (front left, back and front right) I couldn’t get it to work right. I counted my stitches and I counted them again. I tinked back and reknit the foundation row. Nope. All wrong. Tinked back again and recounted again. Reknit the foundation row. All wrong again! At this point I gave in and went to bed. The following morning over my second cup of tea I realised my error pretty quickly… there is no point trying to knit the back lace panel according to the right front chart and expect things to turn out right!
In other news, I have been on a veritable knitting rollercoaster during the last week. I was cruising Ravelry, being nosy and looking at prolific designers’ personal projects, when I came across a spectacular pair of mittens. The pattern came from an old Finnish mitten book by Eeva Haavisto. Hmm, I wondered if I could get it online. The more I researched it, the more amazing patterns I came across that had been knitted up from it and the more disgustingly out of print it was! Anyway, to cut a long, convoluted story short, I have ended up securing a copy that a friend of a friend of my brother in Finland found in a box. There will be more about this when I eventually see it in the flesh!
Good luck with the application to DIT. Henley Perfected is looking good. I love the 3-D texture of the lace in your second photo.