Bon Anniversaire Maman!

OK, so her birthday was on Thursday... but her present arrived yesterday. I sent her some washcloths (which she is fascinated with- she just loves that one can actually Knit a Dishcloth), a cute fabric box, and this:

My first-ever Branching Out! Yeah, yeah... I'm always a little behind the cool kids when it comes to jumping on the bandwagon to knit these patterns. I'm very proud of it- this is the most complex lace pattern I've ever tackled, and it was made with some of my handspun.

I love how the colors look with this pattern- this yarn was inspired by the year I lived in upstate New York and the mottled burgundies, oranges, rusts, purples, and greens of the Adirondacks in autumn, which came out nicely in the leafy motif with this yarn.

She called me yesterday when she received it to tell me how much she LURVES it. I knit this in a hurry, after I finished Purple Pewter... suddenly the yarn called to me from my basket o' handspun and told me what it wanted to be, and to whom it needed to go. Love when that happens. I found the pattern surprisingly easy to knit- lace is a very logical thing- you can easily see what you are supposed to do in the next row based upon what you did before. Conversely, it is also easy to see when you didn't do what you were supposed to do. This makes me think I may be ready to try out some of Debbie New's Cellular Automaton knitting method. Hmmm... maybe I should get too far ahead of myself after only completing one little scarf...

Details:

Pattern: Branching Out from Knitty Spring 2005

Yarn: 175 of my handspun Corriedale, about 12 wpi

Measurements: 6"wide, 48" long