Engulfed in Lace

This week I have done some light reading.


Done some lace knitting.


Knitted some lace too.


Photographed lace.


And dreamt of lace.


Dyed for lace.


Might even spin for lace.


You could say, then, that I have had lace on my mind lately. It's perfect for summer, lightweight and airy, especially if you use silk yarn. And I have fallen in love with silk! The color, the drape, everything about it makes me want to just use lace and destash my wool immediately. (Then I dyed some wool-silk-bling blend and came to my senses. Phew!)

The project that started it all was a marriage between a shawl and a bolero, hence the name shawlero. I love the construction and was surprised to see how well it worked - I did have my doubts. There will be many more shawlero designs, I'm sure. The back looks a lot like a shawl, but there are no "how do I wear this to show the lace" issues or "my sleeves are drowning in the punch bowl again" issues. I have had those issues with traditional shawls, especially rectangular shawls. This time I won't have sleeves smelling of punch (and hence indicating slight intoxication of the wearer as that never happens, never!), or weird lumps of lace gathered in a wild fashion around my shoulders in the hopes that it won't look completely horrible. I love lace shawls, I really do, but they're not the most practical accessories to wear, especially to parties with large punch bowls.

I must return to my reading, so I will leave you with a selection of fresh new flowers )or soon to be flowers) around the Lair.