IKEA again.

Vince wanted to go to IKEA today to play in the ball room. Edda is so unpredictable in public places, I hate to go out alone with the two of them. And going right after school (Vince’s suggestion) meant that I would have to get them lunch and through Edda’s nap time at IKEA. Sometime I’m all up for the challenge, but today I didn’t want to go for absolutely no reason (also that ball room is a germ incubator), but at 11 am, Jeremy reminded me that we needed wrapping paper so I gave myself a pep talk and hauled the two kids over to the big blue building. I also promised myself that I would get to eat this as a little reward:

I have no idea what it’s called, but it is $1 and it is delicious. As Rachael Ray says, Yum-O!

Look what Vince made in school!

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Lynae asked (a few posts ago) if the linen I used for Icarus was nice to knit with. She was the generous soul who gave me four (!) cones of the beautiful red fiber to make the shawl way back in August. I had never worked with plant fibers before this project, my limited knitting experiences have been in wool (one green sweater) and superwash wool (for socks). Generally I wear much more linen than wool, even when I live where it snows, so I have an affinity for this material.

When I started, the linen felt stiffer and more paper-like than I was used to with wool. The thickness was much more variable, some places it was almost bulbous and other places, it was as thin as a hair. Amazingly, even though the linen got very thin in places, the fiber never broke or snapped even though at times I put the fiber through some extra tough pulling. I did some research on linen and, of course, it’s a very tough fiber, even stronger when wet.

What I loved most about this linen was the color. I love red, but it has to be a true, deep red. Not too orange and not too plum. And the color of Icarus is PERFECT! I can’t wait to block it and see the luster of the fiber really come to life.

I have a super secret plan of how to block this baby, but I can’t reveal it yet!

Now on to Picovoli (yarn received as a gift, again from the generous Lynae)

I ripped out the my previous false start and redid it this time correctly. There is a little twisting of the yarn as I proceed, I’m not sure if this is going to matter in the final product. I suspect this has always happened with my projects and this is the first time I noticed it.

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Scientific name: Daedaleopsis Confragosa
Common name: Blushing Bracket
Location: Singapore