Saturday, April 7, 2012

15, A Cold and Happy Easter

I finished my lovely ocean inspired shawl.  Want to take a look?
 I didn't knit a lot while on my vacation, I seemed to be emerged in books instead.  So this week I took some time to finish this shawl.  Gazing at the yarn it reminded me how very beautiful the water was at Turks and Caicos.  The yarn is Three Irish Girls, Wexford Merino Silk.  It is specially dyed for A Good Yarn, my favorite yarn store in Sarasota.  The colorway is called Gulf of Mexico.  I live near the gulf and believe me our water isn't quite this beautiful, but is sure is further south.
 A simple drop stitch pattern really shows off the beauty of the yarn.  The shawl ended up being approximately 16 inches wide and 62 inches long.  I haven't decide on fringe yet, I'll wait on that a bit.  Cast on 55 stitches on size 11 needles and away you go!  Knit 7 rows in garter stitch.  On the 8th row knit the first and last stitch, each stitch in between in wrapped three times.  The wrap is easily dropped on the next row as you knit.  Easy Peasy.
 Notice anything special in the photo above?  My gardenia's are blooming about 5 weeks early.  I have never had gardenia's for Easter, they usually bloom around Mother's Day.  I was a bit shocked to see them blooming already.
 I promise not to have fifty trillion pictures of gardenia's this year.  But they are so beautiful and the smell is divine.  That is if I could smell them.  My oldest came home from our trip with a bad cold.  He has now passed it on to his brother and myself.  We are miserable.  It has settled in my lungs like all colds do.  I am coughing so much my back and ribs hurt.  I had to sleep in my family room last night so I wouldn't disturb the whole house.  My youngest has a sore throat and looks horrible.  So I am taking it easy this weekend and enjoying some baseball.  (Yeah for Carlos Pena on his grand slam, at his first at bat back as a Ray! Against the Yankee's no less!!!!)
And of course celebrating a bit of Easter.  I didn't decorate this year so this bunny will have to do.

Hope you all have  a wonderful weekend, celebrating Spring, Easter, or just Life!

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your shawl is beautiful!

Last weekend when we were driving over the Courtney Causeway -- at the second bridge, the water in the bay was almost that color. It was the most beautiful that I have ever seen Tampa Bay!

Hope you are feeling better soon.

Happy Easter.

Fleur Cotton said...

What a beautiful coloured yarn you have chosen for your shawl, it looks stunning.

Happy Easter
Fleur x

Karen said...

The stitching on your shawl is just beautiful. And the color is stunning.

Gardenias are on one of my favorite flowers. I can just imagine the scent, seeing your photos. I hope you feel better in time to enjoy them!

Happy Easter, Meredith!

MaryMargaret said...

Your shawl is beautiful! The colors and flowy dropstitch definitely remind me of the ocean. We planted two gardenias last week- I hope that they are as gorgeous as yours next year, because I have a feeling that they will not bloom this season.

Crafter's Delights said...

Fantastic and beautiful shawl! I love the colors! Happy Easter to you and your family! xoxo, Amy

Petunia Pill said...

Meredith, Your shawl is stunning. I just adore that color! Hmmmm, gardenias...such a heady fragrance! I have buds up here in VA but no blossoms yet. I can still remember bowls of them in the middle of my grandmother's dining room table...scent and memory...such close connections. So sorry to hear you are miserable...the coughs that rip up your stomach muscles (and everything else) are merciless! My stomach muscles are aching, just thinking of it! Take care of you! Happy Easter! Hugs, Annette

Jane said...

Your ocean shawl is beautiful! The colour and stitch pattern work perfectly together. Lovely :)
I do hope you're soon feeling much better
Jane x

Rose said...

Your beach photos are gorgeous, and so is the shawl! And I love having sand in my yarn :)

mynestofyarnandbuttons said...

Meredith, Your shawl is just beautiful. I love that color so much all because of the islands and what it represents, VACATION! Sorry you have a bad cold I had the same one for 10 days and had to go on antibiotic because it was settling in my chest too. All better now but still tired.
Hope you can relax and enjoy the peace and quiet this weekend. We are.... not a big crowd for us.
xoRobin❤
Did you decide on a book yet?

Unknown said...

WOW! That is the most stricking color i have seen in yarn. Beautiful. I et you will get plenty of compliments on this on as it is so elegant! I hope you and your family start feeling better soon! These late season colds are some of the worst. Try to take it easy and drink planty of fluids so that you can kick this out of your system soon. Hugs, Teresa

Teresa Kasner said...

Oh Meredith, I'm so sorry you got that cold. I used to get bronchitis every time I got a cold, but I'm taking Singulair and now I don't get bronchitis anymore! :-)

Love your gorgeous shawl, it's a beauty. Your gardenia makes me swoon.. I do believe they are my favorite flower. I only wish I lived somewhere where they could grow outside. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

Claudia said...

Feel better, sister. I'm am so overwhelmed at trying to get out of here tomorrow that I don't have too many spare moments. I'll be in Hartford tomorrow and of course, you can reach me on my cell.

Yay for Carlos Pena. The Sox aren't starting off too well, unfortunately.

xo
Claudia

Teresa said...

My treatments must have left me so wicked inside that no bugs will come near me... I've managed to go through winter (well, this mild thing that seemed more like a spring than a winter!) without a cold. Very unusual for me... but I'm not complaining!!!
That scarf is such a beautiful color and pattern, love it!
Happy Easter, my dear
xxx

Susanne Tyree said...

Your shawl is lovely. I have never attempted doing anything with a dropped stitch, it looks so complicated. I bet that Gardenia does smell heavenly. With all the crazy weather since winter, it is no wonder your flower is an early bloomer. Sorry to hear you are under the weather with a cold. Families do like to share their germs and sooner of later everyone ends up sick. Take care of yourself!
Hope you have a Happy Easter despite the cough.
Susanne :)

WildflowerWool said...

Lovely shawl!!

Pammy Sue said...

Love the shawl...the color is beautiful! I see you had a nice vacation by the sea too. Don't you miss it? I do! Thanks for commenting!

Nicky said...

Your shawl is beautiful. xx

Deb said...

Beautiful shawl Meredith ~ love the colour. Hope you are all feeling better & have a Happy Easter ♥

Tammy@T's Daily Treasures said...

That shawl does not look easy peasy to me. Of course, I don't knit. The color is absolutely gorgeous! Love the design, too. Sorry to hear you aren't feeling well. Take care and have a blessed new week. Tammy

Stitchy Mc Floss said...

Happy Easter! :)

Your shawl is lovely. It really does remind you of the ocean and warm breezes...glad you had a good time on vacation. :)

Blessings to you and yours always

kathy b said...

Meredith
I love all things gardenia.. SO sorry about your cold!
I love the drop stitch finish....just lovely.

I didn't get the little something you sent on its way to me. >Maybe tomorrow! Yippee I can look forward to the mail. You should not have!

* said...

What a gorgeous shawl and the colour is divine, I did some wrapped stitches for the first time recently, but I'm not sure I actually ever 'got' it!

I love gardenias, I really wanted them in my wedding bouquet but it didn't materialise, probably the time of year thinking back. They smell wonderful don't they?

I do hope you are already feeling a whole lot better!

Leah said...

Oh wow - your shawl is amazing hon! I wish I could knit like that!!! Enjoy.

Leah
x

Rose Red said...

Your shawl is beautiful. Just perfect.

As are gardenias. I have a couple of lovely gardenia bushes here, just beautiful when are are blooming.

Hope you are all feeling better soon.

Kris said...

That blue is just so pretty! I love it! My favorite garden flower is gardenia! I have a large bush in front and the scent is intoxicating! Hey...you can come to our parties out here any old time! If you ever find yourself in So. California...you must come see me!!!!!!

Vicki Boster said...

Your shawl is absolutely exquisite- the color-- the pattern-- its more beautiful than words--- and it is truly the color of that beautiful Caribbean water!
Vicki

Kristen said...

Gorgeous yarn, gorgeous pattern, gorgeous shawl! And hooray for baseball, even though I always hope for a Yankee win. Hope you feel better soon! :)

Liz said...

Meredith,

I love this shawl. The color is so nice. I'm so glad you had such a wonderful vacation. I have to admit, I was a tad bit jealous, but in a good way. I'm happy you went to such a pretty place. Everyone needs to get away at least once a year. I really need to get some of that beautiful blue yarn. Blue is my favorite color. I hope you have a great weekend:D
Liz

Catherine said...

I love that there's a yarn company called Three Irish Girls - I had a look at it and it's really weird looking at it from Ireland where I don't think they're known at all! I love that they use local names like the Wexford yarn you used, it's beautiful. I love knitting but have to use my stash before I can buy more yarn on pain of divorce or suchlike. Anyway ,have a look at my blog and Ravelry for some of my work. I'm LismoreLady on Ravelry!
Catherine x