A sprint towards the finish line

Attention, Attention, we have a finished object

Now some of you may have been thinking that for a knitting blog I don't seem to finish a lot of knitting and lately it feels as though this has been rather true, at least, anything I have finished I haven't been happy enough with to share, for example the Debbie Bliss silk top. However, here is proof that sometimes I do finish things. I started this Birch on 10th May (this year) and finished it yesterday. Somehow the weather forgot to rain yesterday so Birch did manage a little photo shoot in the garden, the light was rather poor but I thought it best not to risk waiting until today and how right I was because the weather pulled itself together overnight and started raining again.

This is my second Birch and I found it much easier this time, I used stitch markers from the start and at no point had to rip a whole row (and tear out whole handfuls of my own hair as a direct result). I have knitted on and off ever since I was a child but didn't seriously get back into knitting until about 4 years ago when I discovered Rowan yarns and Debbie Bliss patterns, I turned out baby knits like there was no tomorrow and then about 2 years ago I felt confident enough to move on to adult items but I would never have believed back then that I would end up knitting lace. I will never be a great lace knitter but I am learning as I go and improving all the time and I find it incredibly relaxing.

Anna wrote some time ago about knitting lace as therapy and The Champagne Bohemian wrote a beautiful post regarding her lovely Ene's Shawl. I find knitting lace absorbing, I can't whizz along paying little attention, the pattern requires a little more thought. As I get into the swing of it the repetition becomes soothing and as I watch the pattern emerge I feel enormously satisfied. The summer edition of Interweave Knits has a short article by Amy R Singer (of Knitty.com) which mentioned the princess diaries, wow, what can I say, I guess there is a whole lot of therapy in that shawl. I would love to knit something like that but I don't think I'm up to it, there are definitely more Birches in my future though and I am very taken with Katherine's beautiful Fibertrends Lace Leaf shawl, the idea of knitting lace in Kid Classic is very appealing.

This Birch is intended for a very dear friend. She recently had her second child and I hope this will help her feel pampered and comforted. Her first child has just turned two and is very lively. Those first few months with the second baby and a toddler can be so tiring and leave you with very little time to yourself so she deserves something special. We go to visit this weekend and although I am pretty sure she will like the shawl I am a little nervous too.