Inspiration

Mary Jane is back! She's the Monday night knit buddy who went to Scotland on a yarn tour and sent me the lovely postcard. She brought over a few things last night to show and tell.

The label in the neck of the poncho says that it was knit on a frame. I don't know what that means, but I wonder if it was something like this.


She also went to the Island of North Ronaldsay to see the seaweed eating sheep. They are a fascinating breed that graze on seaweed and produce a remarkably soft wool. This hat and scarf were knit from their wool. The drape and feel of the fabric is luscious and Mary Jane says the cap kept her ears very warm in the wind.

Mary Jane brought plenty of other inspirational things to show:

These pieces are all so light! It's really incredible. They were all hand knit. I noticed that the decreases on the top of the mitten were all done with a k2tog. It's so simple to mirror the decreases with SSK, I'm thinking that the knitter just must not know about it. I'm betting she or he doesn't get on the internet, or download sock patterns from Knitty.

As if this wasn't enough inspiration, Mary directed me to her Flickr set for the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival for 2007. I really enjoyed browsing through the images and getting inspired.

Right now I'm committed to clearing a couple more things off the needles and then it is time for fair knitting!