WIP - Muir and Firestarter

Thought I'd show you two of the projects I'm knitting at the moment. The first one is supposed to be a Christmas gift for my mother; Muir from the 2007 Fall issue of Knitty.com.

I'm using Helen's Lace in Jeans from Lorna's Laces. It's a silk/wool blend in blues and browns. I love the texture of it and I think the colour changes work perfectly with this lace pattern. I've tried it on three other lace designs before but there was something about the combiantion of those designs and the colours that didn't work out. The lace pattern got lost in the colour changes and the result was just a mess that hurt my eyes when looking at them... This one is a winner though!!! The very airy lace breaks up the changes in colour and evens everything out. At least I think so. :)

The picture above shows the work after 1½ repeats of the chart. The pattern calls for 16 repeats, but I'm not sure I'll make it that long. I have a little less yardage than the pattern calls for and I don't want to run out. And also, my mother is not a tall person so I'm sure it'll be just fine if I make it a bit shorter...

The picture above with a close up of the pattern shows the colour better than the first picture does. In reality it shifts from pale jeans blue to darker blue to brown. There's nothing flourescent in it as the first picture might lead you to think...

My second active knitting project at home is a Firestarter sock. I'm using fingering weight merino/nylon yarn that has been bought from Angelia over at Blackthorne Fibers on Etsy. It's dyed in a pale blue that I just love. I'm knitting it on 2.5mm DPNs from KnitPicks.