Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Niebling Plunge

This past week I have been knitting some hats out of odd skeins in order to do some stash busting. I'll figure out who to gift/donate them later on down the road. I also want to start the new year with a bang and thought I would challenge myself with a Herbert Niebling lace doily/shawl. Here is a brief bio on Niebling from Laci's of Berkley (BTW, I cannot believe I didn't get to Laci's while living in the Bay area, big mistake ):

According to a brief biography published in Anna Burda magazine, Niebling learned to knit as a child of six, and knitted socks for soldiers at the front during the first world war. After graduating from the Hamburg School of Arts and Crafts, he devoted himself to the creation of exquisitely beautiful lace designs characterized by bold floral and leaf motifs against a background of netting and graceful scrollwork. At his death in 1966 he left as his legacy an extraordinary volume of work that has long been treasured by lace knitters. A recent renaissance in lace knitting has brought new attention to the work of Niebling, which is now challenging and energizing a new generation of knitters around the world.

So I was thinking of the pattern called 'frosted fern'. I think I'm in love with it. It looks sort of doable.



Of course I couldn't just knit it in a plain vanilla, that would be silly (and maybe a little dull for my soxy taste). Since it's ferny I thought I would go with some murky greens morphing into a greyish hue. I wear murk very well. I feel sort of too conspicuous or on display in brights, though I adore dyeing, knitting, accessorizing, and dressing other people in them.

This is the palette I'm contemplating:


And here's 225 grams of superwash fingering weight just waiting for some dye.


A little bit of Unibomber math for the dye formulas and I'll be good to go!

1 comment :

woolydaisy said...

oh soxy- my favorite colors!!! it's gonna be gorgeous. i never got to my post last night. we were too cuddled in with book on tape harry potter #7 and carey brought some primevil dvd's from his mom's house. oh well-maybe today.ousti