Happy Wedding Day!

Well, I didn't get up at 2 a.m. to watch, but there's plenty of coverage online to see. I do remember that I saw Diana's wedding real time, but on a small t.v., and with all the pictures and resources online, I think watching online really is better. From what I've seen, just a beautiful wedding. The bride's gown is exactly perfect--nothing extra, just right. It reminds me of a simple version of Grace Kelly's wedding dress. It will take much more perusal of Hello! magazine and such to get the debrief on all the other finery, but at first glance I think Camilla is the second-best dressed--she looks radiant in that pale color, and that hat!

This morning I'll enjoy my morning tea in my commemorative mug, which I begged my husband to pick up in London last week. Yes, we're royal crazy here in the U.S.


Besides royal watching, I've been knitting. The charcoal sweater is coming along. I've got back and front done and am now about to join one shoulder and knit the cowl neck. Why not knit in the round? Kim Hargreaves does things in pieces and I agree--I like purling, so it's just a personal preference.


But on the heels of this project, or rather inserting itself, is the Estelle Knitalong I just joined, due to start May 1st and hosted by Paula of Knitting Pipeline.

Estelle is a cute cardigan designed by Melissa LeBarre and knit in Quince and Co. Lark, a light worsted weight. One could also use Cascade 220 or a number of other things.


I wanted to try their yarn, so I got Lark in a useful navy color, not captured very well in this photo.



Paula has a Ravelry group where help can be found for this project. There's still time to join us!

Jane Eyre fashions

A news flash for those who have been admiring the handknitting in the new Jane Eyre: Carol Sunday of Sunday Knits has gone to all the trouble for us and designed a shawl that could have been taken from the movie's costume department. Her pattern "To Eyre" is now available on Ravelry as a pdf, or it can be ordered with yarn as a kit on her website.

The shawl is like the everyday shawls I wrote about in my last post. The Sunday Knits one comes in two versions, one in which the bottom portion is longer:


and version 2, which I like better, with a wider back and little ruffle:


It takes about 500 yds of yarn for version 1, and 610 yds for version 2. While I think her own 5-ply yarns would be great, I've been spinning something I think would also be good. This is some Romney roving I bought from Homestead Farm not long ago. It's kind of silvery and kind of tan, a very nice color, and pretty soft.


The gauge for the shawl may be a little big for the way I'm spinning it now, but I can adjust that. I had a project in mind for this fiber, but it wasn't wanting to be that fine of a weight, so the fiber can be anything I want at this point.


I still haven't found any stills from the movie of this shawl, but I did find one that shows Judy Dench's shawl, but only barely:


Of course, if anyone asked me if I really needed a Jane Eyre shawl, I'd say, well, probably not. But it's a tempting prospect to have the pattern and fiber ready and waiting. Definitely worth some thought!

Spring projects

Another old UFO finished! I sewed the buttons on my Maddalena cardigan this afternoon while we watched the very very old Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn, circa 1938. I thought the movie must have been colorized, but it was filmed in Technicolor. He's wearing a very green outfit. The movie also stars Olivia de Havilland and Claude Rains, who I always enjoy seeing and had forgotten was in this movie.


Anyway, the sweater fits pretty well and I'm happy with it, but I do need to get some tops to wear with it. Luckily, the yarn has a lot of colors in it to choose from.


I also have some pictures of the Belle beret that are better than the ones I tried to take myself while wearing it!


On a cultural note, I recently went to see the new Jane Eyre at the theater, and it was good, but not my favorite adaptation. I didn't object to Rochester being a bit too pretty, but Jane was so listless I was hard pressed to tell why anyone could have been interested in her. However, I loved the costumes and scenery, and there is some good knitting to be seen in the movie if one looks for it. There were little everyday shawls and fingerless gloves and a quite gossamer thing Judy Dench wears. None of which I could find pictures of online, but here are some nice stills from the movie.



My favorite version of all time is the Masterpiece Theatre one with Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson. I thought Toby Stephens captured Rochester well; he's got this reputation as a cold, forbidding character but he really never stops talking. Ruth Wilson's Jane has some spirit, and the chemistry between the two of them gives the movie a sensual dimension that is lacking in other versions.


I had to watch this version again after seeing the recent one, and I'm confirmed that it's the best (although I have not seen the one in which George C. Scott plays Rochester and Susannah York Jane--that could be interesting. . .)