Hello, Lancaster Rose

The heat is down to a mere simmer roundabout Exit 151, allowing me to emerge from the basement, blinking. Actually, this evening it's nicer with fans in the windows than with the A/C on. And my subterranean sojourn was not for naught – I located the Zephyr (and the Ritratto).



A good thing, too, as in a moment of heat-induced temporary insanity tractability I agreed to knit something for the Church of the Improv bazaar. No, not the T-P cover kind of church bazaar knitting, something for the live auction. Our auctioneers are good – last time my chocolate chip cookies went for $450 – but they have to have something to work with.

This time I'm making the Rose of England from Second Book of Modern Lace Knitting by Marianne Kinzel. The pattern as written is a tablecloth worked in cotton or linen thread. In JaggerSpun Zephyr (50% silk, 50% wool), she will be a lovely circular shawl.

Here she is at Round 10, already showing off her heraldic quinate symmetry and double yarn overs. As you can see, this Rose of England is a Lancaster rose.



The project poses a number of challenges. The pattern is beautifully written and clearly charted, but it does not give gauge or yardage requirements. If I run out of yarn, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth of biblical proportions (the colorway is discontinued)... but (fiddle-dee-dee) I'm not going to worry about that just yet. Then there's the matter of blocking Rose. Aiee. Rust-proof pin roundup begins today!

One thing I'm not worried about is meeting the mid-October deadline. Church projects always involve any number of outspoken nags busybodies good folk, and this one is no exception. Mistress Rose will be finished on time.