Veil of Isis - Part II

Aeris's annoy-o-meter

Battle of the bips

Giving Kevin’s mom a lacy tablecloth made using thin crochet thread and the Veil of Isis pattern wasn’t happening.  I had forgotten that the table tends to feature into the epic skirmishes between Aeris (the tubby Tuxedo wearing boy) and Bündchen (the feline femme whose namesake is apparent in her hallway runway strut as well as when she poses reclining in a sunbeam).  These battlefield pictures were taken by Kevin recently.  In the first one you can clearly see Aeris’s “annoy-o-meter” (aka tail) swishing back and forth so fast that it is blurred.  The cold war stare-down quickly escalates into a volley of paw batting, with both attempting to “bip” the other.  From the second picture you can witness the speed of this exchange.  I imagine that they’re not only sparring for supremacy in the house, but also “bipping” and beating boredom.

Oops… Less on kitties, more on knitting; right, getting back on track.  As I progressed through the pattern, I became even more enamored with the project.  I liked the weight of the cotton thread while still being airy from the lace pattern.  For some reason I was extraordinarily pleased with it, regardless of the fact I had no idea of what to do with it once finished.  As the Veil of Isis became larger and larger I did have one point of anxiety, beads.  The pattern calls for using beads, and after seeing pictures, I agreed that it was a beautiful accent especially in this case.  It’s a shame I know next to nothing about beads.  I figured I had a while to mull things over and do research since I planned on using them only in the border.

Delving into the odd crafting area where beading and knitting intersect was a little intimidating.  Ultimately I got the most out of the free webzine/e-zine Knitty’s article Seduced by Beads.  Sivia Harding, the author of this instructional gem, lays out the abcs of beads, sizes and what weights of yarn, as well as how to incorporate the beads.  Armed with a general idea of what to look for I ended up purchasing some *cough cough* inexpensive seed beads (size E – or 6/0) to use on my size 10 crochet thread).   I attached the beads using  a ridiculously tiny crochet needle (which looked more like a sewing needle that had a funky bump at the tip)that to my delight and surprise worked amazingly well.

Since I had worked from the center outwards binding off was a much longer process than usual.  Still while binding off, I couldn’t resist occasionally spreading out the finished areas of the Veil of Isis to admire it.  After the knitting was complete and all the ends were woven in, I gave initial blocking the good ol’ college try (I don’t have any foam boards/large cardboard).  I just pinned it out on the floor and figured that it’d be good enough considering I still have no plans for the finished project.  That being said, I’m still oddly pleased and proud of it.