Watership Down II - Chart 1 Done

This yarn should look familiar - it is Moulin Huet and it was being knit up into the shawl of that same name.  Unfortunately for me that shawl pattern is true Shetland Lace, knit in garter stitch with patterning on both sides, and I just wasn't enjoying it.  It wasn't that it was too hard, although it did require a fair bit of attention on my part, it just wasn't fun to knit.  I like lace patterns that just seem to flow from my needles and this one just didn't.  I made it through the first chart and about half way through the second chart before I decided to frog it and knit something else with the yarn.

The whole time I was knitting the Moulin Huet pattern, Watership Down was whispering in my ear.  Several of the folks in the knit along had done Watership Down in lighter colors than I had and used a gradiance set that had more subtle color changes and those shawls are really lovely.  I checked the yarn amount on my project page for Watership Down and compared it to what I had in the Moulin Huet set and it looked good yardage wise, so I pulled out my Watership Down pattern and cast on.  And then I got to that first row with beads.  And I didn't have any that I thought would go.  I have some size 8 beads that matched the color of the first skein perfectly that I thought would look great against the skeins with the green, but I didn't have any size 6 beads that would work.  I went on line and found something that I thought would work and ordered it, but I wanted to knit now, not wait for beads to arrive, so I grabbed the beads that I had used on my first Watership Down, and they worked!  It has a sort of pumpkin and plum thing going on that I really like.  In keeping with that theme I will probably find some size 8 purple beads in my stash for the beading in the borders.

Pattern:  Watership Down by Janine le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Eos in Moulin Huet
Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

Moulin Huet - Chart 1A Done

This is the first shipment in The Unique Sheep's Inspired by Art Club.  This is their first lace weight club.  This shipment was designed by Janine le Cras and inspired by Renoir's painting Children on the Beach at Guernsey.  This is my first Shetland Lace project.  Shetland Lace has lace patterning on both sides and is knit in garter stitch.  Once I got my head around the concept it isn't too hard, although working lace stitches in garter stitch is not as easy as working them in stockinette stitch, especially when you don't have any rest rows and you're working into yarn overs.  It is a challenging knit so I started an unofficial knit along on Ravelry.  I think I prefer the look of regular lace, but I do like the feel of it, it has a nice texture.  Janine decided to design this in Shetland Lace because of the way it diffuses the lace pattern, which she thought was appropriate for an Impressionist painting.

The yarn is The Unique Sheep Eos and the colorway, appropriately enough is Moulin Huet.

Pattern:  Moulin Huet by Janine le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Eos in Moulin Huet
Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)