Post 255 Mostly Counted Sashiko

 

It was close to my idea of perfect weather in Adelaide today - 28C and a bit of a breeze.  The Jacarandas are coming into their own. I didn't have time to divert around the streets in which they are planted this morning as I needed to be at the Guild by 9.45am.

There were 13 students at the Counted Sashiko class. I continue to be impressed with the way the Guild is implementing its Covid Safe Plan, and with the way everyone is complying. Margaret, the Covid Marshal for the day, was invited by Carol, the teacher, to go over the requirements - sanitise hands, sign in with phone number and time, remain seated at the designated places, no kitchen access, follow cleaning instructions in toilet, wipe down your area before leaving - before we began. There is goodwill and appreciation that we are privileged to meet and need to keep each other safe. None of us wants this disease in our community, and even though we currently have no locally transmitted cases in SA there is awareness that that can change.

I really enjoyed the class. Counted Sashiko is a fairly recent addition to Carol's teaching repertoire and she has done an enormous amount of testing and preparation. The class was originally scheduled for May but postponed twice because of lockdowns, so she has been adding to her samples in the intervening months. These are all samples she has worked. 

She is also a very student-centred teacher, working hard to establish the requirements of the technique but encouraging and enabling adaptation and experimentation so the resulting work is highly individual.  It's always great to be in one of her classes.

I was working the simplest sequence of the Perle Thread Keep she had designed and I managed to stuff up the second design in the sequence. No matter,  I adapted, with Carol's blessing. I also discovered that the fabric I had prepared was a 26 thread-count, not 28. Again, it's not a problem. I just need to adjust the length. 

This is where I got to at the end of today's class.

I managed one shot of Jacaranda on my way home.

I had snapped these quickly this morning before I hung the washing out. Blush, all on her own, happy to stay still while I distributed seed. Most of the seed was gone when I got home, so either she or others of the balcony brigade had visited while I was out. While I could hear plenty of bird calls while getting in the washing, no birds were visible. The leaf cover on the trees is now dense enough to cover them most of the time.

I was determined to knit tonight, but thought I'd just finish the three patterns I started... This, of course, ended up taking nearly all evening. I have also marked out the new finish line and marked the position of the bands I intend to add to reach the finish.

No more until my shawl is finished!