J's Wrap...

I worked with J in my last job... She is one of the casuals and when we started working the Friday night shift together she was about fifteen going on sixteen. I was straightaway impressed by her 'style' - she cared about others - not just locally but globally. She cared that her parents had to work so hard so that she and her sister could complete their education - she appreciated that her Mum cared for her grandmother and from what J suggested no one was ever turned away from their home if they needed help. We talked around many an issues in between customers and 'book duties'. We always had a good time together despite our large age difference... J is also studing - Year 12 - last year at secondary school - it is a very hard year in more ways than one and I have often felt sorry for the amount of pressure that is put upon these kids in that age group. The stress factor is enormous...

The week I was to leave she was a couple of weeks off turning the BIG 18 and I had planned for a little while to buy her a present but I was unsure what an 18 year old these days tastes are like... In the meantime I was 'playing around' with some yarn I had bought one Saturday morning at Lincraft - it was a combination of a fluffy wool and a yarn that had blocks of colours - it was more like a braid than a yarn. It was a most unexpected combination and had I not seen a wrap knitted from the combination I would have said it wouldn't have been a happy marriage... I took what I had done and the picture of the wrap into work to show J and she loved it and she commented about the texture and colours. I slyly asked whether someone in her age group would wear something like that she replied that she would given the opportunity. I then knew what my present to her was... I took it away to Clunes with me and finshed the knitting - last night I finished the fringing - today with any luck I shall drop it off to her... Her birthday was last Sunday so I feel that I haven't done to badly with her pressie only one week late...


The middle photo is of the wrap without the fringing and shows a truer colour of it... It was an easy knit as the pattern was to cast on three stitches, knit a row, then the next and every alternate row was to cast on a stitch at either end... So basically it was cast on three stitches, knit a row, cast on a stitch at either end of the next row, knit a row and then continue until the desired width was reached. The pattern suggested 100 stitches as the completion and that is where I chose to stop -the fringing was quite exaggerated but it did 'complete the picture' so to speak... The only part I found challenging was the needle size which was huge - I have small hands and felt like I was knitting with two street light poles instead of knitting needles...

Now onto the next thing - a scarf for P... It is a pity that I cannot read knitting patterns as I find the actual knitting process quite relaxing....