First FO for 06

Hooray for long Christmas holidays full of cricket on telly - despite some hot days, this project just called to me from the knitting bag every day, and as a result I finished it off before I returned to work last week. I only got round to blocking it a few days ago, then my professional photographer Ashley insisted on waiting for good weather before doing the shoot. I think it was worth the wait - aren't his photos just magic. (More are available here.)

Kiri has been for me something of the Holy Grail. All Tangled Up was the very first blog I ever saw, and of course I've been an avid lurker ever since. If Polly read this, she would probably die with laughter at the way I've built her up to be a superstar in my mind!
This Kiri is, I think, the second or third one I've started. I had never done a lace project before I attempted this for the first time with a much bulkier handpainted yarn (which is still languishing in my stash with a very tarnished history which will someday be subject to a full expose in these pages). In addition to the one or two false starts made with this totally unsuitable yarn, not one but two additions to the stash were made 'for Kiri - someday'. It was only after finding this Lana Gatto Mohair Royal (80% kid mohair, 20% nylon) (on sale no less!) that I knew Kiri was going to get anywhere. Started during my green phase, and indicative of a (continuing) leaf fetish in my knitting, Kiri is a great summary of what I feel I've achieved (kit-wise) in 2005 - a lace project (not one but two), a new fibre, and an introduction to the blogworld.
And introducing our new look: Days were filled fiddling with the template. It's not complete yet, but you might have noticed I've done a bit of cleaning up around here. One new feature, inspired by Blossom and Kris, will be an entry in the sidebar for a 2006 project overview where you will find project specs such as needle size and such, all collected into one convenient post for the year, AND (as if that wasn't all) a link in the sidebar to each project I finish as I'm going. So, if you want to get a look at how productive (or not) I have been I am collating all the information for you there in one of the sidebar boxes (0which are still refusing to show their faces on archived pages but we'll work on that later).