Dear 2trees

Since I accidentally erased your e-mail address I will post this information here in hopes you will check in or check fleegles blog. The two Japanese books I purchased at Lacis. The ISBN number for, Knitted Lace Designs Of The "Modern" Mode by Kazuko Ichida is (ISBN 978-1-891656-81-1). The second book is not the newly published one on the Lacis site but the original one I bought many years ago and does NOT have the translation in English of the stitch chart. My copy # is (ISBN4-529-02531-4). However, I suggest you look it up at the Lacis site to see if they have the ISBN number listed there for the second book. As for the Italian Magazine, it has NO ISBN# on it at all and you may only be able to get it at Lacis. Hope that Helps!

Slave to Edging (Border for Sampler Stole Done)

Three blog posts in a row. Why you ask?

I'm going to be knitting edging for awhile. Edging for Boundary Waters, Edging for Sampler Stole and if I'm not careful, I will end up finishing Legends of the Shetland Seas just as I finish the edging for these two and then I will have to do that as well. Finishing off work is obviously one of those things that is the hardest for me to do. Still, I will not start anything new until the edges are done so it gives me incentive. I have several projects I want/need to start so enjoy these posts because it will be awhile before you will hear from me as I slave away on the edgings. Hence three blog posts in a row. I didn't want to leave you without giving you something to tide you over :-) Much Later!

Lambtown Part One (What I Bought In Dixon)

OK, OK. I know I was not going to buy more yarn but I didn't have any "Angel"of my own and Yarn Place was right there and it was on sale and the red was really pretty and the Orange was the color of Orange Sherbet and yes I do expect you to be supportive and if not supportive at least not to condemn me for such paltry purchases of essentially what would be considered my hobby because you are all such lovely people. Only kidding guys. That was just a taste of my James Joyce Stream of Consciousness justifications for purchases I make. I bet you do something similar:-)

We went to Lambtown in Dixon California. A small but very nice fiber fair where they had prepared fibers, fleeces you could buy and prep yourself and various supplies for spinners and other fiber artists. There were a few other non-fiber related vendors but they were kept to a minimum. My sister and I had never been to a fair just for fibers. We usually get to Stitches and the Knitting & Crochet Guilds yearly fairs but that's it. And let me say, there is not enough fiber at those events so off we went to Dixon to this nice, if smaller fair. We knew it would be hot and I forgot my camera so the few pictures that actually came out you see here and are not very clear. Along with the yarn, I purchased what my sister refers to as "Proto-Yarn" ie, "Not Yet Yarn". We bought fiber. It was not cheap fiber but it is really soft and will essentially spin itself. I bought the dark alpaca from Spin Web and it's already pre-drafted and so fluffy I know it will be a pleasure to make yarn with it. The 6 ounces of white Baby Alpaca is a first sheering and may be the softest fiber the alpaca will produce. It's baby fine and will make spectacular lace weight yarn. The niddy noddy is a smaller one to make smaller skeins. It was not cheap at Carolina Homespun but the man who makes them is getting older and "slowing down" so is not making many now. The orange fiber is merino and silk. Its Summer and had a yen for bright colors that I don't have already in the fiber stash. They did not have a large number of sheep/llama etc as they could not have that many animals at this location, but they did have classes in spinning, weaving, lace knitting etc.They showed sheep shearing, had judging for fleece and a raffle for a donated Sonata Wheel. I had a great time in Dixon, avoided heat stroke and will plan to go again next year.

Lambtown Part Two (What My Sister Got In Dixon)

At the top, you see "Triple Play Roving" from Crosspatch Creations that my sister got at Carolina Homespun. It's a mix of wool, Bobyx Silk and Silk Noils and reminds me of the midway at a boardwalkfor some reason. Below see fiber my sister got at Royale Hare. It's Superwash Merino because she wants to spin yarn for socks. She went for bright colors because she usually knits socks for me and I'm all about the loud colors on my feet! The two spindles with decorative inserts were made by Ken Ledbetter Turnings. One has a Jasper insert with Maple and Purple Heart Woods. The other has a Dichroic Glass insert with Wenge, Maple and Purple Heart woods. The other two spindles are from SpindleWood Co. The one on the left is made from Bubinga/Maple/Leopard wood. The other is made from Spalted Birch and Maple. When my sister becomes addicted, she does not fool around. The video is "Spindles Around The World" by Barbara Clorite-Ventura and is from Copper Moose. It shows many different types of spindles and how to use them as well as basic info for the beginner spinner as well. It's terrific and well worth viewing if you are into spinning with a spindle. The one pound pile of Dk brown and chocolate Llama & Merino is from Spin Web in El Dorado Hills, CA. and is soft soft and yummy and my sister and I sounded sounded like Meg Ryan in, "When Harry Met Sally" (you know, the deli scene). This has to hold us until Stitches next year so no guilt for having bought what we did. The Knitting and Crochet fair next month does not usually carry much in the way of fiber so that does not count. Though small, this was a fun fiber fair and it was so hot that it was better that it was smaller because we would have passed-out from the heat if we had to stay longer. Enjoy!

I Feel A New Addiction Coming On (How the heck do you spell Doily?)

I guess it was inevitable that I would knit a doily (did I spell that right?) but missalicefaye sending me that cone of delicious Habu that has a precious 155 yards on it, pushed me over the edge. She suggested perhaps a doily? Maybe from one of my new "languages not English" books? Lets face it kids, I'm old (at least I feel old) and have not really been knitting lace all that long. Cables were my thing for years and years. That and spinning in the 1980's when it was considered aberrant behaviour. It's only recently I dove head-first into the wonderland of lace. Before all this, my biggest lace project was from Gladys Amedro's beautiful book and that shawl has been gone for years to the aunt of a friend (I plan to make that shawl again and keep it this time). Still, in my knitting library I have always collected lots of books and magazines on Lace. Much of it I have never actually knit from except for the odd "shawl from a doily pattern" type of thing. I like to collect things I'm interested in and then I appear to reach a "tipping point" where I topple into a new activity or look at an old one in a different light. I think I've reached that point with the doilies.

See above a lovely little Italian lace knitting magazine that has no English translation or legend in it. I bought it at Lacis, of course and their knitting group is working from it. I discovered which pattern the group is working on from Sandy's blog. She had a great description of her day at the shop and great pictures! Anyway. I am up to row 32 of a 83 row doily and the nice part is that this pattern is not very difficult so I've been able to figure out the most common stitches. Every even row is a plain knit row so you get a rest from the pattern. Thank you Laritza for telling me about the plain knit row so I could loosen up the old sphincter and take a chance. The nice thing about the plain row is that you can move your row markers over when needed in that row. Now I know I have broken the rule I made about not starting something until I finish something, but come on. It's a doily. I don't think they actually count when they are so small, do you? Of course, I have no idea what I'm going to do with the thing once its done but if I was really practical I would not be knitting lace :-)

I'm using a cotton thread that I have used before but for the purpose of tatting. Flora HH # 50 in a pale variegated green. I am using US 0000 needles just for laughs. It's a nice break from the other projects. WRS is torture but pretty and very very slow, I'm almost done with one side of the edging for Boundary Waters so will post that some time next week I hope. I have a quarter of the border for Sampler Stole to go and then I will post before picking up the side edges for the edging. I put a hold on the Legends of the Shetland Seas until something is finished. Spider Queen and the Tea Shawl and my albatross the Peacock Feathers Shawl will all wait their turn.

Have a great weekend!

Life Is Good! (I love getting gifts in the mail!)

Behold! Almost too much goodness has been coming my way lately. First fabulous Japanese Swag from fleegle with frogalicious contents that made my inner container-hoarder sing with joy. Now a fabulous feast for the senses from missalicefaye. After a long and irritating commute to get home today I was greeted by this wonderful box of happiness. Do I have to tell you that much of the chocolate goodness that you see pictured here is now residing in my tummy? Those "Happy Hippo" goodies were crunchy/creamy/chocolaty and are now a pleasant memory. The beautiful hand made bag with the delicate and whimsical embroidered bird is a lovely piece of art and is much too good for my grubby knitting tools. I'm going to put my remaining balls of Cobweb weight Shetland Yarn from Lacis in it for safe-keeping. If all this bounty was not enough, I now have a cone of Habu which is a combination of Silk and Stainless Steel. It's just beautiful and I may have to break down and use it for a doily even though I usually don't do doilys. So many beautiful things to see and to make and to share. Life really is very good :-) Thank you missalicefaye!

More Inspiration (And Progress on Wedding Ring Shawl)

How can she buy more books and patterns when she knits so damn slow? It's a good question. One I have no good answer for. But I figure that ambition is a good thing. You have to dream big if you are going to knit lace. When I read all the great blogs for everyone out there knitting, I figure we deserve to have what we want and need to express ourselves. Heck, I'm on the wait list for the Princess Shawl too so I continue to slog on to do the border for the Wedding Ring Shawl. I'm about half way through the first border chart (there are two) and it's getting more interesting now, less "dead" spaces where there is nothing but endless purl stitches (gag). Seeing missalicefay's beautiful Spring Shawl made me want that pattern too and laritiza is doing the Hyrna Herborgar shawl so I had to get the Three-Cornered & Long Shawls book as well. They are such great inspiration. So I will let these patterns and books "marinate" in my little pea brain and maybe, just maybe, something will spring forth. Just so long as it doesn't spring forth until I actually finish something first! Good Knitting!

Package From Japan (How did she know about my secret fetish?)

I just had to post these pictures of a package that was sent to me by fleegle from Japan for everyone else to enjoy. How did she know I have a fetish for bags of all kinds and for needlework stuff? Not to mention how much I love getting packages in the mail. I guess that qualifies as a fetish all on it's own. Packages in the mail so often are just utilitarian stuff I or my sister have purchased, yet I still feel like I'm getting a gift. So nice that this time the box actually is a gift! The cat bag and rabbit bag will be perfect for those silk roving's I have small amounts of and the fish coin-purse-fob is now attached to the inside of my purse with emergency money in it. The green/frog tin box is for pencils but I think I will put my stitch markers and cable needles in there. It's multi level and so has tons of uses. The shell/frog pin cushion will be great for my silk ribbon embroidery needles when I make small projects and I am saving the plastic "ring markers" for a special project. The frog bag now holds my tape measure collection and the little purse/tapestry needle hanging thing is on my office cork board along with the card. The little sample of yarn and the ring markers were sent to me earlier but I have not had a chance to swatch with it yet. I love everything! Thank You Susan!

Legends Of The Shetland Seas (center done, on to the border)

I've completed the center for the Legends Stole and I'm now going to set it aside for awhile while I try to finish the border for the Sampler Stole. I'm a third of the way done with the second border and I really want to get this thing done so I can start another lace project. So, hard as it is for me to do it, I will try to focus my attention to only three things. Sampler, Boundary Waters edging and WRS. Spun Stitches will just have to wait! I have also posted a shot an additional ball of yarn I bought when I went back to Lacis this last Saturday. It's a two ply cobweb and it would have been easier to knit with (no twisting back on itself) for the WRS but it's a bit heavier than my singles so no regrets. For those who might be interested, Lacis now has a lace knitting group that gets together the first Saturday of the month. They met for the first time this month and, predictably, I was late. I don't usually join actual groups because I have so very little free time and it's not fair to those in the group if you come late or don't show up so I won't try to join them though they all were very nice people who knit some amazing lace. If you are interested, go to the side bar of my blog and check out their forum. Still drooling over my new book and I pulled out my volumes of modern lace knitting and I'm waiting for an additional book from Schoolhouse Press to come. I bet you know which one but I'll post it when it gets here. Good Knitting!

Do You Want To Torture Yourself? (Knitted Lace Designs Of The "Modern" Mode Book 1 and Knitting Lace)

Years ago I bought a copy of "Knitting Lace" from Lacis in Berkeley which is in Japanese. It had pictures and great charts and I guess if I had really sat down I could have figured out and translated a "legend" so I could knit from those charts. I never did it but I loved the pretty book so much I kept it and just drooled from time to time. I have a few books on what is apparently referred to as "modern lace knitting" and have never knit from them. I like to keep reference books because there are times where everything comes together and I suddenly start to actually knit from them. That's what happened when I bought Sharon Millers "Heirloom Knitting" book. I had it for well over a year before the light bulb went "on". Well, now Lacis has published an additional book and they have translated the "legend" for the stitches. I could actually now knit these patterns if I'm crazy enough to want to do it. I have to say that these are very very tempting but I'd have to start small. I will look at them, drool more and try to finish things before I start more. I have three things that have potential to actually be done. the "Dragone" shawl must be next in line for my niece, I am waiting for my copy of Sharon Millers "Spring Shawl" to come in the mail but I won't start that until the Wedding Ring Shawl is done, so maybe a little something from one of these books? Hmmmm. I have to go knit now.