Sunday, November 28, 2010

Damson & Squirreling Away For The Future








Winter slow-down has overtaken me. I'm only knitting short projects that don't make you crazy, mixing cookie dough and planning for next years potential projects. See above a small shawl called "Damson" from the book "Whimsical Little Knits 2" by Ysolda Teague. The yarn is a 2 ply hand spun I made from one of my Verb Fiber Club selections in Targee in the "Sweet Tart" colorway. I would not usually think of knitting this type of shawlette except the hand spun yarn I produced had sections that I knew would end up being stripes once knit. This is an interesting way of using up a small amount of fiber and breaking up the stripes at the same time. The pin is a vintage "faux ivory" (some kind of plastic) carved rose which looks sweet with it. Of course, I'd never wear this thing but it is cute.

Below that is more fiber from A Verb For Keeping Warm for me to spin. The green skeins "Parrotlette" in merino/silk are actually more green, below that is another Fiber Club shipment with Yak, Silk, and Merino "The Best Bite", 3 skeins of Gaia laceweight and some Verb fiber in Orange that I can't remember the name of but just had to have. It's not like I'm going to run out of yarn of fiber in the near future but I just could not help myself! There is more but I will have to put that in another post.

Lastly here are two books. The new lace book by Margarete Stove "Wrapped In Lace", I bought for her amazing knowledge and techniques rather than the patterns. The patterns are nice but as I looked at them I kept thinking there were too many "blank" spaces that I would have to fill with lace motifs. For me, less is not more. Still, I'm never sorry to have one of her books in my knitting library because there is always something interesting in them that helps me down the line.

The second book is an aberration on my part. It's called, "Selbuvotter" . It's not lace and I'm not into mittens or gloves but this is a flat out wonderful book that I had to have. Every once in awhile I have to have something but I don't know why. It may take weeks, months or even years before the reason reveals itself but it always does. So I will drool over this book and some day something may "click" and I will have a new obsession .

I will try to post again before the end of the year if I finish my current lace project.Until then I hope everyone is healthy, happy and with those they love this Holiday season :-)

14 comments:

fleegle said...

Damson is lovely--I am sure you can find someone who would wear such a beautiful and graceful thing!

And, of course, your yarns and fibers make me drrol. I refuse to click on those links, however! Enough fiber for a while, believe it or not!

Katie K said...

That Gaia really is gorgeous. I can't wait to see what you do with it.

Kathleen Dames said...

Selbuvotter is such a lovely book. And your Damson is very sweet - it's nice to see it in light shades, since the original is "moody".

Anonymous said...

I had to have Selbuvoter too. Not that I have ever been interested in mittens. As you say, someday, something might just click.

GinkgoKnits said...

Your Damson looks like a fancy dessert. Beautiful if simple -- suffering from sheer exhaustion has been the only thing to force me to let less sometimes be more.

I'm so sad that I haven't made it over to the new AVFKW store. Having a spate of illness begin the day of grand opening prevented me from getting there before the holiday craziness started. I can't wait to see what you do with your fiber!

Carol said...

Damson is gorgeous. I may need to try this...

Teri said...

I ordered the pattern for the Damson from Ravelry. Made one from a lovely silk blend and I wear it a lot. It makes a nice scarf or just enough to keep the shoulders warm.

Lacefreak said...

Dear fleegle,

Sorry I didn't answer any of the comments left in November but I was sick over the holidays and then have been doing nothing but work and "duty knitting" ie knitting a stole for someone who will retire.

Damson was very sweet and is staying at the Verb store for now. Not everyone wants to knit a Niebling so this gives people something they might really consider knitting LOL!

Lacefreak said...

Dear Katie K,

The Gaia is sitting in the stash pile with all the other "candidates" hoping to be picked for a project, I think it's very pretty too so maybe another Tia Samuri pattern :-)

Lacefreak said...

Dear Kathleen,

I'm glad you like how Damson came out. I also like it in a lighter color and it looks cute with the stripes. The mitten book is beautiful. Too bad I don't do mittens. Perhaps I would just make fingerless gloves with those patterns?

Lacefreak said...

Dear pencraftco,

I also hope for that "click" in the future. It's what happened when I finally "got" lace and that has been a great adventure :-)

Lacefreak said...

Dear GinkoKnits,

So sorry you had the "crud" as we call it here. It's been going around and everyone I work with has gotten it. It lasts "forevery" and then you feel weak and not yourself for weeks after. I hope you are feeling much better by now. Thanks for your kind words about Damson. Once I get done with my left-over projects I have a few really nifty Nieblings I want to knit :-)

Lacefreak said...

Dear Carol,

It's a very simple and short knit. As long as you follow the instructions and don't try to over think the process, it will be cute as can be.

Lacefreak said...

Dear Teri,

It's nice to hear that you wear yours all the time. I'm sure it's beautiful. Perhaps one of my nieces would like the one I made. Maybe when the eldest is back from college this Summer....