As promised, here are a few pictures of my shawl now that it's dry. It's the Estonian Jewel pattern by Beatrice Olsson and she is not kidding when she says you have to block it hard sideways so it will hang nicely when it's on. Most of the examples of this shawl are in solid colors on Ravelry but I think it looks pretty nice with the changes in color. Also I have spun one of my first "gradient" yarns as part of the Knit Girllls SAL I have spun one other gradient prior to this out of a bullseye Loop batt but I'm still knitting on that project. I will post a picture when I'm done with that one (it's not a lace project). This particular yarn is a 2 ply from roving purchased from Fiber Optics Yarns in the Rouge-Violet-Cerulean Gradient. As usual, I have no clue what I will do with this yarn. It's so very vivid that I'm not sure what would work the best.
That's it for now. I have a few other projects that have been just sitting there waiting to be finished. I always slow down in the Winter even though California weather is very mild compared to the rest of the states. Until later!
As usual I have been remiss in posting anything on the blog. Spending too much time on Ravelry but here are a few pictures of what I've been knitting/spinning.
At the top are Sabrina Mitts by Cecily Glowik MacDonald. The pattern is available at Ravelry and I used Quince &Co. in the "Tern" colorway for the purple mitts. The pattern asks you to use the lace pattern only on the arms but I extended it all the way up the backs of the hands. After all, that's the fun part for me. I liked it so well that I made two pairs so that each of my nieces could have a set. Then, when a co-worker suddenly moved back to the East Coast, I decided to make her a pair using my E-Lux 2012 Fiber Club selection from A Verb for Keeping Warm. It's a targhee/silk/merino blend in their "Floof" colorway. Really fun and very warm!
Since I prefer to make easy lace in the winter, I then stole some of my sisters handspun Verb BFL yarn in "Transnational Fury"colorway and knit "Sweet Dreams" By Boo Knits. I loved it and it only took a few days to knit even with adding the beads to it so I decided to knit a second one once again out of a Verb Yarn that I lost the belly band to. I know it had some Cashmere in it and it's a heavier yarn than I am used to using but it worked really well for this little shawl.
As for spinning, I have been watching a very nice video podcast called The Knit Girllls for awhile now and the owner of Fiber Optics has made a colorway using the hosts favorite colors calling it the "Rouge-Violet=Cerulean Gradient". I had never spun a Gradient before so I bought two braids and spun them up thin so I can make a 2 ply lace weight yarn. Of course, there is the question of what to do with it once I've plied it up but that is a problem for another day. Suffice it to say that it spun up nicely and is a 80/20 Merino/Silk .
Many times, I have spun some lace weight yarn and it just sits in the stash until I find something I want to knit that will work with it. That was the case with a ball of yarn I made out of a Tussah/Cashmere fiber from Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks in the colorway "Autumn". I finally choose "Estonian Jewel" by Beatrice Olsson using US 3 needles. Here are a few blocking shots and I will post pictures when it's dry. There are lots of projects that are on "hold" until I shake off the Winter lethargy but I hope to get back to them once the weather warms up.
That's it for now! I hope everyone had a Happy and Safe holiday season and I look forward to 2013 with much crafting glee!!!!
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