Thursday, May 31, 2007

Sampler Stole and Spinning Lace Weight (Who says they aren't cardiovascular exercise?)













I have decided that, as long as the spinning is to produce lace weight yarn, I am allowed to show it in this blog. See one bobbin that contains 4 ounces of Merino from Lisa Souza. I'm now spinning 4 ounces in the same colorway "Petroglyph" but in BFL and the color is different in this fiber. The BFL is not as soft, but very sturdy. Once I fill another bobbin, I will ply the two into a sample. If I hate it, I will order more merino. If you check out Opals blog you can look at her very pretty and very nicely spun lace weight yarn. I really enjoy knitting with yarn I spun. I can be reasonably sure that I won't see the exact same shawl on anyone else and the lace makes great gifts for family and friends.
I have finished the 7 pattern repeats for the center of the Sampler Shawl (7 repeats & rows 1-12 of a 46 row chart). I'm now working on an end border. It's 162 rows for one end and then I get to go back and do it again for the opposite side. The yarn is pretty if you like variegated yarn. If you hate that kind of yarn, then you will bemoan the color shifting. I think this particular ball of yarn is pretty but I don't take great pictures so the colors are actually a little darker in real-life than what you are seeing. The green ball of yarn that you see was sent to me by Lynn Lam of Yarn Place because I'm making the Sampler Stole for her shop. I thought this was very nice of her since I was not expecting it. I'm happy to make the stole for them since they have stocked so much yarn that I can actually use in one place :-) I just hope I do a good job on it so I won't be embarrassed to see it up in the shop! This yarn is apparently very much like "Lacy Lamb" (I don't have any Lacy Lamb in my stash) for those who are familiar with that yarn. I'm looking at the Victorian Lace book to see if there is something in there that would suite this yarn. Pretty color! Still working on Boundary Waters Shawl but won't post it until I'm done with the border and can start the edging. Good Evening All.

12 comments:

fleegle said...

My mouth actually started to water when I saw that shawl. The color is scrumtious! The knitting is exquisite! Waaah. I want to be home making stuff like that! Which colorway is it? I need some :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link to Yarn Place! Hmm, putting this on the must visit list! I admire your projects - just gorgeous, gorgeous work! And thanks for the chuckle - love the name of your sidebar for your projects :) Terry

missalicefaye said...

Lovely as always.... :) I just bought a bit of Lacy Lamb--it was so pretty that I left it on my desk at work for a few days for a bit of cubicle-brightening. :)

Laritza said...

Lovely handspun and shawl.

Colette said...

Hi Jane,

Your stole looks beautiful. The colour shifts don't seem to detract from the lace at all. I'll have to add this yarn to my wish list. Believe it or not, I've started working on version of this stole but mine will be a shawl. I saw your's and knew I had to make it also.

Opal said...

Gorgeous spinning. Now that's what I aspire to and thanks for the shout out!

The Sampler Stole is exquisite. It's really droolworthy and I can't say enough about it!

Lacefreak said...

Dear fleegle,

I feel your pain! I am knitting with "Graceful" from Yarn Place. The color is "Summer" FO3623. What do they call it when they ply two different colors? That's what they did to this yarn and then they also made it varigated so sections of color emerge while you knit. Just be careful of getting a colorway that shifts into too conrasting a color. I have NOT been sucessful in knitting lace with yarn that does that so far. Maybe if the lace pattern was very geometric the more radical changes in color would not detract so much. Count-down to care package. I think it will help:-)

Lacefreak said...

Dear Terry,

If you get to Yarn Place it is a small shop in a strip-mall. Not elegant but I think they have wonderful yarns and the women are very nice. Besides. At Stitches West it was pretty clear that people into kick-ass-lace were buying quite a lot of yarn. Myself included. If you are down in that direction, I've heard that the Lace Museum down there is really very nice. I haven't gone yet but one of these days....As for the Lace Congaline of Death, I'm glad you like the sentiment. I have to say that the Sampler Stole was not on the list but should have been. It is actually fun to knit!

Lacefreak said...

Dear missalicefaye,

I have to admit that I did not put away that pretty green ball of yarn either. I had it out so I could look at it while I paged through books looking for something that would only take 825 yards. Let me just say that there is not a heck of a lot out there that uses so little that I had considered, but I think I found a candidate. I will swatch and let everyone know what it is. With so little yardage, It has just got to be a quick little knit, right? Yeah, right. Always good to hear from you! I love your knitting, always have. Looking at everyones beautiful lace really does brighten my days!

Lacefreak said...

Dear knitsanity,

It actually is much prettier than I thought it would be so I think making a shawl rather than a stole is a really great idea. I look forward to see what you do to it and what you use! It's actually pretty fun to knit so I hope you enjoy it!

Lacefreak said...

Dear Opal,

I think your spinning is already there! It looks great to me and will knit into a beautiful shawl! The Sampler Stole is working out pretty well. I'm just trying to avoid any big errors. Hanging up in a knitting store with a big old mistake? Now that's what I call lace knitting hell! Good to hear from you. Say "Hi" to the cats for me:-)

Lacefreak said...

Dear Laritza,

Thank you! I'm having fun with this one because it's a smaller project. Something that will not require thousands of stitches.