Frühling (AKA Spring) Dry at last!

 Just a few pictures of Fruhling now that it's dry. I'm knitting on 3 smaller Nieblings now. One older one that never got finished and two more recent. I hope they go faster so you will get to see them sooner.  I have a Shetland Lace stole I was working on but I think that the yarn I spun is not really that spectacular. I may have to start all over again on that one, sigh!  Until later!

Frühling. This took for freaking ever to finish!

I have not really had time to post anything for quite some time. The only thing I've been knitting on is this project which I am very happy to say is now done.

Herbert Nieblings Frühling. 60 inches in diameter using US 0000 needles for the very center leaves and US 000 needles for the rest. I used naturally dyed silk thread from “ A Verb For Keeping Warm” in the Tidepools colorway. This was a custom order done as a favor for me because I wanted to do a larger project but needed something fairly thin to work with. There are a few errors but nothing major.  

I tried to get this sucker done in time for Stitches West 2012 but it was taking over an hour to go around the work for one row and I just ran out of time.  Though I love how it came out, I just want to knit smaller projects for awhile before I tackle anything this large again.  Of course, I have a stash of really nice threads to pick from and a pile of patterns to choose from so you just never know :-) Until next time.....  

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 :-)

Kirschbluten Dry (Isn't It Romantic)

A few pictures of Kirchbluten now that it's dry. The pictures still don't show the true nature of this green silk yarn. Think dappled sunlight as filtered through the leaves of a tree falling onto a green silk shawl. That is much more what it really looks like. It drapes very nicely and, as expected, is "more than circular". I am waiting for a replacement camera since I have to hit my current camera to make the screen come on. Not a good sign. Maybe the new camera will take better color pictures.

In the "Stash Enhancement" area, I recently went to a Hand Weavers Convention. Aside from fiber (which I will show you in a later post), I also got a few interesting and lovely things.

Below the shawl you see two skeins of a cotton thread. They were tossed into a little basket with other things but I still saw them like someone had lit them up with a beacon. One touch and I had to have them. In fact, "Thread Greed" gripped my soul and I could hear a little voice inside my head saying "Please Sir. Can I have some more?" Just call me Oliver Twist. Lucky for me the vendor had more back at home. I bought all she had in white.

The skeined thread is Filato Di Cantu #30. The thread is Egyptian cotton and is quite literally Heaven to knit with.I think it was mostly used in other types of lace making but I'm here to say it is perfection for lace knitting. I believe it used to be distributed by Coats but Asha at "Dyeing ART" (AKA Pastiche Inc.) picked these up in Italy from a place that was going out of business. Below the skeins are spools of Filato Di Cantuo in # 40 which I am hoarding.

I will only "Knit The Hits" so to speak, with these threads. What does that mean you ask? Herbert Niebling patterns or patterns from the Lacy Knitters Guild would make the cut for the Hit Parade in this case. Anything less would be a waste of this superb product. Besides, once it's gone, it's really all gone for me. It's not easy to come by.

Lastly, I picked up some tiny little shuttles and quills with a tiny little beater. What will I do with them? I have no clue but I had to have them. Below them is a Lucite handled slay hook for my Rigid Heddle loom that my sister bought me which has a nicely made hook. I hope it will make setting up my loom a little easier.

That's it for now! Hope you all are having a great weekend.

Mughetti Dry (Yeah, I forgot to post this one)

I just realized that I never did post any pictures of this shawl dry. I got back-logged with work and and forgot so here it is. Mughetti remained flat after it was blocked and did not snap back as I had feared. It has a fuzziness to it that you wouldn't expect to have with this fiber. Not the softest shawl in the world since it's in Wensleydale but still very interesting to knit with.

Kirschblüten (AKA "Cherry Blossom" ) Blocking

I know it's been awhile but work and life have been way too busy. Short post this time but I promise to do better next time.

This is the circular version of Kirschbluten that you can find in the White Ichida book. I used US 3 needles, 100% silk from "A Verb For Keeping Warm" in the "Shimmering" yarn, colorway Chartreuse's Sister. It is actually a lovely green color but I can't get my camera to register the real color. Though pretty, it may end up being a "more than circular" shawl since there are so many repeats of the border flowers that it may end up "ruffling rather than staying flat. I will post when dry. I have some other things I picked up recently that I will post next time but my camera is acting out and I may need to retire it and go get something else. Least you think I will never again knit on smaller needles, my next project is on US 00 needles and I am once again knitting on Goldregen (I will finish that one yet!) on US 000 so it will be a break from all the small shawls I've been knitting :-)

Copritavolo Blocking (God I Love Silk)

Ever since I first got my hands on a skein of "Shimmering" in 100% Tussah Silk from A Verb For Keeping Warm, I have been crazy with the need to knit with it. My first project, Hannelore turned out so well that I had to knit another project as soon as I could. On US 3 needles this yarn works really well for those "smaller" Niebling patterns. You end up with a nice little shawl that takes no time at all to knit and the color and drape are just fantastic. Don't get me wrong, I have plans for my smaller gage yarns but those projects are a lot bigger and will take months to knit. This yarn is great for a "quick hit" of lace knitting.

Copritavolo, knit with US 3 needles, 100% Tussah Silk "Shimmering" from A Verb For Keeping Warm in the "Tidepools" colorway. This shawl is about 53 inches across and I ran out of yarn just after finishing row 140. I had to use a different yarn to cast-off (Shimmering in Chocolate Covered Cherries in regular silk). The pattern had a few weird errors in it but it still turned out nicely :-)