Swatching for the "Princess Shawl" (What do you mean I don't have enough yardage?)

The Princess Shawl pattern is being mailed to me and so I am trying to anticipate what I might use to knit this shawl. I went to the Heirloom Knitting Site to check out yarn recommendations and yardage only to end up a little confused. The yardages and needle sizes are all over the map. Now I'm trying to use my stash for this and it matters to me that I don't run out of yarn for this shawl because some of the yarn is no longer available. If I run out of one of those, I'm up the creek so to speak. Hence my trepidation.

Above I have a few swatches from my stash. In the top picture on the left hand side you have Lacis Tussah Silk 60/2 knit on US 000 (cone holds 5,600 yards). Pleasant to knit, a little "sticky" rather than slick, nice drape. Goes over the joins of my Addi Turbo needles very nicely and it's strong. If I ran out, it is still available. Downside, not very soft :-( My sister liked this one the best. On the right I have ColourMart 50/50 Cashmere/Silk from ColourMart 3/84 NM 4,600 yards on this cone. It feels amazing, knits nicely, has a lovely halo and also goes over the joins without any problem. Downside. If I run out of yarn, there is no more in this color to be had :-( Both these yarns are reasonable in cost.

Next picture. All these were also knit on US 000 needles. On the left I have swatched Habu orgazine degummed silk which is indigo dyed (NS-18J, 21d/102 colour # 5) Strong, lovely to look at, great body not at all limp, blocked and stayed blocked, soft, shimmery, and not nearly enough of it for Princess Shawl. I'd have to buy about 3 thousand more yards if I want to do the Princess in this. Downside. drop a stitch and it wants to run away :-( On the right side you have ColourMart 65/35 cashmere/silk 2/60 NM and 5,000 yards on the cone.Pretty nice to knit though it wants to split a little, pretty colors, blocked OK. Downside. If I run out there is no more to be had. It's also kind of light in weight and sort of wants to stick to me with all that hair. :-( Maybe it would drape better if it was a large piece of knitting but all in all I'd rather knit with the ColourMart 3/84 instead for this project.

Last picture. I just put a swatch of Colourmart smooth silk. It's the one on the site from a french mill with 4 plies. It's too big and the wrong color for this project. It's out of the running but I put it next to the 2/60 cashmere/silk for you to see how much bigger it is from the others. That would look nice for something that requires sections of solid knitting to flesh out a motif, like a Niebling.

As for yardage estimates they vary with needles, what you select to knit with and are confusing to me to figure out if would have enough if I knit from the stash.

Original was knit with DMC Crochet Cotton # 70 on 2.25/UK13/US 0 or US 1. It says they used 13/20gm balls at 330m/20gm ball (4,290 meters or 4,692 yds). Based on this, you would think I'd need less yardage on smaller needles so I could use stuff from the stash. However, other estimates vary from 5,150 meters using Shetland Supreme 1 ply on 1.5mm/UK16/US 000 or US 0000. Using Gossamer Merino they suggest 4,800 meters on 2.00 or 2.25mm needles and for the Cashmere Silk (70/30) using 1.50mm needles you are supposed to get 5,800 meters of yarn.

So ultimately I'm still undecided but it's fun to swatch. If you want to see more swatches you could go over to fleegle and see what she's tried out :-) She gives lots of information and you really get to see that not all gossamer yarns are equal once they are knit up, in spite of their similar weights! By next post I hope to have done one end of the Legends of the Shetland Seas Shawl and have started the other end. It goes without saying that I am trying to avoid the edging for the Sampler Stole but I promise I will eventually finish it. For those wondering about the Peacock Shawl it's slated for de-construction this weekend. Why you ask? Because I cast-on something else this year if I get rid of it, that's why! Hmmmm. I wonder what that project might be? Good evening and good knitting!

Lacis (AKA Lace Mecca)

I know, I know. I said I was going to try to knit from my stash. I really had decided not to buy more yarn. I have started to actually list all my lace weight yarn and it's a daunting amount. But I have been going to Lacis in Berkeley for years and years. Sometimes for tatting supplies, sometimes for knitting supplies, sometimes for Silk Ribbon Embroidery or Beaded Purse supplies. You name it, they usually have it. I went only to order a book, a very very nice lace knitting book that is in Japanese but has a legend in English for the chart symbols. It will be coming in next week and they will mail it to me. While there, I couldn't help but notice that the shop is now stocking more lace weight yarns and I found a lace book I don't already have and some quite lovely variegated lace weight wool yarn that I am not familiar with. It's called "Harmony" from a manufacturer named Jojoland (880 yds/50g ball) and according to the label is made in China.I know I'm weak but as vices go this one is pretty harmless:-) I bought enough for a shawl and will put it with all the other yarn while I try to finish something. The book is one with knitted lace doilies in it and I think some of the patterns can be adjusted to make shawls rather than doilies. I've started the opposite border for the Shetland Sampler Stole and will post pictures once I have something more to look at. I am also posting a picture of the "Legends" shawl so you can see the color shift in the work. If you look at my ball of yarn, you will see that I have replaced the toilet paper core with an empty pill bottle which works very well so far. I also wanted to put in a good word for a product my sister bought recently. I'd read about it in other blogs but never considered getting any. It's called "Highlighter Tape" and my sister bought it at "Knit Foundry". You can see it on one of the charts I've enlarged and I really like it because you can see to the row below the one you are working on if you are wondering if there was an error in the previous row. Many times an error such as a missed yarn over, can just be corrected by picking up a strand from the row below. It beats the heck out of peeling a post-it note up to look underneath! Short post tonight. Tomorrow is July 4th and I will be off to see my brother Herman and his family. Happy 4th!

Gotta Send a Care Package (fleegle in Japan)

Fleegle is in Japan at the moment and is swatching for the Princess Shawl from Sharon Miller's Heirloom Lace site. We are among the many on the waiting list for that pattern which is supposed to come out as a re-issue in Nov. 2007. I check in on her blog a lot and she was really wanting to swatch in some yarns that she does not have with her in Japan at the moment. I will be sending a small care package with some samples of yarn for her to swatch with (gotta go back to Yarn Place, not exactly torture if you know what I mean). In the mean time, here are some of those yarns that I swatched. I steamed-blocked, not washed so the ones from ColourMartUK still have the "manufacturing oil" on them and are not as fluffy as they will be in the end.

At the top you have the gratuitous shot of a dime for scale and strands of the different yarns. Then you have the "Group Photo" of all the swatches I made tonight after reading fleegles post. Then I have pairs of swatches which I will now give information on. All the samples except for the very small swatch at the end were knit on US 0 needles. The smallest was knit on 1.5 mm.The nice green swatch is A ColourMartUK yarn 50/50 cashmere silk, 3/84 NM . The Lavender is "Heaven" from Yarn Place, 45/55 Tencel and Merino Wool (120 grams or 4.2 Oz equals 3,100 yards). The Burgundy swatch is another ColourMartUK yarn 65/35 Cashmere Silk at 2/60 NM, The Pale blue/green is also ColourMartUK and is 100% Cashmere 2/32 NM and I confess, it feels sinfully soft even before washing out the oil, but I don't know if it will do for the Princess Shawl as it is more substantial than other samples I have on this page.

The last two samples look "white" but are really ecru. The top, and larger sample is 65/35 SWT wool and Silk (50g/1,300 yds) and I "think" I got that at Skaska Designs when I went to Stitches West 2007. The smallest sample is silk yarn I also bought at Skaska Designs (100 gms/6040 yds 120/2)

Now for the knitting.

Casting On- Much suckage to cast on with all but the pale green/blue 100% Cashmere. That first row is a doozy but I hope Princess does not need a lot of that. The worst was, of course, the silk

Casting off- Worst one was the 100% Silk. So tiny, so slippery, so annoying. All the others were OK.

Shine- Almost all the color yarns have nice shine except for the 100% Cashmere in green/blue but that yarn has it's own virtues to make up for the lack of shine.

Of the ecru yarns the silk really has shine, the SWT/Silk, not so much

Softness- the SWT/Silk is "OK" but not a treat to hold. The Cashmere is drool worthy for softness, the other ColourMartUK yarns also fairly nice and soft. The silk is "crispy" rather than soft with that characteristic kind of "sticky" feel or "drag" to the yarn. The Tencel/Merino is almost a little "slick" but very pleasant.

Definition- Good stitch definition on all but the 100% Cashmere. Crisp, it is not.

Splitting- I only had problems with the 100% pale green/blue Cashmere splitting a little.

Though I will have to decide what to use for my own Princess Shawl, I already know I have to make it in White. WRS is for Jessica, the Princess is for Shelby. Sisters. So, both in White. Less chance of "unrest" if you catch my drift. Check out fleegle's blog to see what she has already swatched in Japan.

Enjoy guys! I got to go finish my book!

Not bad for a Mill End (Cashmere/Silk from ColourMart)

Not bad. Not bad at all. See above the Cashmere/Silk I purchased from ColourMart on E-Bay. (see sidebar for link). If you go to the site and click the Cashmere/Silk, you will see that there are still 4 colors left (White sold out). There is about 5,000 yards of yarn on each cone and it's very reasonable considering the cost at other retail shops for something comparable. This was knit on US 1 needles then washed/blocked. It holds it's shape well and once the "oil" was washed off, it still had a shine with a nice "halo" of cashmere. You can look above and compare it to the previous swatches of Cordonet crochet cotton, Shetland Cobweb and Silk I knit before and see that it's soft like the Shetland Cobweb but , in natural light, still has the sheen of the silk without that "crispy" quality that I was not fond of in the 100% silk. What did I wash it in you ask. You already know. I used shampoo because it's what I had around. This is not expensive stuff but I promise to use something better to wash it with if I knit a shawl with it.

I finished a baby sweater. Still have to sew buttons onto it before I can post it to "Janes Reality". Why even tell you I finished this since it's not lace? Because, I promised not to start another lace shawl until I finished something. Well, I finished something! Actually, I have to finish a shawl before I can start another shawl, but it makes for less clutter to have completed something. I've got this thing where I am loath to finish a project. I get real close then sometimes I stop knitting. If anyone else has this problem let me know. What do you do to give yourself incentive? Now that the baby sweater is done, I just have to finish the Mountain Pines shawl (it's the closest to being finished of the shawls.) My reward for finishing that shawl and this baby sweater is that I get to make "The Spider Queen" shawl! I must ask missalicefay what type of yarn she used on her's. It asks for US 3 needles. I tried swatching a gossamer yarn with the US 3 and it did not look good to me. It looked too spindly. I have some 2 ply cashmere, I have some cream colored Zepher. Heck, if it comes to that I have stuff from all over I could be using.(see past post for examples of "stash" of laceweight I have stock piled) Anyone have any suggestions? My own hand-spun yarn is not ready yet. I have a heck of a lot of spinning to do before I can use that for anything.

Now, my birthday is in the fall and my sister is willing to buy me whatever I might like to have in the way of knitting/spinning stuff. I will not have her buy me yarn or fiber because I have tons of that already so I'm looking at patterns, knitting software and knitting books. Now this is not to say that I don't have a lot of patterns and books. I do, but since I have so much darned yarn it is not unreasonable to want a few more patterns. I'm eyeing that "Victorian Lace" book but I really need to see it first to see if it is worth the money. There are two very nice patterns at Sharon Millers Heirloom Knitting site (see side bar) # 1 the "Unst Bridal Shawl" and #12 the "Spring Shawl" that I will ask for. I'd love to make them and since the "Princess Shawl" pattern will not be re-issued until possibly next year, these would be nice to do in the mean time. So many patterns, so little time! I just picked up "Legends of the Shetland Seas" from Blackberry Ridge by Hazel Carter ,as well as "Shetland Garden Faroese Shawl" by Sivia Harding Knit Design and the 'Shetland Lace Patterned Faroses Shawl" from Heartstrings (see sidebar for link). These are not as massive as the "Wedding Ring Shawl" and will be nice to knit as relief. If anyone has any patterns to suggest (I may be buying "Violets by the Sea" as well), let me know.

Hello I must be Going!

Catch-Up (knitting lull)

When I was on vacation I did not knit. That is not to say I did not buy yarn however. Before I left for the lovely city of Seattle, I went on line and purchased at obscenely low prices, two cones of lace weight yarn. The Pink is a 2 ply Cashmere and the White is a 60/40 blend of Cashmere and Silk. You can see scale on the dimes (left pink/right white). They are quite nice though you can't really see the character of the yarn until you wash off the "oil" they use on it to make it easier for their Mill's to handle. These again are "Mill Ends" and I think they are not a bad alternative to more expensive lace weight yarns . Most especially for a lace knitting freak like me! They also sell other weights of yarn for knitting or for weaving. ( http://stores.ebay.com/ColourMartUK) . I will put this link in my side-bar because I really like it for bargain yarn. They are very nice, deliver in a timely fashion and the goods are as advertised. Be aware however, you must really study the information that describes the yarns so you have a good idea as to how fine the yarn is, how many plys if any, and if it is for knitting or was originally manufactured for weaving. The yarns for weaving are more tightly spun so will twist more. This may not be a big issue for those who are making shawls using the tightly spun cobweb weight yarns and are accustomed to the over-twist issue. The merino yarn I purchased while visiting my friend, Jerry on Bainbridge Island. I got this instead of the "Kid Silk Haze" that was beside it because I liked the color. And also, see a shot of the wheels my sister and I have at home. I'm posting these because poor Jason had to search my other site to see them. As often happens, knitters become spinners and visa versa. Jason has it bad for spinning right now. He will soon learn, as have all of us, that it only feeds the knitting addiction :)

Now I must be knitting!

Best laid plans... (when you choose the wrong materials)

Ok. So I picked the wrong yarn for the project and it's way too small. Peacock Shawl on US #1 needles is not worth the work to finish it. Not only is it too small, it is not as pretty as I wanted it to be. Not enough color. It is now trash. That's right, trash. Why you ask? Because I'm over 50 years old. I don't have the time to keep knitting a mistake. The WRS on the other hand is up to row 20 and looks good! Not enough to post but when I get one full repeat I will post. Of course, the yarn snapped so I have to hide a knot later or else fix it some other way, but still, looks good if very slow. My next attempt at the Peacock Shawl will be on US 3 and the yarn...well lets just say there is a lot more color going on. I have to admit it. I'm a loud person when it comes to color and after all it's a Peacock shawl. It's supposed to have alot of color. I am now knitting it in a Schaefer Yarn. It's the "Andrea" line which is 100% cultivated silk (wt:3.5 oz/1093 yds. Gage: 8 st/in). The colorway is Indira Gandhi and I have two skeins of it as one is not sufficient to do the shawl. I am at row 61 and will show it once I have a little more. Sigh. I will be using "Graceful" on something else I'm sure. I've been taking breaks and working on the Mountain Pines Shawl as well.

Have a Good Evening!

Cashmere is here! (And why I will be using the Shetland)

I received some very nice cones of Cashmere singles in the mail today from ColorMartUK in the United Kingdom. Four cones of what they label as their "cobweb weight" and one of the purple that is laceweight as well as a complimentary cone of pale blue, also laceweight, which they gave me for accepting the white even though it was not all on one cone. Above, you can see on the dime, two strands of yarn. The top is the Cashmere, the bottom is the Shetland. The Cashmere is larger, coarser and not as tightly spun as the Shetland. So, while Cashmere is nice, it will not go into the WRS (ie Wedding Ring Shawl). So tonight, the adventure begins! It won't be exciting. The center starts with six rows of garter stitch which will help ease me into the work at hand. I also got my additional needles in the mail (Inox US 0 24 inch cable and Susan Bates 14 inch straights in metal) so I'm all set!

I will report back when I have something to show! May be a little while though!

Later!

Heck of an old Yarn Stash (Can you carbon date your yarn like me?)

I went to Lacis today to pick up additional Shetland Cobweb weight yarn. This is not to say that I have made a choice as to what yarn I will use for the shawl, but it's a safe bet I will eventually use it. When I made my swatch, it was actually quite pleasant to knit with. I couldn't find it initially as I was looking for pre-wound balls. The sales clerk looked at me oddly and produced skeins. "Oh!" I said stupidly. "You used to sell them pre-wound." She demurred, "Not that I recall." As you can see from previous pictures, they did, but it was so darned long ago when I squirreled these balls away, that no one can remember ever carrying them in this form. I think I obtained these in the 1980's because that's when I picked up a copy of, "The Art of Shetland Lace" by Sarah Don. I had saved that wool because it was rather difficult to come by in those days and even though I was not ready to knit that small yet, I knew I'd kick myself if I didn't get them. It's still not easy to obtain but I need not have worried. It's still the same beautiful product, but now I have to wind it myself! Talk about an "Old" stash. While I was there, I picked up Inox circular needles in 2mm and 1.5 mm. The points are nice and thin and the grey coated metal gives some drag to the yarn. I don't know yet if it will be "too much" drag once there are hundreds of stitches on the needles but at least I have an additional option. I also picked up a pair of rosewood straight needles "14" in US 0 (still not a "true" US 0 but maybe that's just not possible). I will also give these a try for the center of the shawl.When I first learned to knit, I did it exclusively on straight needles. It's only later in life that I went to circulars to spare the weight of work in my hands. However, there is little to speak of in terms of weight in this shawl so maybe it would be a nice change of pace.

I knit up a sample of the Silk. Let's just say it was not a pleasure. See all three samples above. My skin is somewhat dry. I don't take the best care of it. It gets even drier when I'm spinning as I spin prepared fibers rather than "in the grease". Dry skin is a distinct hazard with the silk as it caught on my hands incessantly. It was quite maddening! That aspect was worse than the fact that it was also difficult to see it on the needles. Maybe someday I will work my way down to it, or I may even spin a single to ply with it to make a nice laceweight for a different project. It will not, however, be considered for the Wedding Ring shawl. I will now be starting a larger test swatch to learn the center panel pattern on. Unlike Marilyn at "The Wedding Ring Chronicles", I have chosen the original center rather than the "alternate". Since it's only a swatch, I will use the Susan Bates Aluminum in Aqua, US 0. I have made copies of the pattern so I will not "ruin" my original. My vision is crap, so I will also be making an effort to enlarge the patterns so I can read them better.

Good Knitting!

Tennis Elbow (what you get from winding over 6 thousand yards of silk yarn)

Well. I finally got the Silk wound off. Whew! As I thought, not all in one ball. It kept getting snagged or snapped. This made it very slow going but it was worth it. Now I can swatch it to join the other samples. See above my Crystal Palace Bamboo US 0 needles. I have used these on "Graceful" for the Peacock Shawl in US 1 and they were fine, however they don't work for the cobweb weight yarn from Lacis and the Silk is at least that fine so I doubt it would work for that either. When I wound the Silk, I fit a cardboard center from an empty the toilet paper roll on the ball winder. This was just to give the ball some shape after I remove it since I plan to work from the outside in rather than attempt a center pull with such fine yarn. They are now each wrapped in Saran and placed in clear plastic containers to protect them from getting tangled up. I wonder if anyone else takes special precautions, or is it just because I'm being a control freak? Of course, it could just be my unnatural pre-occupation with yarn bondage. Oh well... If you go to "The Wedding Ring Chronicles http://weddingringchronicles.blogspot.com/ you can watch as Marilyn does an uber swatch of the central panel variation she is considering for her version of the shawl. That's right children, Sharon Miller has given us two different center panel patterns to choose from. Smart cookie that she is, Marilyn is making this as a practice swatch so she can learn the ins and outs of the pattern before plunging head-first off the precipice that is this shawl.

I knocked off a couple of rows on Mountain Pines and the Peacock Shawl. I'm limiting myself to a few rows because I'm tired enough to mess-up. Must do my homework and read the Wedding Ring Shawl pattern before I go to sleep.

Nite Nite All!

Laceweight Cashmere (Do I really have to send away to England for every darned thing?)

If you Google Cashmere laceweight yarn do you know what you get? You get the American sites you already know of, hoping you will see a yarn you don't already know about that will be thinner than what you already have on hand for Cashmere. When you don't see anything new, anything you can really get excited about, you look, even though you might resist, off the continent entirely. What the heck. I already ordered the pattern from England, I might as well make a leap of faith and get some yarn too. I went to the E-Bay site and purchased yarn from ColorMartUK. I'd have used Pay-Pal but for some reason, it would not recognize my mothers maiden name after I forgot my password. It's been a long time since I've purchased a darned thing using PayPal so that's that. I was afraid I would not be able to make the purchase as a result, but, miracle of miracle's, this buyer accepts a personal check. I will mail it tomorrow, just before the 4th of July hits and hope that it all goes well! I actually bought two yarns, one which is labeled "cobweb weight" which is white, the other is more like the gage I have only it's a lovely shade of mauve. At least that's what it looks like on screen. Now God knows I don't really need more yarn. After all, you've seen a part of my stash (and I do mean only part of my stash) so you know I don't really need more. But I don't drink or do drugs. I take the fifth on the swearing part. I can buy a little yarn if it makes me happy. And, Oh Boy! does it ever make me happy! I will trot off to the post office and stand in line to mail this as fast as it can get there! See above some close-ups with dimes with some of the yarns I posted on my previous blog. I could not get the site to take more pictures on that one so here they are now. You can see, while nice, they are not as thin as the Shetland yarn or the Silk from the previous post. Maybe I will also do a comparison swatch test with some of the yarns. Just for laughs. After all. it's not always about getting an entire shawl through a wedding ring, as impressive as it sounds.

I just want to say something about the Brave New World of computers and the Intenet. I'm old enough to remember when pantyhose did not exist, when the first TV's came out and were black and white and when transistors were the new and in thing. I'm not all that old, but I'm on that tipping point where it was up for grabs if I would adjust to all the new things I need to know or if I was going to get left behind in the dust. So when you observe any technological inadequacy on my part, or a bit of "old fashioned" reluctance to throw caution to the wind and buy something via internet abroad, be kind and remember, someday this may be you too! Heck, I'm impressed that I can even get one of these blogs out with pictures, never mind anything else!

To all you lovely people who may be reading and lurking, Good day!

Miss Runner-ups (Or the yarn's that would be lace!)

That's right. "Wedding Ring" shawl "wanna-be's! They never made the cut because they are too bulky for that type of a shawl. I keep a lot of my yarn in clear plastic containers so I can see them. Between my yarn and that of my sister, we look like we are going to set up shop as a knitting store. I keep the finer gage lace yarn in a separate bin so when I opened it up to look at potential candidates for the shetland lace, I was assailed by small strident yarn-voices screaming "Pick Me! Pick Me!". Pathetic really, as only the most anorexic would even qualify to be considered. But there you are. Just as in the fashion industry, you cannot be too thin for this project. Still, they are lovely as you can see above, and will end up as something else. Most likely the "something else" will be a shawl that won't be as difficult and can be something I knit "in between" doing a row of the really difficult work. I say "row" because I have the bad feeling that a row is about all I can do at one sitting and not screw it up. We shall see. I have a few other patterns I can try to work my way up to my big project. Once again, if none of the yarns will work out, I can still find something else to use. I will check other blogs for what people have used with success. Thank's to Knitterguy, I linked to a site that has a comparison of yarns which could be considered for my shawl. There are knitted examples to see of each yarn. It was great of her to go to the trouble to knit swatches for us! (http://knittingbeyondthehebrides.org/lace/laceyarns.html)
I am still knitting away on the baby sweater as this is an obligation I should get done before I continue on my less pressing works. As an Auntie, it is my sworn duty to make at least one knitted garment for each child in the family now that I know how to knit. I need to make sure that it is also something that will not make the recipient parents cringe when they have to put it on the baby and take the obligatory picture to post on a web-site. It must also not be a garment so hideous that the child, when it matures, is tempted to place an aging Auntie in a nursing home in retribution! Something for you all to consider when knitting for wee-ones!

Till next we meet!

Laceweight Yarn Stash (Can you really have too much to choose from?)

Since I have ordered a copy of the "Wedding Ring Shawl" from Heirloom Knitting, I have been looking at my "stash" of laceweight yarns for something I might use. Of course, those of you who are making knitted lace already know there are degrees of madness when it comes to knitting this type of a shawl. It ranges the spectrum from merely disturbed, to truly deranged. It may even be that I have nothing sufficiently grand for this shawl and will have to purchase yet more yarn to make the project. Still, see above part of my stash. At the top is a 55% silk/45% camel yarn (95 grams, 1,600 yards) from Skaska Designs. It's variegated in the brown/tan range. Nice but maybe not for the more traditional Shetland Lace patterns? The white hank is from Skaska Designs and is a 2 ply silk (100 grams, 6040yards, 120/2). I purchased this at Stitches West from the same vendors who sell the Orenberg Lace Shawls at most of the knitting shows. Though truly beautiful, it might be madness to knit, not to mention just trying to put it on a swift and use a ball-winder on the stuff. Next is a ball of "Graceful"in variegated mauves/purples. It's a two ply and very pretty (100 grams, 2,400 yards, wool), but I'm already using this on the Peacock Shawl and it may not really be fine enough. Ditto for the grey/green cone of Australian Cashmere from Belisa Cashmere (100 grams, 1,000 yards) that recommends use of a US 1 needle. The balls that are shrink-wrapped are shetland laceweight, single ply, very thin as well though to the naked eye, it looks to me like the silk yarn is thinner. Still, it might only look finer because it lacks the "halo" that the Shetland singles have that is characteristic of the fact that it's wool rather than silk. Once soaked and stretched, the wool might even "bloom" more . Who knows. There is still more yarn I will dig up and look at, but the silk and the shetland may be the finest things I own. If they don't suit, I will have to explore other options! So I await delivery of my pattern and then I will look on in envy as Knitterguy may be starting his in July while he's still working on the Princess Shawl.

While I ponder what yarn I will be using, there is also the issue of needle size and type. I've never bought one of these patterns, but I imagine you could go as low as you want to if you decided, say, to use the silk? Now, I do own 000 circulars in the addi turbo type. I use them for beaded purse knitting. But its slick/fast virtue in that type of knitting is a hazard for me in lace knitting where a dropped stitch makes you want to slit your wrists. I like wood, but then there is the issue of type of wood and color. Type of wood affects the among of drag against the yarn as you try to move the stitches up to knit/purl them and color affects my ability to actually see the stitches better. Contrast helps me as my vision has always been a bit of a problem (Myopic and Astigmatic).

Crystal Palace now has a nice darker color bamboo that goes down to size US 0. Skacel addi Natura goes to US 1 but I understand they are going to stop making them in size US 1 due to problems they have had with them. As far as I can tell, they don't make the Rosewood needles very low in circular. I have one pair of Lantern Moon Destiny but could only find US 4. Ok for other lace, not the Wedding Ring though. Then there are the ebony circular's that go as low as US2-3. These have a heck of alot of drag though. There is excellent contrast if you are using a light color yarn, but once you get alot of stitches on those puppies it's hard to move them along to knit them. Of course, I may be deluding myself into thinking I can use such fine yarn. I may end up with a tangled mass of absolutely nothing at all. Still, If you don't try, you can't suceed so the effort will be made.

Have a Wonderful 4th of July Weekend everyone!