Heavenly Herbs

Here is my latest creation! The pattern is all mine. =}  It was knit using KnitPicks Palette yarn. Colorway: Coriander Heather.......100% Peruvian Highland wool. I had wanted to use handspun for it but didn't think I had enough yardage for it. My "approximate yardage needed" figuring skills suck! I was way off the mark. Oh well. Lesson learned. 

The scarf came out beautifully! It is about 16" wide and 75" long. It used 735 yards (not including the gauge swatch....which I did knit) and somewhere around 35 hours to knit. Finishing it was sweet sorrow. Part of me was tickled to finally finish it. Part of me was sad to see it end. It had been my long term project for quite some time.

For those interested, I hope to have the pattern available for purchase by the end of this weekend. You will be able to find it on Ravelry, Craftsy, and my etsy shop. Here's a couple more photos for you to enjoy.   =}

Triangel (photo intense)

I've been fighting a pretty nasty cold and needed an easy knit to keep my hands busy. I had dyed and spun the yarn in the early stages of my cold and wasn't too happy with the way the yarn turned out. I wanted to use it in a small project rather than have it languish for what would most likely be for years at the bottom of a basket. Did a pattern search on Ravelry and found this pattern. It was simple enough that I didn't need the chart and was able to knit from memory. Showcased the yarn beautifully......and ended up being a nice wearable size (41" across x 21" deep).

 The yarn is a 2- ply light fingering/ lace weight Shetland. The roving was dyed going from red to purple to blue. It was an experiment in some different dyeing and spinning techniques. Not completely successful, but not a total failure either.

Lovely Yarn

Was feeling a bit better and ventured into town with my hubby. Visited my favorite quilt shop in their new location. What a beautiful shop!! Got the tour by the owner. Was really surprised to see some lovely new yarn in the brand new knitting corner. Of course two skeins just had to come home with me.......along with some very pretty fabric. The new yarn is absolutely perfect for the beaded Accola shawl I want to make. Cast on for it this morning.  :) 

A little about the yarn...and the shawl. The yarn is Manos Lace. It's a baby alpaca/silk/cashmere blend. Very decadent!! A dream to knit with. There's just enough color variation to make the stockinette parts of the shawl interesting without hiding the lace. The shawl itself is knit from the border up. It's semi circular with some beaded lace and nupps.

The other skein of very lovely yarn was acquired when I went to visit my friend's alpaca ranch. She has a cute little shop on the premises and I simply couldn't leave this lovely skein behind. It is 100% baby alpaca lace weight. There is a whopping 870 yards in the skein. Incredibly soft to the touch. Not quite sure what it will be. Maybe a lovely Estonian lace piece. I just love the soft green color of the yarn.

Can't you just feel the softness?

Recently Finished Projects

Thought I would post photos of my recently completed projects. The first photos are of the Russian neck warmer . My first attempt at knitting Orenburg lace. It is now on its way to surprise a friend.  :)

This photo is of the felted flower bowl with the bottom in it. The bottom is made of plastic canvas with a layer of cotton batting and covered with cotton fabric. It was then glued and sewn in place. It did give the bowl the stability needed while retaining the softness of the felted wool. This bowl will soon be on its way to my mother. She is a seamstress and I thought this would be perfect for holding small things like thread, needles, and scissors.

What's On The Wheel....

.......currently on the wheel is a hand dyed Rambouillet top. I bought 2 oz. just to give it a try.

So far I'm enjoying the spin. It likes to be spun from the end....not from the fold (which is my preference). It was hard trying to make sure the spots of green in the top came through in the photo.

Just off the wheel is a merino/ organic polwarth/firestar/silk blend. Liked the color so bought a 2 oz, batt. Was not my favorite spin though. The fiber was grabby in places. The firestar was in random bunches throughout the batt. Not real enjoyable. The finished yarn is very pretty though. Ended up with 430 yards of a 2-ply lace weight. I'm hoping it will be more fun to knit than it was to spin. 

My First.....And Last CVM Experience

CVM -California Variegated Mutant......this is supposed to be a very relaxing fiber to spin with a staple length of 3-5".....and I was looking forward to spinning it. What a huge disappointment!!! The pencil roving I received not only looked but felt just like dryer lint. There was no staple length. It was like a semi- felted rope of second cuts mixed with dryer lint. And it was not soft by any stretch of the imagination.

Drafting and spinning was simply not going to happen. I didn't want to waste the fiber so I simply spun it as is...then plyed it to give a bit of strength.....ending up with 144 yds. of a very squishy ( but coarse) 2- ply bulky weight yarn. Now to figure out what to do with it. Will I ever spin CVM again? Probably not.

Felted Flower Bowl

This was yesterday's project. It was a fun, fast knit that will make a great gift for my mother for Mother's Day. I used left over yarn. The blue was an Aran weight......the white was doubled so it was about the same weight as the blue. I used a size 10 1/2 needle. Knitted it up, popped it in the wash, and let it go. Felted beautifully! Used a Pyrex mixing bowl turned upside down to shape it on. It sat overnight and was dry this morning. I'm thinking about making a bottom for the inside to give the bowl a bit of stability. It's a bit floppy when you pick it up. Other than that it is ready for gift giving. I think my mother will love it. :)

The pattern itself was easy to work with. A friend of mine was kind enough to bring it to my attention. My only "beef" with the pattern is this small phrase included with the copyright information.... "....do not re-knit for profit". While I understand that designers do not want to see their patterns out there for sale with someone else's name on it, this is crossing the line. Period. No one has the right to tell someone else what they can or cannot do with something made from a pattern....whether the pattern was purchased or free. The only thing copyrighted is the words, photos, charts, drawings, schematics, and anything else that is on the pages of a pattern. It does not extend to the finished pieces made by who ever uses the pattern. As a designer I understand this. Makes perfect sense to me. If I don't want someone doing whatever they please with the finished item then the pattern shouldn't be out there for public use. Simple as that. I've said my peace. For anyone reading this I would really appreciate not being slammed with a ton of negative mail and/or comments. This is only my opinion. I know not everyone will agree with it....and that is fine. Just think how boring our world would be to live in if everyone thought the same......