The treasure became a shawl

I didn't knit either pattern that I mentioned in the last post. I did spend more time on Ravelry and found the one I loved the most.

 

 

The pattern is Positive Thoughts #1.  There weren't any beads in the pattern.

 

 

 

 

But when I looked at the pattern is seemed to be calling for beads.

 

 

And so I listened and added lots of pretty beads.

 

I think I love it!  

 

All the details are on Ravelry, here. 

Laceweight handspun

Hi everyone!

It's been awhile.

The wedding was wonderful!  But, because the photographer didn't allow anyone to take photos while she was I have no pictures.  I will though...just give me a little time.

What brings me here today is this*...I just received an email from Peace Fleece and they are now selling handspun laceweight yarn in mohair.  There are 7 colors to choose from.  And they also have handspun laceweight in cashmere in 1 color.  It's not a lot of color selection but they are very pretty colors even if they are basic.

I know some of you can spin your own laceweight yarn (I'm looking at you Cookie!) but if you have a need or just a want for something like this give this a look-see.  It's an interesting story and you know, if we buy some, we could be women helping other women.

And now I am going to do some shopping...I think I like the sapphire the best...

*I don't get any benefit from saying these things...I just love Peace Fleece and the things they do and want to let others know about it too.

FOs and randomnesses

Since it's April 22 and we still have substantial snowbanks, I thought I'd photo Henslowe outside. 

The color really isn't correct on any of these pictures but this one is exceptionally dark.

I love everything about this shawl.  Well, excluding the bind off which felt like it took as long to do as the rest of the shawl...

 

 

 

But the bind off is a big part of what makes it so pretty and interesting.

 

 



Also finished is 2nd DGD's Potato Chip Scarf.  It was fun to do because she asked me for it and I was happy to make it.  And she said it is "bootiful"!

On the weather front, this is our backyard.  Yes.  Still with the snow everywhere.  Snow forecast for Wednesday.  But!  Temps in the 50s and 60s by the weekend.  WooHoo!!

We had so much fun at our anniversary party a week ago.  I'll post about that when it's closer to the real date...

3 pairs of stranded mittens and a hat besides??

I had a phone call over the weekend.  It was my sister.  She was telling  asking me to knit her a pair of stranded mittens like I made myself last winter.

I stuttered and stammered and finally said that I had promised 2 pairs of those mittens and a lined stranded hat, like this one, to sons and DILs. 

She said it'd be ok.  She didn't expect them until January.  What?  What did she say?  What?

Besides that, I've got these beauties I'm working on.  And right now I'm in love and won't be distracted by anything else.

This is Henslowe.  Such simple knitting but the construction is what is blowing me away.

See the bit of yarn by the lace?  That is where the shawl started.  Yup.  With 1 stitch. 

The garter is knit first.  Then it is bound off, all except 1 stitch.  You then turn the piece and pick up stitches along the other edge and proceed to knit the lace.

After that is done there is a knitted on picot edge.  Can't wait to get there.  It's so pretty and I'm thinking of putting beads on the picot.

And also on the needles is this cutie. 

 

It's gonna be for 1st DGD. She's 7 and already a fashion-ista. Pink and purple are her colors. Just like this gramma!

 

I'm gonna knit on it until the yarn is gone.  I hope she loves it.

 

So getting back to the stranded mitten dilemma.  I succumbed and ordered the yarn for my sister's mittens per the colors she requested.

 

Do you think I can get 2 pairs of mittens and lined stranded hat finished by Christmas...whose yarn has to be washed first, BTW, because of bleeding...and then get another pair for my sister done sometime before winter is done? 

 

Because, you know, I'm totally going to ignore her January deadline.  I love her but really, I'll be pickled and never want to touch stranded knitting again.

 

I think I know the answer to my question.  (That I'm oh so very delusional.)  But could you all weigh in too? 

 

 

 



Finally something to talk about!

I have been knitting! And voila! A shawl is born. It's my "I love AC but I hate the draft Shawl".
(It's a Ravelry link)


This shawl is going to live in the car this summer.
It's purpose in life is to protect me from air conditioning drafts.

I hate to admit that I end up with a sore neck and shoulders if I get drafted on by AC. (Old age??)

And so these pretty Falling Leaves will keep me safe from the nasty drafts caused by AC.

(The unblocked version)

Don't get me wrong I love AC and getting away from the sticky, humid weather that assults us here. I just don't like the draft!

WIP, Reading and a Window Visitor

Look at all that! Looks like I've had a case of cast-on-itis. There sure is good choice to pick from for whatever knitting whimsy strikes.

I'm about 11% (what can I say...it is how Kindle tells you where you are) into this book. It's good. And it is the winter that we aren't getting this year. Shh, don't tell anyone but I kinda am missing our regular type winter.

And while I was taking pictures by the best light source this time of year (patio door), look who showed up.

The bold cheeky little critter. I got a couple mug shots of him.

Front view.

Side view.

And when the kitties discovered him he ran so fast I didn't even get the thought put together to take a picture much less press the shutter.

But the kitties knew what was up. Up a tree!

Maybe I'll go back to the mittens. It IS cold outside...

The Advent Calendar Scarf hasn't gotten off to a good start.

My size 4 needle, that the pattern requires, is being used in another lace project and I didn't want to take it out.

So I used a size 5 instead. Ripped because of looseness issues.

Went down to a size 3. Really like the fabric now.

Have never done cables. Day 2 has cables. Tried once. Didn't turn out. Ripped out.

Tried again. Still didn't turn out. Ripped again. Will be omitting Day 2.

Didn't have a lifeline and didn't want to rip all the way back so put in a lifeline as best I could. Turned out ok. Phew!

Got lost in the pattern and should have been doing garter stitch instead of stockinette. Need to rip back to lifeline. Again.

Project officially in time out. It'll be really fun after Christmas.

And besides that it was -10 degrees this morning. Right now, the stranded mittens are looking much more appealing than a lace scarf!

Wanna join in?

There is a KAL going on. Would you like to add a bit more craziness to December? If you do then check this out!

Better, I think. What do you think??

I found new buttons.

I think they are better.

Before.

And after. I like after better. What do you think?

Also....

here is Teddy, the sock model, showing off my finished Cartoon socks. They ended up kinda matchy, matchy.

How in the world did that happen?

This 'n That

The Basic Chic Hoodie is really coming along now! Even Claus had to check it out...

I thought the hood was going to take forever to finish. But the hood is done! Finally! Yay!

Here is a better picture so you can actually see that I have both sleeves finished...

Oh! And a big Thank You to Kym for putting in her notes on Ravelry, about the Hoodie she did for Erin, how many stitches she picked up. (Not good sentence structure but I can't think how to improve it right now.) Amazing amount of help for me...cuz I made mine longer too.

I've got one side of the button band picked up and have done a couple rows. When that is done the next question will be how many buttons do I want and then to figure out the buttonhole placing...I don't really like the buttonhole part...

And the kitties are again bird watching or maybe squirrel or gopher watching. Both squirrels and gophers come right up to the window so the kitties get a really good look at them. There are tails really twitching then!

It is so sunny and calm out. I should get out and whack down the flowerbeds for the winter. And I should go do quarterly reports at work. And I should clean the kitties' litter boxes. But what I really want to do is work on my cardigan.

Why oh why??

The weather has turned. To fall. Overnight. We might get 50 for today's high. There's a killing freeze warning for tonight. It's windy, too. Brrr.

And I have a cozy, soft sweater that I could be wearing. Notice I said could.

If it wasn't missing a sleeve.

And only had part of a sleeve on this side.

And still needs it's hood and button bands. I'm knitting furiously so that by the next cold snap I'll be ready. But why oh why didn't I finish it last spring so it would have been ready to go NOW!

I've got nuthin' but some randomnesses...

This is the 3rd time that I've started this book. If I can't make it through this time it'll probably be 3 strikes and you're out. It's just so wordy. A whole page to describe a woman's face. It could have been done in 1 sentence.... Taken separately her features were unremarkable or even unbecoming, but all together they made her a beauty. There. That wouldn't have been so awful for the author, would it?? But then I'm a bit of a believer in "Less is More"...

Onward!
The Sea of Dreams baby blanket is coming along. It's the next on my "finish this project NOW" hitlist. It is really quite easy going except for a few rows in each repeat that make no sense to me and so I'm constantly checking the chart to make sure I'm on the right track. Uff.

The fall flowers are doing their best to show off.

Russian Sage.

Joe Pye Weed and Veronica.

We've got apples! The squirrels are having their way with them though and so I'm thinking that I need to get ahold of 1st DDIL and we make a raid on the tree and get them picked. Ready or not!

There are plenty of apples but the bulk of them are at the top of the tree. /sigh

The bugbane has yet to bloom but the hostas and columbine are finished.

I love my ruffly daylily that always looks a little deformed.

And the rose is still going strong. If I get out and clip off the old buds I'll have blooms for a long time yet...

Well, that's it folks. My life is dull these days. Harvest is going on though. Maybe I need to get out to the field today and get a few combining pictures...

Actual knitting content!

Done! I finally finished the Eliina Shawl that I knit from the Zen Garden lace weight yarn that I bought at Joan's Stash Busting Sale.

This is really quite close to the color...it might be just a smidge darker in person.

I've tried lace weight yarn before and just couldn't work with it. But this time was magic and there wasn't a problem at all with the knitting. Of course that I loved the color and was going to knit with it come heck or high water didn't play into it at all.

I added some beads to the lace edging to give it a bit of weight and just a little sparkle. They are silver lined pink glass beads.

One bit of info that I learned--When you do a crochet cast off, and add beads while you are doing it, they face to the wrong side of the fabric. I had to pin each bead to try to force them into showing from the front. Uff. It turned out ok I think.

All the information about my Strawberry Ice Cream Eliina Shawl can be found here on Ravelry.

This doesn't look like much yet but it is going to be an Iceling baby cardigan. Norma has been telling how in love she is with this pattern so I thought I would give it a try.

The little cardigan will be for a sweet baby yet to be born in Moldova.

We have 3 foreign workers this year on our farm and all 3 of them are from Moldova. One fellow has a wife back home that is expecting a baby the end of September and they know that it is going to be a boy. I'm hoping that "blue is for boys" is the rule of thumb there too!