Casting On For A Stole

The first project I started with my new stash of yarn is not one of my own design. Instead I am knitting up a lace stole called "Bleeding Heart Stole" by Anne Hanson of Knit Spot. I am hoping to whip it up in a couple weeks time. Our church is having a Valentine banquet and I need something to wear with my satin dress to keep my arms warm.

The pattern seemed to go slowly at first, but now that I have the hang of the charts it is going more smoothly. This is how far I was as of this afternoon. I've since done about 12 more rows. It's looking quite wonderful I think, all lacy and elegant.

I still have 14 rows to go on the hem charts, then I switch over to 9 rows of the transition chart before coming to the main body chart.

I look forward to showing you further progress.

That's it for now my friends. Cheerio and I'll see you next time!

Yarn Galore!!!

Isn't all this yarn simply scrumptious? My parents generously gave me a gift card for Christmas and I used it to purchase yarn and a book from Knit Picks. I am planning on using most of this yarn for designing. I already have quite a few projects in mind, nothing solid yet, but some vague ideas. You know how those vague ideas go. They tend to blossom into whatever they want, and often something quite different from what I intended. I'm excited about the possibilities though. The last time I saw this much yarn together in one place was at the fabric store! Unlike many knitters, I don't have much of a stash right now. Well, I didn't. Now I do. :)

This lovely skein of Alpaca Cloud is SO soft. I have no idea yet what I will do with this one, I just like to hold it and imagine the possibilities. It should have a beautiful drape when knit up.

I had a hard time deciding what to order. And when I say hard, I mean HARD. Just ask my sister-in-law. She was siting there while I was hemming and hawing. And just when I thought I had my mind made up, all the certain I was unsure and rethinking my options. One of the yarns I wanted was not available until February, so I switched my order around a little. I certainly couldn't imagine waiting until February to use my gift card!

The Palette yarn has SO many options, 100 colors in all! I am pleased with everything I ordered, and Knit Picks was very prompt about getting my order to me. I ordered on a Thursday, it shipped the next Monday, and I received it on Thursday. So it was only a week wait, I was expecting it to be longer since I did they're free shipping option. It was a lovely surprise to come home and have it waiting for me.

I also order a workshop on lace knitting. That has me excited to no end! It is quite thorough, and I believe I will be able to learn much from it. It will be like taking a class, which I find quite wonderful. I'll let you all now how it goes.

Well, I'm off to look at my yarn. ;)

I have a couple new projects in the works right now. Some might be offered as free patterns, so stay tuned! The project pictured above is kind of at a standstill because I am not sure if I have enough yarn to do what I want. It is my own handspun, so I'll have to pick up some more roving and spin it up before I get any further on this design.

Over our family vacation I was working on these wristlets. The design is out of the Spin Off Winter 2007 issue, page 46. They work up pretty quickly, but I would definitely lengthen the cuff.

In fact I have another pair in progress for myself and I am doing that very thing. I only added an extra inch to the cuff, just because I want to make sure I have enough yardage to finish them both.

The yarn is Ramboulette wool that I dyed as roving and then spun into a fingering weight on my top whorl spindle. It is lovely, and very soft. It should make excellent wristlets.

Aren't these mittens so cute? They are the tiniest things ever, and whip up in no time. The only problem is this is the only size they come in. However they are a perfect gift for a newborn. I worked mine up in a soft, Cascade cotton, on size US7 needles. You can find the pattern "Baby Mitts" on Ravelry.

Well, I am spending a couple days with my sister-in-law. We are doing all kinds of fiber related things. She also did some sewing this week for the first time! We worked on a neat floor cushion and also a heart, accent pillow. She did an amazing job, I was pleased with the results.

I would love to hear what you are working on. Please feel free leave me a comment and let me know what knitting/spinning projects you have in the works, it's always fun to see & hear what other people are working on in the crafting world!

Have a lovely week my friends!!!!

A Bit Of Christmas Knitting

Recently we were able to go on a short, but lovely, family vacation. I'll have to share the photos with you some other time.

The place that we stayed was absolutely chock full of antiques and beautiful pieces of furniture, perfect for doing photo shoots. I was wishing I had brought a whole suitcase of knitted items to photograph! The area was a blogger's dream come true.

I also received a new camera for Christmas, which was wonderful! Now I can share a few projects with you and, Lord willing, keep things updated better.

I made this lovely little scarf as a Christmas gift for my Mother. It is made with handspun angora/merino yarn. In fact it is one of the earlier yarns that I ever spun. I was saving it for something special. Unfortunately I can't tell you where I got the pattern from, I don't even remember where it is from! It was a copy I had floating about in my pattern binders.

It's a VERY soft scarf, and I was quite pleased with the way it turned out.

I only have one picture of this shawl, and it's not a very good one at that. This pattern I found on ravelry. It is the "Age of Brass and Steam" Kerchief. I only used about 230yds worsted, handspun, merino yarn. It is a fairly simple shawl, it worked up in two days. Personally I wouldn't mind making this one for myself, but with twice as much yarn so it ended up a lot longer. This, however, was a perfect size for the little lady who received it. She had been dropping hints that this yarn would make a nice shawl for her.

I also made two more pairs of the "Sweet Fern Mitts" from the Knitter;s book of Wool. I didn't photograph the other. This pair here was for my Mother. I also made some lovely blue ones for my sister. I have several other gifts waiting for their photo shoot, originally I wasn't planning on doing a Christmas knitting post, it just kind of happened. And I wasn't completely prepared. Just hang in there, and one of these days I'll post the rest of my gift knitting.

I'm very excited, & pleased to introduce you to...... Jillian! She was by far the most fun gift to make, although I loved making them all. Jillian is the little rabbit out of the "Last Minute Knitted Gifts". I really wanted to make her, but was unsure what yarn to use for her body. So I had the slightly crazy idea of carding together alpaca & white angora rabbit fur, and then spinning it up on my top whorl drop spindle.

Yes.

Well, it was rather ambitious. But thankfully I had enough time to accomplish the spinning as well as the knitting before Christmas day. And she was well received by her new mommy. :)

Jillian is SO soft and fuzzy, and completely adorable. I want to make another rabbit just like her for myself. In fact, almost everyone who has seen her wants one! Her ears are made out of angora yarn. Her facial features are embroidered on with embroidery floss.

And I thought Jillian need accessories, so I made her several little shawls. Since then her wardrobe has been increased with both blankets and more shawls. She is quite the well dressed rabbit!

And I'll leave you with a close up of that sweet, little face!

Until next time, my friends!