Spring Yarn

This is the Shimmer I dyed Tuesday afternoon. It turned out beautiful. I used Procion Mix Dye (201 Robin's Egg Blue) from Woodland Wool works. It is a cold water dye for natural fibers. I used it in the hot water/vinegar way to dye. It worked very well. When I catch up on my back log of knitting projects, I plan on knitting a shawl (what else?) with it. I have 880 yds. I'm looking for a great lace pattern.

Almost Done!!

10 repeats left and the second border. I should be done in about a week. My computer was out being repaired for the last week. Now I'm back to blogging. Last night was the best dying party. I dyed the remaining two skeins of yarn a beautiful Robin Egg Blue. I will post photos soon.

Nearing the halfway mark!!

Got the downed tree cleaned up Saturday. Back to some serious knitting. I have 11 out of 31 repeats done. Another 5 and I'm about halfway!

Tree down

Life is full of surprises. Thursday night, there was a strong wind storm. Our pine tree on the south lawn blew down. Because of clean up duty, I've had to put my knitting on hold. I'll get back to it tomorrow. We have a good neighbor who will take the large pieces of wood. Now I get to spend the day loading up branches and hauling them to the local landfill. Of what fun!!

Making quick progress

I have been knitting on this now for 4 days. At the end of today, I should have 5 out of the 31 repeats done. I'm always curious about how many stitches make up a project. I did the math for this shawl. At the end of the project, I will have knitted an amazing 43,568 stitches!! Holy cow!! No wonder people think I'm crazy. That's a lot of times to pull yarn through a small loop. But it's also very calming (when you don't drop a stitch), and a great way to keep your hands busy (if you're trying not to gorge on chocolate).

Lower lace edge done.

The neat thing about this pattern is how it's put together. CO 101 sts. The edge is only 26 rows. It's beautiful but also simple. The body of the shawl is 12 rows repeated 31 times. Not too hard. When you're done with that, you knit another lace edge on a different set of needles. (Which I have plenty of). Then you Kitchener everything together. Wash gently and block. Wake up the next morning to a beautiful shawl. This could be the start of a beautiful friendship. For those who know my knitting style, I love small yarn and small needles. I also have a passion for lace knitting. You will notice the clumps of yarn in the pattern. Those are not mistakes. Those are what Estonian Lace knitters call nupps. They are unique to that style of lace knitting.

First time to blog!

I'm starting my first blog ever! I wanted a way to keep in touch with all my fiber friends. I plan on posting info about my current knitting projects and where I am at the time.
Today I got my shipment of Knit Picks Shimmer. It's a beautiful lace weight yarn of 70% alpaca and 30% silk. I have four balls of white. I'm starting on a wedding shawl for my niece, Adrienne. She is getting married this summer. The pattern I'm using is from the book "Knitted Lace of Estonia" The pattern is called Madli's Shawl. Casting on with US size 5 circs. I hope all goes well.