Silk cuffs ~

I'm using the same pattern on these cuffs as I did for the Hazel Knits socks for my oldest daughter, as I mentioned here. Since this silky malabrigo is not plied, it is a bit trickier to do the knitted stitch TW2R, which I just learned for the other sock cuff. When I knit 2 together, then leave them on the left needle and then knit 1 stitch from those two, I sometimes catch part of the other stitch in this K1. I didn't think that a no-ply yarn would have some downsides, but only for this stitch!Otherwise, they are looking lovely, and I'm still dazzled by the colors. Seems this is the only knitting I've done this weekend, with small bits on a few other projects, just to see them in the daylight...Do you ever feel like casting on all your favorite yarns at one time.... just to see how they cast on, and how the colors work with the pattern? I'm having troubles not casting on everything...I think that means I need to knit a bit each day so I'm not crazy in knitting withdrawal by the end of the week...

Tosh glowing ~

As I took the blocking pins out of this Tosh shawl, I marveled again at the lovely colors and how the pattern seems to show the colors to their best advantage.So I put this lovely shawl outside in our sunny back deck... loving how this shawl turned out, how the points look so great, and wondering what I can make out of the leftover yarn... perhaps 198 yards of Tosh Heaven? (do I have that much left?!!)

Heels and braces ~

Today was a big day for our youngest teenager. I turned the heels on both of her silky merino socks, and they look so very lovely! I was knitting them in the sunshine again, and loving all these colors that burst from this yarn ~ cranberry, gold, deep green, and lovely orange. Now I can cruise up the cuff, probably knitting the same pattern as I knit for the strawberry lemonade socks, taken from More Sensational Socks. You might ask how I was able to spend this much time knitting on sock heels today...I was knitting while waiting for her to get her braces on.......so I thought I should be knitting her socks while I waited! Lovely, lovely!

Silk heel #1 ~

I've decided that I can't cast on more socks until I turn the heels on these lovely silky socks for one of my teenagers. This yarn is so vibrant and so lovely that I was enjoying knitting them outside so the full power of the sunshine could light up each and every lovey shade.One heel almost turned while waiting for church youth group. I think I'll be knitting on them tomorrow as well!

Tosh Blocking ~

Hurrah! I have finished knitting on the Tosh shawl, even adding another repeat of the chart to make the shawl larger.The yarn is lovely and the pattern is also lovely with this yarn. I think I could have knit another repeat of the chart to make it even bigger, as I still have a bit of yarn left. So scary when one is not sure how much yarn it would really take for another repeat, and I knew there was no way to get more of this very old Tosh colorway. So I knit safe and cast off!

Sweet Pea Silk ~

The Sweet Pea silk from The Natural Dye Studio is lovely to work with. The colors are amazing and the yarn is oh-so-soft and smooth. Knitting this silk with the Signature Needles is a lovely matching, and I'm enjoying this Birthday Shawl knitting.The directions for this pattern are a bit trickier for knitting in a group, but so far I've done OK...but I do not want to mess up on this one!

Tosh almost done ~

There seems to be a lot of Tosh yarn left for this shawl. The pattern is basic for knitting in a group, not one that I need total silence. That is good, so I've been knitting on this a lot, especially since it includes my Birthday Signature Needles. This combination of pattern, yarn and needles is a great one!So I've decided to knit another set of repeats to use more yarn and have a larger shawl - it is looking beautiful! When asked, "Could you pose with this beautiful shawl?" I get the scary teenager picture....*sigh*

Church visit ~

Look what showed up at church today? What a delightful surprise when one of my knitted items shows up in public, on one of my family members! Especially a project that seemed to be a backwards journey in my knitting!This doesn't happen very often, now that I have teenagers, so I am very grateful and delighted!

Are you happy now?

I was sooooo pleased with my Shibui cloud progress, knitting the mohair did not seem to fiddly although very thin, but I was happy to get the beads on with no sweat...knitting up this cloud of lovely greens... I was so excited to show this to Jitteryknitter, as I knew she would be excited, as she's the one that found this yarn on sale in Oregon.... I new she would be excited about a new cast on, and I knew she would be excited that yet another project was on the needles....the first thing she says is....."Those beads don't match".........*sigh* then, "You need to get different beads," Well, I made her go with me, as I would just pick out the same beads...because they looked fine to me.......but nooooooooooooo.....So we (she) picked out new beads and I ripped out and cast on again..... Are you happy now????

Secret Pal Surprise ~

Our Secret Pal program ended this past week with a "revealing lunch" when we all get to reveal to our Secret Pals who was giving them special treasures...and find out who had been our Secret Pal. After getting all the wonderful knitting goodies each month, I had visions of exactly who my Secret Pal would be...not by name, but by sight.....She would come to our lunch wearing a cabled cardigan, and a light weight summer scarf, perhaps out of some Shibui Cloud.... or perhaps a summer shawl....I knew she was my kindred spirit, as who else would buy me beaded ArtYarn.....really....who else would? I had used the message board to send Thank You's to my Pal, even sending the YouTube of the Flashmob where I danced with the ArtYarn...I knew she would know how much I loved all these gifts, and that we were kindred spirits....Well, at the lunch there were transportation engineers, life guards, recreation leaders, police officers, police dispatchers, city planners, and even the Chief of Police.....which was my kindred spirit? Who bought the beaded ArtYarn just for me? A police officer....OH MY GOSH....there was no way....All I could say was, "You must have had help!" "You could not have walked into a knitting shop and purchased beaded ArtYarns" His reply, "This was super fun, and your reactions were a hoot - and you really took that yarn to Portland?" Live and learn.... and I hope he is my Secret Pal next year...look at the darling gift he gave me at lunch - even a knitting travel case...I love this guy!

Cast on Shibui ~

Once the beads were threaded on this lovely yarn, I had to cast on right away. I was curious how knitting with this cobweb would be ~ worried it might be very tricky and cumbersome to knit with something as thick as a thread... oh, but how lovely it is!Not sure how easy or difficult it will be, but it is reminding me a bit of my qiviuk scarf yarn, but not quite as soft :) With these Signature Needles, the color contrast is so beautiful, and the knitting is such a delight so far!Do the beads look as if they are matching a bit better? (not so much, you say?) Well, they look fine to me....:)

Cast on handspun ~

In the spirit of casting on, or perhaps not knitting for 5 days straight after my birthday gave me this pent up itch that needs major scratching....so....there is some casting on this week to ease that itch... We have the lovely handspun here, much better than the Horrible Handspun of my first learning.I think it is very lovely indeed, paired with the lovely Signature Needles!!Using Yarn Harlot's scarf pattern that I am fond of...it is looking great!

Shibui and beads ~

Since this was my birthday week, and I had to work on my birthday...I decided to do something reckless and dangerous. Yes...I did.... on my lunch break, after walking through the park, I walked to the bead store and picked out beads to match my Shibui Cloud....you might be thinking, What is dangerous about that? (although Marion and Lisa are already saying, "Noooooooooooo, don't do it!!!!")but I did anyway.... I picked out beads from a very very small selection (only 3 shades of green) and I picked out the closest match, which (of course) doesn't really match.....(*ahem*) but I had a feeling that I wouldn't be able to match the colors...(so, does that make them match better?)as that is dangerous ground for me, as All Colors Look Good To Me (except mixing browns and pinks - Eeew!) from these pictures, the beads and yarn look like they match....but Marion will tell you....."not so much"

Cross Country Varsity ~

Just had to break into our regularly scheduled knitting blog to say that we have a varsity cross country runner in our household. She is now wearing the varsity "white uniform" and it fits her physically and mentally.She's raced twice this week and ran her Personal Best each time. Hurrah!!! Bravo!!!!

More Secret Pal Delight ~

Have I mentioned about my out-of-this-world secret pal? This kindred spirit that gives me beaded mohair ArtYarn (yes, that yarn! Can you believe it?), and cable knitting books that I get out of the library every time I visit (yes, that book! Can you believe it?) Well, last week's gift was very cool, indeed, as it was a knitting book I've not seen before.I'm thinking of casting on the last pattern in the book - Ha'Penny loop cowl...it is so lovely! I can't wait to meet my kindred spirit secret pal soon!

Powering through ~

I seem to have some projects that have been lingering on my needles for awhile. Some need some thoughtful pondering to see if I really really want to continue knitting them into a finished project...some may end up in another metamorphic dimension...(read: rip out and re-purpose)These will be finished, there is no question that these socks will be completed as I love the yarn colors and love knitting with this yarn. No metamorphic dimension change for these....

Birthday Traditions ~

We started a new tradition for Marion's birthday this past spring. The Jitteryknitter had a great idea to celebrate a birthday with a pair of Signature Needles. Wow, what a great gift, and a perfect tradition to start. Marion loves her needles, and we think that Signature Needles are so special that one should always have a project on those needles....always....I've had some fun with a pair of the Jitteryknitter's Signatures, as I babysat them while she was on her European journey - those needles and I bonded as told in the story here, here, here and here. Our friends were thinking that, perhaps, I was kidnapping them, but no... they did go back home, but I'm sure they miss the fun knitting we had together...I was super blessed to get a pair of Signatures from my dear friends, and I knit them immediately into my vintage Tosh Shawl....ohhhhhh, we are going to be great friends on our knitting journey!

Counting blessings ~

One of my lovely birthday gifts from my BFF Jitteryknitter is a yarn meter for counting yardage. I have wanted one of these since my spinning started, as I have no clue how much yarn I have, and the niddy noddy method seems a bit too loose for me. I was so excited to see how much of my green BFL that I had, spinning here, here and here, that I set up the yarn meter when I came home from my birthday celebration and started counted all my sweet little plys.I have 139 yards of this lovely hand spun, from 4.2 ounces....I wish there was a shawl to cast on for "139 yards of heaven".... still looking for a pattern for this special yarn!

Is there cake?

Close your eyes and imagine celebrating your birthday in the best way, ever. Let's think about what would make it perfect........it would have best friends.....check......some spa time for a massage.....check....some knitting in an outdoor cafe.....check....another best friend arrives.....check.....on to your favorite knitting shop....check... getting some coffee on the way.....check.....arriving at the knitting shop to a surprise of another best friend there..... check..... knitting at your favorite shop with your favorite friends until the shop closes...check.....finding some great sales before the shop closes... check....having the shop owner and staffers sit with us to chat and laugh.... check....getting a recommendation to a great outdoor cafe from one of our favorite knitting staffers...check....waiting on the dock, in the sunshine, while waiting for our perfect table on the deck....check...watching a lovely outdoor wedding next door in the lovely sunshine.... check...chatting with your best friends until well after the perfect sunset.....check...oh, and YES, there is cake!!!!

Birthday cast on ~

Since I have to work on my birthday (I know, it seems to be unfair, however I am very very grateful to have a job...just wanted to get that up front) I've been worried about my annual, "Cast on a project on my birthday" as then I can refer to it as my Birthday Socks or Birthday Scarf or Birthday whatever.... So far I've done that here and here and here....seems to be mostly socks....Here is my birthday shawl that I've cast on, early, I know, but I thought I needed to be sure to have a birthday cast on before my work day.....This is that wonderful Natural Dye Studio yarn, 100% silk, Precious and I love it! The shawl pattern is called Crow Prints, and I saw it on a knitter while at Madrona Fiber Arts ~ her shawl was beautiful, so I added it to my wish list! (I'm thinking I need to cast on some Birthday socks this weekend!)

Hazel is done ~

Did I mention that those lovely Hazel Knits socks are now done? I finished the knitting at the river last weekend, and just finished weaving in the ends last night.Now the Track Star socks can play with the Strawberry Lemonade socks, and both of my teenagers are happy (so I'm happy too!). It seems that I need to cast on more socks soon!

International special ~

There are some yarns that are always special to a knitter. Often, it is the yarn that takes the knitter out of the "acrylic at box stores" into the brave new world of natural fibers. What a delightful and wondrous leap that is. Yarn from The Natural Dye Studios fits into that category for me. Internationally made, so that gives it that extra special je ne sais quoi... I've made several projects out of this amazing yarn here and here are just two, plus talked about it here....... When I found out that JitteryKnitter was going to vacation in the same land where this lovely yarn is made, I asked if she could look for some, any kind would do....just some that came directly from its homeland...and being the bestest friend ever, this is what she brought me....Yes, it is sooooooo lovely, and 100% silk.......mouth watering colors called Sweet Pea....The bag is delightful too - how lovely it would be to Knit London, but perhaps someday. I'm now looking for a pattern for this amazing treasure....stay tuned!