Friday, May 05, 2006

Bonus week... free HeartString pattern with yarn order from Simply Divine Fibers at www.spinningkarma.com

Besides those on the pattern page, I have available:
Cat's Cradle Long-Ways Scarf
All-Over Lace Faroese Shawl
Beaded Smoke Ring
Peaks and Valleys Scarf

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

The Elegantly Simple Shawl Knitalong is under way. I decided to join and be encouraged to complete a wedding shawl for my daughter, Tina, who is to be married on July 1st. I found I didn't have yarn that I like for her shawl so I put in a wholesale order for yarn from one of my suppliers.

While waiting for the yarn to arrive, I started a shawl using one the laceweight merino yarns in the new colorway 'Breakfast in Bed'. I really like the way it's coming along and how the color makes the stitches pop. Unfortunately it doesn't really show up in the photos very well.



On May 1st, the official starting day of the KAL, I received my yarn shipment and I really like two of the yarns I received. Both of these yarns will be up on my website www.spinningkarma.com for sale in natural color and later in handpainted colors. The one on the left is a mohair/wool/nylon, very soft and airy. The one on the right is the alpaca laceweight, color is perfect, but not until I saw a full skein of it did I realize how much yarn there is in an 8 oz 2400 yard skein.

I sampled and to get the look I wanted I would have had to use a very small needle, possibly never finishing the shawl in time. So... . I doubled the yarn and am using 2 strands on size 6 needles... I like it a lot and hopefully will get it done by the wedding date, if not the shower date. Here is what I have done so far. As much as I would like to finish the colorful shawl first, I've had to set it aside and will continue to work on this one. 58 days till the wedding... yikes!