Saturday, March 23, 2013

Sunny California


There are so many awesome LYS.
Stopped by Fancy Tiger recently and picked up Malabrigo Arroyo and Madeline Tosh Light














I went to Anaheim last week and it was beautiful and sunny.
Stopped by a LYS and picked up a few items.
3 Skeins Malabrigo Arroyo and 1 Skein Malabrigo Sock


I finished the project I was working on while I was in CA and cast on Canyonlands Shawl by verybusymonkey














The project that I finished was Gill's Rock by Paula Emons-Fuessle
Lovely pattern.  I will definitely make another.



 I also finished Vanilla Orchid by Ágnes Kutas-Keresztes.  Another awesome pattern.


Still working on The Volcano Shawl (Eyjafjallajökull Shawl by Anna Dalvi)


A few weeks ago I caught the Wollmeise update.
Dornroeschen, Babe /  Golden Pear, Wichtelwalzer



I have not cast on yet......
but a few potential upcoming items......


Ides of March Faroese Shawl KAL by O/C Knitiot Designs - Deby Lake
with Numma Numma the Special in Organic Greens



Color Affection by Veera Välimäki
Using Cascade Heritage in Cotton Candy, Anis and Jade



Toffee by Ágnes Kutas-Keresztes
Not sure of the yarn yet




Saturday, March 9, 2013

Happy March

This year started off crazy.  I signed up for too many SALs and KALs, but it was fun.

The beginning spinning class is over.  It was totally awesome.
The final day was a dye day with natural dyes.


I also finished spinning a few other skeins
Miss Babs Watermelon - Merino Bamboo Silk
Approx 355 yards 3-ply and 91 yards N-ply
It was truly a joy to spin.  I was disappointed with how the 3 ply turned out.  The color was muted/muddy and almost seemed to have a grey hint.  Love the color in the n-ply.  I need more practice with n-ply.  Lesson learned - Should have sampled before plying everything.



For the Southern Cross Fiber semi-solid spin along, I spun Citrus Splash and Lizard in the hopes of making Leftie.  Lizard (top middle) is approx 550 yards 2-ply Polwarth Bombyx Silk.
Citrus Splash is Organic Merino 2-ply Yellow 118 yards, Brown 117 yards, Green 150 yards, Gold 132 yards.   I cast-on Leftie by Martina Behm but the colors are not contrasting as much as I had hoped.  This is in time out while I decide if I want to continue this or do another pattern.



Finally finished (1 of 2) braids of All Spun Up in Down to Earth.  It is a Merino Silk blend 3-ply approx 380 yards.  The 3 ply turned out very soft and squishy.  I used this for a KAL in the Fun Onion group.  We are doing the No Leftovers - Russian Wedding Band Cowl by elen brandt.  Person 1 spins and knits a ring and sends to Person 2.  Person 2 spins and knits a ring and sends to final person 3.  Person 3 spins and knits and keeps final project.  There have been some amazing and very beautiful rings.  This has been such a fun project.






















I cast on Vanilla Orchid by Ágnes Kutas-Keresztes with Fiber Optic Peacock Batik handspun.  Charts A, B and C are completed.


For the CTA SAL I am spinning the Red Rock Haze by Southern Cross Fiber.
First I created fauxlags and divided them in three rows in a gradient order.  I have finished spinning all three and plying.  It is soaking now.  Can't wait to see how it turned out.  Then need to decide what to make.  I believe there is about 285 yards.






I signed up for another KAL.  I planned to knit Pipers Journey with stash....
I was on the fence about order Quince and Co yarn.  There have been so many great comments about it, and I would love to try it, but my stash is really out of control.  Then Quince & Co offered a discount that if you ordered 3 skeins of yarn and the Scarves Etc. ebook they would give you a tote for free.  There are several awesome patterns in the Scarves Etc. ebook.  My only wish is that they were in my Ravelry library.  Well, I couldn't decide between Twig and Sorbet, so I ordered both.  They are so super squishy and awesome and very reasonably priced. 

Well, instead of casting on Pipers Journey, I ended up casting on Gills Rock.  Both patterns are by Paula Emons-Fuessle.  BUT, I did cast on Gills Rock with Stash.  Using Sheepy Time Knits Sparkle Feet in Mulled Wine.


 It seems I went on a bit of a binge.  I also ordered Malabrigo Arroyo and Cascade Heritage Silk.
The Madeline Tosh light is special.  I made a shawl as a swap years ago and loved it.  It was so hard to part with.  When I saw it in the shop, I couldn't resist.  I think about how beautiful that shawl was all the time.  Very Busy Monkey has several shawl patterns that are awesome.  Right now I am leaning towards Bryce Canyon.




I took a quilting class.  The class is for making picture quilts.  the teacher was awesome and had several beautiful quilts, wall hangings and photos.  We made an 8x10 photo size of the Flat Irons.  It was pretty gratifying to (almost) finish a project in one day.


The quilters group meets approximately every 6 weeks and they also do a challenge.  The January challenge was shirtings.  You receive Six fabrics that are 1/2 yard each.  The challenge is to make something with it.  I mad a crib size throw. I needed to add a tiny bit of white (less then 1/4 yard.)  If I were more talented, I may have been able to make it without the additional fabric.  Lesson learned - On the sails, I tried a technique and my measurements were off a bit.  So the points on the sail are not as pointy as I would like.  I did buy Fabric for the back (the navy blue of the water).  Just need to quilt it together.