Much Better!

This is the Japanese Garden Shawl, by Wendy Johnson.  The pattern is being sold as a  fund-raiser, proceeds going to the Red Cross for Japanese earthquake/tsunami relief.  I should check again, but if memory serves me correctly - she had raised over $4,000 when last I checked.  I think the effort lasts through the end of the month.  So....if you are so inclined, you know what to do...... 

It was a quick and enjoyable project.  Yarn is Cascade Heritage sock yarn on size 5 needle.  I used less than one full skein.  That's usually the way when I have more than one skein available.  lol. 

My postman brought only disappointment yesterday, so I started a spinning project.  Speaking or which .....I have a spinning goodie coming in the mail soon.  Nope, not more fiber this time!  It comes courtesy of the hubbs - he's so supportive of all my "habits"!  

I was right....

I ran out of yarn!  With 2 rows (and the cast off) left to complete.

Not sure that you can see, (some of what you see there is shadow) but the very bottom edging is out of a dark charcoal.  I didn't like any of the near color choices, so went with the dark neutral.  Perhaps you can see it better in this photo:

Seems I am always throwing items on the neighbor's fence for photos.  He's never asked, but I bet he wonders about my sanity.  I was spinning out on my patio the other day, and my other next door neighbor finally came over and asked what I was doing.  I had to laugh, as her nearly grown sons had been spending a great deal of time in their backyard, but gazing over into mine.  They finally sent mom over to find out what was going on. 

Catchn up

Wow - it's been awhile.  Where do the days - weeks go?  So, this will be a catch-up post.

First off, I think we are pretty much over the nasty bug that we all shared.  Hubby was last to get it, but seemed to have a fairly short-lived version, when compared to what both me and my mom endured.  During the first few days of my illness, I managed to break an older dental crown.  Due to coughing, I chose to wait out a couple of weeks before getting dental work started.  YIKES - it's been years since I have had a crown put on, and now I remember how much I hate the process.  I really like my dentist, but just hate being captive and out of control.  I always have those "I want to swallow NOW!!" moments.  And - thanks goodness we have good dental insurance. I was blown away by the cost!!

DH has started planting garden (peas, onions, lettuce, radishes,) and probably more are in the ground.  Due to horrible rains last year, our garden was pretty much a waste.  We are hoping for a better crop this year.  It's a lot of work, for no gain......kind of a downer last  year.

And on the knitting scene, I've been busy.  A pair of plain jane socks were recently completed. I really enjoyed knitting these with my new 2.25mm Signature DPNS.  I am a total fan!

A couple of the gals in my knitting group just purchased the new Signature circulars, and I am anxious to hear how they like them. 

 I completed the Flamboyan shawl by Stephen West.  It's knit out the 2 colors of my handspun, shown in the previous post.  I really like it, now that it's finished.  It looks really nice draped over one shoulder with the ties handing down either side on the other side.  Sorry - no personal modeling shot.  If you could see my hair you would knot why!  LOL  The fence is much better looking than am I!  ;)  It's very soft and drapey fabric, so anyway, color me happy with this one!

And currently, I am nearing the edge of a shawl/shawlette knit out of this handspun:

BG was helping me "thwack" it during the finished process and declared it to be rainbow yarn, so I just had to take a rainbow photo......

I am enjoying knitting with it.  I'm making a Traveling Woman shawlette, starting with the green and ending the bottom edge with the dark wine color.  I would bet my last dollar that I am going to run out of  yarn though.  My yarn meter malfunctioned, so I didn't know what yardage I had.  I added quite a few pattern repeats, as I wanted to use the entire skein of yarn, so.....I'm afraid I misjudged.  Oh well - I will manage to use every yard of this yarn, which was my desire.  I think I will finish the very edge with a bit of Knitpicks Pallette.  I have all those little color samples, if you will remember, so picking out the exact color will be easy.  I think there are a couple of good matches, so I'll be placing a small knitpicks order soon. Hopefully it won't be too noticeable.

And some stash enhancement....

  8oz of IntoTheWhirled Polwarth fiber.  Quercus is the colorway name.  Nice!  My comfort colors.

And for some rainy day, when a little color is needed:

Again, IntoTheWhirled fiber.  This time SW BFL, in "Mandarin" colorway.  This colorway was inspired by a photo of a beautiful Mandarin duck.

So, Happy Spinning, Knitting, Crocheting, Quilting, Sewing, Baking, Gardening, Reading or whatever makes your heart sing.....talk to you later!  (In the reading category, I've recently discovered the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher.  Fun escapism!!)
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