Purple People

Some time ago, my sister asked me for a shawl. Not just any shawl. She wanted a "Perfect Spring Shawl" for her own. (It is a version of the My Blue Jeans Shawl which was modified by the ever creative Elisa. Thanks Elisa! If you want to make one from Dream in Color Smooshy you can find my counts here on Ravelry. )

If you have been reading for a while, you'll know this is the seventh time I've made one of these!

I warn you, making them is addictive! They are quick, easy, and lovely. This one is done in Dream in Color Smooshy's colorway Pansy Go Lightly. There are subtle color variations of blues and greens which don't show up as well as the dominant purple. I'm happy to say she loved it.

The other purple thing finished is the Wheelchair Wrap. Why purple? I wanted to use Lion Brand's Pound of Love for its softness and washability. I did not, however, want it to look like a baby item. It is meant to be worn by an adult after all... It turned out that my stitch gauge changed so that there is enough extra material to actually wrap the front or pin it closed. A happy accident. The row gauge came out right on the money.
This pattern is a good one for quick gift or charity crochet.

Friday Faces

Faces of the painted variety that is...Actually those are some samples that I painted on the back of my hand/arm. Usually Friday nights are reserved for fun of the yarn variety, but who could resist the call of a good friend for help with her 6 year-old's birthday party? I ended up face painting.

Face painting is fun, especially when you let the little people describe what they want. They get so excited and have clear opinions. The birthday boy had a skull and cross bones on one cheek and a snake on the other. I think my favorite of the night was the girl who wanted to world on her cheek. Every time I saw her after that I caught myself singing "We Are the World". Nearby adults burst out laughing when they made the connection. The kids thought we were crazy.

One little guy kept coming back for more painting. When I cut him off he had a snake on one cheek, an apple on his forehead, a cloud and stars on the other cheek, a skull/ghost on one hand, and a heart on the other. I think he was all of three years old! LOL

My biggest challenge of the night was another three-year-old who was sucking on a ring pop while I tried to paint butterflies on her cheek. Did you ever notice how much the cheeks move when the mouth is sucking? Yeah, not so easy that one!

I thought I'd make it to stitch night after the party for some fun of the yarn variety. Nope. The party that was to end at 8pm went until 9pm. No yarn for me, but the reward of many smiling children was worth it!

Charitable Thoughts

Have you read any of the Debbie Macomber books about Blossom Street? They have been on my "some day I'll read those" list for a while because most of them take place in and around a knitting store called "A Good Yarn". The side effect of reading these novels is wanting to stitch along with the characters.

I have read the books out of order, so in finishing up the series I'm actually reading book three Back on Blossom Street where the characters are making lace prayer shawls.

Now, I've made a few of these in the past, but not recently. In fact I haven't done any charity stitching in a while until I made this the other day:



Divine Hat by Rheatheylia
Free pattern found HERE and Ravelry pics HERE

It will go into the Chemo Cap stash where they collect until I think there are enough for a reasonable sized donation. By the way, if you crochet, this is a fun and easy pattern. I enjoyed making it and will likely make a few more some time.

But, back to the topic: Prayer Shawls. So, where does one begin to look for a new pattern? Ravelry of course! A quick search for worsted weight, free, crochet, and shawl turned up this:

I realize it doesn't look like much laid out flat; however, it is a clever design (pattern). It is short so that it can easily be worn in bed or a wheel chair, has a pretty decorative edge, and because of its shape will sit on the shoulders with little sliding. There is a great pic on Ravelry (here) showing it being worn. I imagine this being a restful pattern to stitch given its elegant simplicity. It should work up quickly once I make a trip to the yarn store. (No, really. I don't have enough yarn in this weight living in the stash to make the shawl!)

So, two afghans and a shawl on the hook it will be.

A Shopping We Will Go...Baa

Tis the season for Sheep and Wool Festivals. In the last month, I've been to two. The mission this year was to acquire a Golding Spindle... Check

.80 ounces - spins like a dream

Try some Bossies...Check

A matched set of minis in cherry (.46 ounces each) and a midi in rosewood (1.46 ounces?) Yummy!

And see how many different types/blends of spinning fiber I could acquire...Check

Since I haven't been spinning long, I don't know what I like. Only one way to find out, right?

Here's what I bought:

1. Shetland, Falkland, and a 3.5 oz braid of three colors of Corriedale from Purple Fleece
2. Merino/Tencel 70/30 in purple from The Fiber Fetish
3. Kid mohair/Cormo 50/50 from Buckwheat Bridge Angoras
4. Alpaca/BFL 50/50 from Moon Shadow Designs (sorry, no web site)
5. Border Leicester from Riverslea Farm
6. Corriedale from The Sheep Shed
7. Romney from Foxhill Farm Fibers & Sheep (sorry, no web site)
8. Merino/Silk 80/20 from Hampden Hills Alpacas
9. Coopersworth - pin drafted from Turtle Creek Farm (sorry, no web site)

And here's what I already had:

1. Undyed Blue Faced Leicester from Blarney Yarn
2. Merino from Snokist Farm Girl (4 oz each of red, purple, and blue) and two more in peacock and Navy from the Fiber Studio
3. Handpainted Superwash Merino from Zebisis Designs
4. Colonial that was primarily purple and streaked with other colors from Yarn to Spin
5. More of the Colonial in number 4 in brown shot through with red, blue, yellow etc. and some Merino in greys from Elegant Ewe

I'm thinking that I am well stocked for a while! This is the entire stash. Some is partially spun and one is almost completely spun (brown merino). Now to find a good place to store it all...

It's all His Fault (THANKS!)

At 8am my phone rang and I was greeted with the question, "So, what are your plans for this morning?"

Hmmmm, I thought, he needs or wants something...

Turned out I was right. His lunch was sitting on the dining room table about 1/2 mile from my house. Since we live so close I have keys to their house and they have keys to mine. Getting the picture?

You guessed it. Off I went to run some errands, stop by the house, and then drive about 25 mins., through road construction, to my friend's work. He was very happy to avoid buying take out.

Now, I could have gone home at this point. But, I am on vacation. That's no fun. Being half way to a yarn store I rarely visit was enough incentive to keep on trucking north. After all, I need a niddy noddy. I've spun enough to be tired of using my forearm or the back of a chair. That's a good enough reason, right? (Say right!)

The trip was a definite success. See?

I've never seen this type of niddy noddy before. It makes a two foot skein and look...
It comes apart into two flat pieces! Perfect for traveling with a spindle. So clever.

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Um, while I was there, I may have found some more top like the purple Colonial I showed you on Tuesday.

The one on the left is more of the Colonial top and the one on the right is Merino. Both are four ounces of loveliness. The price on all three was just too good to resist. The top was actually less than what I paid for the first 4oz on-line!

So, to my early morning caller... It is all your fault, thanks!

False Faroese Fantastic!

If you guessed that the Kauni was a shawl, you were right! The Mock Faroese Shawl by Lily Chin to be exact. Come to think of it this is the same pattern on which I used Noro for the first time. Must be good luck!

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Here the shawl is blocking with the Wool Inspector looking on. She actually had to be convinced to leave this one alone as the crinkle of the plastic under the towels got her all excited. Thank goodness for pins holding it all down! It received her seal of approval. After drying...LOVE!

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There is always that moment when you first put on something you have made and pray that it will be as wonderful as you imagined. Larger than the first, beautiful drape, the right colors to make you look good. Sigh. No disappointments here!
It is hard to see, but the first section is a deep purple, followed by a black and then a light gray. As the colors progressed the black and purple became lighter/more vibrant and the gray deepened. Here I thought there were just three colors when I picked it out!
Now, back to the baby blanket (and of course some more spinning). =-)

Kauni Konvert (and spinning)

See? Even though I have been bitten hard by the spinning bug, I still crochet.This is fresh from a soak and ready for blocking. You'll get to see it tomorrow if the rain stops so that I can take some pics. This Kauni is the ET colorway of blacks, greys, and purples. I just love it. When I purchased it two weeks ago it was set aside. Motivation to finish the baby blanket. Is the blankie done? NOPE. What changed? I need to do the border on the blanket and that just didn't fit with my weekend away. However, a full skein of Kauni, I figured, would be enough to keep me busy. Um, well, I finished this item on Sunday evening and had to switch off to spinning (poor me - LOL).

Speaking of spinning... My spindle collection has grown to five. The two newest are perched atop that lovely superwash merino roving. I bought one spindle from Zebisis and received two! WOOT! The one on the left is Dichroic/Murano Style Glass (the bonus) and the one on the right is Empire Jasper. I haunted her Etsy shop for a good week before clicking "buy" on that beauty. I have an affection for stone, and just could not resist any longer! The Jasper is now busy spinning up that merino.The glass one was pressed into service almost immediately to ply the two cops of lace weight from my True Creations spindle. Since I don't have a lazy kate and did not have a good experience with plying from center pull balls, I tried this:

The two toilet paper rolls were threaded onto the handle of my broom and resistance was provided by laying it on the slick wooden surface of my coffee table. It worked pretty well! I didn't have to stop and untwist the singles and when pausing just snugged up the singles and set down the spindle. By the next time I do this I'll have put together some type of Kate.

And here's where the spindle went next. This is Colonial top that I got on sale from Yarn to Spin. I was curious to see what the striping of the colors would do when spun, and also hadn't tried this fiber before. Two very good reasons to give it a go! Well, the fact that it is purple, blue and red didn't hurt either. The fiber is actually much darker and quite vibrant. Once I got the hang of the less slippery Colonial, it has been a dream to work.

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Any ideas what the finished Colonial would be good for making?