5 Point Money Crisis Hats

This hat was born from my watching too many shows on the finance channels. Many of the pundits were offering 5 ideas to get us through the current crisis. Well, this hat is my answer to them.
There is plenty of warmth and color to this hat. The hat starts with a thick rolled brim and is topped with a 5 point striped area and a couple of squiggles tied into a knot. Most of the yarn in this hat was dyed and spun by myself. The hat was hand knit and then fulled (slightly felted). Materials – wool, alpaca, mohair, some metallics and synthetic yarns may have made their way in.

Now, I am off to knit a couple of strips to finish off a throw for the living room. It is amazing how quickly the weather has cooled down!!

Spinning a Labor Day Weekend of Love

Well, I was busy this past Labor Day Weekend with spinning, dyeing and knitting. I made headway on two knitting and two needlepoint projects as well as finished the Mericash sweater. that yarn is a dream to work with - 20% cashmere and the rest an extrafine merino. Pattern for this little sweater is available from Punta del Este Yarns.





Spinning and dyeing wise - I finished the Spicy Cantaloupe yarn and started spinning another batch as yet unnamed - blues, lavender, greens, etc. Yesterday I dyed two pans of blue faced leicester - one in reds/oranges and the other dark/med blues and purples with lime green. This evening I will continue with the spinning as I watch both the US Open Women's quarterfinal and the a couple of other things. I love it when my dh is not around so I can easily switch between programs during the commercials!

Mystery 3 is finally done!!!

You know that you live in a small place when the only place you can lay out your blocked stole is on your car! I must have a thing for green as you can see from the photo.



I loved working on this stole and will gladly do another lace project. Since the fiber is so fine, it is perfect for summer early morning knitting. People will have a chance to see my stole at both Stitches East and Rhinebeck this fall. It will either be displayed or draped over my shoulders while I am at the Great Adirondack Yarn Co. booth at both events.

Although I haven't posted in a while, I have been busy. This morning I started test knitting a little cotton jacket using a new pattern from Glampyre Knits called "Petal". I have had some multi colored Cotton 100 yarn knocking around which I had over dyed in a muted teal. It should work perfectly for this jacket. I have also finished spinning the chestnut colored alpaca as well as 6 skeins of what I call Frosted Leaves. Now I am working on some Spicy Cantaloupe while I watch the US Open.

Birds of a Feather

I have been busy working on Clues 4 & 5 of MS3 - now the Swan Lake Shawl. Now, I understand why the designer suggested black or white for the yarn colors. However, my colorway of Pheasant definitely has a bird theme and has woodsy overtone to it which reminds me of the woods where much of the ballet takes place.

It is also very appropriate that a project with this theme is my first foray into lace knitting. My paternal grandmother was a ballerina in Russia and Latvia in the 20's and she danced in many productions of Swan Lake.

On the other creative front, I have finished spinning the Purple Haze fiber (image to far right) and also finished knitting a sock. Now, I am spinning some fawn colored alpaca into a dk weight yarn (image to immediate right). With the heat and humidity that we have had in MA these past few days, lace knitting, spinning and needlepoint are the only things that I have felt like working on.

I have been thinking more about the idea of a Needlepoint Olympics during next year's summer event airing from China - if the air is clean enough for the athletes. There are so many beautiful Oriental canvases out there to choose from that would be appropriate for the event. Or course, dragons come to mind first. I realize that next year is not one of the dragon. But, I have a magnificent magical looking dragon canvas painted in various tones of red that just might do the trick. Although, considering the size of the canvas, it may be too large to stitch during that short a time frame and still be able to work and sleep. But, I will still keep knocking the idea around.

Things are buzzing along

On the MS3 front, I am within 10 rows of finishing clue 4. During the last few days I have had the pleasure of working on the stole at my sister's house. As you can see from the photo the view is distracting. But, Domino the cat, keeps me honest. The blossom laden bush there is a Rose of Sharon and is hosting a multitude of bees and a few birds swoop in every once in a while.

One nice thing about this part of the clue is that it is a very large piece of the same pattern. So, I am getting a feel of what lace knitting the same pattern on a project would be like. I think, I would like it as well as this stole that has so many different motifs. This would be especially true if I am able to add beads to it.

While I am here I am also spinning up some beautiful reddish fawn colored alpaca. I will have a picture of that the next time.