A more dignified image

Now that the stole has dried, I realized that it needed a far more dignified photograph. Back I go now to knitting the Mericash sweater.

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.

Spinning Away

The past few evenings I have been spinning up some Leicester Longwool and Alpaca that I dyed up a few weeks ago. It is hot and humid here in New England and sitting at my wheel is the coolest area in my living room. Of course, it doesn't hurt that my wheel is in the direct path of the central fan that we have in our apartment.


I thought that I would also answer some questions that people have posed regarding my MS3. No, I didn't dye that yarn. It is a yarn from Great Adirondack Yarns called Cobwebs (80% alpaca and 20% silk) in the colorway Pheasant. I am using size 4 needles on it and the beads came from a little bead shop up in Stowe, VT. The beads go perfectly with the yarn. I must have a good memory for color since I didn't have the yarn with me when I picked out the beads. As to the condition of my kitchen sink - we rent our apartment and I am very careful when dyeing and rinsing out my wool. Fortunately, the kitchen sink is stainless steel. The kitchen has no evidence of dyeing but you should see my collection of old towels!

Today I head off for the western part of MA to babysit my sister's house and Bull Mastiff. I am really looking forward to knitting and spinning beside the pool with few or no mosquitoes. Even better, her house has air conditioning!!

So Many Colors!!

Well, the beautiful spring-like weather has left my part of the country. But, I was able to get a lot of dyeing in while it was here, as you can see. As I write this, the alpaca to be plied with the dark blue/green roving and the red/orange roving are in the dye pot. All the other fibers are going to be part of a yarn I will probably call Summer Garden as these are the colors currently blooming in the garden.

On the MS3 front - I am 3/4 of the way through chart E. This is the biggest piece of the shawl that I have worked where the design is the same and will continue to be so through chart F. At this point, I tend to prefer the constant changing of motifs from the other clues. Maybe my opinion will change after chart F.

To Bead or Not to Bead

Today has been a great fiber day thus far.

First, I worked on clue #4 of my MS3. At this point in the work, the designer had stopped adding beads to the project. I can understand the rationale that the beads may be a little hard to lean back on when wearing the stole. However, the beads are so small and we have all gone through a little discomfort at times just to look fabulous. So, I figured out a way to work some beads into the design for clue#4. I love knitting with beads and I really didn't want to stop.

Second, I put some rambouillet roving into the dye pans with plums, royal blue, mustard, and celery colors. Tomorrow I will dye the corresponding alpaca for the second ply with the plums/royal dyes mixed together. I may also dye some blue faced leicester roving that I have. That one may be with some reds, nutmeg, etc. This week I got some dyes from Prochem. Now, I am having a great time playing with the new colors that I picked out.

Third, now I am going through a fleece of leicester longwool that I have to pick out the uvm (unidentified vegetable matter) and cleaning it so I can dye it later. These next few days are going to be relatively humidity free and will be perfect for drying fleece.

Back I go to get a batch of wool out of the kitchen sink where it has been soaking while I have been blogging.