Spin A Yarn for Ewe

I can't believe it is Friday already. Where did the week go?

I finally cast on for my Raven. I was having a moment after finishing the Secret of the Stole where nothing sounded good to knit. I mean even as much as I wanted to start this, I just couldn't make myself cast on. So the whole week I worked on Icarus, which I love by the way,

as the knitting is easy and the yarn so much thicker then lace weight and I just love the colors. Then yesterday I just felt like it was time.

I have been using the written instructions so far as the charts were just not making sense last night but I think I have finally figured them out. It was this pesky CENTER stitch that had to be worked before repeating the section again and my brain was just not getting it. Maybe it was the glass of wine that caused it but I think we are on track now. I still might just stick with the written instructions as flipping back between 2 charts on the same row is really a pain too. Too bad as I really love charts, maybe I can get them on a legal sheet with some fancy cutting and pasting on my part. Any other tricks out there for dealing with 2 charts on the same row so there is not so much shuffling of papers?

Once this shawl gets big enough to see some real progress I will try to get a good photo as the yarn really is looking nice.

I finally got some fairly descent pictures of this stole. It is SOOOO long it is really hard to photograph but I did my best.



Here is me struggling to get a shot of the whole thing. It was useless and I gave up after many failed attempts.


Here is the "artsy" shot which I love because it really shows of the colors in the yarn which is just beautiful.


Pattern: Secret of the Stole
Yarn: Zephyr custom dyed by Heather at Sereknity in Pebbles in the Sand (She doesn't have any up but maybe if you asked nice she would do some for you! It is so worth asking because the colors she does are amazing.)
Needles: Knit Picks Options in size 4
Beads: I used some I had laying around that matched the yarn perfectly and add just a touch of sparkle
Size: 90" x 17" I probably could of blocked it wider and not as long but I like wearing it better this way.

This was a fun "secret" project. I was able to keep up, key for me, and the pattern was not overly crazy which I liked and the final project is something totally wearable.

Do you ever have a yarn that seems to haunt you? The one that just doesn't seem to work no matter what you do? I have had this 6oz skein of zephyr that has been doing that to me. I originally wound it off my cone for the Halloween Mystery Shawl. I wanted it red, it came out orangey. I over dyed it with some purple, better but not my favorite. I started the Halloween shawl and soon became frustrated with the pattern and ripped it out. There it sat, 6oz of zephyr (which I love) in a color I was ho-hum about and no pattern. I know there are tons of shawl patterns I could of used it for but I wanted something that would come close to using this much yardage. Then came Irtfa'a. I watched this pattern as she knit it up and loved it. I couldn't wait for it to come out and bought it that very day. I also knew that the Laci yarn from Blue Moon was WAY more then I wanted to spend. Then the light bulb moment hit. I could over dye the zephyr from the Halloween disaster and maybe get something close to the Raven Laci.

So here is the before and yes those are white spots in the yarn form the original dye disaster.


Now here is what I have from the trip back to the dye pot.


I like it so much better and know that it will make a great Raven. I am renaming the pattern as Irtfa'a is too hard to for me say and spell and I know this will be a project I will talk about often. It is different from the BMFA Laci but I like it better for me as I almost NEVER wear black. I know weird but true.

So now that the Secret of the Stole and Hidcote are both done I am free to start on this and I can not wait. Secret of the Stole photos will have to wait as I haven't had a chance to block it, but hopefully I can get it done today.

First off I want to say thank you to everyone who has said such nice things about my Hidcote Garden Shawl. I makes me feel so great to know that other knitters like it. I mean my family gets the amount of work that goes into it but hearing from other knitters who really KNOW how much work went into it makes it even more special, so thanks.

I have to say I have been on a self-imposed yarn diet. Not that I don't like buying yarn as much as the rest of you but other things just have to come first right now and I do have stash I can use. So when my birthday rolled around and I got some money I decided to spend some of it on what I wanted. I wanted to get lace yarn and preferably nothing I had ever used before. This led to much searching on Ravelry for new stuff and I was surprised at how many yarns I had not heard of or even seen before. My favorite has to be the Oceanwind Knits.



This is Suri Alpaca/Silk and is really, really soft with a slight halo to it. The color is called Indigo but it has so many subtle shades to it. I am totally in love with this yarn and resisted ordering more as soon as it arrived.

The next was Whisper from Aurora Yarns.



This is 100% merino and very soft also. It has a tight twist to it and I am curious to see how it knits up. The skeins are huge at 1362 yards so I have tons of choices on what to do with this one. Both of these came from a new shop to me called Knitty Noddy and the customer service was great. I will for sure shop here again.

The last yarn I splurged on was from Funky Carolina.



This is also a 100% merino and about 1200 yards. The colorway is called Carolina and is beautiful and vibrant in person. The cool thing is she sent a sample skein of her sock yarn, which is really nice for you sock yarn addicts out there. I love extra goodies.

I also made one last BIG purchase that I could not resist. It is from Wooly Wonka Fibers and it is her year long lace club, A Change in Seasons. I had been so tempted by the only other lace club I had heard of but the price just kept holding me back. This one is less PLUS the designers are all people I love so I figured how could I go wrong. Pressies all year, what a bonus.

I really do love this shawl.







Now back to the Secret of the Stole. I am working on clue 7 of 8. So this means by the week after Thanksgiving I should be done with it too.

It is finally done and blocking. I volunteered today before I realized I was going to be done with this so blocking just happened but it looks great! No outdoor shots until tomorrow but I already know this is one of my favorite pieces ever. The pattern is well written and it looks great.

You can click on any of these for bigger ones or the whole thing not cut off.

Here it is pre-blocking and even then it was big.



One of those cool blocking shots I always see.



Blocked. Pretty severely but I was still shy of the measurements but not by much, the finished size is supposed to be 90" x 44".

Pattern: Hidcote Garden Shawl By Miriam Felton
Yarn: Zephyr dyed by me
Needles: KnitPicks Options (my favorite) in size 4
Size: 87" x 40"

I love it. It was so worth the weeks of work and really I never got tired of it until I could see the end. The pattern changes to something new just as you are about to say, "no more of ..." Guess you are all going to have to put up with a few more photos of it as I love showing it off.

I am so excited. Hidcote is only half a row and then the BO. I can not wait to see it blocking. Pictures I promise.

I have been knitting a ton lately and mostly because I want to finish one of the 3 knits I have going. I mean Hidcote, lets face it, has been on the needles FOREVER it feels like and I really want to get it done. Here it is one last time before I block it.

I mean I only have 13 rows plus the BO but that is still a ton of hours left so I have started taking it along with me even if I only get half a row done at a time it is still progress. I really want this done this week.

The project taking me away from this is the Secret of the Stole. I really like knitting the clues as they come out so I have been trying to get each one done over the weekend. Of course this clue was longer then any others we have had so far. Plus we had our annual Birthday celebration since it is mine, my brother's and my honey's birthdays all with in a 12 day stretch, which did take up some precious knitting time but it is now done through clue 6.

I have to say this is getting mighty hard to photograph the whole thing so this is the best I can do without standing on the bed.

Now back to work on Hidcote.

New yarn and I am totally in love.

I really don't think my photo does it justice (the original is better) and if you could feel it you would swoon. It is 100% merino from the Yarn Chef. I love the color and the name Calm seemed fitting as I bought it after the fires. It was a treat for me since it was not exactly cheap but I love it so much that it makes it worth it in my mind.

Now I just have to get to knitting so I can justify using it. Also the shopping bug has hit since the lace group at Ravelry has put up a thread about favorite lace yarns and that has opened my eyes up to some other great looking yarn. Like this and this. I mean look at that Boysenberry color. Yikes, I need to step away from the computer or maybe I should satisfy the bug with another cone zephyr since it is such a great deal at $40.50 for 5040 yards. Or maybe I should just use what I have.

I just got this great package from Gina. I am not sure how she knew but my birthday is today so she sent me a package. It was a great surprise. See, this is one of THOSE birthdays. The kind with a 0 at the end and in my case I have been trying to deny that it was coming all year. I am not sure why but something about it has just been hard for me to get over. This package sure helped. Look at all the great stuff.



We have handspun yarn from Gina herself.

This stuff is unbelievably soft with that beautiful angora halo.

Plus that great lace book

had this inside.

Plus there was this

and this

and this cute little guy. Which I should be able to suffer through a sock this size.


And there was fiber of the angora/lambswool kind just begging to be spun. She must be trying to tempt me back to my wheel which has been sorely neglected. Plus there was linen and a pattern to make some hand towels and other patterns as well.

She really spoiled me and I LOVED every minute of it. It really makes turning 40 easier.