Fifteen-Flower Wednesday!

Even though I haven't been posting regularly...okay, even though I haven't been posting at all, I'm still making flowers.

There are fifteen of those little beauties there, and more are cut out and safely tucked away in my little sewinig box.

I've been looking through books and magazines for pictures of old hexagon quilts. I'm still torn between setting these edge-to-edge, or putting light-colored hexagons between each flower. I did see a picture of a quilt that used dark setting "stones," so that's a possibility too. I'll do some layouts and take pictures to get a better idea of what I want to do.

As usual, you can pop over to Karen's blog for the links to other flower-makers.

I did some tidying up of my sidebar. I fixed the "ticker" for my 10,000 Hour Challenge and added a new button. Yep, I'm all about challenges lately, therefore the 250 Words a Day Challenge (the button links to the Inkygirl site for writers.) I think the original challenge was for 1000 words a day, but I have to start small! I may be able to bump it up to 500 and then 1000 words, but I'd rather have to do that than to start at 1000 and be so overwhelmed that I quit. A challenge isn't much good if it scares you right out of doing the thing you want to do! I'm working on a short story right now, so 250 words a day makes me feel like I'm making good progress.

At the moment, my biggest challenge seems to be enduring this stinkin' hot weather! What's your challenge du jour?

Start-Over Sunday

Whoops, time slipped away from me there. I find that I really struggle during the summer. July and August find me in a funk, and I have to work my way out of it slowly.

I'm still working on my hexagons for the One-Flower Wednesdays; pictures will be coming this week. I've finished the Tour de Fleece, and though I didn't post in any of the threads on Ravelry, I did get done what I had hoped to.

Where I've really fallen down has been on violin practice, and I'm not sure why, exactly. I was really feeling good about the Challenge, and had been playing every day. Then suddenly...nothing. So I listened to some of my favorite violin pieces on my iPod last night, and I remembered why I want to play the violin.  So I've been playing today, and I'm determined to get some time in every single day.

The daily thing is what really makes a difference, I've found. After five days in a row, I could zip through the scales and etudes I'd been working on with very little effort. I found myself not having to read each and every single note on the page, something my teacher promised me would happen in time. She always likened it to reading words. We don't read by seeing each individual letter in each individual word--our brains have learned that when we see this set of three letters: CAT; we know what it says without having to think about how each letter sounds. As we improve as readers, we can read entire phrases in a glance. And that is what I find is happening as I play. I'm not reading each note--instead I see the phrases in the bars of music, and my muscles play them without my brain having to THINK about it. It's very very cool. And now I'm beginning to understand how professional soloists can play 45-minute long concertos from memory. It's still amazing, but I can see how they have to organize the music to memorize it in blocks instead of individual notes. Kind of like how we might memorize a poem stanza by stanza.

So it doesn't seem like much has been happening at Chez Spingirl, but I have the usual Project Pile going. I'll have pictures up as the week goes on.

Blooming Away!

More flowers!

I've seen so many pretty versions of this. If you look here, you'll find a list of blogs where you can see what other quilters are doing.

Check out the rest of Karen's blog, too--she has a number of great projects going. I'm especially interested in her "Dear Jane" quilt. Why? Oh...well...no special reason...

 As you can see, I'm still going strong!

Now I'm finding that the hardest part is tracing around the plastic template for my sewing lines. I may have been better off using paper piecing after all!

Janet from Quiltsalott isn't doing the SAL as far as I know, but look how beautiful her flowers are! Her blog is one of my favorites. Australian quilters seem to have a different way of using color, and Janet's color sense and workmanship are extraordinary. I suspect the whole color thing has something to do with being able to look out the window and see this (scroll down to the last picture.) Or these. Or this (scroll again!) Honestly, it makes me feel like I live in the Land of Boring Creatures. All I usually see when I look out my window are grackles and sparrows amongst the crabgrass. Anyway, not to be all fangirly, but it's really worth it to read the whole blog from the start. She has everything--great pictures, great quilts, great tutorials, great recipes, even a few squee-worthy baby pictures!

Sometime soon I need to figure out exactly how many hexagon flowers I'll need for a quilt. Then again, maybe it's not something I need to know at the moment! I might be better off just letting the blooms pile up in their basket before I discover that I need 1500 of them (totally made-up number, BTW.) Oh dear. What if I run out of fabric?? (Exit Lisa, laughing hysterically...)

And We're Off!

Saturday marked the start of the Tour de France, and for us Fiberheads, it was also the start of Tour de Fleece. I've had a tough time narrowing down my choices. So much fiber! So little time!

I think I have it figured out, though. On the Jensen wheel is fiber from Rogue Adventures.

It's the Blueberry Cobbler colorway on Bluefaced Leicester. I have two braids, and I'm splitting each one, then spinning and plying them back together.

I'm a little concerned about how well the color sections will match up. I don't think I split the first braid very evenly. But I had a wee brainstorm yesterday evening as I was fretting over it, and realized I could split the second braid into roughly the same thicknesses as I had the first one, and match the fatter part from the first braid to the fatter part of the second braid. The color sections still may not be exact since they're different braids and the sections may be slightly longer or shorter, but I have a feeling that it will be a bit closer if I do it that way. I'm trying to relax and just let it be however it's going to be, but that's not easy! Perfectionism, I haz it. Well, at least in fiber projects. Housekeeping, not so much.

Also for TdF, I'm trying to finish some of the smaller projects on the spindles. I showed a picture of some of those a couple of posts back (and totally gave away my fondness for PINK!!) but I have a few others that I want to get done.

Clockwise from top: Spanish Peacock, Kundert, Sp. Peacock, Trindle, Houndesign, Butterfly Girl

Some of these were fiber samples that I got when I was planning the now-defunct Etsy shop, so I'm not even 100% sure what they all are. So much for my record-keeping skills. I can tell which ones have silk in them, though. I love spinning silk on a spindle. And you can see that I do spin colors other than PINK!!!

I'm in a couple of TdF teams on Ravelry, but I haven't actually posted any pictures there yet. I like having challenges like this--it keeps me focused--but what with the 10K Challenge and the One-flower Wednesday SAL, I'm kind of busy. I think the blog will give me enough "accountability" to keep on track.

Speaking of challenges, off to play violin! See you tomorrow for OFW*!

*One-flower Wednesday

And The Winner Is...

Loredena!! She left a comment on the first post, and I pulled the little slip of paper with her name on it out of the bag just a moment ago. Congratulations, Loredena! You can either email your address to me here (spingirlspins AT gmail DOT com) or PM me on Ravelry.

Thank you to everyone who commented on my new blog. I tried to reply to all the comments, but I may have missed a few, so I apologize--I certainly do read them all!

Onward and upward. I'm going to go play violin for a while, then I think the evening will be spent on girly things. I actually made it out for a haircut today and picked up a bottle of Chardonnay on the way home. I'm going to put on the moisturizing pack my stylist (who is also my sister-in-law) gave me, and do something with my horrible lizardy feet. I went ice skating this morning, and the feet need a nice long soak and some serious balm. While I'm at it, I'll give a plug here for Aubrey's site, Goodies Unlimited. Her "Everything Balm" is terrific stuff, and Aubrey was kind enough to put a little sample in each of the goodie bags we got at Stringtopia in April. My feet will love me for it!

For my readers in the USA, have a safe and cool holiday weekend! To everyone, talk to you later, and thanks for reading!

More Flowers!

Looky what we have here:

Yep, more flowers.

Even though this is supposed to be One-flower Wednesday...

...obviously I'm sort of an overachiever!

They're fun to make, but the best part is choosing the fabrics. I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying that!

I had thought I would sew these using the paper-piecing method, where you cut hexagons out of paper, baste the fabric over them, and whip-stitch them together. I ran off a copy of the size hexagons I wanted (you can find an explanation of paper-piecing and a link to printable hexagons here) and started cutting. After about the fifth hexie, I thought, "Ya know, I could just sew them together," and that was the end of the paper-piecing plan. It's really not hard at all to just sew the pieces, even though there's a set-in corner. That's one of the reasons I love hand piecing--I would never try to sew these on the machine. I'd go bonkers and probably end up sewing through my finger or something. Blood stains on the fabric are just too, too tacky.

I would do the paper thing if I were making really small hexagons. (Mine are finishing to about 7/8" on each straight side.) In fact, I'm doing another quilt using paper-piecing because the pieces are so teensy-weensy. I'll save that for another day.

Last chance to comment for the giveaway! I'll draw a name Friday, and the lovely merino-silk lace yarn will be on its way to a new home!

My New Favorite Video

Ok, maybe I'm a little late with this. Maybe everyone in the whole world except my great-grandma has seen this. (Yeah, so my great-grandma has been gone for a looooong time, but work with me here. And I don't mean "gone" as in "to the grocery store." You get me?)

Anyway. I find this cute, funny, charming, and a whole bunch of other adjectives. It's a masterpiece. (No, it's not Picasso or Monet. I don't mean that kind of masterpiece. Why do you have to be so difficult?)

Even if you've seen it already, my guess is that you can't resist watching it again. And again.

I have to get a video of my dog singing along with the guitar. Maybe it could be the next video to go viral!

Don't forget! Comment. Giveaway. You know what to do. 

The First Few Hours

As of this moment, I've practiced 6.5 hours on the violin this week. An hour a day seems to be the most I've been able to manage, and I have to break it up. After half an hour, my brain feels like mush and I start playing worse and worse. So I put the violin down and go off to do some knitting or spinning. When I come back to it later, I can feel and hear that I'm much better. So apparently my brain can only  handle 30 minutes of new info at a time.

My lovely violin

And that's fine, because my body has to adapt as well. My muscles have to be toned and built up for playing violin just as they would have to be for any kind of sport. Well, maybe not quite as much as, say, a weightlifter or something, but still. And since I've had whiplash on the left side of my neck and I have muscle spasms in the whole "shoulder girdle" (the massage therapist's term for it), I have to proceed slowly. One of the things I really have to think about while I'm playing is keeping my neck and shoulders relaxed. As the pieces become more difficult, I start tensing up and before I know it the muscle just below my left shoulder is burning. So half an hour at a time is plenty for right now.

A Bach piece I'm working on

On the knitting/spinning front, I'm trying to decide which projects I'll work on for Tour de Fleece. I'm not sure how TdF started, but it's where you spin every day that the Tour de France race is going on. You can set goals for yourself--some people want to spin a mile of yarn (which is not as hard as it sounds) and some challenge themselves to use a new fiber or technique. I think I'll focus on getting all the spindle projects done. Last time I counted, I had nine spindles with fiber on them. I've joined a couple of "teams" on Ravelry, so I'll be posting my progress and seeing what everyone else is doing in each team's thread. It's good fun

A few of the prospective TdF spindles

Don't forget about the giveaway. Comments on this post count as a chance to win!

One-Flower Wednesday

So, that whole finishing projects thing. Not doing so well with that. I slipped and started another quilt made of hexagon flowers.

This quilt-along was started by Karen of "Journey of a Quilter". Each Wednesday she posts  pictures of her completed flower blocks. You might notice that she doesn't work only on hexagon flowers--she has a number of other projects going too. She's obviously my kind of gal!

 Here are the guidelines. Mainly, just use hexagons and put your name and blog link on the list at least once a month. I think I can handle that. 

 Although it's called "One-Flower Wednesday", you may have noticed something.

I couldn't stop making the little boogers. I have a couple more cut out and fabrics lined up on the cutting table, waiting their turn. It's a terrific way for me to dive into the stash and work with all of those nineteenth-century reproductions I've been hoarding. Jo Morton and Judie Rothermel are my heroines--I love their repro fabric designs. This kind of quilt gives me a chance to put lots of different fabrics in one quilt, and I can do it without totally destroying my sewing room. That's always a good thing!

I'm changing the rules for the giveaway just a little bit. It actually gives you more chances to win. Just comment on any post (or all of them!) until June 30. Every time you leave a comment, I'll put your name in the hat for a chance to win that beautiful laceweight yarn I showed earlier.

Next time: Some thoughts on the 10,000-Hour Challenge. See you!

Under Construction

I've spent the better part of last week setting up this blog, deciding on a name, and creating the format. I'm sure there will be more changes, but I'm ready to get underway!

My old blog, The Big Finish, was supposedly focused on...well...finishing projects. Specifically, the dozens of knitting, spinning, quilting, cross-stitch, and needlework projects. The plan was that posting to the blog would keep me on track with finishing things instead of starting them. I was also determined to Stop Buying Stuff. Do I even need to tell you how well that worked? Here's a hint--this was the first list of projects I swore I would finish. As you can see, some of those things still remain unfinished. Yeah. That's a little embarrassing.

But, hey!! Sometimes projects you once loved just don't do it for you anymore. You fall out of love with the yarn or fiber or pattern. Or maybe the baby outgrows the planned project because you're so busy working on other things that you totally forget that you have supplies for a hat, two dresses, and a skirt for her. I'm not saying that happened to me. Oh, what the heck. Yes, that's exactly what happened to me.

What's really funny ironic stupid about this is that I was bribing myself with some really gorgeous butter-yellow Panda Silk sock yarn. I thought that surely I'd be so anxious to knit with it that I would whip right through my list and happily cast on pretty yellow socks, free from the pressure and angst of all those unfinished things piled around my chair. But no. The yarn languishes in the sock yarn drawer, sadly untouched.*

Obviously, I can't even bribe myself to finish something once I'm no longer feeling the love. So while I still have a list of UnFinished Objects in the notebook beside my chair, which, by the way, is up to something like 72 items, I'm just not going to pressure myself to finish everything before I start something new. There's really no point, and it actually is counter-productive for me. I need to spin up a few ounces of silk or merino or BFL now and then. Or I need to whip out a pair of mitts to give away. It makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something and lets me go back to the acre of handquilting I've been plodding through with a new spring in my step. Or a new twinkle in my thimble. Or something like that.

Besides the spinning, knitting, needlework, etc. that I love, I'm also a writer and a wanna-be violinist. (I would call myself a just plain violinist, but somehow I can't square that with someone who's just starting Suzuki Book 4. Which is the book that you would be working on when you're about...oh...6 years old if you were a real violinist.) BUT--I am starting a 10,000 Hour Challenge, which gives me a pretty good goal to shoot for. A bit daunting, yes, but what do I have to lose?

To celebrate both the start of my new blog and my new goals, I'm doing a giveaway. Up for grabs is this gorgeous skein of 80/20 merino/silk laceweight yarn (1300 yards) in a soft denim blue from Fearless Fibers on Etsy.

You can enter by leaving a comment on this post by June 30, and on July 1 I'll do the drawing. Even if you're not into knitting lace, you can sell it or trade it or do whatever you want with it.

*Actually, I was going to make the yellow yarn the giveaway prize, until I discovered that I had sold it from my stash on Ravelry. I don't know what has more meaning--the fact that I sold it or the fact that I forgot I sold it.

New Blog

I've moved on from the original premise of this blog, so I'm in the process of building a new one. Not much content yet, but check back!

SpingirlSpins.com

Thanks!!

On Sale!!

Hey, yeah...so it's been a while...

This is a quick post to say that I've decided to close my Etsy shop for a while. I've marked everything down by at least 15%, so take a look at the remaining yarns and fibers.


The shop is officially closed. Thanks, everyone!

More later. Really.

Morning Has Broken...Me

Anyone who knows me knows that I am NOT a morning person. I've tried, really I have. I've been told that you can get used to getting up early if you do it long enough, but I figure at this stage of life, it ain't gonna happen. I mean, there were twelve years of getting up early for school, then a couple of years of getting up early for a job, then a brief moment (about 15 months) after marriage when I could indulge my sluggy self and sleep as late as I wanted, followed by infant/toddler/preschooler times two (which meant not sleeping a whole night through PLUS early mornings for a few years), then getting up early to get them off to school, then seven years driving a school bus. Trust me--if becoming a morning person depended only on getting up early long enough, I'd beat even the early bird to the worm. But the truth is that the last day of getting up at 5:30 to drive the bus was every bit as horrible as the first day. After I left that job, I scored a job with extremely flexible hours and immediately slumped back into slug mode.

But recently, I've been getting up early (for me, anyway) for the temp job with the Census Bureau. And, ya know, it wasn't that bad. Sure, that hideous noise of the cell phone alarm going off in my ear was totally obnoxious, but I changed the sound to a "perkier" one that doesn't make me want to hurl the phone against the wall (fortunately, my fast-twitch muscles take even longer to wake up than the rest of me. If I even have fast-twitch muscles, that is.) If I got up right away instead of mashing the snooze button, I discovered that I was relatively alert and not totally dying. I can't imagine why things would have changed. Maybe it has something to do with getting older, or maybe it's just that 7:30 feels almost like midday after seven years of 5:30 wake-ups. Whatever, I decided that I would try getting up at 7:30 every day, at least for this week, and see how it went.

Well. It's now about 3:30. I have done the dishes, washed sheets, blocked the Swallowtail Shawl that I finished last night (yes! A finish! Actually one of two!!), planted marigolds, beans, watermelons, and rosemary, potted up the basil and oregano, washed and blocked a sweater front, done some Bible study, combed some of the Border Leicester fleece I bought a couple of months ago, and made yogurt. Oh, yeah, and I've knitted a little too.

This is astounding. Of course, I'm very tired right now and will probably need to take a little nappy-poo shortly, but I'm feeling mighty virtuous at the moment. Think of all the projects I may be able to get done! I do hope this lasts.

I'm a Little Embarrassed

Yeah, two months since the last post. You might think that I've been insanely busy and that's why I haven't posted, but it's not really true. I have been working a temp job with the Census Bureau, but even though the part-time hours do make me tired (stoopid fibromyalgia) that's not my excuse for not writing. I actually have none--it's been laziness and nothing more.

I have been knitting and quilting, though! I am winding up a Big Stinkin' Project, so I'm tickled pink about that. I put the binding on a quilt yesterday and started stitching it down by hand, so a couple more hours and it will be DONE! Now guess how long it's been a WIP. Go on, take a guess...dum dee dum dee dum...ready? I started this quilt in 1994. Yeah. That's pretty bad, huh? Wanna know something worse? It's not my oldest WIP.

But I have (sort of) redeemed myself with the sweater that I'm finishing. It's a Central Park Hoodie (yeah, I'm a lemming. Shut up.) There are almost 3500 of these sweaters listed on the project pages of Ravelry. Who knows how many more are being made by knitters like myself who are too lazy busy to post pictures.

Some people refuse to knit something that's being made or has been made by everybody and her sister, but there's usually a reason why a pattern becomes insanely popular. Now that I've made one (ok, almost made one) I see the appeal. It's cute. It's easy. It fits well. It doesn't take an insane amount of yarn, and you can easily change it up by leaving the hood off and knitting a collar instead. It's easy. It went fast. Did I mention that it's easy? If I should decide that I want to make one for somebody, like for an anniversary gift or something, it won't take forever. Not that I'm thinking about anniversary gifts or anything.  Just sayin'.

Anyway, all that's left is the side seams and crocheting button loops. I might even leave the button loops off, but I'll decide that when I get the sides sewn up.

So check back in a few days. I may actually have finished project pictures!! Astounding!

It's Gonna Be One of Those Weeks

1. I found out last night that my driver's license expired 12 days ago.
2. I had to buy a pair of jeans and a top yesterday because nothing I own fits me anymore.
3. I turned over in bed last night and my neck locked up. Again. Which means no knitting, spinning, or pretty much anything else.
4. It also means a trip to the Evil Massage Therapist.
5. Hot flashes.

Why I Love Ravelry

Ok, this is only one reason, but it's a really good one. Last week I started a shawl with a skein of Socks That Rock mill ends that I bought at Ball and Skein, a shop in Germantown OH that I finally visited recently. (Lots of gorgeous yarns and very cool people hang out there!) The shawl pattern is "198 Yards of Heaven" and although it calls for worsted weight, it's a pattern that works in just about any weight. And you can just keep knitting until it's the size you like, which is what I did. Unfortunately, though, it soon became clear that I would need more of the same yarn. What to do, what to do?? Ravelry to the rescue! I hopped on, pulled up the yarn page, typed "STR" in the search box, and voila! Thousands and thousands of skeins of STR in stashes everywhere. I narrowed the search to those for sale, and halfway through the fifth page, there was my yarn! I hadn't known the name of the colorway, but discovered that it's "Sugar Plum." One message to the seller, one message back, a quick side trip to Paypal, and my new yarn is making its way to me as I speak. Er, type.

And tonight, I pulled out another shawl to finish--one that only needed fringe cut and looped on. (Yes, it was a single evening's worth of work that I postponed for some strange reason. Remember the long-unfinished scarf that only required 7 rows to be done? Yeah, exactly like that.)  A couple of episodes of "Mythbusters" later, and I was almost done. Only...I ran out of the Zen ribbon yarn I was using. And it's discontinued. What to do, what to do?

You already know. I'm just waiting on a message.

Ravelry rocks. Seriously.

Coming Out of the Hole

"The Hole" would be the Ravelympics. It took up most of my time the past couple of weeks, but I enjoyed it. My project was to spin the walnut-dyed fleece (that story here) and knit it into a sweater. I'll wait while you stop laughing...

As I was saying, spinning and knitting. Yep, big project, but I dove into it head-first. I ignored housework (oh, yeah, like that's something new!), got behind on both blogging and reading blogs, totally relied on The Husband for take-out food, and let the daily newspaper pile up.

Things started well. I started spinning on Saturday, Feb. 13, and cast on for the sweater on the following Monday. I alternated the spinning and knitting and got one sweater front, one sleeve, and most of the second sleeve done by midway through the second week of work. But then I ran into trouble, because my neck and shoulders seized up. I was in so much pain that I was nauseated, so off to the chiropractor and massage therapist I went. (I think that massage therapist must have be a former KGB agent or something. How can someone cause so much agony with just her pinky finger??)

So the project didn't get finished, but I'm still happy with the fact that I was able to focus on one project only for all of two weeks. That's awesome for me! (Another knitter asked me the other day if I am monogamous--I had to admit that I'm a total WIPslut. Actually, what she said was, "Are you monogamous, or do you have three or four projects going at the same time?" I think she was a bit puzzled by my semi-hysterical laughter. Three or four projects? Uh.....)

The bad news is that I'm still struggling with the neck/back/shoulder issue, and that even sitting here typing is making me hurt. So I'll wander off to get some breakfast and take more Aleve, and maybe get back with pictures in a day or two. If you're on Ravelry, you can find a few here.

Can't Talk Now

Long time since last post.

Participating in Ravelympics.

Have 38 ounces of fleece to spin and sweater to knit.

Gotta go...

Hey, I Finished More Stuff!

Wow, I'm really on a tear here! Two more projects were finished, and I mean completely finished last week.

This first one is a cross-stitch piece I had started several years ago. I didn't have a lot to finish on it, but it's 40-count linen, so not the easiest thing to work on. I had to have the Ott-Lite close by and concentrate to see those teeny threads. I decided that, since I already have about a bazillion cross-stitch projects waiting to be framed, I would make this into a pincushion. I didn't have a pattern, so I just winged it and stitched it together by hand. You can't see the side seams, where there are a couple of tucks (getting around the corners was tricky), but it's cute and it was easier to put together by hand than wrestling with it under my sewing machine foot. It's about 4 inches by 4 inches by 2 inches. It will sit next to my stitching chair. I've needed a big pincushion for a while, so this was a satisfying finish.



I'm a little embarrassed to discuss this next piece. This is a scarf I started who-knows-when for an older lady who I consider one of the cooler friends I have. I don't get to see her that often, but she's such a joy to be around. This soft rose is the perfect color for her, and I'm so happy it's done. The really embarrassing thing is that I haven't touched it in ages, and when I got it out last week, determined to finish it, I found that I only needed to knit 7 rows and bind off. That's right, SEVEN ROWS! What possessed me to stop working on it when I was so close to the end? I'll never figure it out. Well, it's done and ready to be presented to her at last. The yarn is Kidsilk Haze and the pattern comes from the Vogue On-The-Go book, Scarves Two.



Another reason I'm feeling so virtuous is that I not only finished stitching and knitting these two projects, I actually finished them. I made the pincushion the same afternoon I put the last cross-stitch in the piece, and as soon as I bound off the scarf, I blocked it the same day. Can it be? Am I learning self-discipline? My normal finishing method is to finish the stitching or knitting and leap joyfully into a shiny new project. Not this time. Whaddya know. Things may be changing a bit at Chez Spingirl!

Wanna see something really cute? The picture on the left is my daughter holding my son the day after he was born. The picture on the right is her daughter holding his son. It's so cute I can't stand it, I really can't.

Still Knitting!

So, with all the cruddy weather we've had the past couple of weeks, I've been happy to stay in and keep working on my billions millions hundreds dozens of projects. I have been working on a couple of quilts lately, along with the knitting, but I won't have a finished project to show off for a few more weeks. I have finished two knitting projects, though!

The first is a lace cowl that I got from this blog. Thanks, Wen! It's a nice pattern, and the cowl turned out great.


This is the Coloring Book Shawl that I made from five shades of Plain & Fancy yarn I bought at SAFF. That was one of the most gorgeous booths there, and it took a while to narrow down the choices. Unfortunately, P&F doesn't have a website yet but if you go here and scroll down to "Henderson" you'll find their information. You could probably email them to find out what shows they'll be going to this year. Their yarn is kettle-dyed on the most gorgeous smooshy singles yarn. I want one skein of every color!








The shawl pattern shows seven different lace panels, instead of the five I used, and I put my own lace pattern in the top (pink) panel instead of doing plain stockinette that the pattern specified. It turned out pretty large (which is why I could only fit half of it in the picture) but I think the yarn was a little heavier than what the pattern called for. At any rate, it turned out beautifully.

So I've added those two projects to the "52 Projects" list at the bottom of the page. Yeah, I'm still waaaay behind on that schedule. I'll have to tell you about the new group I joined for 2010 in the next post. I'm a little embarrassed, but what the heck.

Oops, how'd this picture get in here?


Isn't he just too cute? I haven't seen him in two weeks! He'll have changed so much by now. BTW, his official name is no longer Baby X, it's Little Dude (his daddy's name for him.) It's perfect.