More spinning fun!

Just a quick lil' post to show the finished sample skein of the "Snuggly" 50/50 Superwash Merino/Tencel on the left and the same fibers on the right in another sample skein made from fiber sent by my friend Judith. She overdyed the fiber and isn't it just a gorgeous color? Click on the picture and you can see it better......

The skeins are each approximately 4gr and the Snuggly is ~60 yards of 2-ply and the wine is ~54 yards, also 2-ply.

Does anybody have a super accurate scale they want to recommend? One that measures in less than 2gram increments. Less than 1gr increments might even be fun.....

A visit to the fair

Shown above in the well-protected display cabinet, three of those shawls have been seen here before. This time, they went visiting at the county fair and were quite well regarded. There was only one category for all knitted shawls, scarves, etc for adults so they were competing against each other as well as a handful of others.

The experience was fun; the people were wonderful and we made some new friends in both the fiber and 4H worlds. I managed the opportunity to watch the judging for these as well and that was interesting and educational. As for how we did......

Coming in with an "Honorable Mention" we have the Summer Sampler


The judging results......
In second place (for this show) we have the lovely Titania


Her judging results:

And last, but far from least, in first place and Reserve Champion, we have the Veil of Isis


The results:

A HUGE THANK YOU to designer of all of these beautiful designs, Bad Cat Designs and to the Bad Cat Designs Yahoo group who have supported me, cheered me on, and added so much bonus fun to the knitting of these shawls. You guys are awesome :-).

A lovely new drop spindle.....

......means you just HAVE to play with fibers, right? The spindle is a gorgeous Featherweight Bird's Eye Maple Bosworth weighing in at a "whopping" 13 grams / .46 oz. I see more of these Bossie's in my future ;-).

The first pictures (below) are a wool blend of 80% Merino and 20% Tussah silk purchased long ago from Shuttles, Spindles & Skeins of Boulder, CO. Rather amazing how different it looks spun up and plied, yes?

The sample skein is approximately 4 grams and 48.5 yards long of 2-ply lace weight.






Look at these pretty colors, eh? Here & at the top of the post you see the spindle itself although the picture could be a bit better below. This is a super soft and shiny 50/50 Merino/Tencel blend from Dyeing for Colour. Since I'm not done spinning up the sample I shall wait to tell you more particulars including what I think of it.....


I've finished a couple of small projects that need posting and have many more projects including spinning and woodwork (yes, woodwork) to tell you about soon along with my adventures at the County Fair.......

But before I leave you today.....one more picture.....I have a friend who has just started spinning and I have assured her that she really WILL get better with practice, hehehe. This is not my VERY first yarn - I don't think I even have that, I couldn't see even calling it yarn! This, however, was right after or very close to it.......and while it at least looked yarn-ish it's still rather a far cry from the sample you see above. It's definitely chunky weight.....at least where it's not tiny little wire that should have fallen to bits, lol. (Luckily, my pictures have also mostly improved! Sorry this one's pretty fuzzy)

Opinions - Mine and Yours (please)

Soooooo there are these new square needles that are supposed to be better for your hands & wrists to knit with. Cool. My wrist(s) were bugging me from an improper workstation setup which had it's effect even if I have fixed it now. So I thought I should try at least one pair of these. I'd heard from some of you about the circs and the bad joins so I stayed away from those but it just so happened that my LYS (Shuttles, Spindles & Skeins) had one (and ONLY one) set in Palm. Sold.

I decided to cast on something new in part because of the size of the needles and there was that nagging pain thing. (Still is, in fact, but it is improving) I still want to try these in a smaller, metal version but so far I've actually been enjoying these and able to use them for short periods even when others have not been an option. I'm cautiously in favor but want to sharpen the points and see how it goes for a bit longer.

What did I cast on? A project that's been on my mind to do in large part because I have wanted to see if the yarn will work for it. I probably won't be in any hurry to finish this but right off I have to decide if it DOES work. Your opinions? Is the yarn too varigated? Can you see the pattern?

The shawl is Nancy Bush's Lily of the Valley pattern. I'm using the Palm (wood) size 6 (4mm) 11" Kollage straight needles. Since it's the size called for, that automatically means my gauge (as a relaxed knitter) is larger (fine by me, I wanted that) and I am modifying the pattern for the edging at a minimum although precisely how is not entirely decided.....and not really relevant if the yarn won't work, right?

So......a couple of less than stellar and unblocked photos. Because if you love it, even in these shots, it's a pretty sure winner, right? Errrm .....well......something like that :-)




What do you think?

Midsummer Night's Dream - Titania

Here's a bit of loveliness thanks once again to the wonderful design talents of Bad Cat Designs....

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to test knit it. She was quite patient about it, too! I had a few life bumps that stalled delivery on this one but isn't she worth it? The design is a delight to knit up. What else can you expect? That Ms. Bad Cat does the most marvelously fun patterns! The recipient of this one was very slightly less patient (but saw it often) and is exceedingly delighted that she finally has it! It's been done for a wee bit of time but sharing on my part needed to wait until you, too, could have the fun of knitting this up!

The yarn is wonderful, amazing stuff - like knitting with clouds. Unfortunately, this particular yarn is no longer available, however, Colourmart no doubt has some other bit of knitting delight you could use instead!

Mid-Summer Night's Dream - Titania
Bad Cat Designs
Colourmart 3/45 lace weight 65% Cashmere/ 35% Silk ~50gr (~850 yds)
Plus:
~28 gr #8 clear, silver-lined beads
~1-2 gr #6 Turquoise blue frosted

How'd I miss it?

.......one of my favorites of the "cheesecake" shots.....didn't Ms. Puppy (my darling daughter) do a fantastic job with the photography?

(ps - if you are on Ravelry there are even more pictures)

The Summer Sampler Takes Flight

......or at least I enjoyed the lovely breezes for our photo shoot together!


.....and the views!



This has been a wonderful bit of fun and learning. Thanks to the internet, I finally learned to both knit AND purl backwards for the edging of this shawl. I had LOTS of practice on the edging and feel rather proficient at it now :-).



Thanks, Ms. Bad Cat for another wonderful design!





Project Name: Dusk Summer Sampler
Yarn used: Graceful, in "Summer Dusk"
Amount used: ~1355 yards
Yarn source: Yarn Place
Total weight: 75 gr
Needles: 2.75mm (US2)
Finishing method: Wet blocked
Finished dimensions: 24"x95"
Pattern name/source: Summer Sampler Study by Bad Cat Designs
Other notes, including techniques used: Knit return edging rows "backwards" instead of turning my work