A Whole New Project!

How gorgeous is that roving?? Its so soft and beautiful, with a zillion colors of purple, blue, white, and a little touch of green. The fabulous Amy sent this to me! What a friend!
What a way to get perked up to spin!

Here is the yarn as singles; and here's the finished two ply yarn. I'm crazy about it! Its a little drapey and slightly crunchy from the silk content; its a merino/silk blend.


I want to make a neck-warming gaiter for our fabulous neighbor who has helped us so much this summer. I like this one from One Skein.

She has a camel coat, and this yarn has some tiny touches of a yellowish color as well as a little bit of olive green...I think it'll be great. I spun the yarn in little tufts, from the fold, for maximum tweediness and minimum stripeyness, so hopefully the cables and ribs will show up. If not, I'll come up with an alternate plan!

And for the neighbor's husband, who has also been heroic in his aid to our home, pets and not-insiginificant garden, I want to make a similar scarf. This one also from One Skein:



So I dyed this merino/silk roving in two shades of grey, hoping I can spin them so as to blend the colors together for a tweedy effect.

Once again, if swatching reveals that the cables don't show up, I'll come up with something else. I'm shooting for Classic...Timeless...Unisex...

And a note to those who wonder about Mom's sweater: yes it fits, she says she loves it, and its from Knitter's magazine, Winter 2004. And thank you to my blog advisors: I'm going to dye the leftover yarn a different shade for a coordinating scarf. I agree; matchy-matchy is kind of icky.

Summer's Bounty

August is the end of the One Skein Secret Pal event, and my totally fabulous pal sent me this gorgeous (hand dyed, hand spun, hand knit) stole! Its a beautifully soft merino mohair blend, and its so light, and pink, and soft, and slightly fuzzy, and just totally perfect for me! And now I know who she is, and you can go say hello yourself to the fabulous Gabrielle at www.froghollow.typepad.com.

She knew I was having a rough summer what with two very close family members sick and one dying...this shawl is what amounts to comfort food in fiber, for me. Pink and fuzzy. Thank you so much, Gabrielle!!



And the socks are ready! I took your advice and made them short, with a super-loose slightly ruffly top bind off and I think they came out pretty well. They fit nicely, hug snugly, and bounce back. I'm going to send these to my own secret pal. I hope she enjoys them!!

And in other news, Mom's birthday (81 this year) is in a week; I have her sweater blocking as I write this. It turned out well! Its so stretchy that it'll fit just about any size of large and larger and in fact it even fits me! It'll be a little longer on her than it is on me, but still will be cropped short for easy pulling on while sitting in bed or in a chair. Mom will be starting chemo again in a couple weeks, and I'm glad to get this to her by then. Hopefully she'll get a season of enjoyment out of it, if not more.

Next, I think I'll make a scarf from some leftover yarn to fill that V neck in for winter! But...should I dye it a slightly different shade? Or make it match exactly? Oh wise knitters, please advise!