Two shawls

One day at work Birch IM'd me and asked if I wanted to go to a very fancy work dinner with her. Of course! I love dressing up. Of course, all my fancy clothes are pre-kid and don't fit. I found an awesome dress at Goodwill. All it needed was a little mending (thanks Gwyn!) and a shawl. I only had a week, so it needed to not be too complicated. After much Ravelry searching, I decided on Variation on a Frill from knitty, done in Athena Socks that Rock.

One skein was just the right length (good thing as that is all I had). The red highlights in the black yarn went great with the red dress. The dropped stitches made such a great drapey frill that I want to make a skirt for dancing using just the frill part of the pattern.


And it's a good thing I didn't make a gold shawl; I wouldn't want to match the chairs. I am wearing this shawl today over my sweater - it's not just for fancy occasions.




The other shawl is Madli's Shawl from Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush. It took a lot more than a week. I started it March 2009. The "nupps" (estonian bobbles) took a little getting used to but were fun.

FO: Kink!

Hey look! a finished knitting projected. I'm hoping it's a trend. The pattern is Kink from Knitty First Fall 2010. The yarn is my handspun, from fiber I bought at the Bishop Hill Fiber Guild Spin IN last October. It is a wool/silk/mohair blend, that had a beautiful gradation throughout the roving. I split it in half, spun one bobbin of each and plyed them. One lesson learned: If you fill two bobbins, then ply them together, the resulting bobbin of plyed yarn is very very very full.



I like the way it pins in the front, and the way the pattern shows off the color gradation. A great extra layer for me who is always cold.





Just enough lace to not get bored

Like most of my "shawl pins" this is a re-purposed hair ornament.


Pretty colors

Good for running with my best girl



Curry approves too


This grew rather impressively when blocked, I was disappointed in how narrow it was fresh off the needles, but it really blossomed. This is a great pattern for fairly small amounts of yarn - I can see me making it again.

F.A.M.E.

Let's all just gloss over how long it's been since I put anything here, eh?

Yesterday was FAME (the Fiber Arts May Event) at Camp Wokanda. Sadly, there was low attendance this year, but we had fun anyways. There was dyeing!

Gwyn focused on long color changes.

Both slow gradations of intensity






and Rainbow!



I practiced dyeing silk hankies, and tested out using a crockpot to heat set them.



It was a success. What am I going to do with 13 silk hankies? Use them as samples for a class I am doing in August. All 3 kids approved them as gifts too.

I also dyed a couple of wool/silk scarves as gifts. Very happy with how they turned out.



Friday evening Boo and I went garage saleing and found several sweaters. This one is a beautiful lace-weight angora blend. It used to be white, and now it is iris colored.



I unraveled a few other sweaters too, but no pictures.

All the dyeing except the rainbow was done with Dharma Acid Dyes. They are very similar to Jacquard Dyes, and much cheaper.


Finally, who are the intrepid dyers?



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