Some Colors for This Snowy Day

an art project I've been working on...

On my needles, yarn dyed from Rabbit Rubber Brush flowers...

On my wheel, BFL dyed with acid dye, waiting to be plied...

Not So Instant Gratifications

They're supposed to be quick knits, but who knew it would take me 3 years to finish them.
Total hours of working on them was not much, but I just couldn't understand why I kept putting the project aside. The last time I put it away was when I ran out of yarn and had to order another ball of dark denim.  But as soon as the yarn arrived few days later, it went straight into stash bin.

Elann Peruvian Highland was perfect yarn for felting.  I ended up using 2 balls of light blue (Starlight), 3 balls of dark blue (Dark Indigo Heather), and 1 all of orange (Harvest Heather). Yarns were held double as per instruction of the pattern. And the pattern was from Fiber Trend, designed by Bev Galeskas. I made size medium, and probably I should've done size small for better fit and skipped the foundation row.

They are comfy and fun, perfect for wearing around the house.  I'm gonna make more, espeically now that I'm in a total knitting slacking mode.  I really haven't done any other knitting in the past week besides putting the 2 hours to finish these clogs.

Affairs With Yarns

Not much on the needles lately, but I was playing with yarn.

I dyed up some yarn but not for knitting. It will be an installation art project I have in mind.  Yarn was Elann BFL nude, dyed with Jacquard Acid Dye.

And 8oz of Fine Grey Shetland I'd spunned up:

And this is what's on my wheel now, 8 oz of BFL/Silk that I purchased from Carolina Homespun when I was visiting SF area during the holidays:

First Shawl of 2012 - Dolce Vino

pattern : Dolce Vino by Diana Rozensheteyn 

yarn: Naturally Dawn (lace weight,) 735 yards

needles: US #4, and US #6 for bind off 

I am in love with this shawl.

A while back Diana (aka deenulya on Ravelry) posted pictures of her Dolce Vino, I was very impressed by its beauty. She then published the pattern, I knew I'd have to make it one day. Few weeks ago, she sent me the pattern as a gift, the sweetest surprise!

During the most part of December, I was getting really exhausted with end of semester, holiday frenzy, editing and testing my own pattern, all among other things. So one day after Christmas I decided I will treat myself  to knitting something beautiful yet easy that I wouldn't have to think much, this pattern was the perfect answer to that.

The stitches were amazingly simple to memorize. I could put down my knitting anytime and pick it up again without worries or even marking on the pattern. The fact that its modular design allowed me to knit as many or as little repeat also put me at ease about how much yarn I had or how much time needed.

I really enjoyed knitting it and knew this would be a sweet shawl at the end. I also wanted to overdye the shawl once it's completed. But, the result was even more stunningly elegant than I'd anticipated that I let go the idea of overdyeing it. OK, I knew I was going to like it a lot, but after I pinned out the shawl for blocking, I really was taken by how breathtakingly beautiful the shawl turned out to be. I fell in love with it. Even though I have absolute no occasion for wearing it, I'm going to prance around the house with it and pretend that I'm an elegant lady that I truly am not. It feeds into my fantasy after marathon of watching Downton Abbey.

This is one pattern that is so wonderful for all levels of knitters. You cannot ask for easier stitches that will deliver that classic lace look.

The yarn was Naturally Dawn, a lace weight 50/50 silk/merino. I think it's slightly heavier than lace weight. It was beautiful that I could overlook the slight splittiness (not really bad at all.)

Happy New Year