Time to choose yet another pattern for the Morning Blush shawl. My second pattern is a variation of an 'Eyelet and Bead' pattern from Barbara Walker's Charted Knitting Designs. I'm using it to separate the mesh pattern from the rest of the shawl; as this is growing I am not sure if I will leave it to one more pattern or more(?). One thing, though, this fine 2 ply yarn is such a pleasure to work with, and I am looking forward to seeing this blocked when it is done.

In the meantime I had been wanting to make a pair of wrist warmers and came across this pattern in Leigh Radford's Oneskein book. Super simple to knit and the beads made it a lot of fun.

I finally got back to dyeing and discovered that I had kept my dyes too long; after eliminating anything that had spoiled I got to work and this is the result. I'm calling it Moody Blues.

I love how light reflective this is, and I am pleased with the final result shown in the 2 ply skein below. I ended up with a 4 oz.skein with 545 yards. Now to find an appropriate use for this. And time to order more dyes!

Also recently finished a knitted tie for my husband that he actually likes (!) and I finally spun up Martie's Free Fall #131, beautiful greens and golds. I have a backlog of handspun lace/fingering weights waiting for projects and also succumed to some beautiful lace weight mohair/silk in a sour lemon color that I want to do a very sheer top out of inspired by those trumpet flowers I took a photo of when we were in California. Like everyone else, I imagine, I have too many projects and too little time. But it is fun to dream about it all.

Another sunset and more animal ramblings

Shortly after returning from California we joined a group of friends at a get-together in Picayune. The sunset was particularly lovely that evening; we were in a tranquil mood. We had enjoyed good company and charming antics from miniature goats. Sorry, no photos, the goats were too quick for us, as they seemed to bounce off any surface they landed on, including the backs of two donkeys. We were told that they frequently ride on the backs of the donkeys and will junp from one donkey to the other! Wish I'd seen that!

Going back to California for a moment or two, these pigeons on the light standard caught my eye. This light is found over a very busy intersection in San Diego, and it made me wonder: What are they looking for? It isn't as though there are a lot of trees in this area or grass where they can look for seed. Just a place to rest their wings? Who knows from pigeon behavior?

Rosie's portrait. I didn't include it in my earlier California travelogue but this is Rosie, in whose home we stayed while in San Diego. She was kind enough to tolerate our invasion of her home and we enjoyed a great walk together.

This week I have been continuing to work on a tie for my husband, easy fingerless garter mitts, beaded, from One Skein, and am almost finished spinning a lovely roving from Taos Sunflower's Free Fall series. The singles that is, then I will ply it to produce a 2-ply yarn. I am gearing up to do some more dyeing, if not tomorrow, then next week. And there are still so many other projects to finish not to mention my continual attempts to SIMPLIFY!

Ciao.