A New KAL

Yet another wip as I jump into a KAL on Ravelry: Adventures in Lace. It sounds about my speed as there are no rules other than to start February 1 or thereabouts and to have fun. Any pattern and any yarn can be used, so I decided to use the beautiful Copper colorway in Aurora Yarn's Whisper. I decided to start Madli's shawl from Knitted Lace of Estonia, another unusual step for me, as it is a rectangular shawl, and I seem to knit more triangular shapes. However this pattern has tons of nupps and who doesn't like nupps? I am not sure the nupps will show up very well with the handpainted yarn, but I am going for it and hoping for the best!
In the meantime I am still searching for stitch patterns to use for 'Dreaming of California Sunsets' colorway, and this one will be a triangular shawl.
Back to knitting.

This is from a couple of weeks ago when it was so-o cold here in Bay St. Louis and I wasn't sure anyone else would show up for knitting group. But sure enough, almost everyone came and we even had an out of town visitor! Everyone was bundled up and happily knitting away. I love being part of such a group!

This sweetheart I call my 'nieta' (granddaughter) as I was with her mother in the operating room when she was delivered by caesarian. Mom was numbed from the neck down so the doctor handed bundled baby to me and I was able to hold her up for mom to see and kiss and talk to. And then I got to do some cooing before they took her off to the nicu as she needed a bit more oxygen being five weeks early. That was two years ago and I have enjoyed the privilege of being the proxy grandmother, being part of her life on a regular basis as her two natural grandmothers live far away.

Mom is now expecting another little one and we are making the rounds of clinic visits and ultrasound appointments (next week) and trying to think out how to help this one deal with the arrival of a new baby at such a young age. (?) I was dropping mom and nieta off after the appointment and was surprised at la nieta as she didn't want me to go and started crying and calling for her 'buela' (her version of abuela, 'grandmother') not to go without her. That is as near as I'm going to get, not having children of my own, and I have to say it tugged at my heartstrings!

Three views of Morning Blush Shawl

Pleased with the way the blocked shawl turned out I lay it on the table and was caught by the tulips. The patterns chosen all came from Barbara Walker's Treasuries of stitch patterns, but not all from the same one. I chose to start with English Mesh, moved on to Eyelet and Bead with a variation, and then used the Palm Leaf Chevron, which worked from the top down appear as hearts. I enjoyed watching as the patterns developed and the colors changed where they would. It looks much better planned than it was.

I had to try it on right away, despite not wearing appropriate colors to show it to advantage, but this gives an idea of the size of the shawl. Relaxed it is about 60" across the top and 29" down the center point.

I am happy with the way the stitch patterns worked with the colors to give a very soft, pretty result.

Now to plan a shawl for the Dreaming of California Sunsets colorway. And to start knitting!

Roses

I smile every time I see these roses, and as they are part of a slide show as wallpaper on the computer I see them frequently. They were given to us at a surprise party a couple of years ago, so when I smile I am responding not only to the loveliness of the pink blooms and the baby's breath but memories of friends getting together and cake with thick icing roses and dancing in the garage as there wasn't enough room in the house, and all sorts of pleasant thoughts. Amazing what a photo can help recall.
What does it evoke for you?

A Reflection of Spain

Reflections of Spain, brings to mind Miles Davis' fabulous Sketches of Spain, however this is a little piece of my past reflected in a mirror my mother brought back from Madrid. It is one of a pair, I finally broke down and gave the other mirror to my sister, Sooz, so we each can peruse what we will in our antique beveled mirrors. I love the detail of the beveling on this glass. The reflection takes me back to a sitting with a real artist who didn't like me very much as I fidgeted and she had to start another canvas, which to a struggling artist was probably too hard. I think that is why my braids look so stiff.
It was very exciting though, when it was all done because Florita Macedonski had a gallery showing in which she displayed this portrait along with the portraits of the rest of my siblings and a larger portrait of my mother. (Which my sister has). I still remember the evening, everybody dressed in their best, and my mother looking beautiful in a black lace dress over a pale blue satin lining. The crowded gallery. Hardly being able to see the paintings for all the people. The oohs and aahs as people recognized my mother as the lady in the portrait, and these? Are these really all your children? (Five of us).The smiles. Madrid was wonderful.

It took a while but I finally decided on Palm Leaf Chevron from Barbara Walkers 'A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns. And as this is worked from the top down, the palm leaf shape morphed into a heart shape which works well for the Morning Blush Shawl. It is on the blocking board as I write, so soon we will see the results.

This mohair silk is reminding me more and more of a lemon meringue pie. I will have to do something to get that image out of my head if I want to wear it. I have in mind a simple pullover with a peplum and bell sleeves. I have been swatching to get an idea of appropriate needle size, and do I want to do it in a lace stitch? Or stick with reverse stockinette? Decision time. But since we are having a very cold spell for the Gulf Coast I am looking forward to working with this yarn, whatever I decide to do!

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.