I love the color in this tulip. It was the only one of the bunch to have this much color, so I had to get a photo of it. I wonder if I could dare to get this colorway on fiber or would it appear too strident? Something to work toward anyway.
I had to laugh when I read a recent forum on ravelry as to how many projects one has on the needles. How awful! Some had as many as 8 (!) projects going at once. It reminded me of an anecdote that Karen, of Black Sheep fame in Encinitas, CA, relates of a customer who decided to label her projects from A to Z, and was able to go through the alphabet 3 (if I remember correctly) times! At the time I was appropriately horrified, however I am beginning to wonder if I would be far off if I started to count. So, I am NOT counting, but I am going to make a real effort to FINISH things as I come across them. Hah!

A recent batch of hand dyed fibers using natural dyes. Top picture, here, Falkland fiber, below on left, merino seacell, right Falkland, and the resulting 2-ply skein, one ply each.

And at last, a skein that Martie dyed, I believe she calls this colorway Autumn. As I spun it I kept thinking of the throne room in the Alcazar de Segovia on a cloudy day. Great grey stones and red velvet everywhere. Hmm. Now what to make with it?

more beauties

A glimpse, a spot of color caught my attention, had to stop, had to try to get this on film. The beauty of spring continues to bloom along the Gulf Coast, and I am wondering if this isn't in part why I'm not knitting so much, I just want to be outside!

How many are thinking 'get that finger out of your mouth!'? Clever little one is learning her colors and numbers. She's going to be a rascal!

On a recent cloudy day the light was so striking I had to stop and admire for a while. The beaches seem to have recuperated four plus years after Katrina and the different municipalities are working to keep them clean. I saw them putting fresh white sand along the beach in Gulfport and they had mowers cutting the grass along the roadside. The drive along Highway 90 which follows the beach pretty much from Pass Christian to Biloxi is spectacular.

As for me, I am trying to do some spinning and planning some knitting projects, have even done a little dyeing. Time to finish up what I have begun, before beginning too much more.

More flora and a little fauna

Time has a way of getting away from us, doesn't it? At the same time, it leaves us with many memories, and thanks to the camera, the memories don't always have to fade away. I have been spending a lot of that precious time driving from BSL to Bogalusa and Picayune in between and was able to grab a few quick snaps of some beauties along the way. Spring was late in coming to this area this year, due to an unusually long cold spell, but now that it is here, wow! Even the azaleas have burst into bloom, long after they normally do. These camelias caught my eye; this is a very tall bush of them at Dilania's home. The color! The soft soft soft petals! If we could only dress like this!

This little miniature donkey was so cute, I couldn't resist trying to get his portrait. This was just before things started to warm up, so it was a cool day, but the sun was out. I saw him on a side road in Bogalusa, along with a few others. I would have liked to have rubbed his sweet little furry forehead, but he was so peaceful and there was the matter of the fence...

Back in Bay Saint Louis I turned the corner on a street I seldom (like never) travel and was struck (not literally) by this magnificent tree. Another couple of weeks and it will be providing the best shade possible. I love the big old oaks that you see in this area that have survived storm after storm after storm. There is an area in Picayune that has a tunnel over the road formed by these beautiful trees.

Sunset over the Rigolets, Tueday March 30th. The colors, the reeds, the water. So peaceful.

Por Fin

I wanted to make some wristwarmers during all the cold weather we've had this winter, so a search was made on ravelry and I found these Noro wristwarmers by kariola. Changes made were a simple garter stitch border before the bind off in order to allow the pattern to scallop a little bit, and I crocheted the thumb opening rather than knit it to custom fit it. I also didn't make them quite as long. They were fun to do and feel good on.

Finally got the Luna Moth shawl done. I know I was supposed to have finished this by the time the winter olympics were finished. Lets just say I was bumped out of the running by busy busy circumstances and decided just to enjoy the process, which I did! This was inspired by Eileen's luna moth shawl and a search on the internet found the pattern at elann.com. It is a design by Shui Kuen Kozinski, and is also fun to make. The fiber is BFL and is dyed by Martie of Taos Sunflower Too. I spun four ounces and didn't use it all. I got about 550 yards out of it and figure I used about 500 of those yards.

The dimensions are roughly 68" x 42". A nice size to wear. Once again I was mesmerized by the color changes and the discipline of working one stitch pattern throughout.

Now I can go back to Madli's Shawl and also a cropped cardigan with a picot border from Louisa Harding's Cardigan book. I've also started spinning a new roving from Martie, and am dreaming of different shawl patterns for more of my handspun skeins. So many variations! Isn't knitting wonderful?

Por fin

Luna Moth Progressing

Luna Moth shawl is moving along, it is a pleasing pattern to work and, as always, I am fascinated with how the color changes occur. I know that I am approaching an area in the skein that changes from long lengths of solid colors to more blended colors. It will be fun (I hope) to see how that changes the character of this shawl. If it does.

The stitch pattern involves using knit 3 stitches together and in the mirror image a slip one, knit 2 together, pass slip stitch over. This is appearing very nupp-like, with out the need to make a lot of stitches out of one stitch. A nice change from Madli's shawl, which I need to get back to. I am also making a pair of wrist warmers for a friend who will hopefully be able to use them before the weather warms up. It has been an unusually long and cold winter for us Gulf Coasters.

Finally, some tulips that I brought home for my husband who was home sick with a cold. As he is hardly ever sick, let alone sick enough to stay home, I thought he deserved some bright color on a cold and sleet-y day. And I got to enjoy them too!

During the Winter Olympics...

A while back I did some spinning from a roving I got from Taos Sunflower Too. This is #131 from Martie's Free Fall series and I was able to get 554 yards from 4 oz.
I started thinking about this skein this morning at knitting group at the Mockingbird Cafe when Eileen pulled out a shawl she's been working on called Luna Moth. Eileen mentioned that she would like to see the shawl made up in a multicolor yarn, something that would be like the colors of the moth. I didn't look up the colors of the moth, but she mentioned greens and browns, and though this doesn't have much brown in it, it came to mind.

This photo is a bit blurry but shows the effect of the two ply. At the beginning of the skein there are also longer expanses of solid color.
I visited the Yarn Harlot's blog this morning and read about her winter olympics challenge, (cast on a challenge to you pattern during the opening ceremonies and finish by the time the flame is doused at the end of the olympic games) and decided that I would combine this yarn and the Luna Moth pattern to see what the result will be.
Eileen assures me that it should be quick so I am hoping that I can meet the challenge and still work on Madli's shawl so as not to fall behind.
Sometimes deadlines help to get things done!