It was a close one

I won at yarn chicken but it was definitely a close one. I had just 5g left of that 4th skein of yarn.

I took a quick picture before I put it in cool water and shampoo for a soak. It was looking pretty small so I measured the unblocked size. It was about 34″×36″.

After a spin in the washing machine I pinned it out as much as I could. I might have been able to stretch it a bit more but didn’t have much more room. This and the unblocked picture are on our king size bed.

As you can probably tell it’s quite a bit larger. It measures about 54″×60″ while still pinned out. That’s some impressive expansion don’t you think? I found the T-pins more effective for this than the Knit Blockers.

I am working on the pattern revision and will post beauty shots of the shawl when I have the pattern ready.

Wood Bowls Now Instock

Small sampling of the available wood bowls on the website

I spent a couple days last week getting the wood bowls added to the website. We have a lot of different sizes at the moment. They range from larger ones at the $55 price point which are big enough for holding a full ball of yarn down to some mini bowls ($20) which are perfect for holding small items like beads, stitch markers, coins, etc.

We will soon be bringing back some other wood tools we have not had in stock for quite a few years. Jerry had some big logs of walnut and cherry that he hadn’t had time to process. Well we have time now, so he started working on that this week after we returned from a little trip to the Smokies for Mother’s Day weekend. I’ll tell you more about that next post. :-)

After trimming up to turn-able size pieces

He is making some Nostepinnes at the moment and some of this will also be Darning Eggs.

So while this is keeping Jerry busy, I am planning some new yarn colors for 2020. I have decided to add six new colors to my palette. Here is a sneak preview.

I have made some more progress on the Honeydew Lace Square in Superwash Sock Yarn.

I have added the 4th skein and hope it will be enough to finish. I am almost to the halfway point on the edging.

See the stitch markers in the top right corner? That is the half way point. When did I start this thing anyway? Oh, wow. Ravelry says Jan. 06, 2020. Sigh. Perseverance is a virtue right? :-)

Okay more on our mini vacation next time. :-)

Where the H*LL is Spring?

My last day in Nashville on Tuesday, we had the windows open and it was about 80 degrees. The grass already needs mowing and the trees are budding out. Today I am in Pittsburgh for the Pittsburgh Creative Arts Festival and this is what it looks like here.

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Seriously? What is this Narnia before Aslan returned? Always winter but never Christmas? Yuck. Let me tell you, 28 degrees with gusting wind feels pretty darn cold after 80 degrees. I am praying for some change for the better in the very near future, and lots of patience in the mean time. The bright side is that the venue is very nice and bright, and I don’t have to load and unload the trailer in the elements. The loading dock is inside. I will be going over in a couple hours to do the booth set up.

I have written the pattern for the Honeydew Lace Square, which I think is what I will be calling it BTW, and hope to have it ready within a week. I have finished the first draft and consulted my friend Dee O’Keefe, designer extraordinaire, who was generous enough to help me with some edits. If I get any time this weekend I will be making her suggested revisions. As soon as it is ready I will announce it here, on Facebook and my newsletter.

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I took these in the hotel room this morning to try out how it looks against a darker background. I really need to get some pictures that weren’t taken in a hotel room for the pattern at some point. ;-) These really aren’t half bad though.

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Okay I better get to work. See ya later!