Tag: #knittinglace

And Finally a Little Break

My goodness! I have barely had time to breathe and finally a little break. Since my last post I have been to three fiber festivals. On Memorial Day weekend I was in Wooster for the Great Lakes Fiber Show. The weather was so nice and there was good turnout. I wasn’t going to bore you with more booth shots but I changed my mind since it’s what I have. Posts with pictures are more fun, right?

Great Lakes Fiber Show

The first weekend in June was Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival in Franklin, IN. The weather was pretty warm this year but that’s not unusual. This show has really grown and improved so much over the 16 years I have been vending there. I am very impressed with it’s progress and look forward to it every year. The organizers do a great job with every thing, from vendor communication, to classes, to promotion.

Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival

This past Friday and Saturday, I was back in Ohio. For the third year, I went to the Mid-Ohio Fiber Fair in Newark. This festival is currently one day only. I have given it a few years, and it’s a nice one for what it is, but it may be the last year for me. It’s mainly because it’s all in the one day. I drive up on Friday and then on Saturday I arrive at 5:30 am to set up the booth for the market which opens at 9 am and runs to 5 pm. Then it’s tear down time. I put in a long 13 hour day and it’s just a bit too much. Attendance has dropped off too, which makes it hard to make enough to be worth the effort and expense. If it wasn’t 400 miles each way requiring two nights away I would keep it, but as it is, for me, it’s probably not one I will keep going forward. It makes me sad to do it though. One bonus is that I have my trailer and truck right there behind the booth. Saves some time and energy during set up and break down.

Mid-Ohio Fiber Fair

So, not a whole lot of knitting happening lately. I did finish that first sock and the cuff if the second one. I am ready to start the heel flap when I get back to it. If you recall, I am making these with some remnants of discontinued colorways of my Classic Merino Superwash Sock yarn.

shorty socks for summer

I have also been working on my shawl design. I am ready to join on the third skein at this point. It is measuring about 45″ unblocked. I am probably around the half way mark now since I want it to be generous for wrapping.

We have put in a huge yarn order to get started dyeing when I return from my next show. I am home this coming weekend but am back on the road for one more festival, Houston Fiber Fest, before the summer break. More on that in my next post. See you later!

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Miscellaneous News

I’ll start today’s post with an update on what is on my needles. You may recall I am working on the Bensusan shawl in my Classic Merino DK yarn in the color Cypress. I have progressed to the main chart and added the second skein of yarn. I am enjoying the variety of the stitch patterns. It’s easily memorized but interesting. I love cables.

The other project I have going is my cowl using the yarn my daughter brought me from Ireland. I am about 25% done on it. I cast it on a couple days ago. It’s a pretty quick and easy knit so it shouldn’t take too long to make.

It will be August very soon and I will be back to festival vending. We are still working on restocking inventory. Within the last couple weeks we have added some more Undyed yarn to the website. I stock two Organic Cotton yarns (a sport weight and a worsted weight) and also small quantities of all our Merino wool yarns as Bare yarn for those who wish to use it that way or to dye themselves.

We have also recently finished some new Darning-Eggs in Cherry and Maple woods. We have some more Walnut in progress.

Last night two of the grandchildren were over and were given a fun ride around the property in my husband’s new cart he built for the lawn tractor. They had fun and didn’t want it to end.

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Midlothian Shawl is Done

This will be a quick update today to show you the finished shots of my Midlothian shawl.

I am very pleased with how this turned out after blocking it. It measured 65″ across the top and 30″ down the center spine. That is smaller than the DK weight version would be, but it is a nice size for a smaller person.

I used almost all of two skeins of Classic Merino Superwash Sport in Cerulean. I made a small modification in size. I worked two extra repeats of the eyelet chart at the top. That was actually good, because I am happy with the size and I had enough yarn. If I had made it any bigger though I would have needed a third skein of yarn.

The picot bind off looks nice but it does require a bit of patience to block them out properly.

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Almost Break Time…Sort Of

I am leaving tomorrow for Mid-Ohio Fiber Fair in Newark. It is a one day show, Saturday 9-5. I will be doing the set up before the show Saturday morning and then packing up at 5. It’s a challenge to do that but it will be fine. I did it last year. So I am driving up tomorrow and will be home on Sunday afternoon.

After this I will be home until the second week in August. That sounds like a break, and it is, but while I am home we will be dyeing this yarn that arrived yesterday.

That is over 450 pounds of yarn. I am looking forward to using my new drying lines though, so there is that. 😁

In knitting news, I am about to start chart 2 on my Midlothian shawl. I thought I was done with chart 1 and had done 6 rows of chart 2. I began row 7 and I had too many stitches for it to work. So, after an investigation and ripping out those 6.5 rows, I am ready to go again. I will be doing one more repeat of chart 1 for a total of 23 instead of 21. I really hope this won’t necessitate using more than 2 skeins. It was either this option or I would have to rip back 4 more rows.

I still haven’t started my other shawl or the second sock. I was sorely tempted last night to avoid the ripping back until later but I pushed through. 🙃 See you soon 😊.

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Friday FO

Does it count as a FO if it’s just halfway to a pair though? 🤔

I have also made some progress on my DeBussy shawl since finishing the first Gridiron sock. It’s not alot different from last time but I am on the main chart now that gets repeated 7x or 10x, depending on what size you want. I’ll see how my yarn is holding out once I get 7 repeats done. I am currently on the second repeat.

We have had a spell of cold, grey, wet days this week. Thankfully we didn’t get much ice overnight from the storm. There may be a slight glaze but we have power and internet. It’s a good day to get in some knitting I think. 😉

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One Down

I finished my Spiral Effect Cowl on Friday. I love how it turned out. This is going to be my go to scarf for those times when you want a bit of color . Also on days when you just need a little something around your neck but it’s not cold enough for a heavier scarf.

I have been working mostly on my Gridiron Sock since then. I am past the heel trn and gusset decreases. It’s just a straight shot until the foot is long enough.

I’ll be getting back to the shawl soon I think but I may at least finish this sock first.

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Solstice Day Knitting

I am not a huge fan of Christmas to be honest, but I do like Solstice Day. This is not for any religious reason. I just like Solstice Day because the days will start lengthening and the darkness is receding. It’s only by a minute or so each day but it cheers me just knowing that. 😉

I got all the new yarn labeled and it is stowed in the trailer for next year. I only had one sad skein that may be beyond hope. The ties all came off in the dye pot. I will do what I can to salvage it but it may sadly be too far gone. I’ll let you know. 😬

My knitting projects are coming along. They both have grown but don’t look much different from last time. Here’s some pictures anyway.

Ok, Merry Christmas if I don’t post again until after the holiday.

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Bramwell and other knitting

I am currently in yarn label printing purgatory. But this too, shall pass. While I am baby sitting the printer I am multi-tasking by writing a blog post. It will take quite a while to print over 1900 labels so I might as well get something else done, right?

I did finally get my Bramwell Shawl blocked. The pictures aren’t the greatest due to gray weather today, but here’s what I have.

Here’s a pre-blocking picture just to show the texture. I used almost all of the three skeins of Classic Merino Superwash DK in Pewter. My left over ball is barely 15g. This was a fun knit and pretty quick. I probably could have finished it in 3-4 weeks if I hadn’t been switching between three projects.

The color is more accurate in the blocking shot than in this next one. It’s odd that the one below was taken outside and yet the color is off.

I have gotten back to the other two shawls when I have some time in the evenings. Here is Simple Gifts in Emerald Classic Merino Superwash Sport. I am getting close to the end of the first skein and am on the 3rd repeat of the main chart. The large size is 7 repeats. I’ll see when I get there if it’s big enough.

Last, but not least is my sock yarn project, Adelita. I am using Jade, which is one of my favorites of my recent colors from 2020. I am about to start the second skein and am halfway through chart 4.

Here’s a parting shot from the last two dye days.

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New on the Needles

So, I did get all three shawls cast on since my last post. I am using three different yarn weights on these and they all have different shapes so I can jump around between them as the mood suits me.

I already showed you Simple Gifts last time and I have only added a few rows so it looks pretty much the same. Simple Gifts is a triangle that starts the knitting at the point. The increases are on one side only which makes the diagonal edge of the triangle. You then bind off the shortest edge. I like making this style. I completed chart 1 and a few rows of chart 2.

The next thing I cast on was Bramwell using my Classic Merino Superwash DK in Pewter. It is a traditional triangle shape with the center rib and the point at the bottom. What makes it nice is the thicker, cushy yarn. It’s fast to make and looks modern, especially in this neutral color. I got the first chart done and moved to the next shawl to cast on.

My third shawl in progress is Adelita using my Classic Merino Superwash Sock yarn in Jade. This one is a semi-circle style where you do increases across the row every time the row count doubles. These are fun to make too. They also look so pretty and I find they knit fast even in thin yarn.

I worked through all the increase sections that are plain knit and then through the first pattern chart. It’s very addictive. 😊

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Flagstaff Shawl and More

I finished the Flagstaff Shawl last week in Virginia. It was Thursday night and the following day I drove to the hotel in Orange, VA and spent most of the afternoon setting up the booth for the Fall Fiber Festival. We had a very busy show and I didn’t really have time or energy left to start a new project.

I drove home, finally, on Monday. I was pretty glad to be home. The festivals have been great this fall but I need a break and time to catch up around here. It took a few days to get to blocking the shawl and picking out my next knits.

Here’s what I started first. It’s Simple Gifts and I am using Classic Merino Superwash Sport in Emerald. The pattern calls for DK weight but I want to use Sport. I am still using the size 6 needles in the pattern and I like the fabric. I didn’t check my gauge but will modify the size if necessary. I set aside 3 skeins just in case.

I wound the yarn for two more projects. I’ll give details on these when I have cast on for them. I think going almost a week without any knitting has made me want to have several knits lined up. 😉

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