Progress!

So, while I'd love to share that I have been knitting away like a fiend on my Lady Irmelin sweater and am Right On Target to finish it, that would be a lie.  I quickly realized that to save my sanity (what's left, anyway), I would not pressure myself to finish the sweater before TNNA (which is coming up in 5 days).  Instead, I worked on finishing a dream project which I started in April (and I suppose the goal was to finish it in April too, but I was happy that I finally started it).  I sewed up the seams today and I proudly present my Cloudy Dreams Kimono:

I have both of Vicki Square's books on kimonos (Knit Kimono and Knit Kimono Too), and have wanted to knit up one for quite a while.  Someday, I hope to knit a kimono (or two) out of those books, however, this pattern is a simple Plymouth yarn pattern.  I knit it up using Cascade's Cloud yarn, which is 70% Merino and 30% Alpaca and it really is dreamy. 

Now I am working on a shawl (Caladan), that I'm sure I can get finished by Wednesday.  Really.

It all started.....

sometime earlier this week.  Last week I was thinking I would knit my second Swirl! and have it done in time for TNNA.  Then, as I failed to get much knitting done on my Swirl (I was busy finishing up a kimono....), and time started getting shorter, and shorter, I found this cardigan pattern.  Lady Irmelin.  Super sweet, and it said it called for 4 skeins of Manos Silk Blend.  4 skeins?  Is that all?  I could whip that out in no time at all!  4 skeins of Manos Silk Blend for a cardigan?  That doesn't seem right at all.  But, the pattern clearly says 4 skeins.  "Four skeins?" I asked myself.  No way, not possible.  But there it was, in hard copy and I wanted to believe it, I really did.

As I got deeper and deeper into thinking I would knit Lady Irmelin, yesterday I decided, YES, this is what I'm going to knit, and I can totally finish it in time for TNNA (which I leave for in just 12 days).  It only called for 4 skeins after all.

Even before casting on, I realized where the discrepancy lay....  yes indeed, the pattern said 4 skeins of Manos Silk Blend, four skeins of 100 grams each.  100 grams!  My skeins are only 50 grams, which would explain a) why I thought I could so easily knit this up before TNNA and b) why the mathematician in my brain said "No way".

Naturally, I cast on anyway and am knitting like a demon to finish the cardigan in time for TNNA.

(The shop is going splendidly, thanks for asking!  I hope to be able to blog more frequently, but, well, we'll see how it goes!)

A New Venture!

I am purchasing our local yarn store, here in Friday Harbor, on San Juan Island in Washington State.  I'm excited about all the possibilities!  It's got me quite busy getting set up and figuring everything out.  We'll be opening up the store for business on Friday, February 17th.  Then, in a few weeks (exact date has yet to be figured out), we'll be moving the store to a new, awesome location.  This new location has space upstairs for classes (yeah!), and a kitchen area in the back where I can continue to dye my yarns.  I plan to stock up the store with lots of beautiful yarns, both my own hand dyed as well as commercial brands.  Currently, the store carries Cascade, Frog Tree Yarns, Crystal Palace, Manos del Uruguay, Plymouth and others.  I have plans to add some other yummy brands.  This is a work in progress and I can't wait to go bury myself in yarn.

A finished shawl

I started this shawl just a few weeks ago, and was so addicted to knitting it, I've already finished it.  It's a great pattern, with an 8 row repeat that led to a bit of an addiction....  just one more set...  just one more set....  just one more set...  and the next thing I knew, I was on the lacey edging section.   Presenting my Perfect for Blue Jeans Magrathea:

Playing with Color

I've been busy mixing colors to come up with some pretty browns, some khaki greens, and other "neutrals".  Here's a sampling of some browns I've mixed up:

And that led to the following skein:

And playing with khaki greens led to this:

and this:

don't they all three look awesome together???

Now, for the hard part - I need names for the new colors!

Dandy Dog

Our golden retriever, Dandelion (Dandy) is 11 years old and has been diagnosed with Lymphoma.  It is a sad day.  Above, a picture from his youth, before the gray....  He's been a wonderful family member and we will love him and care for him during these last weeks. 

And here he is, just a year and a half ago, enjoying the beach:

Happy Holidays

It's been a tumultuous year in our house.  My mom died in August.  It was sudden.  It was unexpected.  It still makes me sad. 

I've been busy this month knitting, dyeing yarn, cleaning, more knitting, and a little sewing.  After wishing for a holiday themed apron, I finally got one made.  So simple, so quick, but so easy to procrastinate about!  I also made myself a red hat, which has been another item I've wanted but it had been easy to postpone ("oh it won't take me but a few hours, I can do it TOMORROW").  The yarn is Cashmere Bliss Aran, in the Marooned in Friday Harbor colorway (find it here).  I used a 4.5mm needle and cast on 88 stitches.  Then, after knitting about 5 inches of ribbing, I increased to 96 stitches and began my pattern.  I'm very happy with how it turned out!  More details can be found at my project page (here) on Ravelry.  Someday, perhaps I'll get it written up into an official pattern, but for now, the brave and intrepid are welcome to read my notes.