Intro to Laminaria

Hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving. I was on vacation for the whole week and I have to say it's the best time to do it. Gets you in gear to handle the remainder of the year and the long bout of cold months to come.

The family was in town for a quick visit and it was perfect, yet not long enough. Is it ever? Then the cooking began and much was consumed. It was then on Friday... the infamous Black Friday where I had no obligations, no commitments and enjoyed a lazy day of knitting in my pajamas. sigh.

It was on that day that I ripped the Citron out and cast on for Laminaria. I was hooked. Even more because I'm using my Signature needles which work this lace like nobodies business!



The pattern is fun and kinda addicting. Lace is really a big ball of bla while your knitting it, but if you stretch it out a bit you can see those cool star shapes.



I'm all kinds of excited about this.

In other knitting news I bound off for the Hills of Ireland and I think I need more yarn. I'm going to block the heck out of it and see where to go from there.

FO: Every Way Wrap

Pattern: Every Way Wrap by Okmin Park

Yarn: 7 skeins Aussi Worsted - Oasis Yarn

Needles: US 7 circular needle

Started: January 10, 2010

Finished: September 14, 2010



The day I finished this was very memorable. It was my birthday and my refrigerator had just died. I spent hours trying to save what little food I had and threw away tons of condiments that no one person should conceivably have on hand. At least the day ended on a bright note with this beautiful wrap.



I did modify this a little as my gauge was a little off. The pattern is adjustable in that way to accommodate chest differences, so it wasn't really a stretch.

I did notice that about half way through the wrap I hadn't done the little 2-stitch cable twist on the outside border. I then figured if I hadn't noticed in all this time, it really didn't matter in the end.

There was a bit of a lag with on getting this project posted... really it was me trying to find the right shawl pin. It's not easy finding the right one. Do I go for metal, wood, bone. sigh. In the end the best value and design was a rosewood pin from Pattern Works. Hey... and you know what? I can use this as a sword in a pinch;)

A Love Letter from Miss Mac

Sunday night I was sitting on the couch and Miss Mac was writing words in a spiraled notebook. She has always liked to draw, but now she likes to write things to go with her pictures. I starting thinking of all those cute back and forth letters we would write as kids, so I asked her if she was writing me a love letter.

She giggled and I told her to bring me the notebook. I then started with one sentence and let her read it on her own. Without skipping a beat she started writing right under mine. Yet mid way she stopped and erased it. Then began again. After a bit of time, she handed it back and to my surprise she at first was going to copy the sentence I wrote then decided to create a dialog instead.

Here is how it went:



She has trouble with some of the words, but that didn't stop her from wanting to conversation to keep going. At one point she wanted to spell horse, but didn't know how. In a hushed whisper she asked me "I want to spell a word, but I don't want you to read it yet." That just about killed me.

Heading to the Rolling Hills of Ireland

The pattern might be called Bermuda Scarf, but I'm dubbing this project the Rolling Hills of Ireland.

The night that I cast-on for the Kauni Shawl at Stitches Midwest, I knew I had to go back to that booth and pick out another colorway. This one in particular caught my eye. Those greens.. oh yeah baby, talk about sensory overload.



The scarf is designed in such a way that you sway back and forth with short rows and eyelets to create this wave effect.

FO: Kauni Magic Shawl

Pattern: Oakland Shawl by Sally Brandl

Yarn: 2 skeins Kauni (EP & EZ colorways)

Needles: US 5 circular needle

Started: August 20, 2010

Finished: October 13, 2010

I was enchanted when I spotted this shawl at Stitches Midwest this past August. I bought the yarn right there and headed over to the Signature booth to buy a circular needle. I was determined to cast-on that night!



The pattern is very easy but the main attraction for this project is the yarn. The colors fade from one to the other in this slow cycle that it leaves you wondering how the next set of colors will play off of each other.



The yarn is rustic, rich with color and just pure magic.