Latest Shawl: My Hope Brightens Rough Times

Just finished the very fun-to-knit My Hope shawl, designed by KnitGirlll Laura Linneman. I sued some beautiful Schaeffer Anne yarn that I won several years ago (and sadly, is discontinued). I love the color combination--reds/pinks, coral, gold and bronzy brown. A group I wouldn't necessarily have put together but really liked.I just bought a summer dress in that coral color and this will look great with it.

For the beaded bind-off, I used beautiful beads bought at EarthFaire--just enough color and glitz and the gold beads with coral insides look like they were made for the yarn. Also bought the Beadle Needle which made the beading fun and easy! Highly recommend!

I enjoyed the knitting of this project very much, once I got the hang of the Indian Cross Stitch--used Knit and Tonic’s video tutorial and her way of doing it rather than the way it was written in the pattern--much easier.
I also switched from Signature Needles to KnitPicks Nickel Plated--the join on the fancy Signatures was acting as a stopper that made it hard for me to move the yarn along during the cross-stitch sections. Worked much better after the switch to the inexpensive, but almost always reliable for me, KnitPicks.

The colors of the yarn and the rhythmic nature of the project have soothed me through a few tough weeks; work continues to be a challenge--but I may see the end in sight in the form of a new chapter on the career front. Hopefully by the time I post again after finishing my next project (either socks for my son or a tank top for my daughter), I'll have good news to report. I even plan on having my new career path include knitting.

Transitions

As winter has FINALLY turned to spring, my husband and I have just returned from a fantastic trip to Spain, where we enjoyed some time with our daughter who is studying in Seville this semester, and spent some time alone in Madrid at the end of the trip. Spain did not disappoint on this, our third trip to the country. The food continues to get better, the people are warm and friendly, and the breadth of history never ceases to amaze.

My daughter couldn't wait to point out a yarn shop she's seen in her neighborhood--but alas, when we walked by, it was siesta time

and the shop was closed. I probably saved myself some money--but was somewhat surprised when it dawned on me that I hadn't researched yarn shops in Spain before we left--something I usually do before any trip! I think I was too caught up in figuring out which projects I'd take with me!

I finished two projects on the trip--another striped cowl to replace the one I sold in my Etsy shop just prior to our leaving, and a pair of socks, the Sweet Tart Anklets (I made mine longer than anklets) that I've been working on as a secondary (or tertiary) project for a year! They are very springy and they may go to my daughter when she gets home. They were made from sock stash--a while different category--from a years-ago Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock club. ALMOST done with those skeins!

 

 

I also worked on the Riding to Avalon hoodie that I had started as part of my project to use my oldest stash and work forward. The yarn was Ella Rae Silkience in a beautiful pink shade--I had bought it in 2008! Needless to say, the design I was going to make with it doesn't interest me anymore, and nothing--including the hoodie that I worked on throughout two excellent movies on the plane ride home--worked. The hoodie ended up being too big, and I was making the smallest size and using the smallest needles possible without making the fabric stiff. So I decided to sell the yarn. That was a very liberating feeling--sometimes a purchase just isn't meant to be, and if the yarn goes to a good home, all the better! 

Today I started fresh by winding the NEXT item in my stash--that is a skein of Schaefer Anne (also discontinued), that I believe I won around 2008-2009. It's a beautiful melange of earthy colors--bronze, gold, and a pinky coral. I'm going to cast on the My Hope shawl, by Laura Linneman, and have ordered beautiful gold/pink beads from my favorite bead purveyor, Earthfaire, for the beaded bind-off.

I'm looking forward to casting this on with the new Signature needles I ordered to reward myself for winning my office's March Madness pool!

In the meantime, I'm working on the project I left home, the Wrap Me up, Buttercup! shawl from Dancing Leaf Farms. The goal of sneaking this project in is to finish something that I bought at last year's Maryland Sheep & Wool before this year's event comes around. I would like to go again with my sisters, but I may have a conflict with my kids' comings and goings around that time. We'll see. The shawl is a ton of fun--six individual yarns alternate to make a great-looking pattern--this will be a show-stopper once it's done. Easy stitches and no shaping (it's a big rectangle), so good mindless TV knitting.