Purple Knitting Tidbits

Purple seems to be the color of the moment in my knitting.  Ever since I decided on a little spark of purple velvet in my living room furniture, purple seems to be everywhere for me.

You all have seen the start of the purple cabled afghan, which continues to make slow but steady progress.  It is great nighttime knitting, especially now that my darling oldest child has taught me to stream the first season of Thirty Rock — a previously undiscovered guilty pleasure — onto the Judge's monster TV.

I really like the look and feel of these very sturdy cables as they march up the fabric.

Then there is the dropstich scarf in Cleo that I wasn't certain I was going to like in the last post.  I'm almost a full skein into in, and the verdict is definitely a good one.  I adore how the colors are working together and this yarn feels divine.  I can't wait to wrap this one around my neck.

Finally, there is purple roving.  While I was sending off some of my roving to be spun, my cousin Ann (she who can do anything!) offered to spin some up for me as well.  She said she wanted to spin some Alpaca, so I ordered some and have dyed it up with high tones in purple and lavender. 

I cannot wait to see what she does with it!

I'm still doing some destashing here and there in an effort to make more space to create and devote less space to storage in my studio.  It is slow going.  But, if you have been looking for some Elliebelly yarn in the Crayon colorway, I am having a drawing here for two skeins of it, dyed on a premium British Merino.  I won't draw the name of the winner until November 1, so please go and enter anytime before then.

Finally, I would be remiss to not mention one personal detail, although I don't do much of that here.  My much loved Mother-in-law, Helen, passed away earlier this week after a brief battle with an aggressive cancer.  She never lost her sense of humor.  Helen taught me important truths like the fact that my children would not remember whether there were dust bunnies in the corners, but would remember me reading them stories at night.  Although she was a needle point person, not a knitter, she was indulgent of her daughters in law, and always admired the pretty colors in my knitting.  The Judge and I are incredibly fortunate to have spent so many years in her close company.  She was a person who was not afraid to speak her mind and had a strong sense of social justice.  I'm going to miss her more than I can say — it is only just now dawning upon me.  I hope that the tolerance she practiced and the wisdom she tried to instill in us will stay in place with us.