I just discovered Assemblage, the coolest little knitting blog I've seen in a long time. The author seems to be an Australian knitter who draws much of her inspiration from a Japanese aesthetic. A fabulous scarf knit from Habu's silk wrapped stainless steel yarn caught my eye, and I couldn't stop browsing. If you want a little bit of eye candy for the holiday weekend, I think this is just the thing!
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Yarns I’m Dyeing To Knit With
I am dyeing and dying to knit with the follow yarns:
- A new sport weight 65% Cashmere/35% Merino blend yarn I happened upon and grabbed a pound of to experiment with. I am insanely crazy about the first two test skeins I dyed.
I am thinking that I will use one skein for Mary-Heather Cogar's Simple Things scarf.
I am seriously thinking about devoting the second skein to the Eleanor Cowl from Knitty. I am hoping this yarn will live up to my expectations when I knit with it. I love the blend. I'm also considering doing a larger version of Simple Things, alternating knitting with both skeins.
- Elliebelly Merlin Merino — an experiment, since I don't often work with predominately orange colorways, but wanted one with just hints of green and purple mixed in with the hot colors. I'm exceedingly happy with this as-yet unnamed colorway.
I haven't made a final decision about what to use this yarn for, so I would welcome any ideas you might have for it! I am giving serious consideration to Regina Satta's Thanks Socks pattern, which would have the added benefit of letting me practice my rusty German, since it is written in both English and German. It's a free knitting pattern on Ravelry and although I would have to monkey with the sizing since my yarn is a slightly heavier weight, I think it would look great in this pattern.
What yarns are you dying (or dyeing) to knit with right now? It's summer, if you're in the south like I am, it's incredibly hot. Little, light weight projects like these are irresistable for this time of year. What do you have in the works?
[If you are looking for the Playsilk Blog Give Away, make sure you scroll down to the next post. And yes, all photos from others are used with their permission.]
Changing Things Up At The Elliebelly Knitting Blog
As several of you have noticed, thanks to the lovely Kelly at Seventeen Stone, I have a cool new blog design. Kelly was incredibly patient and seemed to intuitively understand what I wanted. She was so easy to work with! Thank you Kelly.
I hope you all like it as much as I do!
To celebrate, I'm going to do several giveaways between now and the end of July. Yes, there will be yarn. Possibly some of the Elliebelly "Melted Crayon" on Naiad Organic Merino I'm in the middle of dyeing for myself. Certainly some crackle-dyed Elliebelly Playsilks. I'm also planning to write up my Cabled Afghan pattern, and will offer it for free at some point during this time period. And any other cool stuff I decide to share with my friends. Maybe some art. So click the orange RSS feed bottom on the left side of the blog to add me to your reader, or remember to check back in a couple of times a week. Because of my crazy schedule, there is no predicting when or for how long I'll do this. Just a little bit of summer fun for y'all and a great way, in fact, the only way to score some Elliebelly this summer.
Knitted Swatch Complete. Gauge Perfect. Oh Joy!
I am a good person. I will surely go to heaven when I die. For I have swatched. I have swatched and gotten gauge. Not only did I knit the full number of stitches called for, surrounded by a garter stitch border, I blocked my swatch after it was complete. Yes, surely I will go to heaven.
Even if I don't make it to heaven, I have high hopes that Ellie's fall sweater (the Tiny Tea Leaves Cardigan, knit in Madeline Tosh's Vintage Merino) will fit because my gauge is perfect. It's perfect after blocking. And this must be a good omen from the knitting gods that all is well.
I am fascinated by this yarn. I don't think anyone does single color variations as well as Madeline Tosh. I adore her yarns. This one is a superwash merino, and it has an odd texture, almost coarse but not unpleasant. The surprise came when I washed my swatch and it softened up nicely into something you would want to rub against your face. Hopefully I'll get to spend some time with Tiny Tea Leaves this week. I can't wait to get started, now that the swatching is done.
Enough (Knitted) Ruffles for Ellie
Ellie kindly agreed to model the finished "Enough Ruffles for Joyce" scarf so you all could see her new short hair. And of course, I couldn't resist playing with Photoshop just a wee bit.
The scarf is, of course, still all blue.
I'm incredibly happy with the way it turned out. The cashmere is fantastic, the color just right, the pattern, as promised, enough without being too much.
I am as happy with the scarf with the tails worn long and hanging down as I am with it wrapped double around.
And, the scarf even appears to have magical powers. It knocked Ellie straight out asleep when she put it on after arduously playing the role of model for me.
Knitted Shrug Love
She loved it. She looked beautiful in it.
The two best things you can say about a knitted garment!
This is my Mom-albeit at 6:30 am in the Hartford Airport-wearing the Dream in Color Shrug. While I feared it was too big, it turned out to have the perfect elegant drape on her and she could not have looked more graceful.
The only thing more fun than knitting the Shrug was seeing her try it on for the first time.
Another Reason Knitting Is Good For Your Soul
Knitting is good for your soul. Anyone who knits can tell you that.
And here is yet more proof for that proposition.
This lovely yarn is being sent to some wonderful knitters who sent money, generous amounts of money, to the Red Cross to support tornado recovery. To thank them for their thoughtfulness, they are receiving some of the newest Elliebelly colorways. Starting at the left side with the paintbrush colorway and moving clockwise, they include Good Day, Gulf Shores, P. Campbell, Kaleidoscope (not new, but oh so much fun for me to dye again!), Grapevine, and Steampunk.
Knitters always seem to be involved in helping others, and it's particularly gratifying to see this small amount of yarn turn into help for people who are trying to restart their lives. Thank you knitters!