I am going to knit this
Using this yarn, a soft, heavenly, robins egg blue worsted weight cashmere.
I am very happy about it. So are my kids.
Don't you just love a yarn everyone can get excited about?
Blog
The Cashmere Shrug – Continued
I've been an absentee blogger for the last month. My apologies. It's been busy, and well, all sorts of things, but I'm back.
I'm almost done with the Dream in Color Shrug.
I'm on the final repeat. Then it's on to to the cuff and finishing.
The Shrug is knit side to side, so you can see the first cuff, the rib knit at the bottom. The sleeves will be sewn in on each side.
Lovely cashmere yarn, and a pretty but very simple, lace pattern. I like this one so much I may just have to knit another!
Spring At Last
Today's post is brought to you for the early spring garden. You might want to skip this if you're on a slow connection, because it's going to be photo-intensive.
Spring starts in March in Alabama. We've already been through cherry tree blossoms, pansies, Dogwood trees and the onset of allergy season. Now we're into the serious season of lavender and roses.
Then there are lilacs. Technically, lilacs should not grow in Alabama, but I adore them and I nurse two of them along by the front steps. They've been there for 13 years now, through drought and snow.
They smell heavenly. In the morning, you can smell orange blossoms and lilacs. It's incredible.
The bay tree started as a 7" seedling 12 years ago. It too should not grow in our climate, but it has prospered. And, I have not bought bay leaves for cooking for the last decade. Having them growing in the front yard is amazing, and every time the tree needs pruning, all of my friends have enough leaves to last them for the year.
Our tall garden iris is almost done blooming, but the Siberian Iris is just getting ready to start. I love how it goes from being a tall grass, to swords with dark tips, to slowly unfurling deep purple iris.
This year we have some garden projects — first off the addition of a retaining wall down our driveway, which will give me the chance to add some bee and butterfly plants, lantana, asclepias, ajuga, and perhaps a few more roses.
It's not very pretty yet, but I have high hopes. Similarly, the backyard, currently the preserve of children and bad dogs, is going to get a bit of an updo this year. Although the swings and trampoline are permanent, and not particularly attractive, features. I'm going to replant the beds (often used by dogs for rolling in the mud, but I'm hoping they're more mature and will restrain themselves), bank some azaleas down one side, and see if some drip irrigation will help.
Yes, gardening does cut into knitting time (why is why you're seeing flowers, not knitting, today). But the results are so well worth it. I'm looking forward to knitting outdoors later on this summer, hopefully under a cool leafy bower, while the kids ride their bikes and play.
Progress
Title says it all. Progress on Dream in Color. Dreamy cashmere. Not much time to knit lately, but I’ve made it into the sixth repeat. Three more after this, then the cuff
Best Knitting Party Idea Ever
Design*Sponge had this post with ideas for the best knitting party ever — a party to teach non-knitting friends to knit. It seems like it could just as easily be a party for all of your knitting friends.
The pictures are beautiful, with lots of greenery and daffodils and neutral colored yarn. What about it Birmingham people? Do we need a knitting party?
Ellie’s Laar
I'm knitting a summer sweater called Laar for Ellie. I'm using the pattern yarn, a Zephyr silk-wool blend.
My swatch was, miraculously, dead on gauge.
Then I started casting on: a knitted on cast on, cast on 5 and cast off 2, for some 200 plus stitches. Yes, this will make a beautiful picot edging at the bottom of the sweater, but I'm afraid it may also leave me blind. And, the yarn likes to split. Casting on alone may be a long term project. I wonder if Laar will be worth it?
Afghan Love
My Afghan is done.
I am very happy with it. Very.
I started this project after falling in love with a cheap acryllic afghan in a high-end design store, and thinking, "I can knit that. And not in acryllic either!"
I could not have done it without the help of my Cousin Ann, who turned me on to a wonderful book about cables, that made it possible for me to write a simple pattern that gave me exactly what I wanted.
Sitting on this chair, it reminds me that I've always wanted to knit this.
It would be just perfect in our bedroom! Perhaps my next big project.
This yarn did everything I expected of it. It's soft, it's warm, it holds its shape. I love the combination of silk, alpaca, and merino. There is definitely an advantage to dyeing your own yarn, writing the pattern, and getting exactly what you wanted – a sort of soup to nuts approach to knitting.