Little Lambs

My daughter, Leah, just got engaged and needless to say, her Dad and I are over the moon about it.  We adore her fiance, Matt, (who is 6'5" so no knitted sweaters or socks for him!) and I'm sure this next year will be filled with the who, what, where, when and wow's of wedding planning.  In anticipation of this milestone in their relationship, did I diligently start knitting the traditional Shetland shawl, clutch, lacy fingerless gloves, gifts for the bridesmaids or anything wedding related??  No.  Rather I thought it best to get right to it and start a size 12 month, fingering weight, full-on wool (love Rauma Finullgarn; hope to carry it in the shop one day), stranded, steeked (scary word) cardigan from the pattern by Ann Myhre called Where the Wild Sheep Roam.  A-dorable.  It should only take me a few weeks to knit most of it and um, a year or so to finish the last few inches of the sleeves.  But there's no rush I'm sure. 

It's funny, I didn't expect this odd, second biological clock/grandmom-wannabe kind of thing.  Although my eldest daughter, married nearly two years ago, will surely attest that I've slid from "Honey, I will never be one of those moms that's pushy about wanting grandchildren" (that was last year) to "First baby who sees the light of day gets the Sheep sweater!" (I might have spoken those words last week).  I've become blissfully annoying to my children.  Makes me smile.

Here's the beginning.  I'll be adding 4 more colors so I can't wait to see how that's going to look.  This is my second foray into stranded knitting (mittens don't count) and my first looked like .... Yoda comes to mind.  So far so good this time. 

     

Shiraito Falls

Shiraito Falls, Japan

Noro Shiraito

It's not too much of a stretch to see where Eisaku Noro got his inspiration for his yarn, Shiraito.  This yarn has to get The Most Underestimated Yarn of the Year award.  It has sat on our shelves for months now, pretty much ignored by most of us, especially me.  "Eh, it's ok, feels kinda nice", I thought, "but I'd rather buy x, y or z".  Well, it's clear I have no vision when it comes to yarn.  Marie (sure-I-can-knit-a-sample-in-an-hour) Woodford knit this cowl from one skein and holy cow, as I live and breath, I never expected it would knit up into such a pretty and soft fabric with a beautiful subtle bloom.  I guess the fact that it's mostly cashmere and angora totally escaped me.  Needless to say I added this to my stash.  We have it in two colorways, both of which are suddenly flying out of the shop, thanks to Marie's cowl.    

Finally Finished Baby Sweater

Ann's....Nancy's

Here they are!!  Well, here's Nancy's at least.  She actually finished a couple of weeks ago, which should have given me plennnnnty of time to get mine finished.  I'm so close too.  What is that - when the end is in sight and you stop dead in your tracks???  I think it's because I loved working with these colors and I didn't want the project to end.  The beautiful, rich green along with the pastel accent colors reminded me of the beauty of spring and summer in the finger lakes region. That was reason enough to keep it unfinished in my knitting bag (whilst waiting for the long, long winter to end) but now the warmer weather is here and everything is in bloom.  I no longer need to look in my knitting bag for spring.  I guess that means it's time to finish it.  No more excuses.

We've had requests to make up kits for this sweater.  We have 3 Tosh DK color combinations available with more to come:  Molly Ringwald with Fragrant Stripe, Jade with Mansfield's Garden stripe and Cove with Celadon strip.

Am I the only one...

...who never uses the strap conveniently attached to the camera?  Apparently.  I took a visual survey this week since I'm presently in a camera-laden location, New Orleans.  Every strap, be it neck or wrist, was in use.  Every one.  Well, my bad habit caught up with me last week.  The camera went flying out of my hand while shooting Nancy's and my sweaters, lens open and everything.  Not good.  I've spent a good amount of time trying to cajole the lens to its pre-cockeyed state but that's just not going to happen so it'll be off to the repair shop.  That's not my biggest regret for not using the strap though.  The picture I was shooting?  It showed our sweaters with mine One, 1, Uno! row further along.  Aaarrrgh.  It was a fleeting moment anyway as Nancy zoomed ahead to finish, block and add buttons.  It's cuter than all get-out and on display with the Madelinetosh yarns.  Mine's about where it was when I took that never-to-be-seen photo.  When I get back to town I'll take the final photos (with my phone, no doubt).

Broken Len

I did cast-on the Leydon Fingerless Mitts.  I love the elongated oval pattern.  The yarn has such a nice hand.  I can tell these will be lightweight yet warm; perfect for the fall.

Leydon using Green Mountain Spinnery Elegance

AND, I've started the Child's Balaklava, an absolute favorite of ours around the shop.  The ribbing lets it stretch so well that it can fit your child for years of winters.  We'll be holding a class this fall.

Child's Balaklava

Photos courtesy of my phone.  They're not too bad, right?    --Ann

 

Undiscovered Treasure

I spent a fair amount of time knitting while on some mode of transportation this weekend:  Train, subway, city bus, on foot (love to knit while walking although in NYC it can be extremely challenging) and I've come to the conclusion that I must daydream far more than I realize.  According to my crude calculations, I should have been able to complete the sleeves, the body, sew the seams, peruse Ravelry for a new mitts project, wind a skein from my suitcase and get a cuff started, all before pulling into Penn Station.  As you can see, I made progress but barely.  But I did find this, which I'm going to use with this (we have 3 skeins left in the store btw).  I'd say that made for a productive train ride.  What can I say about Nancy's sweater other than she's just fast, fast, fast.  Oh, and about that undiscovered treasure.  Whilst straightening the yarn in the shop today I found a leftover egg from our sale; and a decent percentage off I might add.  I'm leaving it where I found it, in the Swan Island Worsted.  Whomever happens upon it first, you can have that percentage off your yarn purchase.  --Ann

Nancy's progress after one afternoon (I'm sure), mine, after days of opportunity.

Our events committee is on the move!

I think I'm not alone when I say I love yarn and all aspects of it, from sheep-to-shawl as they say:  Looking at it, touching it, talking about it, reading about it;  visiting and exploring shops, farms, festivals;  and last but not least, going to sit and stitch meet-ups, retreats and events.  So I got pretty pumped yesterday as I listened to our events committee members discussing so many exciting ideas that they weren't sure how to fit them all into this calendar year.  Here are some Save-the-Dates:  May 2nd, First Fridays,  May 4th, Spin-In,  May 10th, Cascade Yarn Tasting (this is a biggie),  June 1st, Wool Day (this, too, is a biggie),  July 19th - 26th, Christmas in July.  We'll be posting all the details shortly on our website, Facebook, emails and newsletter.
Update on the Great Sweater Race - I'm so losing.  Nancy's on the second sleeve already.  I'm barely a couple of rows in on the first one.  But I'm looking at a five hour train ride tomorrow so surely....
 

 

Sunday's Suggestion

.... this pattern, Eyelet Shawl by Hoxton Handmade (a free Ravelry download) and Malabrigo Rios, which happens to be on sale this week!  

I wasn't looking for such a pairing but my knitting bud text-ed me this morning with her nearly-finished shawl done in Rios Lavanda.  It's just gorgeous and seems like it would be the perfect weight to keep the spring cool breezes off my shoulders.  I've never been real successful with lace shawls but those in the know insist this one is easy-peasy.  I've added it to my queue.   --Ann