September 03, 2008
Icarus
And so I finally get around to posting photos of my completed Icarus shawl.
To recap, the yarn for this project was spun on my Bosworth midi spindle from the incredibly gorgeous Lady Starlight batts from Enchanted Knoll Farm. Four ounces of this fiber yielded about 1,000 yards of two-ply laceweight, so I still have a bit left over. Perhaps more Orchid Lace Mitts are in order?
This is one of my favorite projects to date. Fun to spin, fun to knit, and the finished shawl turned out just as I had hoped. I've also found that I really like spinning laceweight on my spindles (and have recently acquired a few more for that very purpose). Soon I will have to spin some crazy amount for a nice square Shetland shawl of some sort.... :)
Posted by missalicefaye at 01:16 PM | Comments (32)
August 03, 2008
Sparkly
I didn't mean to be gone for so long, really. But now that the Long National Nightmare of my summer classes is finally over, we can get back to the business of talking about making stuff.
I have to admit right up front that the other thing I've completely neglected this summer is the Princess shawl. I finished the center and started the top border (the homeward stretch!) and promptly lost all steam. It's waiting for me patiently, and it will probably continue to do so for a bit.
Meanwhile, I've been spinning. And also experiencing some sort of personality shift where I now think that spinning sparkly, shiny, angelina-filled yarn is the best thing ever. Me, the smooth and subtle laceweight purist.
Take, for instance, the Enchanted Knoll Lady Starlight batt above. It's a fluffy, gorgeous blend of hand-dyed merino silk in a range of blues with sari silk strands and lots of angelina thrown in for good measure (sigh... the pretty....). I've been spinning a laceweight yarn on my spindle and started knitting it up this weekend.
I'm completely enamored with the colors and textures. And sparkles.
This is the beginning of Icarus, a striking pattern that nonetheless has enough stretches of plain stockinette to showcase the yarn, I think. In the past, I shied away from this pattern because I was afraid I'd get bored with that stockinette. But working with handspun seems to provide excitement enough on its own.
Posted by missalicefaye at 06:53 PM | Comments (19)
