I love this snow.
My morning appointment is cancelled, my afternoon full of errands is cancelled. I have a day to write to you, drink slow cups of coffee, give myself a pedicure, take naps with the dogs.
At some point I’ll need to shovel some snow and figure out a makeshift supper (grocery shopping being one of the cancelled errands), but all the essentials are here – Jack, Purl, coffee, and things to knit – so I’m happy. I know some of you must still get to work, so I sympathize – I hope most of you can enjoy the day as much as I plan to.
I’m weaving in ends on Antler, so I’ll have that to show you next week, after blocking. Having some shop time this week, I decided to make the December Dream Club pattern with some modifications. The pattern was for fingerless mitts and a headband, sweet and simple, in Dream in Color’s gorgeous colorway that reminds me of every color of poinsettia available. I have enough fingerless mitts for now and prefer mittens when the snow flies, so I made mittens instead. They’re very pretty in this striking colorway.
I’m writing the modifications and will email them to the Dream Club members. The buttons are vintage and some are still available at the shop. I think I’ll have enough left from the skein to make the headband as well. The original pattern, called Poinsettia, will be generally available for sale in a couple of months on Ravelry.
Karen Walter finished her truly unbelievably gorgeous Mia Francesca. You must see this sweater in person – it’s so beautiful – and it looks great on her, n’est-ce pas?
She made it in Maxima, a perfect choice for lovely knitting, subtle color variations, soft hand, plump and well-defined cables, and absolute coziness. (The photo below is the truest in terms of color: dark, rich royal purple.)
The construction is fascinating and practical – you can fit it as you work because it’s one-piece and top-down, but that’s all that is ordinary! Look at the lovely back detail – flattering and simple (sorry about the water spot, it was not a nice day to take pictures):
This will be an intermediate class beginning in mid-January, schedule available at the store for now (not on-line yet.) We will be ordering Maxima for the class for those who don’t find an in-stock color to suit them – it has been hard to get this year because of mill problems but they’re catching up.
This lovely mixed box of Swans Island Bulky arrived this week:
It was a special deal that allows you to buy it for $25 per skein instead of its normal price of $32, and when it’s gone, it’s gone. The 12-ply construction makes for lovely stitchwork and the natural dyes produce subtle colors and variations that many hand-dyers yearn to imitate. There are many one-skein projects that would be wonderful in this yarn. We settled on this one and Karen whipped up this great hat in 2 evenings. Soft, warm and beautiful! The pattern is free on Ravelry, called Cranberry Sauce by Brittany Tyler.
I’ll leave you with a tantalizing look at the beginning of a project that we’re contemplating for a class this spring:
We’ll keep you posted… enjoy the snow!
