I haven’t been writing much lately and I actually have a lot to write about but nothing in particular, so it’s been hard to come up with a Theme, which a post should have if it’s a Post. This is a small-p post, in which I ramble from one thing to another as they may come into my brain. Be afraid. Or be bored. Who knows until we get there?
First up in my brain because I just finished it this morning is a Groovy shawl in Noro’s new Geshi, a DK-weight blend of cotton, rayon, silk and a smooch of wool. It comes in a big, 660-yard ball:
This, it occurs to me, is an excellent travel project for this summer. One ball, one needle, one-page pattern, and really easy to knit. It’s entertaining, in a passive way, to watch the colors come along. Bring some snips with you. Like many Noro multi-colored yarns, there are knots to deal with. I wove the ends in (pretty easy with this much texture), but Groovy is such a casual shawl that you could just tie the ends and let them hang. Or bead them and make them a thing.
Deb Cech sent me a photo of the Tea Leaf Lace scarf she’s working on for a class that starts near the end of July. (The start date has been moved and price has changed since the email I sent last week because Deb thinks 3 sessions will be enough.)
Pretty, right? She’s making it in DK-weight Feliz, a lovely hand-dyed blend of merino and Modal rayon from Manos. The class will be appropriate for adventurous advanced beginners who are new to lace, but will also be a great way for anyone to get familiar with the lovely logic of lace patterns, to finally learn how useful charts can be, and to see the lace bloom into its ethereal glory after it’s blocked.
Which brings me to the next thing, which is, as Virginia Griffith put it, the Magic of Blocking! I knit up a Tulle shawl from one skein of Blossoms, a sweet little gradient fingering from Frabjous Fibers. It has a few beads which are optional but pretty much fun, and it looked like this when I was done knitting it:
Pretty colors but otherwise pretty awful. But here it is pinned out on my poor excuse for a guest bed after a thorough soaking:
And here it is, dry and floaty and just lovely:
Deb, Karen and I are all deep into our scheming for fall projects and classes. So far I am loving every single idea – I pity you for having to choose between them. And we have such gorgeous yarns coming, I can’t stop thinking about them. Really, I might have just a little problem with yarn.
