Shawl fantastico

I have a Seraphim. I am in love with her. In fact, I am wearing her to work, and enjoying every moment of her blissful warmth. She is made of Schaefer Anne, and the yarn is just perfect. It's variegated, but subtly enough for even the lacy bits of the pattern. And the colors are just perfect- I feel like I'm swimming in a cool pond!



Lace details:


All bundled up:


And here is the Woven Gems Prime Alpaca I purchased at the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Fest- I keep petting it, because it feels like heaven.


I also promised photos of the Chullo hat I'm knitting to give away shortly. This photo is from early in the evening yesterday, before I finished knitting the earflaps. All that's left is to do the last round around with green, and weave in the excessive amount of ends. It's a little deceptive in the photo- most of the top actually sits above the head, and flops back. It's a really cute pattern. I may not have enough teal for the braid up top and the ties, but I did at least have enough for the hat itself.


I ordered some magnificent yarn off Ravelry- not only was in insanely cheap (less than half price?), it is quite possibly my favorite yarn ever. Besides Schaefer Anne. It's the perfect dusty rose, and I think Cashsoft DK may be the nicest fiber I've touched. I'm using it for that baby sampler afghan- I stopped working on it only because I'm lazy, though the yarn is perfect!


Speaking of babies, my cousin is going to be induced tomorrow. How wonderful! If it's a girl, I know what I'm sending to her... if it's a boy, I'll have to be more creative. Either way, there's also another project in my queue, though it's not a knitting project.


I am going to be one half of a very creative team- making one spiffy neo-Victorian steampunk suit. I think I'm going to start out by sewing up the shirt, since that should be relatively straight-forward while I learn how to use my new (to me) sewing machine. Once I have my stitching back in order, I will take on the tailoring required for the vest, and finally the frock coat.

I have a significant number of knitting UFOs, and two fair isle sweaters I want to start. Somehow, I'm not ready to knit on any of them. I think I need to dig into my knitting bag tonight after SSK, to determine what I should be working on. Or I could give in and swatch Autumn Rose. I think I say that twice a day, every day... In the meantime, I have the Super Secret Holiday gift in my bag, half completed, and I think that should take me through the next few days.

Block Party

This was a very good crafting weekend. Saturday was a work training session and a lot of Wii playing, so that doesn't count. I made up for the day off on Sunday!

First, I knitted in the car and played lots of fun tunes on the way to the Shenandoah Vally Fiber Fest. It was a very cute little festival- three buildings, a few barns, and lots of friendly and helpful people. I was able to purchase what I really went for- 16 ounces of gorgeous charcoal alpaca from Woven Gems. The yarn is destined to become an incredibly warm and comfy work sweater- I just need to find an appropriately simple pattern.

This is the same company that hand-dyed my crazy fire-inspired Bombyx Silk. Remember?


Knitted more on the way home, and I finished Seraphim before dinner. She's blocking in the living room as I type! Hurrah!

In the spirit of finished things, I cast on for a new project. Conveniently, this one is a hat- I already have it more than half-done. This is good, because it's for a dear friend who has moved to a very chilly clime- I think she could do with her gift sooner than later. I may not have enough yarn for the main color, but only one way to find out!

Photos of both projects to come shortly. I'm hoping to finish the hat tonight (if I do in fact have enough yarn), and then figure out what's next in the priorities list. Swatching for Autumn Rose, mayhaps?