Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Socks, Spinning and Something Really Pretty

Dear Mom,
April's socks were finished in April, but just barely. These will go into the drawer for future gift giving. The yarn for May's socks is still languishing on the dining room table waiting for a ride on the ball winder.


I spent a good bit of time over the past couple of weeks spinning this. It may just look like more pretty yarn, but I see this skein of yarn as evidence of improving spinning skills. The roving for this yarn was purchased by CarolWhoseHouseGotStruckbyLightning at the Greencastle Fiber Event and I agreed to spin it for her.
 And this next beauty came off the needles last night and off the blocking wires this morning. It was started in July 2009 and set aside for a reason I can't remember, but it certainly wasn't because this thing was hard. It was a pretty quick knit once I buckled down and actually worked on the thing.

 This is the Panda Silk Dk Fan Shawl by Gail Tanquary- a free pattern. I used Blue Sky Alpaca's Alpaca Silk yarn- 5 skeins, I think.  I couldn't be happier with the way this turned out. Beautiful yarn, elegant shawl. Really perfect for spring. And one less project waiting to be completed. If only I could be certain that they would all turn out this nicely.
Love,
Kim