Fingers Are Flying

I finished Pattern 11 of the Summer Sampler!

Here is a close up.
Andrea is back and will soon post Pattern 12, then it's onto the border. I have learned more about lace knitting then I could have ever dreamed I would. My confidence level is growing and I feel great about that. As much as I have loved knitting this shawl, it has been a long knit. I know, I know it teaches patience and focus, but gees, I am wiggling in my chair like a small child. The solution to that, I remind myself, I have a small break before the next pattern, which gives me time to work on another WIP.
Even with all this knitting going on, I am also knitting scarves with my mother. We have purchased each other kits and are now getting together once a week to work on them. The first is a kit call Boa Boa Scarf she brought back from La Lana Wools

Plying,plotting, dying & Knitting

Focus has been difficult lately, there are so many things I want to do all at once. I have fallen deeply for spinning! I plied my first batch of the Camel/Silk. It is very soft!

I have also been knitting like a fiend on my Summer Sampler. I recently finished Pattern 8 - Surf

And Pattern 9 - Fritillaria So far this is my favorite pattern, I enjoyed knitting it the most and it knit up fast (either that or I am getting faster!)

In between....I received Knit Purl's newsletter which always leads to checking out their website. I kept going back to this kit for Gisela by Coco Knits
It uses Habu Textiles Gima Cotton. Apparently they wind cones with enough on it for the whole sweater,so there are fewer tails to weave in. On a recent trip to Portland I stopped by ...The bummer was they were out of them, but the good news is I believe I came up with something better, thus the plotting began. Honestly when I looked at the smaller skeins of Gima Cotton I was not excited about it. I searched Knit Purl which stocks several Habu Textile yarns, and I spied a beautiful color of their Tsumugi Silk.
It was suggested I use another fine yarn with it to make it thick enough to get gauge, I went along and settled for a white non twist cotton by Habu. The ladies tried to be nice like they always are and say it would look fine, but already the ideas were spinning in my head......When I arrived home I knit a swatch. My lovely husband said it looked nice, but I stuck my tongue out at it.
After taking a small piece and attempting to dye it with coffee and finding it resisted. I was off to buy some dye and I settled on a bronze dye, knowing I would get a variegated yarn, but also knowing that the olive hue would tone down the yellow in the silk....or so I hoped. Here is the yarn in the dye.
here it is dried and wound on a cone
And the new swatch, Woo! Hoo! everything I hoped for!!!