Knitwise

In the spare time of caring for my family, teaching my children, and volunteering in church, I knit. It's soothing to me, and I wish I had more time for it, but life impedes. Nevertheless, I keep an opportunistic eye open for those fleeting moments where a stitch or two can be completed. In this manner I've managed to finish a couple of projects and even start a new one.

First up off the needles is the lovely shawl, Zen Rain, knit for a very special person in my life, my mother-in-law. She selected the yarn from her local yarn shop, A Good Yarn, and it's a luxurious one. From the Neighborhood Fiber Co., Penthouse Silk Fingering yarn is 100% silk in a two-ply that absolutely glows with deep color saturation. She selected the colorway Rock Creek Park, which is a deep jewel-toned turquois. One ball, at 500 yards was more than enough to knit the entire shawl. Weighing in at four ounces a ball, I had approximately one ounce left over.

The ever-lovely Zen Rain Shawlette!

A close-up of the edging.

Next up off the needles is a sweet little cowl called the Serpentine Cowl. I saw a sample knitted up while on holiday visiting my sister in Colorado Springs at the Green Valley Weavers and Knitters Shop. This is a sweet little shop that sells a great deal of knitting and spinning equipment, along with looms and other fibery good things. I absolutely love visiting this shop! At any rate, I saw the sample and showed it to my sister. She loved it as well, so I picked up some yarn and cast on for a gift for her.

Finished cowl!

The yarn I used for this is Louisa Harding Yarns, Thistle. The color is number 6, a smoky sage, and it feels delightful around the neck as the yarn is 60% merino and 40% baby suri alpaca. I can't wait to package it up and ship it off, and then turn around and knit another for myself! Unfortunately for me, it took 3 balls, although I only went into the third ball by about 10 inches. I think I could have managed to do it with only two had I cast on with less of a tail. Additionally, there was an imperfection in one of the balls, and I had to cut and join, costing me extra yardage. If you decide to knit this one, I would still strongly recommend getting three balls (or maybe even four on the off chance that you could knit two out of them!) to ensure that you have enough to complete the project. 

Next up on the needles is Susie Rogers' Reading Mitts, which I am doing in Berroco Vintage DK, in color 2184, a lovely brownish purple. While this is the first time I've knit with the DK weight, I have knit a great deal of the Vintage in worsted weight. It's a fabulous yarn in an acrylic/wool/nylon blend, so it makes great gifts that are easy-care. These mitts are going to be knit for the good folks at Tom Bihn. I'm looking forward to completing them. I have two skeins, so once I finish the first set of mitts, I'm hoping to knit another up in the same yarn for me! I've only just cast-on and knit about five rows, so I don't have any photos, but I'll work as quickly as I can to get them completed and photographed!

In all other ways, life continues to be quite busy. Co-op is in full swing (more about that in another post), fall is hopefully not far away, and the kids keep growing. In other words, life is good!