#89 of 365 - Pinning Out Summer with Ishbel

My turn! I wetted and blocked my Summer weight Ishbel this morning. The yarn it is made from is a micro-fiber, so I shall be interested in seeing how it blocks out and whether it stays blocked out after the pins are removed.

Apparently, Pan Kitty only likes to roll on wetted wool as he has ignored my Ishbel all day and just couldn't leave Erin's alone yesterday.

#88 of 365 - Pinning Out Erin's Ishbel

We pinned out Erin's Ishbel today. I really thought we would get my Summer one pinned out as well but we used nearly every pin we have on Erin's. I want to get it pinned tho as I would like to take it with me when I leave to dog-sit.

#34 of 365 - How I spent my Morning and Afternoon

First it was SnB at the Knitter's Kove. Val, Suzi, Deborah and others, sat, knitted and chatted. That's Deborah working away on the Lambspun cotton/wool in red and black shadow work for the Skull Illusion blanky she is making for her grandson and then that's Val after she finished buying some loverly Misti Alpaca yarn for a Fair Isle project she has in mind. I worked away on my Lacy Prairie Shawl in brown Fisherman's Wool. I also got another skein of the Andes in brown and amber to match the one that Erin had put in my Christmas Stocking. I also purchased the latest issue of Piecework's Historical Knitting. I always find something to love in this special issue.

Then after, it was watching Rebecca cake yarn with Erin and my winding station. She sure has got a lot of yarn! Like I should talk, LOL. THIS is the Rebecca of the reason I blog a photo a day...

If you don't know already, a winding station consists of a ball winder and a swift. With these two tools you can take a skein of yarn and turn it into a center pull cake of yarn that is so much easier to knit from. Many of you may remember sitting and holding a skein of yarn for your mother or your granny whilst she wound it into a ball to make knitting easier. This allows one person to do the job that normally takes two if you don't have the equipment. Erin and I have it for both general knitting usage and so that Erin can rewind her skeins after she dyes them.




The swift is the umbrella looking thing with the dark pink yarn on it and the ball winder is attached to the table in front of it. The cakes are the flat rounds of colour on the table in front of Rebecca.





Altho, this is not the best picture to see it in, I am wearing my Ishbel that I finished blocking yesterday. I think I am going to wear this little shawlette a lot as I LOVE IT! I knitted it from the Misty Moor colourway from Cherry Tree Hill. I pet it a lot as it's like "buttah". The photo below shows the lace pattern that edges it. Both the Ishbel and the Skull Illusion are from Ysolda Teague, that lovely Scottish knitwear designer we all love so well.

#27 of 365 - The Misty Moors

I love yarn, if that isn't already obvious to you, my dear readers. I chose this yarn because the name was so evocative and it has every colour that I love all in one strand.

I found this great sock yarn from . It's a colourway called Misty Moor (scroll down for the colourway). I was going to make Cheryl Oberle's Highland Triangle Shawl (scroll down to the Folk Shawls book) from it, but even with 800 plus yards, it's not enough. So instead, I am going to make Ysolda Teague's Ishbel with it. It is one of the shawls going towards my 10 Shawls in 2010.

Since I own shirts in every colour in the yarn and since the Ishbel won't use both skeins, I will make a pair of socks with the remainder. Then I will have a set, either to wear together or apart depending on how chilly it is. I will likely use this pattern Zokni, since I liked it so well when I knitted them up for Erin.

Tangerine Dreams and Candied Orange Peel - #6 of 365

Candied Orange Peel (or any citrus peel) is something my Mum made every Christmas. However, she made us all crazy with her preparations as she did too much. I haven't ever made this before, but I have been missing it, so I decided that I would since we had the oranges to hand.



Simple syrup and orange peel, boil, boil, boil. Easy peasy and yummy too. I shall dip these in dark chocolate after they have set.



I am wearing this scarvelette which is loosely based on Ysolda Teague's Damson. I have chosen to call this scarvelette, Tangerine Dreams for obvious reasons.

On the Rocks - #4 of 365

This is really going to be a quickie. Spent the whole afternoon at Traffic Court with the kiddo.

This is Rebecca and me at Garden of the Gods here in Colorado Springs. This photograph is of me and Rebecca as we were getting ready to take our shawl "batwing" photo. It is "the" Rebecca from whom I am borrowing the idea of 365 in 365...

I finished the Tangerine Dream Scarf based on Ysolda Teague's Damson. I need to block it but will wait til daylight and slightly warmer temperatures. I am currently working on the Patons Classic shawl of my own design but which is loosely based on Damson now, which is for 10 in 2010.