This is So Gorgeous .....

..... that I have not stopped admiring it and it's mine !

I am so lucky to be gifted this beautiful shawl knitted by Molly in her own handspun. Remember the socks that I knitted for Molly & in return she knitted this shawl for me.

It's just so gorgeous & the handspun is so thin & well spun. Molly has really done a fantastic job & I love the shawl. You can see more pictures of the shawl here.

What made this shawl extra special is that it's knitted in my pattern, The Cathedral Shawl. Only one word can express my feelings when I look at the shawl, it's just so ..... perfect !

Thank you so much Molly !

Another 1st Handspun

..... no, this is not a repetition of my previous post. This is another 1st handspun with a wheel! I joined our local spinning guild & rented a wheel .....

It's a Sickinger & is quite small so it's just right for me. For the past 3 weeks, I have been sitting out on my patio, listening to all the oldies on the radio & spinning away .....

.... it is just so relaxing, although not at first when I was getting to know the wheel. I managed to spin 2 bobbins of Meridian wool in silver grey & dark grey ....

.... then I had to ply the 2 singles together & I had this bobbin of 2 ply wool .....

It was so exciting to see the finished product (although I can see several areas of imperfection). I weighed it & measured the length .....

.... I have a skein of 130 gms of 2 ply handspun wool & there's more than 500 yds in that skein ! I was so amazed that in 3 weeks (I did not spin everyday) I managed to spin so much but I did realised that I was spinning quite thinly. I am so happy with this wool & I can't wait to knit something out of it. I know there are lots of stuff that I have to learn about spinning but I think this is a good start.

Now I have to buy a wheel as I want to spin more & I have to return this wheel to the guild. I can't wait to get my own wheel !

Don't worry, this post is not all about spinning as I am still knitting. I pulled out my Hemlock Ring from the basket as my niece wanted a blanket. So I thought I will finish off the Hemlock Ring which I cast on 1.5 years ago. I don't know why I kept it for so long as it just took me a week to finish it off .....

.... but the blocking nearly killed me. It was so difficult to stretch out the feather & fan portion & then to pin each & every one of the cast off loop. It took me 1.5 hours ! But it was worth the effort when I stood back & saw the beautiful blanket.

It's hugh as it measure 46" across the diameter & I just love it. I was so worried that I will run out of yarn but I had enough - 8 balls of Jo Sharp DK wool which has been discontinued & I still have 1 ball left.

I love this edging as it's so pretty & really finished off the blanket well. I am so in love with this blanket & can see myself knitting on the couch next winter with this gorgeous blanket on my lap. I don't think I can give it away ..... I have to knit another blanket for my niece

Handspun Socks

I have never knitted with handspun yarn before, so when a dear friend, Molly, mentioned that she would like a pair of socks knitted in her handspun, I volunteered.

Molly is a great spinner & I am always so envious of her gorgeous handspun whenever she shows them around. I was so happy to be able to knit with her handspun.

As the yarn is quite variegated, I decided on a simple lace panel at the front of the socks. This also gives me the opportunity to use my latest acquisition, Vogue Lace Stitchionary . I fell in love with the Caterpillar lace panel & it was just right ......

I really enjoyed knitting with Molly's handspun as she did a fantastic job.The yarn was so evenly spinned & so easy to knit with. The colors are also gorgeous & it's was so great watching the colors emerged as I knitted.

The knitting went really fast as I was using 3mm dpns (first time in my sock knitting career as I have never such a "thick" dpn for socks).

I handed the socks to Molly last week & she is happy with them & they fitted her well.