The Ladybug Has Landed !

This was the email that I received from Emma, from Spunout. I was so excited when I read the email & immediately arranged to pick up the Ladybug.

.... my new spinning wheel ! It actually arrived in a box & took my husband a couple of hours to assemble it. I can't wait to try it.

It's spinning so smoothly & I love it. I have only been spinning for 6 months on my Ashford Traditional which is a great wheel to spin on but not portable. It was a chore to carry it around & loading it in my car when I go out for spinning. So I decided to give myself a treat & bought the Ladybug as it's more portable.

...... look at the little ladybug on the wheel.

As the weather is now cooler, I have been spinning more. I think I am building up a handspun stash as I can't knit fast enough. But I managed to knit this up with one of my earlier handspun on the Ashford, in fact, it's my first handspun that is navajo plyed.

As I have only 200+ yds of handspun merino, I decided to knit a sideway scarf/shawlette so that I can measure the weight as I go. I just increase on one side every 6 rows & also knitted an eyelet row in between increases. After using half of the ball, I started the decreases.

It turned out great & I managed to get a nice length of 80" so that it can go round my neck a couple of times. This is my 1st project knitted out of my own handspun - I am a fiber artist now !

Simplicity

..... it's actually not that simple at all. This is a project that I have been knitting on & off for the last 5 months.

When Michelle gave me a cone of Colormart, mohair/merino last year, I did not want to knit another Featherweight Cardigan but I wanted something similar. I found Simplicity which is a top down cardigan but with shaped & drapey fronts. It looks great & I love top down construction.

While knitting the cardigan, I was not happy with the rolling edges & was concerned with them as there is no finishing to the edges. I kept putting it down to contemplate if I should continue or rip it out. This went on for a couple of months but I kept knitting. When I got to the bottom of the cardigan, I cast off but it rolled so much that I can't bear looking at it. I ripped off the cast off & left the cardigan in the basket.

One thing that prevented me from ripping the whole project is the yarn. I love knitting with it. I am not a fan of mohair but it's not so obvious in the yarn & it knitted up so well. Plus the color is my favorite.

I decided to pick it up again in February & worked on the cast off. I did a couple of garter stitch rows, an eyelet row & a couple of garter stitch rows & it worked ! The cast off was perfect & there was no rolling. I love the look & it finished off the cardigan nicely. This really gave me the boost & within the next few days, the sleeves were completed with the same finishing.

Actually, this pattern is very well written & the designer is very thorough with all the different types of increases. I like her style of pattern writing that I am knitting another of her design - Elphaba.

Treasure Lace

This shawl has came a long way as it has taken me almost 5 months to make it happen. I have never worked on a project for so long & put so much effort into it. My apologies to those of you who have seen the shawl way back in early Dec & had waited patiently for the pattern. I think I owe all of you an explanation ......

...... it started way back in Nov last year when my dear friend, Helen gave me 4 skeins of Handmaiden Cashmere & Silk. Helen was clearing her house & she knew that she will not have the time to use it. As the yarn was too gorgeous to be sitting in her stash, she wanted me to use it. I knew Helen loves this yarn & she had bought it in her favorite color & I knew she will want the yarn knitted up.

So I decided to design a shawl with the yarn & knit it up for Helen's birthday in January. The timing was really bad as I was leaving for a 5 week holiday soon. But I managed to decide on a design & knit the shawl all in 3 weeks. I was so pleased with it & had to show it to the ladies in my knitting group & they loved it. Then came the requests for a pattern but my initial thought was that it was a special design for a dear friend & I am not writing up the pattern.

I gave Helen the shawl on her birthday & she was delighted with it & again the requests for a pattern came. Helen also encouraged me to write up the pattern & this time I relented & started working on it.

My initial notes were quite brief, so I had to knit the shawl again & this time, I used Malabrigo Lace as another option & also I wanted one in a smaller size. The 1st shawl that I knitted for Helen was quite large as Helen is a tall lady & she needs the length to wrap around her. Helen's shawl is 80" long. The 2nd shawl that I knitted is 60" long & it is just right for me. I love the feel of Malabrigo lace as it's so soft .....

By then, it was Feb & the start of a new school term. That delayed the writing of the pattern but I managed to get it out to the test knitters (who were waiting eagerly for the pattern). While the pattern was being test knitted, I decide to do my own test knitting & knitted the 3rd shawl in Handmaiden Sea Silk .....

Again, the shawl turned out great & I decided to send it to a dear friend in Singapore whom I recently spend some time with during my holidays there.

The next problem was deciding on a name for the shawl. As it is an Estonian lace pattern, I decided to translate the name of the stitch pattern - Treasure Lace. I think the name fits the shawl as it is Helen's treasure that started this whole process.

Treasure Lace, in 2 sizes, is now ready to meet the outside world. The pattern is up for sale on Ravelry & it had came a very long way .......

More FOs

As I have not been posting for a couple of months, I have a few FOs that have not made an appearance.....

..... Wicked Eyelet Rib Vest - this pattern has been on my queue for a very long time & when I managed to get a skein of Wollmeise, I thought that it will be the perfect yarn for the vest.

As I don't like to sew on buttons, I decided to just knit the vest in the round without any opening. I am glad that I did that as it looks just as good without buttons. I also managed to knit the vest with 1 skein of Wollmeise in Neptune which is a gorgeous color.

Sorry about the color combination as I was too lazy to change & the photo taking had to be done very quickly as daughter #2 is very busy.

The next FO is Watershed .....

.... this is the 1st time that I am doing a proper blocking job so that lace edging looks good but I think I may have over blocked it.

I enjoyed knitted this vest as the construction is really interesting & all done in 1 piece. However, there are a few details that were missing from the pattern & I had to spend some time working them out.

I use Rowan Calmer which was in my stash for ages & I like this yarn. It's cotton & acrylic but it is lovely to knit with & it does not feel heavy for a 10 ply.

I love the lace details both in the front & at the back .....

Well, there are more FOs but I will have to show them on another post as I have to wait for daughter #2 (my official photographer) to be available.