Spring

Happy Spring!

Spinning So Blue

Another spindle spun yarn. Delicious merino silk. I love the blue color. So watery. The yarn is a 2 ply sport weight, destined to become a slouchy hat, that will match my son's beautiful blue eyes.

I spun this yarn on a simple ashford top whorl spindle. It was so relaxing. I spun a little bit here and a little bit there. That is the beauty of spindles, anywhere you go they can go, discretely tucked away in your purse, so light you almost could forget they are there. But of course who could forget about the gorgeous fiber waiting to be spun!

Spindle Fun

It has been a lot of fun to spindle spin some merino silk blend in a lovely sage green color.
I spun the singles on my Ashford spindle and then made a 2-ply with the singles.
The result was enough worsted weight delicious yarn to make a slouchy hat for my youngest daughter.

I found spinning this yarn so easy and relaxing, I wanted the knitting to be as effortless. I knit a simple roll brim hat with a slouch. I knit and knit until the hat was long enough to have a slouch, and then decreased drastically.

I am so glad this has become my daughter's favorite hat.

Spinning is Beautiful

My husband took this lovely picture this morning of the spindle spinning. It looks as beautiful as I imagined.

A little Spindle Spinning

It seems that spinning came back into my life. I am having a wonderful time spinning some Merino/Silk top on a drop spindle.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Our American Yarn Family

I was talking to my daughter a while back. She lives in France with her husband and her son, and like me she is a knitter. My daughter and I are fortunate enough to be able to talk everyday, and our conversations inevitably involve knitting. My daughter has always been an inspiration to me, and once again she inspired me.

She had been looking for projects to knit as Christmas gifts. She found a pattern on Ravelry, Demoiselle Arc-en-Ciel, by De Rerum Natura. She ordered the yarn for the project from De Rerum Natura. When she got the yarn, and as she knit the project, she shared with me her delight with the yarn. The yarn was soft, beautifully spun, affordable, and of course a local product, from sheep raised in France.

I decided I would knit my next project using an American made yarn. I went to my favorite Boston yarn stores and though they have the loveliest selection of yarns to chose from, I only found a few skeins of the American made yarn I was longing for. I went home, and started researching. In the process of researching American made yarns I discovered so many family-owned businesses, from the smallest to the biggest ones, all passionate about their yarns, that I thought I should write about each one of these companies, their yarns and of course design projects for them and knit with them. I look forward to telling the stories of our American Yarn Family.

So if you are an American yarn producer, and your yarn is spun from sheep raised in the US, and/or is spun here in the US, and you would like me to write about your yarn business, or if you are a reader and know about a lovely American made yarn you would like to recommend, please contact me.

One More Gatsby Vest, and More Knitting

I told you knitting the Gatsby Vest was addictive, and to prove it, here is the latest one I knit for Little Mr. L., my grandson. I wish I could show you a picture of him wearing it, but he lives across the Atlantic. So the picture will have to wait until Christmas when he comes to visit.
For now here is a simple picture. I picked Cascade 220, in Charcoal, and a beautiful currant color.

 I knit it in the 6 months size. It went so fast, I was done in a few hours!

Meanwhile, I have been working on 2 more projects. I have been designing a nice simple fairisle baby jacket, inspired by the fall leaves in New England. I am almost done knitting the prototype.

I used Cascade 220 for this first version, but have decided to use Brooklyn Tweed's Shelter for the final version . I cannot resist the soft colors. I think they will be perfect for this project. I am thinking about offering 2 versions of the sweater in the pattern, a steeked knit in the round version, and a knit flat version ( but still with no seams). What do you think?

The other project is only at the thinking stage. I have been imagining a cushy,double sided cowl, contrasting a solid background, with a lace foreground. I have picked my prototype yarns, Harrisville Designs Shetland.

I think I am going to have a lot of fun!

Happy Halloween everyone!