Happy 4th!

Gosh, no one has posted in quite some time, so that must mean we are all busy knitting away on our shawls. I am still going strong on my second go-round and have almost caught up to where things went haywire a few weeks ago. I have changed needles, also, and am liking the Inox grays very much. Hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July holiday.
Sue J.

Oops, Forgot

Its me again - grin! I wanted to say that the close up photo of my shawl in progress was taken outside in the shade of my yard yesterday. Temperatures soared to 98 degrees here with high humidity, so the shade of the trees was the best place to be in the afternoon. So you are seeing the colors of the shawl in the dappled sunlight and shade ;)

Hope you enjoy the colors!

Hugs again,
Cary

June Progress

Our list has been slow this past month ;) For us at Serenity Farms, June brings the start of Farmers Market; hay making season and like everyone else the usual avalanche of weddings and graduations to celebrate!

But, I have been slowly stealing time for a few rows at a time and the prayer time to go along with it. I am including a photo of my shawl in progress, knit from the handspun, hand dyed alpaca yarn. Since it is nearly impossible to see its shape spread out, I thought I would take a closer picture to share.



You don't see much stitch definition, but I think you get an idea of the pretty colors. I am only through my third repeat of section B, just starting my fourth and just started with a second ball of the yarn.

Look forward to seeing more shawls as everyone finishes or progresses!

Hugs,
Cary

Wedding Shawl & future shawl.

The bridal shower was this past weekend and my daughter loved the shawl. I had my camera with me and would you believe I forgot to take a photo of her modeling it?

It's been a tearful past few days, we lost another one of our dogs, details and photos on my Garden Of Eve blog. I'm planning on blending Dafni's hair with that of her grandmother Lila, the dog we lost 2 months ago and plan to make a shawl and a scarf with chiengora yarn. I'm considering this pattern for the shawl, but will also be looking for pawprint type lace patterns. A project for after the wedding. Any suggestions would be appreciate...

But what I meant to share in the way of tearful event, was that while looking for elegant wrapping paper to wrap the shawl in, I spotted a kids wrapping paper in a strawberry shortcake motif. When Tina was about 3 years old, she had a doll that would blow strawberry scented kisses when you squeezed her tummy and she loved that doll. I bet it's stored in the attic with all her other stuff. Anyway, the sight of that paper brought me to tears... I was a mess! sheesh!

When Tina saw the gift wrapped in that silly paper, she smiled and thought there was something silly inside as well. After the initial surprise she asked when I'd had time to work on it without her seeing it, and then realized why it was I was always telling her to go home.

I'd tucked in a note saying that each stitch represented prayers and hugs. Everyone liked it very much, but afraid to touch it or take it out of the box. On my photo list for the photographer is one of Tina wearing the shawl. Even if it's a hot day, she can wear it for a few minutes.

All is well!

Thanks so much to all who gave me such encouragement yesterday. I did sound pathetic, didn't I? I'm happy to report that yesterday morning I sat down to a new shawl with different yarn (couldn't save the tencel, so I'll make something else out of the remainder). This time I am using a solid color so that I can really see the pattern as it progresses. I knit for most of the day and am already on my fourth repeat of Chart B. You were right-it went much faster this time. Do I have a lifeline in? You bet!
Many thanks for all the posts. It meant so much to know everyone has "been there, done that."
Sue J.

Despair

In an effort to not sound to pathetic, I am in despair. Yesterday I lost the entire shawl to a huge error on my part-over confidence and slippery stitches on the needle. It happened in a heartbeat. To make a long story short, I became over-confident and took out my lifeline because it was driving me crazy, always getting in the way. About an hour later, you guessed it! I accidentally dropped 6 or 7 stitchess off the needle and couldn't recover. I tried for an hour to either pick them back up or insert a lifeline severals rows down and rip down to that. Nothing worked. As my frustration and grief grew, I knew I just had to put it away. So....today I will try one more time. If that doesn't work, I will start over with different yarn. I'm not giving up, just realizing that some lessons in life really hurt. Oh well, all things happen for a reason.
Sue J.

Dum Dum dee dum ...

Five days till the shower and the wedding shawl is done! The first photo shows how fine it is even though I used two strands of the alpaca yarn and size 6 needles. My rhodos are big so it doesn't give a good idea of size.






This photo of the shawl on the garden bench/arbor shows the size better.







A close up.

I hope my daughter likes it and that her wedding day isn't a scorcher so she can use it.

Eve

knitting a new life

Well ladies, I have not knit but one row since my last post. How pathetic is that? Indefensible, I know. The cause of my neglect can be placed on no other shoulders but my own, because I do ultimately choose how to spend my time.

However, indulge me a little. I met a tall, handsome, kind, sweet, loving, intelligent, spiritual, handy, stable, good with my kids man at Bible study almost to the day of my last post. And since then, I have become like a 17 year old again. Giddy and silly, trying to take myself sternly in hand and evaluate with unsympathetic eyes his potential as a future mate, but alas, to no avail....

I am in love! He is new to the area and asked me to look for a house for him to fix up and sell, but then in the same breath he tells me he wants to still have time for me and the girls and is worried that a fixer upper may put a strain on us. Did I mention thoughtful too? Ah well....

The other shawls posted here have been calling to me. Today, I am committed to at least three rows on this lovely, lace-knitting addictive shawl. Really, I will. Honest, I promise. Yes, I will. Really. Truly.

Sigh.

Lark

Me, too!

I'm still knitting along, as well. I'm not knitting 10 rows a day anymore-more like 4-5 rows-because of the number of stitches on the needle. I have used about 3 oz of tencel and have around 330 stitches on the needle, so the rows go much slower. I have 22- 15 stitch repeats. I think I'm going to use 2 more oz of tencel and then stop. I love to see eveyone else's work, and will post a picture when I am done and the shawl is blocked. Congratulations to everyone who has finished this beautiful project. I, too, can't wait for the next KAL. And many thanks to all who have been so encouraging. I am officially hooked on lace knitting!
Sue J.

Where is my shawl?

LOL - I haven't posted for a bit, and have not had much time in the past few days to knit on my shawl (or anything else for that matter) but I AM still working on it (and praying) when I can, even one or two rows. I have nearly finished with the first ball of handspun laceweight and have three more small balls to work with, so I imagine this will end up as a generous sized scarf. I love the colors and the pattern, it really has become such a rhythmic thing that I hate when I only have time to do a few rows - but life's work sometimes demands attention, too, doesn't it?

Really enjoying everyones progress and those who have finished! Can't wait to see what Margaret and Mary and Jackie will cook up for us next..I think I heard rumors of another KAL?

Hugs,
Cary at Serenity Farms

Finished!

I'm so excited! I finally finished! I have been near completion for almost two weeks but have been in kind of a knitting slump. Last night I finished the shawl. It's width will be 84-90 inches when blocked...I don't know exactly because I'm not going to have time to block it until next weekend probably. This weekend I am photographing a wedding and it's the last full week of school for hubby who is a teacher, so lots going on in our house. I will post some pictures later so you can see! In the meantime I cast on this morning for another shawl, Sivia Harding's Shetland Garden Faroese shawl, which will also be for someone in my shawl ministry. I'm using a pale green Zephyr wool/silk. I want to get this done before the end of summer so I can participate in another KAL, because this one has been so much fun!

Keep knitting ladies! I know it gets to be a little struggle when you get to the long rows at the end, but you can make it! I get really excited to see how everyone's turns out. I love to see all the different colors and possibilities. I know I will be doing this one again! Eve's photo on the bleeding hearts...I think that would make an awesome photo for Jackie to use on the pattern! (not that the current one is horrible...I just thought it was so beautifully and artistically shot! Great job Eve!)