recently

Some Cloudy Day - by my dear friend, tinyowlknits; yarn - Reynolds Whiskey

Padded Footlets from 25 Favorite Socks by Interweave Press; yarn - Madelinetosh Tosh Sock & Koigu KPM

giant lace shawl...finished!

Shawl ensemble, a photo by elletrain on Flickr.

Woo! Yesterday I finished and blocked this shawl I have been working on for a while. The pattern is Laminaria from Knitty Spring 2008. I saw nasseknits version on Ravelry and had to make one out of bigger yarn like she did. I LOVE it and will get a ton of use out of it, yes, even in late April, here in Portland. 

The yarn I used is Lisa Souza Baby Alpaca Silk yarn that I got from Stitches South 2 years ago. Sadly, because I have knitting A.D.D., this took me a year to complete, but I couldn't be happier with the outcome. I will be hunting down more patterns with Estonian lace in them for sure. Gorgeous!

My next project

Happy Friday! Today included a trip to my LYS, Bliss Yarns, for their monthly double-stamp day. It's the first Friday of every month and you get 2 stamps for every $20 spent, instead of 1! Fun!

So, we're heading to the beach next weekend (yay!!) and I needed a good project to work on. I decided upon this lovely for our new home (wherever it may be!! Still searching for rentals in Portland).

 Isn't it great! I am making it in the same color as they've used here (of course, it's my favorite!) I have quite a few vases and accessories that will tie this color in to the rest of whatever room I put it in. The pattern is from Classic Elite Yarns Spring 2011 book called "Home Sweet Home." The pattern is Lacy Valance and calls for 3 skeins of their Firefly linen blend yarn. I'm excited to do this because I've always wanted to make a knitted or crocheted curtain for my home. With the yarn being a blend of linen it will be a good beach knitting project. Lightweight and not too heavy or too large of an item.

What are you knitting this spring? I'd love to know!