Sunday, February 24, 2008

A New Friend Made, A New Project Begun



Alas, it has been far too long since my last post, but not without good reason.

As we may recall, several of you are participating in a KAL and our project is the beautiful lace shawl. I love the pattern, but it is a little on the monotonous side of things, and so I started a new project, and then began knitting socks for my love interest, and then he suggested that I knit a matching pair (since I had so much of the Gossamer Sock yarn that I had ordered from Knit Picks during one of their sales). If a man asks you to knit a pair of matching socks, you are, indeed, in a very special relationship. So you see, I could not possibly turn a deaf ear to that sweet suggestion.

But let us travel back to my mention of the first project that took me away from the lace wrap. I got into one of my purple moods, and for those who know me, you know that purple is my color--it's not just purple, but all the shades thereof including lavendars, periwinkles and even pink which, to my thinking, is just another shade of purple. My collection of yarns includes oh so many skeins of my favorite color that I decided to just play with all of them and see what I could put together to make another shawl.





At present there are no less than fourteen yarns, some wool, some blends, tape, and novelty yarns put together in what I hope will be a flattering and eye-catching wrap. At this moment, it is only approximately four and one half inches long, but it is probably about eighty inches wide. I call it my Purple Dream Shawl. Dream because it did come to me as if in a dream and it has held my interest for some time. I still have a way too go, and several more yarns to add. I will share more once it is finished. I am not sure I will be able to part with it, but perhaps it would be best for me to send my purple dream out amongst those who might appreciate it.

Of course, life cannot simply consist of knitting but part of one's own time must be spent in preparation thereof. To that end, I traveled a few miles down the road to a new fiber shop that has an incredible vibe (ahem), at least I think that is what it is referred to in today's vernacular. The shop is Yarnorama, and it is located in the little Texas town of Paige. The building is not new, but the yarns and rovings are. The shop owner, Susan, is most pleasant and very knowledgeable. I think she is my newest friend. Susan and her husband John have done an extraordinary amount of work on the building that houses all of the yarn (including Malabrigo), needles, bags, spindles and looms. There is even a cafe. I believe they have thought of everything. Susan is a weaver, spinner, dyer, and knitter probably in that order, but I will forgive her for leaving the knit for last as someone must make all of the yarn so we exclusive knitters can make our own dream shawls.