In the Pink.........

Tess is off the needles, blocked and pretty as a picture.  Knit in Top Cat Lace, dyed in a very feminine shade of pink.  There are more photos and details on my project page on Ravelry.

The beads are very subtle and they were fun to add.   I will certainly be adding more beading to  future projects.

Now I'm busy with some more baby knits and more dyeing and of course I'm still fascinated with spinning.
I'll post some of those photos in a few days.

Pretty in pink.....

is the knitting porn for today.   I have been knitting a new shawl with a few fellow ravelers in an impromptu KAL.  No rules, no time restrictions, we're all just knitting the same pattern and hanging out with each other.   My kind of KAL, no stress.

The is Tess.  I'm knitting it in Top Cat Lace.  BossCat and I don't knit with lace that often so we only had a few skeins in our personal stock, it never made it to the shop. 
I actually had the beads before the yarn was dyed and I think I matched it perfectly.

 It has an unusual beginning. You start from the bottom and do a crochet cast on with a chain 5 in between each stitch.  Then once you get past the lace section it is worked in short rows.  The start was a little fiddly, but once you get going it's smooth sailing.  This is the first time I've actually used stitch markers between each pattern repeat and it paid off. It made it so much easier to keep track of the pattern in case of mistakes.
 

I especially like the star stitch pattern in the short rows.

I'm totally into pink these days, so I'm sure this won't be going into the "gift box". 

Sometimes.......

a little inspirations is all it takes. 
I don't always know what will happen in the studio, but sometimes it just all comes together.  We don't always do repeatable colours, I find I have more fun and enjoy dyeing when I don't have a plan.  There's no pressure and you don't have to worry about anyone being disappointed because it didn't look like the last one you dyed.

Don't get me wrong, it doesn't always work out.  We've had some of yarn end up in the purple dye pot to be over-dyed because we weren't happy with it.  And really, who doesn't like purple socks?

So while BossCat was in Chicago on a work related trip, I got to play in the studio.  You can find some new colours in the shop today that were inspired by nature.

One thing........

leads to another, as the old saying goes.
A couple of years ago, while hanging out on Ravelry, I stumbled across of group of ladies that were talking about circular sock knitting machines, aka:  CSM's.  My ears perked up, my interest was sparked and that became the beginning of the downward spiral into "cranking".

I was under the impression that this would be a great way to burn through my never ending  sock yarn stash.  I found myself a beautiful antique Gearhart through a friend on Ravelry who re-furbishes them and so it began.  I had several false starts, a few tears and maybe some curse words, and I wondered what in the heck did I get myself into.  But I persevered and be damned if I'd give up so easy.  Finally it all came together and I was making socks.

I have since purchased another antique, my Bickford knitting machine that the Mr. and I refurbished and I bought a newly manufactured machine from the Erlbacher Gearhart Co.  I have the versatility of making lots of socks with several different cylinders sizes and ribbing with the "Erl" which I don't have with the antiques. 

And that dent I thought I'd put in the sock stash, it never happened.  It seems the more you crank the more yarn you need, and that sock box of mine is full to the brim.  There are a lot of happy friends and family out there with warm and snugly feet.