Finished Knitting, a New Design...& Thanksgiving!

Happy Sunday friends! 

Thanksgiving is upon us. This coming Thursday as a matter of fact. For the first time ever, our family is going OUT for Thanksgiving! We are all pretty excited about it. It was something my Mother really wanted to do this year. Not having to worry about shopping, cooking, cleaning, etc. Instead, we are going to Mimi's Cafe! My Aunt Betty has been going there for years and has always said its quite lovely. Our family (which includes the three of us, Dilshani, Dan and their son Kamal, and also Kathie and Marni). These people are all family to us and having been sitting around our Thanksgiving table for many years now. Really, nothing has changed but the location of where we are breaking bread together. Together. That's the most important part. It doesn't matter where we gather, just that we are gathered together. Marni has always been the one who has made pies for dessert. She and Kathie are gluten-free and they make their pies with gluten free pie crust so that everyone can enjoy. After dinner at Mimi's, we are all coming back to the house here for dessert. How nice is that? I'm super excited about this year, just doing something different in a way we've never done it before.  It'll be fun and memorable, I'm sure. What are your Thanksgiving plans? 

After we returned from Taos, Mom and I took and afternoon and headed down to the Bosque to take pictures of the cottonwood trees and their glorious color before it was soon to disappear. Its something she and I do every year. I did get some lovely shots this year and so did Mom...

There are many more but these are my favorites! One of the things I miss about living back in the Midwest in Ohio is the changing colors of the leaves in fall. You get so many different colors and they are all so beautiful. Here we have the cottonwoods and we appreciate them when they turn every fall. 

I've finished off a couple things since Taos. My friends Cornwall Coast is finished. Its not blocked yet, but it is finished. One of these nights I'll do the blocking. It is so beautiful if I do say so myself. It starts with having great yarn. The yarn I used for this was Lambstrings Yarn. She has a website which you can find here. The colorway I used was 'Iberian' and it has shades of grey, light blue and brown. Its absolutely gorgeous. Here it is in the skein before I caked it up...

I showed you some pics of the shawl in progress in previous posts but here it is completed...

Its quite large unblocked. I can't wait to see this blocked! Not to mention how much bigger it will be once it completely done! Since working with yarns with stellina in it, I've found that its awfully difficult to photograph it so that the stellina shows. The current project I am working on, my latest design, has stellina in it but we'll get to that in a bit. 

I also finished my Be Simple Shawl in Freia Fibers Lace in the colorway 'Cloud' which is a grey scale gradient. I ended up playing a little game of yarn chicken with the this one which rarely happens to me. I guess I've been lucky in the past. I am so pleased with the outcome and simplicity of this shawl...

Sidenote: This shawl pin was hand crafted by silversmith Wayne Book in Taos, NM. It is a cross section of a little quartz geode and is simply stunning. They are made for and sold exclusively at Mooncat Fiber in Taos. 

One of the books that my Mother and I have had on pre-order for many months finally released and was mailed to us. Its the "Japanese Knitting Stitch Bible." You lace knitters out there know just the excitement I'm talking about that came with this book! Long before the book arrived I knew I wanted to design a shawl from it. It just so happens that the book arrived when my designing slate was clear. I already had the yarn for it as it is a collaboration with Anzula Luxury Fibers. (The yarn had arrived just before going to Taos). People, let me just talk to you for a minute about this yarn. Anzula sent me their Lunaris base (merino/cashmere/stellina) in the colorway I chose of "Frankie." Oh. My. Lord. I don't think I have ever been quite so smitten with string before. It is so very soft and so very sparkly! And this colorway? I LOVE me some swampy greens and mustardy yellows and this is a cross between the two and I fell in love instantly when I opened the package. Here are some pics of the yarn...

Wait a minute...that doesn't really do it justice...check THIS out...

Theeeere we go. That's much better! (I also upgraded my phone since we last caught up with one another.  I am now with the iPhone 8 Plus and I freaking love everything about it. Especially the camera). 

So I knew right away that with this yarn, I wanted to create a rectangular shawl using stitches from the new Japanese Knitting Stitch Bible. This book. My Lord, this book. If you don't have it, I do highly recommend it. Even if you don't want to use the stitch designs, it is SO lovely to look at. Well, as often happens with newly published books, there can be unknown errata in it. And, lucky me, one of the patterns I chose had errors. As a lace knitter, I was able to figure things out without too much of a problem. I do not wish to divulge which patterns I used as that would take all the fun away from releasing this new pattern when the time comes. I appreciate your understanding where that is concerned. Here are some pictures of my progress so far...

See what I mean about not being able to see the stellina in it? Its there. Boy howdy is it there. It just doesn't photograph worth a damn. You can see a bit of it in the yarn cake if you scroll back up a bit. But that's it. I am so excited for this project, I can't even tell you! I only hope that the lovely folks of Anzula Luxury Fibers are just as excited as I am about it. This will take me longer than normal to finish because its lace on both sides rather than just on one side with a purl back or "rest" row. I love the movement in this piece so much. Its quite different from anything else I've ever designed and I love that about it. 

What are you all working on at the moment? Are you doing Christmas knitting? Are you also designing? I'd love to know what you're knitting right now! What are your Thanksgiving plans? Are you going out like us or are you staying in and cooking? 

BONUS CAT PHOTOS!!!

As you know, Audrey Grace does not like to have her picture taken. She's extremely photogenic, she just hates doing it. I snapped two lovely pictures of her that she "allowed" me to take...

I hope you are all doing well and that this finds you enjoying this time of the year with your family and friends. I would love to hear what your Thanksgiving Day plans are and what you're knitting on at the moment. 

Until next time my dear friends...KNIT ON!!