Lace design

So a few weeks ago I had a very rare night out without my kids. My good friend & I ventured out to the street fair that was going on & I had hopes of finding the new yarn shop I had heard rumors of. Well not only did I find the shop, but a couple days later the owner called & asked if I wanted to work there! And so begin my dream job, a job I wouldn't have applied for, but one that has so enriched my life. The owner is wonderful, the shop gorgeous, & the yarn so very yummy. And I must take pictures of the sample sock I knit with Tofutsies. A dream to knit with!

Well, this fall I will also be teaching some classes. One of them being a lace class. I wanted to design some lace that looked a bit 'North Dakotaisch'. I liked the idea of it looking like snow falling. And a design that could be a scarf or turned into a cute little purse. I'll spare all the swatches of those until later. But today I had an idea to add a 3rd option to the pattern:



It would be more of a triangle shawl. This is just a little swatch & still needs to tweaked. (and I realize it's hard to see with the blue monopoly towel & bad lighting, but I think you can still get the idea). Any thoughts?

Gifting Knits

It seems there are a lot of babies & weddings going on this spring! I used to never knit for my friends babies, but was convinced to change this after seeing more & more cute baby knits on different blogs. And when a good college friend of mine told me she was having her first baby, a boy, I quickly knit up a sweater for him:

He is now 2 weeks old & the sweater is on its way to his house. Doesn't the sweater look so tiny on our high chair? Hard to believe my boys were ever that tiny. (the sweater is from the one skein book. I substituted & used Plymouth Encore & knit it just a wee bit longer. I also changed the ribbing to moss stitch.)

The next knit is for my Uncle, who is getting married this weekend:

We've watched him date for years & are thrilled he finally met the right one for him. I knit him & his new wife a little heart doily to put on their own table whenever they wanted a 'date'. The hearts can remind them why they fell in love. I really hope they like it. The pattern is from the First Book of Modern Lace knitting & the yarn is a thrift-store find. This was my first time doing the crochet border & I obviously need to figure out how to block that a little better. It was a super quick knit though...1 afternoon!

Finding the beauty in what life brings our way

We have been enjoying a couple days at home watching the snow falling & then falling some more.
See our 'table cake'? (This morning I noticed my brother took a similar picture. Great minds think alike, huh?) Q enjoyed shoveling the snow into a snow fort:

Where's Q? Look for the blue, can you see his eyes peaking out of his hat? M thinks playing in the cold is insane & has been bundled up inside by the fire drawing his comic book. (it's not 'officially' out yet. Only I, the mother, am allowed to see it.)

And finally some knitting:


Here is the Shoulder Shawl (in Syrian pattern) from Victorian Lace Today before the border was added.
And with the border:



Isn't it amazing how much the border adds? I'm totally in love with this shawl. The kid silk spray was amazing to knit with. The shawl itself was a quick knit. This was the first shawl I didn't use lifelines with, because it would be easy to quickly see any mistakes. I also love the size of this shawl. Perfect to drape around my shoulders & not worry about it falling off. Thank you again Maureen for a great Christmas present!

Where do most people store their lace shawls? I hate to put mine in a drawer & usually find a spot in the house for them to lay. This one hangs on my living room rocker, allowing me to see it all day long. Yummy.