Short Visit

It's a nasty rainy day out there today and Joseph is developing a cold. So much for going to see Iron Man today. If he's feeling better we might attempt it tomorrow. Since we didn't do what we had planned I decided to make a quick trip to The Purple Purl. I don't think I have ever gone there and stayed so short a time. I was only there a little over an hour. For me that is unheard of. I'll make up for it when I go back on Friday. I picked up the Malabrig Silk that I asked Miko to hold for me. I am going to do the Flower Basket shawl. I have some things I have to finish first but this is going to be a WIP sometime soon.

I am also going to start knitting the Forest Path Stole once again. This time using the Classic Elite Silky Alpaca Lace yarn you see here. It is going to be a store sample for The Purple Purl. I can't wait to get started. The yarn is so so soft.

There's lots of new stuff at the Purl. The two that stand out are the Alpaca With A Twist yarn in various weights. I have my eyes on the Fino in Evergreen for the Heere Be Dragones Shawl.

I can't forget the alpaca sock yarn. Unfortunately, I can't remember the company but it's 60% alpaca, 20% merino and 20% nylon. Yum is a good word to describe it.

Now I have to finish the doily I am working on. Here is a not so good picture of the Krokus doily so far. I want to finish the second chart B by tomorrow night so I can pick up the stitches and get chart C started. I'm using DMC Cebelia 20 and 2.25mm needles.

Happy Mother's Day

As readers of my blog might remember from last year, Mother's Day is not the easiest day for me. I lost my mom too long ago. I miss her more than words can say and I really seriously dislike this day and can't wait for it to be over. Mom I love you and I miss you.

On the knitting front, I've almost finished the second of the Noro socks. This is the first one all done. As I mentioned before, I hope that these socks are going to soften up after a few washings. Right now it isn't soft at all. The socks are a little stiff but that's probably because I usually use 2mm needles for my sock knitting and I probably should have used a 2.25mm or 2.5mm with this yarn because of the thick/thin parts that are in the yarn. I do love the colours but I will wait until they come out with the Noro Silk in a sock weight yarn before I use this yarn again.

Then I had some decisions to make. The next lace project I wanted to do is this oval doily. The one on top is the Japanese version and the one below is the Spanish version. According to Nurhanne this pattern is called Krokus. I have wanted to do this doily for some time. QueerJoe, on Ravelry, started it and posted some pictures. That was enough of a push to get me to really start this project. The problem was, which version to do. I've finally decided that I will do the Spanish version for one reason and one reason only. I have problems with my hands at times. Many years ago I broke a bone in my left hand and when I try to graft it is seriously aggravated. If I do the Japanese version I would have to graft the two A charts together. my hands can't handle that. Grafting toes causes incredible pain. Chart A would be 72 sts worth of grafting. I don't think I want to tackle that. I'm only on round 21 now so I will post progress pictures after I make more progress.