My Lady

 As I mentioned before, I participated in the "Swap the Seasons" fiber craft swap, hosted by CoggieTM of The High Fiber Diet podcast.  MargoKP kindly sent me the loveliest hank of yarn - StrickenSmitten's Shimmer Glimmer in the Serendipity colorway.

I knew I had to do something special with this yarn, but I wasn't sure what.  Until I found the Lady Magdalene Shawl by Kimberly Delacruz.  Perfect!

I got the pattern all printed up, and did the cast on, then had to set it aside to work on some deadline projects.  Well, I got the "have to-s" all finished, so I came back to this shawl.

The pattern is divided into four sections, which I liked as it keeps it from ever feeling overwhelming.  Knit with a fingering weight yarn on size US 7 needles, the shawl knits up quickly while the finished project is the perfect size.  The charts are clear, easy to read, and, most importantly, error free.

I love this yarn.  The fiber content (50% Merino wool/50% silk) and it's softness, the drape, the color...  It makes me happy just looking at it.  Needless to say, I wanted to use it ALL.  Fearing that I would have quite a bit left over when all was said and done, I added a repeat of chart 2.

Then I began running low on chart 3.

Knowing that I couldn't handle the trauma of ripping all the way back to take out the extra repeat, I began mentally running through my stash, trying to think of something that would go well with it.

I couldn't think of anything. 

I began to plan a trip to my lys to buy some black yarn (which I decided was the perfect complementary color to the green), but decided to do a quick rummage through the stash, just to be sure.  There is was!  The perfect yarn -- Bristol Yarn Gallery's Buckingham in Black!   Sadly, this yarn is now on closeout.  Get some while you still can.  It's truly lovely.

Okay, it was lace weight, but I decided that didn't really matter; I'd simply adjust.  So I did, switching to size US 4 needles to keep the stitches looking even, I knit up chart 4 in the black, knowing that it would all come out in the blocking.  And it did.

Dear Gypsy kindly consented to model it for me, after it was "styled" to her liking, of course.

Fiber!

Last June I spun up a lovely linen/silk blend that I had purchased at Tempe Yarn and Fiber with the intent of turning the yarn into the Triangle Summer Shawl from Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush, but feared that I wouldn't have enough for the project.   Well, I was right.  I only had 380 yds. of yarn, and the pattern called for more than 1000.  This meant I had to go shopping.  It's a hard life, I know. ;)

On Saturday I stopped by Tempe Yarn and Fiber to get some more of the fiber.  They had two 2 oz. packs of it, so I snapped them both up.  This should be enough to make the shawl. 

Of course I had to look at the other pretty fibers while I was there, and that necessitated the purchase of this: 

It's 2 oz. of soy silk fiber.  It's soft and silky like bamboo and I've never worked with it before so I'm looking forward to seeing what it becomes.

And because I believe it's important to support as many yarn stores as possible, I also went to The Fiber Factory, where I picked this up:

12 oz. of fabulous tussah silk.  (Sigh)  I LOVE silk!