Tea Rose Shawlette - Chart A

This is the second offering in the Stop and Smell the Roses Club from The Unique Sheep, and if you missed this round, it has been so popular that they are offering a second.  I have already signed up.  The yarn is Luxe, the color Tea Rose.  It has been sitting in one of my project bags (no, I am not going to tell you how many I have) beckoning to me.  I finally wound it into a ball this morning, so that I could start on it tonight.  The design is by Julia Temiseva.

Celtic Infinity Necklace

I love Celtic Knots, I even know how to draw them and I have used them in beadwork.  I picked up the Celtic knot beads a while ago and they have been in my stash waiting for something worthy of them.  I found the Celtic Knot clasp last year at Bead & Button.  I bought the pendant at Bead & Button as well, but I don't remember how long it has been in my stash.  The large beads I found last year, probably at one of my favorite stores in Yellow Springs, Ohio - Unfinished Creations.  I always stop in there after Bead & Button to see if the owner has any unusual gemstone beads.  I didn't have enough to fill out the length so I used some smaller onyx beads.  Strung on silver Soft Flex.

Avatar Necklace

I've had these elements in my bead stash for at least a year, but hadn't figured out how to turn them into anything.  Then a couple of weeks ago I dreamed about a possible design, which I sketched while trying to stay awake during the Preliminary Design Review of a program that I am working on.  That original design idea did not work, but it got me playing with the elements.  The beads in the outer spots of the dish are all glass, but they look like stone.  The problem that I was trying to solve was how to work the triangles (that look kind of like shark teeth) into the design because their hole is in the middle, front to back, making it a challenge to attach them into anything.  As is so often the case, the solution was easy, once I stopped fighting the nature of the beads.  I remembered that I had a strand of semi-precious stones that were not spherical, but were instead rounded cubes (the ones in the center of the dish).  So, I decided to go for simple and strung them all on some Soft Flex beading wire.

The resulting necklace reminds me of something that the Na'vi might wear on Pandora from the movie Avatar, hence the name of the piece.  I had an odd number of the interstitial beads, so I added 3 to one side and 4 to the other side before I attached the clasp.  By doing this I actually compensate for the asymmetry of the clasp itself.  The loop adds extra length, in comparison to the bar, but thanks to the extra bead the necklace hangs symmetrically.

Rosebud

And lest you think that I have suddenly gone on a green kick (I do seem to have a lot of greens on my needles right now), here is Rosebud, another shawl based upon the Circular Pi Shawl of Elizabeth Zimmerman, as put forth in the Over the Moon Pattern by Vicki Mikulak.  This one is to use up the remainders of my yarn from Le Petit Prince, the Love Spoken Here colorway on Luxe.  This is an easy way to use up leftovers and show off a beautiful yarn, because it isn't always about the pattern, sometimes it is just about the yarn, and the colors.  I am now trying to decide what to do for the border.  I really liked using another color as I did for the Tart Berries & Honey shawl, but I don't have the right color of Luxe in my stash.  In keeping with the rose theme I was thinking of a nice dark green.  Of course, that means that I will have to go to The Unique Sheep web site and find a color that I think will work (such a terrible fate, I know).

I am trying to get into the habit of weighing my skeins before I start knitting with them.  I don't do this consistently, yet, but I am working on it.  I am also trying to be more accurate on Ravelry when I enter how much yarn a project took, which is where the weighing of the skeins comes in.  When you have that special skein that you want to make something with and you're not sure if you have enough, this kind of data can really come in handy.  So, what I have been trying to do is when I start a project I weigh the yarn and adjust the total amount in my stash on Ravelry, and then when I finish the project I weigh the remainder and adjust the amount used on the project page.

Transitions - Clue 1

This is the latest offering in the Light & Dark Lace club that Ruth of PennyRose Yarns and Roxanne of Zen Yarn Garden present.  Ruth has always done the designing, and she and Roxanne alternate on the dyeing.  Ruth does the light colors, and Roxanne the dark.  The yarn is Carrie Lace, a very nice 2 ply (80% merino, 20% silk), the color is Cucumber.  I am using US 3 (3.25 mm) needles.  The clue came out over a week ago, but I have been busy finishing up my third Diadem shawl (a previous club offering) and didn't really get to it until yesterday.

And speaking of Diadem #3, here is a slightly better shot that shows off the variegation better.

Maria's Diadem - Finished!

I almost finished this up last night, but I caught myself nodding off with only a handful of repeats left on the border.  Yes, I have nodded off while knitting, it is a weird sensation.  This picture does not do justice to the color of the yarn.  The colorway is Garden of Eden, and it has the most beautiful variegated greens.  I didn't realize how beautiful the yarn was until I took it outside with me yesterday while I was working on the border.  In artificial light the colors become muted.  Hopefully I will be able to get some beauty shots this weekend.  I hope that Maria likes it.  I'll offer her a choice of this one or mine (in Moon Purple), or maybe I should just give her the Moon Purple and keep this one.  I can always knit myself another one in Moon Purple.

Pattern:  Diadem by Ruth Greenwald
Yarn:  Serenity Silk + from Zen Yarn Garden
Needle:  US 5, 3.75mm

I also came home to yarny goodness from The Unique Sheep.  This was the first shipment of the Tea version of the Sip-n-Stitch club.  The tea is called Fiji and is Green Tea with Pineapple and Papaya.  It smells heavenly.  I love the yarn, it just made me smile.  The colorway is Pineapple, and the yarn is Verve.  Pineapple is just about my favorite snack, but you have to be careful what kind you get.  It has to be in the juice, rather than the syrup and we buy Del Monte.  Dole puts citric acid in theirs and it gives it an odd taste.  I just want to taste pineapple.  If you really want to have some fun, buy a whole pineapple and let it get a little over ripe before you cut it up.  It will actually start fermenting.

Maria's Diadem - Charts C, D & E

And the beginning of the border.  I finished Charts C and D on Sunday, and almost made it through Chart E.  I finished up the last two rows of Chart E on Monday and started the knit on border.  The border is an easy pattern to memorize, although I keep the chart out as a safety net.  This picture was taken with the flash, so you can really see the lace, as well as the variegation in the color of the yarn.  I should be able to finish this up this week, and then I can get back to my Fickle-Zen Mystery KAL #2, and the current Light and Dark Lace Club Mystery KAL.  Plus I have to finish up my Hibernia socks.  I have a little extra time for those, the next club shipment was delayed.  The exciting news on that club is that I won a prize!  It is the first time that I have ever won anything, so I am way excited.