The Cool Effects of Self Striping Yarns

Self striping yarns are so much fun to work with and can be used for a variety of projects beyond socks.  Two great examples of this are these Sugarplum cowls that are knit up in two very different yarns. 

This first one was knitted by KristiRose on Ravelry for the Six More Weeks of Winter KAL.  Kristi knitted it up in Supernatural Yarns Pixie Sock in Haymitch. I love how the center section has more of a pooling look and the top and bottom are striped!  I never would have expected yarn to do this, an it adds a lot of interest to the cowl.

My friend Chrissy Fletcher knitted up in Wollmeise Sockenwolle 80/20 Twin in Klapperstorch. The red, white and black stripes are really striking and it looks wonderful on Chrissy!  If you haven't watched her pod cast yet, it's one you won't want to miss.  I have to admit that I love her accent and before she started doing the video portion, I would listen to her in the mornings while I was having my coffee.  You can find Chrissy on her blog: Stitched-Together and in her Ravelry Group: Stitched-Together.  She always has fun stuff going on in her group, so be sure to check that out as well.

Lakes Yarn & Fiber

I've been talking with Ami from Lakes Yarn & Fiber about a new design and I am really looking forward to working with her.  Ami sent three skeins of her Hayden Worsted in Hansa which is the dark pink, Sweet Clover which is the medium pink and a lighter pink which I think may be called Repeatable Pink.  They coordinate perfectly with one another and it's going to be so much fun to design a new pattern with them! 

I've been able to sneak a bit of spinning in here and there on the weekends and finished up one fleece of alpaca.  It's a 2 ply fingering weight and approximately 560 yards.  It's not my best spinning, but it will knit up nicely and I think it's going to be a shawl. 

I also spun up a lovely batt from Knit Spin Farm.  The colorway is Violets at my Feet and it has all sort of fun things in it like Angelian, Blue Faced Leicester, and Sari Silk to name just a few.  It's leaning towards an Aran weight and should make a nice hat or cowl.  It was a blast to spin and should be at least as much fun to knit!

My friend Yvonne sent me a lovely care package a couple of weeks ago.  It had a few goodies for Iggy and a very special treat for me.  It's a skein of Red Barn Yarn's Sock Sparkle in the Lavendar Fields colorway.  It's a blend of merino, silk  and nylon, and the silk is very noticeable.  Socks or a shawl?  It's going to be a hard choice!

Yarnie Goodness

I have something so exciting to share with you and I can't wait to show you so I'm going to post the picture first and write about it below.

Turquoise and gray are two of my favorite colors and to have them put together in yarn that is this amazing makes me so happy!  Michelle of Berry Colorful Yarnings created these two colorways for a collaboration that we are doing with Lisa from Indie Untangled and Vickie from That Clever Clementine.  I'll be casting on for the design in a few weeks and I can't wait to get started!  The hardest part is going to be which colorway to use since they are both so stunning.  Stay tuned for updates on the collaboration.  I'll be posting them here and I'm sure that Lisa will be posting about them on the Indie Untangled Blog too.