In between cleaning.....

I'm working on the mystery KAL Transitions Shawl, so-called because there are 4 patterns in the body of the shawl and each one transitions into the next one, and then, of course, the Never-ending Border.  Really never-ending, too.  Trust me on that one.  Interested?  You can register for the Light & Dark Lace Club, April edition right in my Etsy shop!

And a bit of sewing:

My first mug rug, slightly wonky 'cause I can't sew a straight line.  I did this as a quilt as you go project.  Tons of fun, too.  And, nope, it's not at an angle; that's the photography.  The strips, however, are somewhat angled.  I love this little guy.  I walk around the house yelling "mug rug" to Hiz Hubz.  He rolls his eyes.

Almost finished is this little doll quilt.  I'm stitching down the binding.  Yep, the blue lines will go away when I finish and run some cold water on the piece.  I hand quilted this, not very well, but good enough.  For the batting, I used Thermore, which is this thin piece of polyester, and the needle just slides through it.  I like the feel of cotton batting more, but I do better work (sort of) on the Thermore.  The pattern is from a book by Evelyn Sloppy.  It kind of looks like sail boats to me.  I really enjoyed doing this one, and I may make it again, in a lap size with red, white, and blue fabrics.  Sometime.

And now I have to get back to work.  I'd rather be knitting, sewing, reading, anything but cleaning.

Oh, and does anyone want a nasty left knee?  The fool thing, which hasn't bothered me in weeks, has now decided to hurt like hell.  Advil, here I come.

Light & Dark Lace Club - Sign-ups are here!

 

It's now time to sign up for the April/May edition of the Light & Dark Lace Club.   This one will start late April.

Here are the colorways:

Carnation, Cornflower, Lemonade, Cucumber, and Dusty Apricot.  

The yarn is Carrie Lace yarn:  1300 yards of 80/20 merino/silk in a lovely lace weight.

The price is $36 + first class shipping. This includes one skein of yarn in the colorway you want, plus the pattern which is emailed out in clues and worked up as a KAL.  There's a lovely group on Ravelry for discussions and problems.

You may buy as many skeins as you like, and I'll refund the pattern cost ($5 for club members) for the extra skeins.

Where can you purchase?  In my Etsy shop, of course:  http://fritzl.etsy.com

I have plenty of yarn, so don't worry if there are only a few openings shown.  I add as the orders come in.

Here's a preview of our mystery KAL.  Yep, I know.  you can't see much of anything, but it is a Mystery!  I'm doing mine in Cucumber, and I love working with the yarn and the color.  Lovely, lovely yarn!  This is going to be a nice size garment, given that amazing yardage.

Questions?  Ask me here, and I'll answer.

Here are some pics of the last project, the Forever Shawl.

  

Lacy Angles is here.

Do you  need a lacy little shawl to keep your shoulders warm and to look elegant and lovely?  Look no farther than here.  Presenting Lacy Angles Shawl, a shawl of slanted stitches.  A mere $6, and you can knit it too.

And she's now available for purchase.  This was the June selection for the Light & Dark Lace Club, and I've released it on Ravelry.  Yay, Ravelry.  I love Rav to pieces.

 

Lacy Angles is knit top down with a center and a wing on either side of the center pattern.  The shawl is ended with a NEB (never-ending border), which is fun and finishes the shawl as you knit along.  When you are done with the NEB, all you have to do is weave in the beginning thread and the last stitch.  Block, and then you are done.

It takes one 400 yard skein of fingering weight yarn, size 5 circular needle, tapestry needle, stitch markers.  An intermediate pattern, although a confident beginner could do it too.

Thanks, Henya!
krayolakris - I kept saying it as Angeles. 
 Wall-to-wall books - They're not that difficult.  I've had beginners knit them with great success.  I'm about to post the Oct edition.  Wait until you see that one!  Well, you won't see it 'cause it's a mystery KAL, but you'll get to see the yarns!

New projects

While I'm dyeing up for the Light and Dark Lace Club, I'm also working on some projects for fun.  By the way, there are lots of opening left.  I have tons of yarn, so go and join.  We'll have fun.  Easy pattern for summer knitting, pretty colors, good price.  You can purchase in my Etsy shop.

Here's a neat, optical illusion blankie in progress.  This one is based on Lily Chin's Mosaic Afghans, and is such fun to do.  And thick!  I'm working on Encore DK, and let me tell you, this blankie is going to be toasty warm.  I'm thinking it would be nice in worsted wt, even though I much prefer the look of DK.  Well, when I finish it, and am still in the mood to make another one, maybe I'll do one in Encore.  Yep, I know.  Acrylic, but these acrylics are lovely, and I want a blankie to just toss into the washer and dryer.  Easy care.

Looks like it's out of focus, but that's the pattern.  The red portion has a different pattern.  I'm aiming for 3 strips, with the middle one starting with white as opposed to this strip where the charcoal started.  It's not narrower on the top; my camera decided to foreshorten it.  Bet you didn't know that I had an artistic camera, did you?

Here's the wrong side of it, also very interesting.

And this one shows the wrong side with the right side folded on top of it.  Talk about making you dizzy!  This will do it.  Funnily enough, it doesn't look weird while you are working on it.

And here's a lace scarf that I'm working on.  The body of the scarf is being done in this basic ground pattern. Almost mindless.  I'll add on a nice long border to each end when done.  I can't stretch it out to show you how much it opens up, but it really really opens.

There.  You get sort of the idea. 

Tomorrow we're off to possibly buy the little Janome sewing machine.  It gets great reviews, weighs only 12 lbs, so I can take it to a class.  I'm hoping to take a beginner piecing class.  And now I'm looking at American Girl Doll patterns.  Exactly when all this sewing is to take place is beyond me, but hey, it should be fun, and what do I have to lose anyway?  We could use a sewing machine.  The Hubs wants to learn.  Such fun.  Isn't it amazing what new things there are to learn?  I love to learn new crafts.

Light & Dark Lace Club!

 It's my turn again to do the dyeing for the Light & Dark Lace Club, and I've chosen 5 summery colors for you.  They are, in order, Tiger Lily, Mint, Sky, Violet, and Rosa.

Tiger Lily is an orange softened with a secret color to make it a bit gentler of an orange.  Bright, but not overpowering.

Mint is a green that leans towards the blue family rather than the yellow family.

Sky is the color of a summer sky.  You might think it's turquoise, but it is not.  It is a pure lovely blue.

Violet is just that - violet.

Rosa is the color of that light part of watermelon, the part near the rind.

The colors are all so pretty and sweet.  Not baby pastels, but adult pastels.  Light and perfect for a bit of summer knitting.

If you click on the yarn pic, you'll be able to see that wonderful little twist.

The yarn is Rachel yarn, 100% SW merino with a lovely twist.  It's so soft that it feels like cotton in your hand, but it's wool so you know it's going to knit so easily.  100 grams, 400 yards.  Such a simple yarn that you will love.  You know that I love all my yarns, but a few months ago I knitted myself a pair of socks in this yarn, and totally fell wildly in love with it.  Great stitch definition, and just about the nicest twisted yarn I know of.  This is a treat of a yarn!

The pattern, which, of course is a secret, is also easy and great for summer knitting.  Enough pattern interest to keep you from getting bored, but not hard on your brain or fingers.  The shape is my favorite shawl shape:  triangular with the outer edges increased so that the shawl has a swoopy shape.  I love wearing this shape.  It stays on the shoulders, swoops beautifully around your neck should you wish to drape it (that's how I wear it), and very feminine and pretty.  I like to use shawl pins with this shape and even use double pronged hair pins.

Where can you sign up for this edition of the Light & Dark Lace Club?

Right in my Etsy shop:   http://fritzl.etsy.com

The yarn will be dyed in May and we'll start knitting in early June, probably around June 5.  Roxanne and I have a forum on Ravelry, http://www.ravelry.com/groups/light--dark-lace-club where you can discuss the pattern and yarn and get help and chat about it all.  We have lots of lovely members, and we'd be most pleased if you would join our group.

Questions?  Ask me here, and I'll answer.  Or join the Ravelry Group, and I'll happily tell you all right there.

Light & Dark Lace Club!

Ta Da!  It's here!  My very exciting news!  The Light & Dark Lace Club is now open for registration!  And oh, am I excited.

Come join along with me and Roxanne of Zen Yarn Garden as we take you on a journey of lace inspired by our love for light and dark colourways. Each project will include both a pattern as well as a yarn and the kits will be offered on a bi-monthly basis by either me or Roxanne.

Each bi-monthly kit will include both a pattern (designed by me) and a lovely yarn in either a light or dark colourway dyed by either me or Roxanne. I like to take a walk on the light side while Roxanne likes to walk on the dark side. Patterns will include such projects as shawls, shawlettes and scarves which will be revealed bi-monthly. Until then, it's a surprise!

Included in this month's kit is the following:
1 Pattern (exclusive to the L&D Club for 4 months)
1 Yarn
Each pattern will be revealed in portions as you KAL with each kit. Watch for prizes for those who finish the KAL - we love it when you finish one our projects! The pattern will be emailed to you and you can discuss them and the club in our new Ravelry group.  Need help with the patterns?  You can message me on Ravelry or ask in the group.  Thanks go to my wonderful test knitter, MaryAnn! 

Cost?  Determined by each of us for our individual shipments.  We use different yarns and different dyeing methods, and that determines the cost.  What's nice about all of this is that there is no large up-front payment.  You decide each time if you want to join.  Roxanne mails from Canada and I mail from the US, and we both do international shipping, so you lovely folks across various Ponds can order too.

We have been talking for a long time about doing something together.  Roxanne is a master dyer, especially of deep and dark colors (or colours as you Canadians spell), and I'm known as the Pastel Queen.  We compliment each other in our methods.

This month's yarn is Benji yarn, 450+ yards of 3 ply superwash merino, soft and wonderful and very very easy to knit lace patterns with. The 4 colors are turquoise, pussy willow, green leaf, and light orchid. They are all almost-solids.  Please tell me the color you want when you sign up, and I'll dye it for you.

The cost for the kit this month is $26 + shipping.  $3 shipping to the US and Canada, and $5 shipping to Europe.  If you are from parts elsewhere, ask me and I'll tell you the cost.  I ship First Class to all locations, which keeps the cost way down.  Like you, I hate to pay for shipping, so I do it as reasonably as possible.

You can buy directly from me:  fritzL234 AT yahoo DOT com
or go through Etsy:  http://fritzl.etsy.com

Questions?  Ask and I'll answer!  Roxanne and I are so revved about this.  She's a lovely lady and I'm so honored to work with her.

kv - It has indeed!  I feel quite blessed.  Happy Chanukah to you and yours!