This morning, I met up with Donni and Jussi, and we went to Tapestry Craft’s big sale. 25% off all yarn and needles!
Last time I was in, I was really coverting the Madil Kid Seta, but it was around $AU25 a ball, so I resisted. Not this time!

I was pretty restrained 😉
100g (1400m) of Filatura Di Crosa Centolavaggi, a gorgeous pure wool laceweight. Not sure what this will become yet. And my Madil Kid Seta, which is intended for the Fiber Trends Cocoon Lace Scarf.
And another needle! A lovely lady named Carol asked me earlier in the week if I would Flash my Needle Stash. (She thinks she’s the only one with a needle problem 😉 So I shall flash it, later in the week. When I have time to track them all down! I may also Flash my Knitting book stash at a later date.
Anyway, back on track.
We got the poor shop assistant at Tapestry Craft to take our picture.

Good Lord, I have poor posture! From left to right, Donni, Jussi and I.
We headed on down to the Queen Victoria Building, where Jussi bought us morning tea. As we were eating, a lady walked past. Jussi says “One skein wonder!” Lo and behold, it was Lisa G. So she joined us for morning tea, then we all headed down to Kinokuniya. It’s a huge bookshop, full of gorgeous books and trinkets and all sorts of lovely stuff. I hadn’t been there before, but I can guarantee that I will be back!!
I picked up two Japanese craft books. Yes, all the text is in japanese, but the diagrams are pretty comprehensive!

The one on the left has a variety of cute little things in there.


Those are from the book on the left. It’s full of similar little things.
This is what convinced me to buy the one on the right.

Rock star kitty cat! I love it 🙂

Some more of the cute things 🙂
There were so many of these adorable craft books. I had my eye on one with beaded rings and things that Em would have loved, but it looked a little complicated. Of course, now I wished I had grabbed it. I think we’ll go back there in the school holidays.
I had to leave the girls then so I could come home and chauffer Em around, but thanks girls, I had a great day!

Still on a lace high! 🙂
Today I took a day off from the costume sewing, and I haven’t even taken the opportunity to knit even a stitch. I do have an update on another work-in-progress.

Mystery Shawl 2. I’ve finished Clue 3. The designer told us we would need around 1200 yards of yarn. After clue 3, I’ve only used about half a skein of Shimmer. (around 220 yards). The last 2 clues must be huge!
Clue 4 comes out late tonight local time.
Janette asked what was next, and I’ve spent some time today contemplating exactly that.
What should my next big project be? I still have Em’s Lorna’s socks on the go, and the Mystery Shawl 2. Vanalinn gloves are waiting, and my FCEK cardi hasn’t been touched since the last update.
And Em wants me to start her School Spirit sweater.
But I received a parcel from the Shetland Wool Brokers. Six balls of Cobweb weight wool. It was ordered with the intention of knitting this.

It’s the Shetland Lace Shawl from “A Gathering of Lace”. Obviously I’m not over this shawl kick yet!
The cobweb weight is almost scary.

The top yarn is Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock. The second one is Alpaca Cloud. The last is the Cobweb. I’ve met thicker dental floss!
I don’t think I’ll start this straight away though. I think I’ll get some of the UFO’s out of the way first.
Oh, and Tapestry Craft are having a huge sale, starting tomorrow morning. So I’m off there with Donni and Jussi, so I have no idea what projects I’ll be coming home with 😉
If anyone is planning to attend, let me know!

It’s blocked, it’s blocked!!
Yesterday dawned bright and sunny, so first thing, I dumped the shawl into some warm water. Half an hour or so later, I scooped it out and began to pin it. A quarter of the way around, I realised I was running out of pins, and had to run down to the supermarket.
(The first two pics are clickable.)

I am so pleased with it 🙂
I danced about the house for a bit, then the clouds came over and I started to worry that it wouldn’t dry, and that we’d be sleeping on the floor. We live in a tiny little house, and every time I walked past the bedroom, I had this huge urge to pull out all the pins, just to try it on 😉
Here’s the centre bit.

And here are the edges.

I am inordinately proud of myself 🙂
It did dry in time for bed, then I pranced about the house with it for a while. No pics, because by then I was in my comfy, but very daggy pj’s. The weather is crappy again today, but hopefully on the weekend, the weather will be nice and David will be home to take a picture or three 🙂

I’m back. Again!
Sorry if anyone has had trouble leaving a comment. Apparently our host server had an upgrade, but something in Moveable Type didn’t like the upgrade and there was no access to blogging, commenting, updating or anything else apart from reading.
But I have News! Big News! Wonderful News!!

The feather and fan shawl is off the needles. Yes, you heard correctly, it’s done! Not blocked yet, because the weather has been atrocious. And I have a space problem. I will have to block it on my bed, so I’m hoping for a lovely day so I can block it first thing in the morning, and hopefully it will be done by bedtime.
I had to stop one pattern repeat (four rows) from the end, due to running out of yarn. This is how much yarn I had left.

I used Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in “Horizon”, but I only had 4 skeins. The actual pattern called for more than 2000 yards, so I thought I would run out long before I did. I’m not sure if I did the crochet cast off correctly, because as I may have mentioned in the past, I don’t crochet. At all.
Anyway, it will all come out in the blocking. Including the bits where I fudged the numbers!
So what’s next? Well, dress rehearsal at Em’s studio is in 3 weeks, and I have been very, very lax in getting all the sewing done, so it may be a bit quieter than usual.
However, Mystery Shawl 2 is on the needles. The Vanalinn gloves have been waiting patiently for some attention. The endless sock is nearing the end. At bloody last!! This is the yarn I have left.

Then I have to do the second one! I wish I’d learnt two socks at once. And I bought the pattern for Wendy’s Girlfriend’s School Spirit Sweater for Em.
And I haven’t finished my FCEK Cotton-Ease cardi yet, either.
Once upon a time I used to have a self imposed rule about no more than 3 works in progress at a time. Pfft!

Just how much sock is in a skein of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock anyway?