Summer Knitting

I haven't written much about knitting lately mostly because I haven't spent much time knitting which is too bad. But there werre other things I needed to attend to so that is good. The nice thing about knitting in the summer is that you can do it outside. Having a gathering with friends in a park to sit and knit is as pleasant an activity as you could ask for. Also, summer is a good time to knit with lighter fibers. My personal favorite is, of course, silk.

I've added some interesting new silks to my stash lately courtesy of eBay. I just recently purchased two substantial hanks of a lovely silk eyelash yarn (left) that are interesting. There is a lot of yardage in each hank --- 700 yards and it is handpainted so it has that wonderful variagated look that handpainted yarns have. The colors are called Strawberry and Mango. Sounds luscious. I'm not sure what I will do with them but they seem perfect to be used as a carry-along with something else.

My other eBay score is a large lot of Tussah and recycled silk. (below). The tan one is reclaimed from a Donna Karan sweater according to the eBay vendor. It looks very nice with the other two which came in a Misty Blue and a Peach. Working with silk making shawls is very pleasant because the silk gives good stitch definition and does not stretch as much as some fibers do. I find it best to work on wooden needles with silk because it does tend to be slippery. There is a tremendous amount of the tan silk so maybe the blue and peach will just make a nice edging. Who knows? Half the fun is in the experimentation.


I wrote a few weeks ago about the Haitian Rayon/Silk I purchased and this is turning out to be a lot of fun to work with. The colors are just lovely and it goes fast. At left is the color called gemstone and I am making a long scarf that is, at present 18" wide and 72" long. I kept the pattern simple --- a wave pattern, because the yarn is colorful and slubby. I am a little over halfway through the cone so think I might try adding a knitted-on lace border around the perimeter. I just love working with this fiber. I am working on size 9 straight wooden needles and it is going very fast.


The other Haitian Silk (at right) is the color called Monet. I started out to make a triangle shawl --- a variation on my Mermaid Shawl --- but now think I may take it apart and make a light summer cardigan. I am working in the Frost Flowers Pattern but think it might be too colorful for that so will probably try something simpler --- maybe a diamond design. Or just plain garter stitch with a garter lace edging would be good. I think it will look wonderful with a white teeshirt and jeans.

Sp that's it from here. Plenty to do. I think I am going to run out of summer before I run out of knitting projects. Also finishing Mark's book has brought several wonderful new writing/editting projects my way and I need to make more money in order to buy more yarn. You know.... in case I run out.

Thanks for reading.