Off to a slow start

The Beijing Olympics have been fabulous. The opening ceremonies - breath-taking.

My Ravelymics - not so much.

I did finish one project - start to finish:



I used Handmaiden Camel Spin. The online reviews were that the yarn was to die for. I somehow ended up with colors I was not in love with. And when I got it - I was less than impressed. It felt like cotton to me, not the silky soft I was expecting. But after knitting with it the fabric grew on my - and I love the result now. It almost has golden tones to it. I think it will be a gift - a pricy one- but I'm glad I used it. It was in my sell stash for a while, but I decided I couldn't get what I paid for it and I'm glad I decided to make a special scarf for someone. Camel hair - that's rare! The pattern is Rivolo - it was a easy - but didn't make the nice little rivers at first. Once I tightened my gauge it was better. It knits on a bias - so it's hard to see - you have to block it severely to get the nice pattern. All in all - a nice fast pattern that looks more complicated than it is. The scarf is a little short, but functional - and I may make it narrower if I make it again. The yarn was classed as laceweight, but it worked out closer to fingering with size 5 needles in my book.

I also made a market bag - finally!!!!!



I found this new yarn at the Ben Franklin in Redmond - NaturLin - a Rayon/Linen blend. It looks like Linen, but with a softer hand and very shiny. Less rough to work with, but strong. I tried to break it when I was on the plane without scissors. NOT. Almost tore my skin.

The pattern was called Hadley Mini although there was nothing 'mini' about the bag at all. It holds 4 HUGE balls of cotton yarn.

I loved the yarn and pattern. I will use both again.

I'll close with a few pictures of Sweetie with her shawl:





Next week - we are headed to Myrtle Beach for the week and I get to work on Hey Teach! and hopefully make up for my slow start. Happy Knitting everyone!