The great debate for Pure

Well, I'm doing it again. The classic, I'm-almost-done-with-a-project-lets-preemptively-start-working-on-the-next-one dance I seem to do every time a monster project is close to being done.

Tonight I joined all of the pieces of my Gable together and while I'm so excited, I'm also catching all of the infectious energy surrounding Marlee and the wonderful news that Have Company is going to be Grand Rapid's first LYS! It's been so fun to watch a brand I love become a yarn store that I wish I could visit in person. If you can, please go check out their Kickstarter and help if you are able. It's going to be so lovely, I just know it.

Anyways! Marlee is hosting a Pure KAL starting next week, and I'm definitely going to join. Pure is on my short list of summer shawls I just wrote about, after all! The great debate is as follows. I have this lovely Madelintosh Pashmina that was a gift from a friend. It is only sport weight, but held double it could be exactly on gauge for the worsted version of Pure. It is so soft, perfect for snuggling next to skin and the colors are so vibrant, but I'm not sure how two individual skeins would look held double (the colorway is Holi, and the skeins are rather individualistic!).

On the other hand, I also recently purchased two skeins of O-Wool Local, which I knit my Mountain Moss Shawl with this past fall, and it was by far my most worn piece for the past few months. With Local, I could knit Pure in two colors, one for the border and one for the middle section. It is a little bit more rustic, but it definitely fits the aesthetic of the pattern, being simple and lovely and one of my favorite yarns.

I'd love to hear everyone's opinions about this! In the end, I guess I could just knit Pure twice, but I love both of these yarns so much, I don't want to waste a bit!

Love: simple textured shawls

1/2/3/4

Lately I've been dreaming of summer vacation, of getting this sweater off of my needles, and of long stretches of time to knit on a beach. Or on my porch, or anywhere, really. And what I want to be knitting the most in this dream scenario is a shawl (because you can't have too many) and of something simple, but interesting. Beautiful, but mindless. The winner out of this bunch may just very well be Pure, thanks to this picture that Hannah Garr posted weeks ago and I still can't get out of my head. Hers is knit in Madelintosh Optic, which is amazing, and for my birthday this year my lovely friend gifted me two skeins of "Holi" by Madelintosh that I think would knit up so wonderfully like the Optic. 

I've no trouble knitting with wool all year long, but I'm just curious what everyone else is planning on knitting this summer! The tanks the Quince and Co recently released have got me thinking about more garments for my wardrobe, but I have to buckle down and finish Gable first!

Gable progress

I realized it's been a while since I gave an update about my first sweater! Luckily, there's lots to talk about. 

The twisted rib is really elegant, and with a minor mishap in counting I even managed the short rows without much difficulty. A little side shaping, a lot of stockinette and the body was done. Huzzah!

I have a little bit of doubt about the sleeves. I tried the first one as I went and it seemed a bit baggy, even though I was on gauge and was following the size prescribed in the pattern for my body size. The model in the picture for Gable is wearing a button down under the sweater, so it's possible that the ease is intended and it is going to look great. Only time will tell.

Since this picture was taken, I'm about two-thirds of the way through the second sleeve and then starts the yoke! I've been told that the yoke tends to go quickly on bottom-up sweaters, which is a relief. I want to finish this guy before Me Made May is over!

Aside from the fact that it's taken me so long to make, it's nowhere even close to being seasonally appropriate anymore, I am loving this.

What about you, do you knit sweaters all year round, or just when it's cold outside? From all of my experience with linen and cotton, I am a wool girl all the way through. 

Carolina Fiber Fest

A few weeks ago, the day was completely perfect, not a cloud in the sky, and I drove my Civic out past Chapel Hill towards the Carolina Fiber Fest. My first and only other experience with fiber fests being Rhinebeck, the queen of all festivals, I didn't know what to expect. But I'm so glad I went!

I showed up around 1 PM, just in time for the sheep herding demonstration, which was crazy! The border collies were so incredibly well trained, even the smallest changes in the intonation of the whistle and they knew which way to go. I was hoping for a chance to get up close with some sheep, but it was still a really fun experience. 

There were about 30 vendors in two different warehouses so I went and perused, not really sure what I was coming for but knowing I was going to leave with something! ;) I finally made it all the way over to Heelside Farms' tent and on a whim, decided to buy a drop spindle. The sweet woman who sold it to me asked if I knew how to use it, and when I replied that I didn't, she had her son sit down with me to show me how. 20 minutes later, I knew how to spin! It was such a thrill, and I was so excited, I went by Echoview and picked up some alpaca fiber, and then to another vendor (that I can't remember, ugh!) and bought some Shetland roving. 

I finished off my frankly WONDERFUL afternoon with a chocolate-covered cheesecake on a stick. I kid you not. (And it was awesome, and I should have bought 20 of them.)

If my knitting was going slowly before, it has gone half speed recently because of all of this lovely spinning. I first finished 2 oz of single ply Borderlecister that came with my spindle from Heelside, and have been alternating between the alpaca and Shetland roving whenever my spindle fills up. And though it's wonky and uneven still, I'm getting the hang of it and it is so beautiful and fun. 

Love: fringe

1/2/3

As I write this post, I'm catching up on the season premiere of the final season of Mad Men, so I can't even pretend that that doesn't have something to do with my recent knitwear loves. The 70s seem to be coming back in a big way, and I love it! Lexington was love at first sight when I saw it in BT's Winter Collection (along with this, and this, and this, and let's be honest everything). The big pockets sold me, and of course, the fringe. Farmhouse is so fun, because I feel like it's such a classic looking shawl, but with the fun twist with the long fringe added as well. And Selsey is just such stunning colorwork, and it's knit up in one of my favorite yarns, so it's basically perfect. 

I don't know what it is, but the fringe is just really such a favorite of mine recently. The pairing of oversized, squishy, huggable knits and the long fringe makes me really happy.