Knitting On

Wow, what a couple of weeks it's been!  Between finalizing and releasing my new shawl pattern Sothia, planting trees in the yard to replace those that died in last year's drought, attending a fiber festival, prepping for conferences and my mom's birthday, and working out details on my next pattern, I'm about done in.  

To everyone who made Sothia Ravelry's "hottest" pattern for two days and have kept it pretty well up there ever since - whether by buying the pattern, commenting with so much enthusiasm, or test knitting the draft - I humbly offer my heartfelt thank you.

I don't get much time to indulge in reading blogs, but every few weeks or so, I like to click and drift from one to another, reading about other knitters' and designers' doings and projects.  It's one of those mindless pleasures that I need as a break from always thinking, planning, doing, etc. That is how I became familiar with one of my tester's knitting and designing.  

Diana, or Deenulya (her Russian nickname and Ravelry username) is a superb knitter, having learned from her grandmother as a child.  She also designs lovely knitwear herself, and has a blog where she shares updates on her knitting projects and life with her beautiful family.  

Diana did such a wonderful job on the Sothia test knit that I just had to share (with her permission of course!) a few photos of her modeling her finished shawlette.  

Sothia is a true, wide triangle with increases on both sides, creating a shallow shawlette silhouette that is lightweight but drapes nicely around the shoulders.  

Blocking the finished object with a horizontally-stretched top edge enhances this shape, bordered by a flounce of restrained ruffles. 

Thank you Diana for the wonderful job you did on your shawl, your incredible photos, and terrific input on the design. 

Memorial Day weekend my friend Lynn and I had a great time being escorted by my husband (with my dog in tow) to the Great Lakes Fiber Show in Wooster, Ohio.  

We found lots to enjoy including these jacket-wearing sheep being guarded by an adorable shepherd-in-training Great Pyrenees puppy.

Of course there was loads of fiber and yarn to interest us like Knitting Notions' fantastic hand-dyed assortment,

Ohio Valley Natural Fibers beautiful gray mohair/ wool blends,

and their merino/ dog hair blend (!!?? - dog of unknown breed),

Lynn is an angora nut and cannot resist it's silky allure.

Especially when there was SO much of it to consider, like this lovely selection from Angoraonline.com

 

My Pom was a chick magnet.

The little diva just basked in the love.

I've now progressed to knitting on my next project, a light summer top in Louet MerLin, the swatch is shown below.  

I'm also knitting something summer-y in Classic Elite Allegoro linen/ cotton blend, that yarn is shown in the photo at the top of this post.

I normally almost always lean towards rich or saturated colors, but lately have found myself working with more neutrals, although they mostly do not suit my coloring at all.  Perhaps it is the lure of warm summer evenings and soft breezes?