Itza picture time.... Through the Looking Glass Clue 2 Fini!

The Mystery Knit Along pattern is unfolding and I am delighted.  (I will remove the yellowish lace life lines later in the process.)

  In the photo the shawl is accompanied by a lovely illustration by John Tenniel in Lewis Carroll's book and by some of my favorite flowers:

Lavender berries from an America Beautiberry bush: a little clipping from a bush given to me by Pastor Rinn from Augsburg Lutheran here in Winston.   The bush is the child of the mother plant brought by Pastor Rinn when he moved here from Texas.  Not even mentioning the fabulous and startling clussters of lavender berries, one of its most endearing qualities is that the Mockingbirds love the berries!  Mockingbirds do not frequent feeders, so having one singing and snacking at my back door after the leaves are all gone is sweet indeed.

The stems of beautyberry are joined by a sprig of buddleia (butterfly bush); a plant given to me by my adored sister. It is a wonderful jewel-toned complex red violet.  For those who know my Southern Album quilt, you'll recogonize the color.

  And last, and certainly not least, a cluster of blossoms from a valiant old English Rose: Alchemist.  Her citrus and honey fragance drifts arounds corners in a home (or an office!)  The lovely apricot blossoms are the very essence of femininity.... such a delight.  In the spring, the blossoms are frequently 4 inches across resembling a peony more than a rose, which when combined in a vase, flatter each other splendidly.... and aren't they so smart to bloom at the same time?  One Mothers' day, I counted 147 blooms and blossoms on her (lots of her apricot petty coat had to be showing for me to add a bud to the count!)  In the fall, she also has stunning bright, big orange rose hips.  Right now her leaves are almost blemish free... quite an anomalie here in zone 7 since I do not spray and it has been a particularly humid, hot, and did I say long? summer.

So my shawl-in-progress is all dressed up... I am loving getting back into knitting and have had the great good fortune to fall into a wonderful group of gathering-in-public-to-knit ladies who meet a couple times a week!  Yeah!  I am reminded of my friend Mrs. Goodneedle's daily saying... "Life is good!"

KAL Through the Looking Glass. Clue 2 done!

So happy that this section has been easier. And, delighted that I am ready for Thursday's next gathering!

I am a bit disappointed that my attempts to post the photo using mobile blogging is not working yet. I take consolation that lots of folks are having trouble.

I'll post photo once I get to wi-fi connection.

For those in the USA, hope you have a great Labor Day holiday. B

Through the Looking Glass.... KAL Clue 1 completed

Well, you would have thought I had never knit lace as many times as I knit, unknit, reknit this project.   Never the less, part 1 done.  The green-yellow stripes will come out.  They are what are called "life lines."  When knitting a pattern with yarn over's and combination stitches, a defensive move is to periodically run waste yarn through a row of stitches that ends a section which contains no errors.  Then, should one have to rip out, you can safely rip back to a place that has no errors and also maintain the integrity of the stitches and pattern.

So I am ready for Thursday's gathering at Knit Picky for Clue # 2.

O BTW... had a really wonderful visit with my oldest Grand-daughter this past week-end; she is beginning her studies at UNC-Charlotte.  We couldn't be more excited.  She will do well!  I did count the hike up the 10 (yes, ten!) flights of stairs to her dorm room as exercise!

Happy Stitching! 

Through the Looking Glass KAL with The Unique Sheep & Knit Picky

One of our wonderful LYSs (Local Yarn Shop) Knit Picky is hosting a KAL (Knit ALong) using fabulous yarns hand-dyed by a couple of Indi Dyers known as The Unique Sheep.  One of these talented ladies began her career here in Winston-Salem.  Her color sensabilities are sublime and her production of high quality yarns is most reliable.  They have brilliantly created a line of hand dyed yarns in which a gradual color progression is dyed into the yarn... you select the set of skeins (4-6 in the set) which take you across the colorway, including value changes sometimes... no fuss, no muss.  The biggest decisions you have to make are: which fabulous set will you choose; then which of the the range of values will you use at the beginning of your projects, and finally, how many blended rows (if any) to use between the skeins.  Easy peasy.

Here is photo of the beginnings of my gauge swatch with the full range of the gradients:

The KAL kick off party was last night... and as always with those gals, it was fun with fab food, door prizes, and celebration.  We are all making a shawl... with or without beads and or nupps.  Here's photo of project from Ravelry: Janine Le Cras's pattern 

How many hours do I have in a day?  I really need more than others have since I have tons of interests, and am not fast in execution.... Still, it was great to see all these wonderful folks again.  I am looking forward to our gatherings... (every other week to keep us on track for pre-Christmas finish.) 

Have a great week-end!  I know I'm going to be stitching..... applique (Hop To It), sewing (Sew Original's Civil War fabrics Block of the Month) and Knit Picky's KAL (Through the Looking Glass.)  for breathers I better get out in the yard & tame the weeds!