Yarn on the House Interview and Loop!

Hi Knitters,
I have so much to announce today. I'll get right to it in order:

1. I did a fun video interview with Ve of Yarn on the House. Click here to watch.

2. Don't miss that Ve has 3 (!) skeins of Cakewalk Yarns Cherry Blossom sock yarn to giveaway to go along with my interview. You have to answer an easy, easy question in the comments on her post to enter to win the yarn. The question is in Part 3 of the interview. The entire interview is only a little over 20 minutes long total but is divided in three parts. Please go enter!

Also, check out all of the fun links Ve put together under our interview on her blog. We talked about a lot in such a short time. It is really fun.

Click here to watch the video on the Yarn on the House site.

3. The winner of the Themyscira Dyeabolical Yarn giveaway is..... sewsable (rav id)! Congratulations, Rachelle!

4. Rachel, of Dyeabolical Yarns, was thrilled with the response on the giveaway, over 700 entries, so she generously threw in a second skein of her yarn, colorway to be determined. The winner of a second skein of Dyeabolical is..... muttiruth (rav id)! Congratulations, Ruth!

Thanks to everyone for entering the giveaway. I will host another one very soon so stay tuned.

Now, on with the regular post. That beautiful shawl in the photo above is one that I just finished last week and I just love it.

I spun up this beautiful Bullseye Bump of merino wool fiber from Loop on Etsy. This colorway is aptly called, Mediterranean Sun. You can see Steph's signature center pull bump. She creates one of a kind bumps of all sorts of fiber. It is pretty amazing.

 Loop's Bullseye Bumps are fluffy and interesting and plain old entertaining to spin.

It all came out to become this gorgeous hank of yarn. It is Navajo plied, 440 yards of a sport weight in a merino wool. I wasn't quite sure what to make with it but then after I knit up the Little Shells Shawl and loved the pattern, I saw another shawl from this pair of designers, Holly and Ella Knits. It is the Summer Flies Shawlette. I thought I would give this one a whirl with my new Loop handspun.

Click here for the Little Shells free pattern.

Click here for the Summer Flies Shawlette free pattern.

Click here for the Loop Etsy shop.

I loved everything about knitting up this Summer Flies Shawlette. The handspun yarn just flew off my needles. The pattern is wonderfully written and clear. Each section is more fun than the last which keeps it fast-paced and fun. I loved the picot bind off at the end, even if it is a little tedious, the result is well worth it. I highly recommend this pattern.

Here is the shawlette blocking. There is a ruffle so I ran the wire through the start of the ruffle, right before the increase row. That way I wouldn't pull the ruffle out of the ruffle. It worked well. After blocking, the shawl is so light and airy.

I am not sure the colors are for me with my olive skin tone but I asked my blonde sister if she could wear these colors and she said yes. I was going to give it to her right away as she tried it on but she said maybe for Christmas or something. She already knows about it so that's not fun. I may give it to her soon. I am enjoying looking at it for now anyway before it goes away.

On a quick and funny note, I wanted the picot bind off to be in the blue color. In order to do this I wound a bit of the color you see right before the blue off of the yarn cake and started in with the blue for the bind off. Of course I ran out right before the end of the bind off row as you can see above. It is easy to underestimate how much yarn it takes to do a picot bind off and a ruffle for that matter. I had over 400 stitches on the needles at that point.

I debated what to do but in the end I just joined in the tiny ball I had wound off to get to the blue color and finished off the row. It looks fine and for some reason it isn't all that noticeable. I never mind little things like this when they happen. It is kind of fun to find the solutions.

That's why knitting is so great, you are always forced to think.

Okay, I'll be back soon with more.
best, susie