Summertime Fun

This absolutely scrumptious handspun alpaca is a dream
to work with. I so love alpaca!

Happy Fee-Fi(ber)-F.O. Friday everyone. I must admit, it's been an up and down week - I was thrilled to announce the winners in the Spring Flingy Thingy giveaway on Monday, but I'm really sad to see the two months of making come to an end. The good thing? Since not everything was completed (and I'm looking at you, my Espresso Cardigan test), I still get some residual fun in June.

While I have no finished objects to show (for the moment), I thought I'd share some of the fiber that's currently on my hooks.

I'm looking forward to showing everyone
what this summer loveliness became.

Additionally, I realized a few days ago that in all the Voie de Vie Spring Flingy Thingy information and goings-on, I actually failed to post the final art blog installment in my local yarn shop tour from last year. Even though our local tour for this year is over (for a few weeks now), it's the LYS tour/hop season for many, so this is still current. For anyone who missed the earlier installments, Day 1 is here, Day 2 is here, and Day 3 is here. Again, these art diary entries are from the largest local LYS tour in the Puget Sound from 2014. I thoroughly enjoyed creating these art diaries.

I hope everyone has a great, fiber-filled weekend. And enjoy the sunshine if you get some.

A Lovely Fee-Fi(ber)-F.O. Friday

Well, I have another shawl to share with everyone on this gloriously sunny Friday in the Pacific Northwest.

The making of my Springtime Lilac Shawl was a spur-of-the-moment decision earlier this week. Yes, earlier this week.  I actually completed this shawl in four days. I do believe I’m now ready for Olympic track sprints.

I had the yarn in my stash, the book on my shelf, and the beads in my craft corner – what else does a crafty gal need? This pattern, the Juliette Shawl from Creating Crochet Fabric, is easy, yet interesting. Since I also completed it pretty much by utilizing only the charts (I did refer to the written instructions once or twice when I encountered a few small inconsistencies in the charting sequence), it was something of a mindless crochet. Reading charts as mindless crochet – go figure.

In any event, this early morning picture above might be somewhat dark, but it does capture the hint of attractive sheen in the Louisa Harding Merletto yarn. (I've provided a link to a retail site in the face of virtually no fiber information on Harding's own site.) It’s got a small amount of linen content, so

it’s also slightly fuzzy around the edges. I did find this yarn incredibly splitty when crocheting; this might not be the same when knitting.

All in all – a very quick, satisfying and pretty project with just a little added amethyst bling on the bottom. I’ll take it!

I hope everyone has had a satisfyingly crafty week. Definitely check back with Andrea's blog to see the results.