Rafiki means "friend"

The third and final shawl design for Curious Creek Fibers is complete!!

Rafiki

Designed by

Christina S. Wilkins

This shawl is the final design in a series of three created to showcase the beauty and depth of the Meru (51% Wild Tussah Silk / 49% Merino Wool) Septra Series of lace weight yarns from Curious Creek Fibers (curiouscreek.com).  All of Curious Creek yarns garner their inspiration and names from reserve and game parks all over the continent of Africa.  In honor of this tradition, this shawl was named Rafiki (Swahili for “Friend”).

Materials:

• Approximately 1200 yards Curious Creek Meru lace weight yarn
• Size 3.5 mm (US 4) needles or size needed to obtain gauge
• Stitch markers; waste yarn and tapestry needle for life lines

Gauge:

• 24 sts/4 inches and knit flat in stockinette

Size:                      

• Blocked the overall diameter is 18 x 80 inches 

As soon as we have professional shots of all three shawls, the patterns will be available for purchase.

Yay!

Comfort...

The Knitting Nest, as well as ten other yarn shops in and around Austin participated in the Hill Country Yarn Crawl a week ago.  By all accounts, the event was a grand success with hundreds of participants.

Unfortunately, some nefarious soul took advantage of the chaos of yarn crawlers to nick one of the samples from my LYS.  It was the original purple worsted Stacy Shawl.  sigh

Rather than lament the theft, I decided to take the opportunity to knit a new sample.  As I was walking around the shop on Sunday contemplating all the beautiful choices, some Noro jumped into my hands.

While variegated, the long stripes of color really do not interfere with the cable or lace details of the pattern.

I think it will be beautiful.

Pattern:  The Stacy Shawl
Yarn:  Noro Kureyon Color 258

Gooey Cake Cookies

1 - 8 oz brick of cream cheese (at room temperature)
1 - stick of butter (also at room temperature)
1 - egg
1 tsp vanilla extract or Amaretto
1 box yellow cake mix
Powdered sugar

In a mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese.  Add the egg and vanilla.  Mix well.  Add the cake mix and beat for 1 minute or until thoroughly combined.

Cover and chill for 2 hours.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Drop tablespoons of mix into powdered sugar and roll lightly before placing on a parchment lined cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 12 minutes or until just slightly golden brown.  The inside will be kind of gooey.

Enjoy!

Fetching!

If someone had told me 10 months ago that I would be able to sit down in one afternoon and complete my latest project I would have called them crazy! (and I seem to remember someone telling me just that very thing!)

My latest project for my granddaughter is called 'Fetching' (the pattern can be found at http://www.knitty.com/) made with Debbie Bliss cashmerino aran Bubblegum.

I think she will like it! I do,,,

I think, though, if/when I make a pair for myself I will add a couple more sets (?) repeats (?) of the cable to make the cuff longer.

Sweater Swatching

Not that I actually have time to knit one, but there is always time to swatch for one.

Pattern:  Ayana by Amy Herzog
Yarn:  Gaia Worsted hand dyed by Spnning Colors (Blue), Miss Babs Yowza in Frog Belly (Green) or Madelinetosh dk in Cove (the browish/blue variegated).

When I started swatching, I actually picked up the blue first because I was searching for a sweater to make with it; however, it is a Worsted/Aran weight and produced a thick fabric on size US 7 needles.  Next up was the Yowza Frog Belly in green which is a classified as a light worsted, but knitted up loosely.  Lastly, I grabbed the Madelinetosh in Cove that was originally billed as a worsted when I bought it, but was downgraded to dk when Madelinetosh came out with her Vintage worsted line.  The diameter of the yarn is thinner than the Gaia, but thicker than the Yowza and, in this instance, it is just right.

So, for those who are keeping track at home, I have one sweater on the needles (the back and sleeves are done and the front has been cast-on, but only barely) in Black Cherry:

and, including Ayana above, three in waiting:

Pattern:  Oslo by Elsebeth Lavold from the City(e) scapes Collection
Yarn:  Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Cognac

Pattern:  Rachel by Roz Wilson from Artesano's Curves Collection
Yarn:  Blue Moon Fibers Twisted in Valkyrie

Has the sweater bug bitten anyone else?

Random Randomness...

Where to begin?

During the summer, dear friend Lolly sent me a special treat, two skeins of undyed worsted weight yarn, and a skein of natural (undyed) cashmere lace because she knew I was testing the dyeing waters and because she is so sweet and thoughtful.

In the meantime, I acquired a skein of sock yarn (Zen Garden Bamboolicious) in a color called Bahama Tonic that I feel in love with.

So much so, I knew I wanted a sweater in the same shade.  While the variegated yarn was perfect for socks, I wanted more of a semi-solid look to the yarn and felt it was beyond my freshman dyeing efforts.  Steph at Spinning Colors lives and works in Austin.  I contacted her and asked if she were willing to work with me to dye this yarn in the spirit of the sock yarn.

Fortunately for me, she agreed.  The results?  Nothing less than PERFECT!

Now, the only real problems for me are a) deciding exactly what this yarn wants to become, and b) finding the time to help it evolve.

On the designing front, the third and final shawl for Curious Creek is well underway.  I hope to have a finished project to share on that front very soon.

Also, I have been working on some Holiday themed items for The Knitting Nest. This trio includes patterns for a pair of socks, a shawl, and a scarf.  Each is made from one skein of Malabrigo sock yarn which has been hand-dyed by Steph of Spinning Colors!  If you are interested in one (or all) of these kits, they are available for pre-order, just give Stacy a call at 512.291.8866.  There are only a limited number of kits available and will ship in early December.

The first pattern is Festive:

Flurries is a lace scarf which is approximately 8 inches wide and 80 inches long:

All Spruced Up! is a triangular shawl. Blocked, the wingspan is 54 inches and the depth down the spine is 31 inches.

In some exciting news, I have some additional designs which have been released through Woolgirl in the last couple of months.

Glinda Sweet is a shawl knit from side-to-side from neck edge to bottom lace edge beginning at one tapered end to the other.  As you can see, it can worn a number of ways:

Spook is a lacy sock pattern which was featured in Woolgirl's Black Cat Halloween Kit.

I love the yarn Jen at Woolgirl paired with this design.  She has wonderful vision.  Below is the sock I submitted to her for consideration and you can see how very different it looks when knitted up in Malabrigo Sock yarn in Lettuce:

Spoiler Alert for Hello Cupcake Kit!

All Spruced Up!

Pattern:  All Spruced Up! by me is a triangular shawl knit from the top down
Yarn:  Hand-dyed by Spinning Colors on a Malabrigo Sock base exclusively for The Knitting Nest

This pattern and the yarn will be offered exclusively at The Knitting Nest as part of a kit.  These will be available for pre-order beginning Friday, October 8, 2010.  More details to come, but feel free to give Stacy a call at 512.291.8866.