It's raining Trenna yarn!

It's raining Schaefer Trenna yarn at my house and I don't want to come in out of the rain!
Michael and I went on an anniversary retreat this weekend to our favorite B&B (Spring Street Inn) in Hot Springs, AR. I had saved my lovely hand made soaps for this special occasion. I can honestly say that I am addicted to the Lavender Ylang/ylang soap. What a wonderful smell and a perfect soap for a weekend of pampering! Thanks Denise!
I came home to a package from another friend/knitter/encourager. Two skeins of Trenna yarn. I just swooned over them! I won't say who it was, but you know who you are and I thank you soooooooo much, from the bottom of my yarn tangled heart!!!
I have no idea what the name of this colorway is, but I love it! It is very Kay! It has olive green, taupe, salmon, terracotta and smoky pink. Yum!
This colorway is Jane Addams. It reminds me of a garden of roses.
Then today my UPS man came bringing my Little Knits order for my remake of Ozark Autumn.
It is slightly different than the yarn I used for the model. This has some celery, gold, terracotta, coral, clay, bronze and warm coral red. I love it! The beads that I ordered may not go with it, but maybe I will just not do beads.
Here is a sneak peak of Arkansas Diamonds! I am using a lovely iridescent silver-lined crystal bead on this one. The yarn I am using is Jaggerspun Zephyr in the color Snow. I know you can't tell much, but wait until I block it!!!!!
Knitting Progress--One baby sock! Yep, that's all folks. I am hoping to make good progress on Arkansas Diamonds. With my Little Knits order, I got another skein of the Jojoland sock yarn, now I will be able to finish my Rectangular Leaf Shawl. The more I use this yarn, the more I like it. The slow variegation of color is just a visual joy to knit with! If you get a chance or if you are an avid sock knitter, try this yarn! You will love it! I can't wait to block it!

One Less PIGS (project in grocery sack) .......

Well, in spite of having TMUKPADD (too many knitting projects attention deficit disorder), I finished one of my projects. It is my Schaefer Trenna Shawl for a contest. The truth is that I was dying to try this yarn. I kept hearing ooooohs and aaaaahs from everyone. This contest gave me the excuse to get some. One of my friends was shocked that I splurged on this yarn (not on this yarn, but that I splurged). It is quite a luxurious yarn. I used beads on it. It was my first time to knit with beads. I thought it would be good practice for my Arabian Nights Shawl that I have started with my Oregon knitting buddy, Jackie. I learned a lot about beads and the knowledge will help me in my future bead knitting endeavors. I think that I would have enjoyed knitting with this yarn more, if I had not had to deal with the beads. I do not regret using the beads. It really looks great. I have to send it off the Little Knits before May 15th, but I plan on wearing it first to a dressy event that is given by our local hospital for heart research. So I will "GO RED" in my red Trenna shawl. Here is a little peak at it!
BEFORE KNITTING
AFTER KNITTING

Beads choosen

Here are the beads for my Arabian Nights shawl (see blue yarn in center on last post). I am ready to begin, but will wait on Jackie, my Oregon buddy, to get her beads. We are going to knit this together. She is doing the Moroccan Days version (see russet yarn to the right on last post).
I'm still not sure if I am going to do the fringe. I will have to do a swatch and see what I like best.
I have been working on a shawl for the Little Knits Schaefer Trenna contest. It is my first use of beads in knitting. I am learning techniques on different bead placements. It has been a good learning experience for me. It will help me on my Arabian Nights shawl.
Here are some photos of socks that I have finished. The khaki ones are for my Michael and the Blue/red ones are for a friend for Christmas. The ones in progress are for me. It is funny because the color of the yarn matches my Knitpicks harmony needles! I am using Panda Cotton in the color Sable and the yarn is so soft and spongy. I have discovered that I like working socks on the one long circular needle. I find that I prefer to use a heavier yarn (sport or dk). They go rather quickly and keep the feet so nice and toasty! I am glad to get that "luvin" feeling back for sock knitting and it is a great portable knitting project.. I do so love to pamper my feet.


I have a tight deadline on the Trenna shawl. Which reminds me, I need to go get my quota of rows in. Will have photos of swatches soon.

Moroccan Days/Arabian Nights

This is the lace weight wool that I dyed for my Moroccan Days/Arabian Nights Shawl. I could not decide between the purples or the blues. The russets is for my buddy in Oregan. She (lucky dog) is going on vacation to Morocco this fall, so she is wanting to make this shawl for the trip. I love the russets, but everyone who knows me knows that everything I own is that color. I have about 3-5 shawls those colors. I thought I would be unpredictable. I dyed the purples and it is gorgeous, but I am so NOT a purple person. My buddy Kathy is, but she already has one of my lovely creations in purples! I wanted to have this shawl for dressy occasions and I can just see it this winter with a black velvet dress!!! Yum! This is the shawl that takes 5000 beads. Mine will take 3000. It will be fun to knit along with Jackie.
Oh, by the way, I got my invitation to Ravelry!!! Fun website.



This is a picture of my Trenna yarn. I am knitting a shawl for a contest sponsored by Little Knits. It gave me an excuse to get some!!!

Let it snow!

Sunday in central Arkansas saw a temperature of 74 degrees. This is what we have this morning, almost 2 inches of snow. Thankfully, the roads were warm and that prevented it from being a hazard. I like snow to be that way, all the beauty, none of the danger. I know you are thinking "danger?". Here in central Arkansas we rarely get this white stuff and when we do, people do not know how to drive in it.

Here is a picture of my crocheted version of the Cupcake Hat. As you can tell, I like mine with sprinkles. This is the first time that I have crocheted with beads. It was fun.
Speaking of beads, I bought a pattern yesterday. It is called Moroccan Days/Arabian Nights. I have a friend who is going to Morocco for vacation in the fall and I had just heard the buzz about this shawl. I emailed her the link and she is so "psyched" to make it for her trip. I plan on dyeing up some lace weight next week for us to make it. She will make it in the warm honey tones. I am going to over dye some eggplant colored lace weight yarn with some dark tones to make me an Arabian Nights version. It calls for 5000 beads and looks so elegant. It is an extremely large shawl (30" x 90"). I was pouring over the pattern so see if there was a way to make it a bit smaller. I will probably leave out one of the pattern stitches and I will not use as many beads on the fringe. It looks like a fun challenge.
I do not need another project, but having never worked with beads, I will try this one.
My Jefferson City trip is in limbo. Missouri is expecting more of what we got last night. According to the "10-day forecast", snow is expected Friday, too. So, we are checking the forecast every day so that we can canceled our rooms, if needed. If we have to cancel the trip, I will buy myself some nice yarn to make up for it. I will buy a skein of Schaefer Trenna yarn.
Every time I see this yarn, I think "YUM".