shawls | Mustard Seed Yarn Lab

Category: shawls (page 1 of 2)

Girl on a mission

04.20.12 / Danielle / 7 Comments

This is what I looked at all day. I sat at my dining room table, hands poised over my keyboard, staring out this window at my very favorite pink blossomed tree. Sun streamed through my house and the temperature was perfect outside and I DID NOT WANT TO WORK.

My mind was jumping back and forth to everything else I wanted to be doing and my heart was lounging in a big box in the corner of the room. A big box filled with 50 skeins of white yarn and 1 lb of roving. All I want to do is touch it. Spread it out all over the table and lay my head on it. And it scares me a little…all that WHITE. So many pounds of fiber just waiting for me to change it, hopefully into something beautiful, something other people will love. And more is coming. I’m expecting 10 more skeins with sparkle and 2 more lbs of roving, also with sparkle. The sparkly fiber was on back order, but should be with me next week and when I think of it, I squeak a little with excitement.

I have more exciting news. My favorite local yarn shop in Newburyport, A Loom with a View, has agreed to sell my roving! Betsy is the store owner, and she said she wants at least two of each colorway I make for her. So I’ll be dyeing in double batches. I started one colorway on Sunday. Here are the 2 rovings laid out and ready to be dyed, below.

And here is the finished product:

They should be almost exactly the same, as I painted them together as one. I haven’t named this colorway yet. Any ideas anyone want to throw out there? Opinions? Feel free to leave me a comment! I have to be honest, I’m not in love with this colorway. I just don’t like blue and pink together, and there’s more blue and pink than I had originally intended. None of the colors came out as dark as I had hoped either. I will do better with the next ones. I’m sure there is someone out there who these will appeal to.

I have not gotten too much knitting done. Here is where I’m at with the Juneberry Shawl:

And here is where I’m at with the Glynis socks (which is a torturous pattern, btw):

The other red socks have been put on hold until I can finish either one of these.

I’m done with A Clash of Kings and onto A Storm of Swords. My GOD those books are horribly addictive. Sometimes there are nights where I don’t even want to knit, I just want to go in bed and read. I know! Blasphemy, right?? I can’t help it. George R.R. Martin is brilliant!

It’s late now, and I just ate a chocolate chip cookie that I was craving all day (I just baked them at 10pm) and I think it’s time to go to bed and read. Today was my Friday. Tomorrow I have off completely, and I will spend the day dyeing fiber. I’ll take as many pictures as possible and try to give you all an idea of how it comes out. I’m a very slow, meticulous dyer, so don’t get too excited. A day of dyeing may only bring forth a few skeins or a few rovings, but I’m sure going to try and be quicker. I’m a girl on a mission. Not only do I have my Etsy shop to stock, but I have two shops willing to sell my roving, and I don’t want to disappoint. I better get my butt moving! Fiber, here I come!

YAWN…after I get some sleep. 🙂

Excitement… in Red

03.16.12 / Danielle / 4 Comments

I’ve been itching to knit another shawl for awhile now, but other projects kept getting in the way. (Projects I was actually getting paid to make, so those totally take priority… and happily.) Have I ever mentioned how much I love knitting shawls? You know,… I don’t wear them. I wish I was one of those fashionable girls who can throw a cute outfit together and wrap a lovely shawl around it all and make it come together. I am not one of those girls. I wear jeans everyday (which I can do because I work from home.) If I’m going somewhere nice, I throw a nice shirt on with my jeans, instead of my usual plain V neck T-shirt. I just can’t be bothered, really. Skirts are too cold in the winter (which lasts about 9 months in the Northeast) and in the summer, I opt for capris instead of skirts (just more practical, and I’m not fond of my stubby legs in shorts). I go to clothing stores and leave with nothing, complaining about how everything in there is so ugly. And when I do see something nice, it usually fits me all wrong or looks too girly or whatever.

But I love knitting shawls. I’ve only made 4 so far, but each was so much fun, I just couldn’t stop once I started. I gifted 3 of them, and kept one for myself. I wore it once to a wedding, but now it sits at the bottom of a huge Tupperware bin, where no harm can come to it. I’ve been told I should display it somewhere at least, and I’d like to, but it would get dusty or dirty, and eventually need a washing. A washing would mean blocking it all over again and I am NOT going to do that twice.

So, although I have no real reason to keep making shawls, I just can’t help myself. Last night I started the Juneberry Triangle by Jared Flood. I’ve been wanting to make this one for over a year. My sister gave me all the yarn to make it with for Christmas.

This is what it should look like when it’s done:

If mine comes out looking anywhere near this good, I just might have to buy an outfit to go with it.

My Lace and Cable sock is coming along. I guess I’m in a red kind of mood.

The Super Secret Project revealed!

11.14.11 / Danielle / 2 Comments

Ok, so it wasn’t a total surprise. My sister figured out the surprise was for her BUT she didn’t know exactly what it was. And what it was, my friends, was the Vernal Equinox Shawl and the free pattern can be found here.

As you will see in this picture, I tried blocking it with 2 different edgings, to see which I preferred. One side has the pointy edging, and the other has the more scalloped edging.

I decided I liked the scalloped edging best, so I reblocked the pointy side. Oh, and I chose to knit the edging with 3 or 4 rows of garter stitch. Most people on Ravelry seemed to use the crochet edging…but I can’t crochet, and I think I like the look of mine better anyways. Below you can see it with a 4 year old cutie beside it. That gives you a good idea of the size.

I started the shawl in August and I finished it a few days ago, but I didn’t work on it every day…in fact, there were whole weeks I didn’t touch it.

I used Cascade Yarns Heritage Silk…which was a wool and silk blend. The yarn was very nice to work with and had a nice drape and feel to it. I’d definitely consider using it again.

I gave the shawl to Shelly on Saturday, when I traveled to NY to take a dye class with her. It’s her Christmas gift, but in this family, none of us can ever wait so Christmas gifts often come early. I took pictures of her in the shawl, but her pictures came out way better than mine, so I’m stealing hers to show you.

How’s that?! It looks like it was made for her….Ha! I kill myself. 🙂

Oh, and yes, she did love it. She blogs about it on her own blog here.

Next up, I have another sister in dire need of Bella mittens for Christmas…I think I’ll start those next. (They’re the mittens Bella wore in Twilight.)