Serendipity: Butterflies on Your Shawl??

Since the Handspun Spring Shawl went to a very special person, Marje, I wanted to share a story with you.

I love the idea of prayer shawls. Sometimes I feel it is a wonderful thing just to acknowledge someone for who they are. Marje is a very kind, quiet, unassuming bookshop owner who helps a lot of people find their spiritual paths or answers to questions in life. Her motto is "Helping You to Help Yourself". I have had the chance to meet some wonderful people thru Marje and read some wonderful thought provoking books. Her warm smile is always welcoming and I so appreciate having met her. After participating in an Intuition workshop with her, I noticed that she looked radiant in pastels and I decided to surprise her with a gift of appreciation.

Sometimes you come across an item in life that is different than something you would normally choose. I purchased the pastel roving (see previous post) years ago thinking I would pull out certain colors for another project. However, every time I went to use that roving, it just didn't seem right. I played with parts of the roving over the years but nothing materialized. Since pastel colors wipe out my skintone, it was never something I could wear but for some strange reason I couldn't part with it. Well, after seeing Marje wear butter yellows, mint greens, pinks and blues, the EUREKA moment hit. I knew that it was meant for Marje!

I happily spun and knit this shawl with a HUGE grin on my face; since being a little kid at heart, I LOVE surprises and especially LOVE surprising others! However during the whole process of creating this shawl, for some reason, I kept thinking of a butterfly pin. I kept picturing a butterfly pin resting on this shawl. The thought had reoccurred so often that I questioned whether I should purchase a butterfly pin to present to Marje as well. So I kept my eyes open for a butterfly pin but to no avail.

The day I decided to take the shawl down to the shop, The Catalpa Tree in Grabill IN, which is a two hour roundtrip for me, it was chilly, dreary and storming in the morning. I debated whether I should make the trip. However, after dropping the kids off at school, the sky cleared a bit and I decided to go. On the way down, I thought wouldn't it be funny if Marje was wearing something to match the shawl? I arrived and first went inside the shop without the package to see if Marje was there for the day. She had on a lovely blue outfit which would match wonderfully with the shawl! So I brought the shawl in and presented it to her... all the while still wondering about the butterfly pin.

I was so delighted that Marje loved the shawl and decided to wear it that day since it was chilly. She even proclaimed that the size was just right! As she gently lifted it over her shoulders, tied it in front and adjusted it ... on her left shoulder, above her heart sat a beautiful butterfly pin softly resting on top of the shawl's edge!! I did a double take and then started laughing. When I told Marje that all along, I pictured a butterfly pin on the shawl, she opened the shawl to show me her beatiful blue top with her handpainted flowers and also a handpainted butterfly resting beneath the shawl! She then told me that she had originally dressed in something else that morning while getting ready for work but it didn't "feel right". So, since it was chilly that morning, she put on the blue outfit and adorned it with a butterfly pin.

SERENDIPITY indeed! My shawl has made its way to a happy owner and has found it's butterfly friend!

FO: Anatomy of a Shawl

I found slightly over 5 oz of this hand dyed BFL in my stash that has been there for years! The bright Spring colors begged to be spun and knit.

My husband takes one look at wool rovings and calls them "sheep guts". Well, these sheep guts had a great time on the spinning wheel. Here is a single ply on the wheel.

For those nonspinners out there, it takes two of the above to ply together (twist in the opposite direction that it was originally spun), to make a two ply yarn like below. From the 5 oz of roving, I spun aproximately 470 yards of two ply yarn to make the skein below. The yarn was between a DK and a light worsted weight.

Then I tried several shawl patterns. I wanted to make a simple shawl that would show the effects of the yarn and make the most of the yardage. I decided to knit "La La's Simple Shawl" pattern from Ravelry on size 10 needles to make it lightweight and lacy. Here it is resting in one of my knitting baskets.

I knitted about 460 yards of the skein and made adjustments in the pattern to finish it with a nice edge due to the length left of my yarn. I was quite pleased with the results and will definately try this pattern again. The finished shawl is approximately 66" across by 31" in length. The shawl is lightweight and oh so soft and cozy! It is a surprise gift for a friend who wears a lot of pastels. Hope she likes it!

Well I'm back to my wool stash to see what else I can play with! Happy spinning and knitting!

Just Catching Up: A FO

Remember this? I was seeing stripes in previous post...

AND I was reworking a few skeins of Noro salvaged from a scarf into this...

Which grew into this....

It's been finished for quite some time. I just needed to catch up on my posting of it. It is a simple neck down raglan cardigan with seed stitch borders. The yoke is Noro Silk Garden colorway 224 and the body is merino Shepherd's Wool Great Lakes colorway. It is a warm and very cozy sweater which I will look forward to wearing next fall and winter.

Emergence of Something New

Slowly, the leaf unfurls into the first warm breath of Spring.

Patiently the lace reveals it's beauty in the sun.

Cautiously, new growth breaks thru the ground.

Boldly, the lace claims its presence.

I've Got The Blues!

With Mother Nature being fickle with rain, snow, 60 degrees, 20 degrees... it would be easy to get the blues waiting for flowers to bloom. However, I am still in nesting mode and happily spinning and knitting away. As soon as I get 5 buttons sewn, my latest sweater will be making its' debut here along with a new scarf or two.
Until then, I am shopping my stash once again and reclaiming/reusing yarn. I have 2 skeins of an unknown indigo dyed fingerweight from a long time past purchase on Ebay that has never found a purpose. The blues and greens of the Mega Boot sock yarn lured me at first sight. I started a simple garter stitch shawl over a year ago with them. However, it was relegated to the time out closet due to the striping of the yarn. I just didn't care for it. Then I saw the simple garter stitch shawl that Yarn Harlot was working on and had to look up the pattern "Shawl That Jazz" on Ravelry. It calls for a DK weight. WHALAH!! The indigo dyed fingerweight and the sock yarn became instant friends! I think the sock weight was just overjoyous to be let out of the closet again! So for our next trick...let's see what a striped, marled sock yarn and a multi-toned indigo dyed yarn can create together in simple garter stitch! Let's see...cast on almost 250 stitches and knit, knit, knit!

Sharing a Smile

When I woke up this morning, the kitchen was full of three huge bunches of these and a homemade chocolate cake with chocolate frosting! (I've never met ANYTHING in chocolate that I didn't like. Haha.) What a way to start the day! When I first saw the balloons, I was grinning ear to ear and said, "How wonderful! All the colors of flowers without the worry of keeping the cats from eating them!" Thanks, hubby and kids; love you so much!

These made me smile so I wanted to share that smile with you.

Another year older (yes)...wiser? (remains to be seen)...but definately HAPPIER!! Here's to the coming year...it's going to be great!

Serenity