A Knitalong and a SALE!

Got your Queen Bee pattern yet?  If you were hesitating, here's all the incentive you need: The fabulous folks at Blue Moon Fiber Arts are throwing a sale on Queen Bee yarn!  From August 1 through September 15, all BFL sport yarn will be 15% off.  Choose the original colors, or select your very own custom combo; just use code "QUEENBEE" at checkout to receive your discount.

And, since you asked, I'm happily hosting a Queen Bee Knitalong, starting on September 1.  CLICK HERE to join in the fun, and be sure to invite your friends!  I'll be on hand to answer questions, offer encouragement, and generally enjoy all the buzz.  And of course, I have been known to award prizes, from time to time...

Oh, and one more thing:  BFL sport yarn comes in HUGE 661-yard skeins.  If you are interested in sharing skeins of the contrast colors with other Queens, be sure to check out the thread for skein-splitting on the KAL group page.  Make a friend, share a skein = Win/Win!

See you at the Knitalong.  It's good to be (a) Queen.
 

Occupational Hazards

So there I was, zapped out of commission for the day by a nasty chest cold:

Phillip said he just had to take this picture because it was obvious that Bailey was trying to figure out how to help me.  Note the knitting clutched in my unconscious hands: Yes, of course I can take to my deathbed AND still get some knitting done...

Today I'm better.  As soon as coffee had happened, I went straight for the handspun shawl project.  Thank you, Gentle Readers, for your great suggestions!  With your help, I landed on this beauty:

"Fragile Heart" Photo by Boo Knits
 

t's "Fragile Heart" by Boo Knits CLICK HERE to get yours.  It's a gorgeous semi-circular bit of fluff, with a garter stitch or stockinette (knitter's choice) beginning, the number of lace repeats you feel like doing, and a deep, sexy border finished with (what else?) a picot bindoff.  Oh, and did I mention beads?  Done and Done. 

I actually cast on for it at some point in my delirium yesterday, and I couldn't wait to see how I'd done, now that I'm cold-medicine free.

Apparently, things got a little wild in the living room while I was under the fog.  My #6 is literally splintered to bits.  Poor, helpless little #6!  In my antihistamine stupor, I left you, unprotected, right there on the sofa cushion.  And certainly, NOBODY in my house would know to check for knitting before taking a seat.  Especially not Phillip, who has been married to a knitter, for like, a kabillion years.  Get a load of the damage that guy's butt can do!  Not just broken, my friends:  Obliterated.  Structural integrity completely compromised.  There's actual sawdust.  And splinters.  As needle destruction goes, it's impressive.  And he even had the good grace to shatter the needle that didn't have the knitting on it.  That's right:  No stitches were dropped during this dangerous stunt.

So while it looks like I did okay with the cast on, despite my Comtrex Coma, I won't be working on it again until a certain needle tip can be replaced.  Unless, of course, this has happened before, with another hapless #6, leaving its mate all alone and waiting to be pressed into service...

Oh wishful thinking, you never cease to amaze!  If anybody needs me, I'll be checking every single needle tip in my collection to see if it's a #6.
 

Two Years and Twenty Minutes

I've been drop-spindling this bump of roving, off and on, for two years.  It's a blend of silk, mohair and merino.  I'd take it out and work on it while teaching, so it lived in my teaching bag, where I'd forget all about it in between classes. 

I was looking for something in the teaching bag when I saw it again, and noticed that I had only one tiny floof left to spin.  So twenty minutes later, all that on-again-off-again attention paid off: I had enough singles to make 860 yards of laceweight. 

Abby Franquemont says that spinning wheels are faster by the hour, but spindles are faster by the week.  She's right: it's the work that you have with you that really gets done.

Which brings me to my next question:  What should I knit with 860 yards of orchid-colored 2ply laceweight?  Note: I'm NOT an expert lace knitter.  More like "Ignorant Enthusiast" level.  And I totally don't understand shawls (which I know is a problem all of its own).  Insert suggestions here.