Garden Trellis Shawl

The weekend is finally here and it is fantastic weather in NYC. In the seventies; perfect weather for shawls and sweaters in the evening. :-)
Speaking of shawls, I am crocheting the Garden Trellis Shawl by Lisa Neskrent. Last weekend on my trip to Purl I picked a lovely organic sage yarn. This pattern is very intricate and challenging to crochet.
As I have mentioned in earlier post I am learning to knit. It is finally clicking for me. I am knitting and purling right along. I am so looking forward to knitting socks and sweaters.

http://www.crochetgarden.com/

Blue Sky Alpacas 100% organic yarn at PURL NYC

OMG... I finally got a chance to go to "Purl" in the city. Purl is a tree hugger's fantasy. I spent way to much.
I made a special trip this past Sunday to pick up the most amazing Blue Sky Alpacas 100% organic yarn I needed for a project. I am making a set of washcloths using the Lisa Naskrent pattern in "Interweave crocheted gifts" Lisa always designs the most engaging patterns.



Blue Sky Alpacas organic yarn is so very pretty and luxurious. This yarn has no dye. The colors are naturally occurring shades in the cotton. That's so cool. This is going to work up beautifully. I will post pictures when I am done.


http://blueskyalpacas.com/yarn_detail.php?yarns_ID=7
photo courtesy of blue sky alpacas

My FIRST Grafton Fibers Hook!!!!

I am so excited.

I bought a Grafton Fibers hummingbirds "F" hook. Grafton Fibers is a family Vermont company owned by Linda and Tom Diak. http://graftonfibers.com/index.htm

My hook is a beautiful handmade creation. I can not wait until I purchase my next one!!

Photo courtesy of Gafton Fibers

Our trip to one of the LYS'

Yesterday Rebecca and I went to one of the LYS's in the NYC area. We spent over an hour browsing and touching all the lustrous yarns. I ended up purchasing several items. A set of #9 and #8 knitting needles. A #7 crochet hook. One Cascade Yarns 100% Peruvian highland wool in color #9888. It is a rich gray, almost a black. Three Feza 100% bamboo's in a very interesting mix. A crochet gifts pattern book.
Rebecca and I are learning to knit. I am mulling over continental or English knit. Today I am leaning toward continental.

Hey everyone... Let me tell you summer has finally arrived here in Brooklyn, NY. I was browsing through Interweave Crochet magazine and decided this would be the perfect time to experiament with lace weight thread.
I ordered the Nazli Gelin/book one Garden Collection. It has exquisite patterns. I am now working on the gorgeous "Rosemary" pictured above. The pattern calls for a US B-1(2.25mm) crochet hook. I am using the Nazli Gelin 2009 collection of thread in the 700-07 color. (The same as the picture above.)
This thread is very tiny and delicate and I'm moving at a snail pace. lol. But so far I'm not running into any problem with my lefty hooks. I will keep you updated.

Rebecca's afghan

I have a lot of lefty crochet and knitting news to tell you about. I will post a little something each weekday. And have so many projects lined up to do!!!

I crocheted my daughter Rebecca an afghan using Noro's 2009 summer collection Chirimen. I alternated using #4, #6, #8. I used #8 exclusively for the border.

WOW. This project was so fun!!!! I kept telling Rebecca I'm almost finished. Lol

The pattern we chose was Horizon Throw from the May 2009 issue of Crochet Magazine page 65. This pattern is not a problem for a lefty at all. The dimensional post stitches were fun and made a gentle flowing texture.

I am so excited Ellen Gormley the designer of the pattern sent me a message on Ravelry to let me know how much she liked my rendition of her pattern!!

T'ika fine cotton yarn

This is the yarn I chose for my first project. It works up beautifully into a soft and silky-smooth fabric. This luxuriously soft cotton from Peru is part of the Mirasol Project and a Fair trade yarn.

I really like the soft texture of this fine yarn and the beautiful colors.

100% Pima Cotton spun in Peru
50g Length: 83m