Finshed shawl - greens and pinks

Shawl, mixed fibers: linen, viscose, nylon, acrylic, garter stitch, self-fringing, size 11 cable needle, 24 inches.

I loved this shawl from the start and I feel it's one of my favorites. Even if I don't really have favorites because I love almost everything I knit. Karen likes it too, and maybe she'll end up with it, even though she says she doesn't want to keep me from selling anything. I saw that gleam of object lust in her eye....

Neon scarf went to Etsy

Scarf, crochet, mohair and wool, size F aluminum hook.

This is one of my favorites and I'm hoping to implement this ruffle design in several colorways.

It went up in my Etsy shop today.

Whee!! Fashion shoot

My friend Karen volunteered to act as mannequin for my Etsy photos, which will begin to appear soon in the LittleHandsStudio shop. We had fun with a group of Rauschenberg prints from our library, and this one, whose creator I cannot recall right at this moment. This is one of the uncropped, unPhotoshopped images. She was fabulous at thinking of interesting poses. I got at least twenty shots for a couple bottles of wine and dinner!!! And she is willing to do at least one more shoot after we absorb what happened with this group and talk about what else we want to try. Up to this point the photography has been the most difficult part of the Etsy enterprise, but working with Karen makes it fun.

In the studio - purple and gold

Scarf, mixed fibers; wool, cotton, nylon, silk, viscose, mulberry silk, mohair, polyester, linen; garter stitch, size 5 bamboo needles

This is a basic idea that I had so long ago that I don't even recall when it was. I'm glad I'm implmenting it just to see what really happens. I like it, but the short rows and knotting at the end of each row gets to be a lot more knotting than I realized when I started. It's one of the first ideas that I had for the purple and gold series, which is going along swimmingly.

I have a lot going on that I haven't photographed, so I've charged up the camera and will begin a photographic bout soon.

First, however, I'll be photographing as many finished things as I can with a friend who has agreed to be a mannequin for me. Yay! She's an artist, so I'm looking forward to what she'll do. I trust her artistic judgment, so I think she'll really help with the composition. She's also a librarian, so we're going to shoot in the library and use interesting nooks and crannies. All that will go into the Etsy website along with all the "in progress" photos for each piece. Tons o' fun!!

In the studio - woven

Shawl, mixed fibers - wool, mohair, nylon, silk; woven stitch, size 4 wood cable needle, 24 inches.

This fabric will not have alot of drape, which is going to be quite a different endeavor for me. I'm using black as the base yarn, and I think that it makes the colors pop out from the fabric surface. It's a joy to work with a small selection of yarns that were also used in the prvious entry's piece. I decided to pull out my favorites and give them an unadulterated go. I have mixed feelings about the black effect, liking it one day and not so much another day. But I like the texture produced by this particular size needle and the yarns, which are similar to sport weight. The lack of any novelty yarn makes the fabric appear to be more woven than in any other piece I've made I'm definitely liking that effect.

Finished shawl - gypsy

Triangle shawl, mixed fibers; cotton, linen, nylon, rayon, silk, wool, polyester, lurex, sequins; garter stitch, size 4 wood cable nedle, 24in.

I love the texture of the mixed fibers on this more condensed fabric. I've done a lot of loose and swingy fabrics with similar fiber and yarn mixes, but I think the smaller needles makes a lovely drape. It's almost impossible for me to catch the sequins, but they are a wonderful glint in the overall effect. I tied on random lengths of approximately 30 yarns. I trimmed the knot ends and didn't try to weave them into the fabric. They can be found, but in general they do not show because of the wildness of the fabric surface due to yarn combinations.

I kept to medium value hues, staying away from extremes. This gives it more of a blended effect, even though I didn't use a blending stitch such as linen stitch. I also used saturated hues rather than a lot of grayed or pastel hues. It's overexposed in the sunlight for this photo, so that effect doesn't show up. I just couldn't resist taking the photo on a bright and sunny morning. I chose a medium/dark turquoise as a base color and used it between other colors, or never went more than two or three colors without returning to it. I think choosing a base yarn helps integrate the fabric both in the color sense and the texture sense.

Finished shawl

Shawl, mixed fibers: mohair, silk, wool, cotton, nylon; stockinette stitch, size 9 cable needle, 24in


I had mixed feelings about this as I was making it but now I am very fond of the results.