The saga of the linen towels

When Quince launched Sparrow it just came in natural and I fell in love. I ordered some, and when it came I thought about how beautiful linen towels would be, so I bought some more…

Then I realized how insane it would be to knit towels on such tiny needles, so I decided I would try to weave them. I had done some weaving in college and with the help of a refresher private lesson or two I thought I would be good to go. So I rented a floor loom for a couple of months. That first lesson revealed I would need to buy a lot more Sparrow, so much more due to the loom waste that it was just too excessive.

V weaving

So, I did what any fiber lover would do, I bought more linen, much, much finer and more suitable to weaving. And I wove a set of towels…

Linen Towels

Linen Towels

Linen Towels

But I still had my Sparrow..

I thought it would be cool to knit them after all, but approach it like a meditation, to knit just a couple rows a day, or about 20-30 minutes. I started on a Winter Solstice… I actually stuck with it through both bath towels and into the hand towel but somewhere about October I got distracted and lost my mojo, so the project marinated for over a year.

Linen Towels

I finally dug it out this winter and finished the hand towel and one wash cloth. All seed stitch, all on 3mm needles. This is by far the craziest project or pair of projects I have ever done, but I love both sets!

Linen Towels

Brego

This time of year the garden is a great source of pleasure and pain! The weeding seems never-ending, the creeping things creep, the spreading things spread, but there’s also plenty of blossoming and blooming and plants beginning to bear fruit.

Milkweed Blossom

Wee Tomato

When we’re not stuffing our faces with the vegetable and fruit bounty, I have been knitting a bit. I have a new pattern, Brego, which is 25% until July 5 (no coupon code needed). I had the chance to use the lovely 4-ply sock yarn from Ancient Arts in the beautiful color Chocolate Lab.

Brego Socks

Brego Socks

Even with the darker color, this yarn shows the stitch pattern pretty nicely.

Linen Tank

Since I last posted, I also finished my version of Hane in Shibui Linen.

Grilling Veggies

Hope you are enjoying the bounty of the season as much as we are!

Alice’s Capelet

Alice's Capelet

Ok, it’s a little warm out to wear this now, but I have had the idea for this Capelet for a long time, and since it uses just one skein of Cascade Ecological wool, it was a pretty quick knit! It almost makes me ready for Fall!

Alice's Capelet

Alice’s Capelet 25% off until June 21, 2015, no coupon code needed.

Dan and I are off this week, planning on a mix of projects and fun during our “staycation”!

Radagast

Radagast Socks

It seems like Radagast would approve of Bunny Acres, we seem to have another bunny nest at the moment! Radagast is the name of my latest sport weight sock pattern, on sale until June 14, 2015, for 25% off.

Radagast Socks

Anniversary Quilt

In other news, although I am not a Quilter, I do like to make one every so often. I finally finished this one with the help of a good friend who is a real Quilter and Dan and I have been enjoying it ever since! With the help of my friend it turned out so nice, much better then if I had been left to my own wild sewing ways. Dan and I bought the fabric for this over 6 years ago on a trip up north. We were there over Christmas and I remember the time exactly as it was shortly after my mother passed away and just before his leukemia. The quilt top was finished last summer, the ties finished last fall and I finally sewed the binding while we were up north this last time.

Anniversary Quilt

Despite not being much of a sewer I seem to still have a lot of fabric! I’m working on using it or passing it on to those that will.

Albus’s Socks

Being up north last weekend we were really enchanted by the Elements.

Being in nature brings to mind the magic of the natural world all around us, if we have eyes to see it.

Of course, having shelter from the elements also helps in appreciating them, for which I am always grateful.

All that magic around us even inspired us to jump over the fire,  using the traditional way to renew our wedding vows.

Albus's Socks

With Magic in the air, and one of my favorite wizards on my mind,  my newest sock pattern is Albus’s Socks, which is 25% off until June 7, 2015. What could be more classic then grey cables? I think these are what he had in mind when wishing for warm socks for Christmas.

Albus's Socks

 

These are made with the lovely Spud & Chloë Fine, in the color Hippo. Such lovely yarn!