The Patchwork Butterfly

Okay, as promised, here is my first "real" entry in my brand new blog (Christmas present to myself!). I wasn't starting my blog because I wanted a digital camera to use with it, and guess what I got for Christmas :-) I haven't figured out how to get the pictures from the little box to the big box yet (aka from camera to computer LOL) but tomorrow I'll spend a little more time attempting to show off all my lovely new toys. Not only was I the lucky recipient of a brand spanking new digital camera, it was a very fiber-licious day. My personal favorite present was my new Jensen Tina II from my mom, which she lovingly finished herself (five coats no less!). It makes it even more special to know that she put so much love and care into the gift that even if I never used it (which isn't going to happen... I love using it!!!!!!!!!!!) it would still be a piece of her that will always be with me. And a close second is my awesome new wool blending hackle that my wonderful boyfriend got me from Lanicombs (ala Deb Menz's book Color in Spinning) Following the Menz theme, I got a big ol' box o' dye! And all the assists, additives, etc. Even nice little jars to keep my "special blends" in and pipettes for measuring the dyes. And fifteen pounds of a lovely soft wool blend to dye! And because everyone who shops for me knows I can't get enough spinning stuff, I got seven different lovely blends from crosspatch creations and three bags full (from the bellwether), a lovely black llama blend with lots of bold colors swirled in, and some merino/mohair mix. On the knitting front, I got new books and patterns, including Barbara Walker's first two treasuries, the beautiful, drool-o-licious, Heirloom Knitting by Sharon Miller, and the very fun Twisted Sisters sock book, which is already giving me lots of ideas for the dyes and wool hackle! And if all that wasn't enough, an awesome box of yarns! Two different kinds of sock yarn, two balls of black doceur et soie, one ball of red doceur et soie (to pair with some grey I already had), three different mini-cones of Zephyr, four mini cones of gem silk from Halcyon, and some fun novelty yarns for funky scarves. Boy oh boy am I gonna have fun!

So, with my remaining time off (in between moving in with my boyfriend next week... how crazy was I to decide to move January 1st???) I want to start a new project with all Christmas goodies. I'm trying to decide what shape I want it to take. I'd love to make a beautiful shetland shawl using my new Tina II to spin the yarn and a pattern from Heirloom Knitting, but I didn't get any wool that I'd want to use for it, and I'd like it to be all Christmas stuff. I definitely have the supplies to make the world's most incredible pair of socks (wool, dye, hackle, new wheel, Twisted Sisters sock book) but I wanted to make something more dramatic and more for special occasions. I have two things I'd love to use for a shetland shawl. The first is some white shetland wool and the other is a lovely alpaca, merino, and silk blend. But I didn't get either for Christmas, so it wouldn't be an all Christmas shawl. I'm thinking the best solution will be to take some of the Christmas money I got and buy something suitable for a fancy shawl. Then I guess it would be technically "all Christmas." I'll have to definitely do some looking and thinking. In the meantime, I think I'll get started on a new pair of socks from the commercial yarn I received. I got some new clogs and I want some fun socks to wear with them. The clogs are black and one of my new sock yarns is red, white, grey and black, so they'll look great together. That will keep me busy until I decide. Tomorrow hopefully I'll be able to post pictures of my new goodies and set up a comment section so I can get some ideas for my all Christmas project. I hope you had a Merry Christmas and have lots of new goodies to play with. And to all a good night!

# posted by Jenni @ 12/25/2002 10:46:00 PM