of Tea and Knitting

What a lovely week it has been down here in Texas.  With my show up and running I've finally been able to catch up on everything else that is happening in my life.  I've managed to get back on track with Knitting Guild affairs as well as teaching things.  And I even started a new painting!  

But the most significant is the amount of knitting I have managed to get done in the last few weeks.  Maybe too much? (is there really too much?).

The yarn of choice right now is this skein of Cascade Heritage Paints Fingering, perfect for socks with just enough nylon to make it nice and springy.  Given to me as a gift from my Secret Santa in the guild two years ago, it's knitting up very nicely into a pair of sock.

The socks are "My Cup of Tea" which is a knit-along my local yarn shop is hosting through the end of February.  What a fantastic way to spend the winter months! Knitting along with several of my other knitting ladies, I have already finished the first sock and am half way down the calf of the second.  The yarn itself is much more green then expected - in a skein it looked very very violet.  I'm really happy with how it's striping though, so no complaints here.

Knitting and tea seem to go hand-in-hand these days, so why not attend a "Mad Hatter Tea Party"?  My LYS hosted one this past weekend, where we got to sample three different teas that the local wool mill sells.  Along with pastries made by a fellow knitter and yummy sandwiches, there were no complaints! 

How have you spent your January so far? Between knitting and art, it seems to be flying by!

~Lisa 

The hunt is on...and a pair of socks too!

Hey all. So I probably will not be doing WIP Wednesday tomorrow, because I don't really have any WIPs to talk about! Yea, that's right, I finished my socks!

In the end, I really like these socks! The foot was a butt to work, but it turned out alright in the end. The heel worries me a bit though, because it doesn't seem to want to stay lined up with the heel of my foot always, so I often have to rotate the socks. As for the yarn, Pagewood Farms Yukon, I absolutely adore the color, but the yarn itself seems a bit fuzzy; I'm wondering how this will hold up in a machine/after washing...

(My photo skills, or lack there of, do no justice to the beauty of these socks!)

As for the 'hunt' I referred to in my title, I am currently hunting down a nice worsted yarn to make this shawl for Evelyn's (Project: Stash) KAL. I am leaning towards a blue color, maybe even just getting some more of the yarn I used to make this:

Plymouth Yarn, Jeannee...but there's only 111 yards per skein :/

Blue just naturally looks good on me. I will have to do a bit of hunting at my LYS on Thursday to find the perfect fit (that isn't too expensive....too bad budgets always get in the way...so much for using only stash yarn this year!)

In other news, I knitted this winter headband up yesterday and today (it only took a total of 4 hours!) and it is now for sale in my Etsy shop. I need opinions on the photos though. I don't own a dummy to take a photo of it on, and I don't want to photograph is on a real head either. Do these photo's suffice or should I find a "head" to put it on. I am seriously considering making more, since it utilizes a few things I love: Handspun and Handdyed yarns, bright colors against black, and quick knits. What do you all think?

I am really enjoying my summer figure class right now, and I'm learning so much! I hope that everyone else out there in blog land is enjoying your time spent doing your passions, be it knitting, working, cooking, anything, and is having a good start to the week.

~Lisa