Lorna and Vera - Two Fearless Knitters

A while back, I got to visit with two very talented knitting friends who were traveling through our neck of the woods.  I call them "Fearless Knitters" because not only can they knit just about anything, no matter how complicated, but they managed to make it up to Lake Tahoe and across the notorious Donner Pass in a raging blizzard when many had turned back.  That's my friend Vera (the one on the left) and nothing stops her from getting where she wants to go.  Go Vera!  The lady next to her is her daughter, Lorna Miser, the founder of Lorna's Laces, the popular hand dyed yarns. 

Lorna published a book called, Faith, Hope, Love, Knitting in which she shares memorable stories, each inspiring a beautiful knitting project.  Many are made with Lorna's Laces yarn, and even though she no longer owns the company, she still works with those beautiful yarns.

                                                                              

Lorna was taking time on this trip to work on her new book, The Knitter's Guide To Hand-Dyed and Variegated Yarn: Techniques and Projects for Handpainted and Multicolored Yarn which will be coming out in the Fall. To find out more about her book, go to Amazon where you can preorder it.


For anyone wondering what happened to my stash knitting, here is a picture of the Briar Rose socks I have been working on for my husband.  The pattern is Roger by the talented Anne Hanson.

                                                                                 

My Over - The - Top Shawl

Back in November, Kristin Nicholas and WEBS were running a contest to promote Kristin's new book, Color by Kristin.  I was lucky enough to win, and was thrilled to think I had won an autographed copy of her book.  When I called Kathy at WEBS she told me I also won the yarn and materials to do a project of my choice from the book - wow!  I'm a big fan of Kristin Nicholas' designs and her use of color.  Over the years, I have done a number of her Classic Elite cabled sweaters and they are classics that stand the test of time.  I decided to do the Over-the-Top Shawl because I can see myself using this on chilly nights when I go out to dinner or to an outdoor concert here in the Lake Tahoe area where it can be rather cool on a summer night.  WEBS was very generous and sent a basket full of goodies.

 I finished my Christmas knitting and started on this project the end of January and with the exception of a few short detours, I have been working on this steadily.  Here are some pictures of my progress.  This is knit in the round with a simple steek that eliminates the need for machine stitching and uses the ends for fringe.  Very neat idea!  Will show how this is done in my next post on this project.

                                                                             

                                                                                 
Hope to have this done in the next few weeks.  Will post some pictures when I'm done!
                                                                          

No, But I Could Have

"Did you make your sweater?"  No, is my reply, but I could have!                                                                       When I shop for sweaters for myself, I am invariably drawn to beautiful sweaters that look handknit or have actually been handknit by others in some far off country.  I think of the work that went into making these sweaters and how little the knitters get paid for the time they put into these projects.  I bought this sweater in a shop called, Boulder World, in Boulder, Colorado.  It is run by a family from Nepal and they sell real handknit sweaters, hats, mittens   and other craft items from their country.  Boy, was it hard to make a decision - I could have bought all of them!  If you are a knitter and find yourself in Boulder one of these days, plan to make a stop at this shop to admire the work of the knitters from Nepal. I doubt you will leave without buying some of their handiwork.


Saw this version of the Nina Shawl from Mason Dixon Knitting at The Lamb Shoppe in Denver and I am making it as a birthday present for my daughter.  This version uses Cotton Fleece and is a great project to carry along as it involves a lot of mindless knitting, good for when you are watching TV or are just feeling slightly brain dead.