Making progress

Despite being incredibly busy again, I've actually got quite a bit of knitting done lately. I cast on for a little shawlette/scarf thing in a beautiful delicate yellow Araucania Botany Lace a few weeks ago. This proved to be quite an addictive thing and I finished it much quicker than I thought I would, despite ripping back quite a bit about halfway through. I'm really excited to see how this blocks out. I'm hoping to block it today. At the moment I've got the June Lace Lovers Club shawl blocking. (by the way, if you want to join us for July to September, the club is nearly full, so hurry up).

I've got a huge back log in selfpublished designs for pattern writing and photography, so I've no idea when this will be published, but it's close to the top of my list as it has such a summery feel. 

 I cast on for a small shawlette with the new Rowan Fine Art sock yarn. The beginning section is in stocking stitch so was quick work when I was out and about. I'm now halfway through the first row of the lace section. I started adding beads but halfway through the row I decided I only want beads on the edging. So I'm unpicking that row before continuing. 

 I've cast on for a new deadline design this morning. It's a new design for The Little Knitting Company in their gorgeous Cashmere Yak. It's an amazing yarn. Soft, beatiful and very light to knit with and in gorgeous colours. I'm thinking this will be a quick knit.

I'm also about to cast on for the July Lace Lover Club design. The yarn has been sitting on my desk for a couple of weeks, tempting me but I had to finish the June shawl first. I'm now desperate to cast on and will be charting it out after this blog post.

There's been some new additions to my stash recently too. When I taught at Purlescence nearly 2 weeks ago, Skein Queen was there for an open day. I've never knitted with Skein Queen yarn before. No idea why because it's yummy. I picked out a skein of mink yarn (the brown skein) and a skein of purple sock yarn in a luscious blend (can't find it right now to check the blend). I've already hidden these skeins as I really don't have time to cast on for anything right now. But when we're on holiday in August I think I'll be doing something with the mink.

I'll be going back to Purlescence in December to teach again. It'll probably be a Professional Finishing Workshop. It's not up on their website yet but if you want to be kept informed of that class, do contact them.

On Tuesday I was at Spin A Yarn teaching 6 ladies to knit my Mar Menor and Daisy shawls. We had a great day and ofcourse I came away with some goodies. It's too hard to resist.

I picked up a copy of the new Noro magazine. Some gorgeous designs in there showcasing this iconic yarn. At lunch time I wound 2 skeins of Auracania Botany Lace in this gorgeous colourway for 2 of the ladies in the class. After winding 2 skeins I was so smitten with this colourway I had to take one home with me. I already love Botany Lace and this colourway has all my favourite colours in it. I also picked up a ball of Opal in shades of purple, blue and white. It's the first Opal colourway that I actually like that I've seen in a long, long time. Hopefully they'll eventually become a pair of socks for me.

I better get back to some pattern writing. I've got at least 8 deadlines in June and nearly as many in July. And i've got knitters waiting for patterns so they can get on with their knitting. 

What's on your needles this week? Tell me in the comments.