Another day, another shawl.

No sooner had I completed one project, than another was on the needles. This is  ( surprise, surprise ) a Susanna Ic, but also a Mystery KAL. The yarn is a gorgeous Juno Fibre Arts 'Alice' Laceweight.  The first clue came out last Monday, but I was desperate to finish my  Treccia, so did that first.
The MKAL is now cast-on, and I am halfway along the first row. These are looooong rows. As this is a bottom-up shawl, I can look forward to them getting shorter!

Testing...

A new project is always fun to plan, and this one came about through the collision of two trains of thought.
There is a wonderful pattern called Treccia, that has been on my 'desirables'  list for some time. A Susanna Ic, naturally. It is a wrap, rather than a shawl, in a chunky weight yarn. Trying to find a suitable yarn, in something truly snuggly, was proving a headache. While chatting about the problem with my lovely boss, Asti, she came up with a solution. There were a number of yarns that Asti was looking at, with a view to try them out for new lines for  Juno Fibre Arts.

One of the yarns was this gorgeous 100% Baby Alpaca chunky. Asti ordered the yarn, and after we had all petted and cuddled it, she dyed it.

A new, delicious colour, that really suits the project. Otter's Tummy.
The deal is, that I do the test knit, and make an item that shows the yarn off. Which makes the decision on whether to introduce it as a new yarn line easier. I get the perfect yarn for my project, in a perfect colour.

Project already cast on!

Today at work....

Twisting and labelling skeins ready for despatch.

Colour work

A few posts ago, I was enthusing about some new yarn. It is likely to be a new line of yarns, from Juno Fibre Arts. So far, the colours are the natural pale grey, and a wonderful, deep red. The red, which is called  Harts' Blood, has a slight variation in depth of tone, which I really love. The yarn itself is very reminiscent of Icelandic yarns, but is also very soft. I would even go so far as to say- cuddly. It is a Masham/Bluefaced Leicester blend.

 

I have made a tension square, and knitted up one cowl. ( I still need to weave in ends, and block it). It is quite nice, but does not fit exactly with my intent.

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So, a second is on the needles. Slightly bigger, with a little tweaking of the colour-work design. It should be finished in a couple of days.