WIP and a vintage find

After not knitting for a while, I have started an easy one skein shawl pattern that I found on the web. I purchased a beautiful skein of yarn online from One Planet Yarn & Fiber. I ordered Yarn Botanika "Radiance" in Forest Green - although it looks more aqua/teal in person (which is fine...I love the color).

As soon as I got the yarn in the mail I wound it into a ball BY HAND (because I don't own a ball winder!). And then (although the excitement had worn off a bit by the end of the winding) I swatched and started my shawl. So far the yarn is great to work with. It will drape nicely and be summery enough to wear at the office to guard against air conditioning.

I like how the pattern is written for the shawl. Very open ended so I can design withing it. If I like how this one turns out I may play around with it a bit for some Christmas presents.

Last weekend Greg and I went up to Maine to visit my parents (hence no posting last week). It was mother's day and so we had to do the traditional mother's day breakfast outing and planting of the plant pots around the house. But, Greg and I also went to a little antiques/junk shop and I found a new vintage knitting book. It's The Complete Book of Knitting & Crochet. It's very well written and it has patterns and instructions for all kinds of knitting and crochet techniques. It's one of my favorite books I own now. There is even a crochet pattern in there that makes me want to really learn how to Crochet (I only know the basics and can't read a pattern to save my life!). In the front, it has an inscription from one friend to another...someone obviously loved the book and kept very good care of it. I took it off for the picture, but it came covered in plastic to protect the cover...I'll be putting that back on...

Anyway, some of the "must try patterns" inside are pictured below. The "Bridal Coat" is gorgeous, but I couldn't imagine knitting it. It's got a lace pattern, it's floor length, long sleeve, and even has a hood. Yah right..."can't get married til 2040, hon, I gotta finish knitting my Bridal coat

Anyway...

(Above) Here's the Bridal Coat. Gorgeous...but, really...

(Above) A lace baby blanket.
I better start this now if I'm going to be able to give it to any babies in the near future.

(Above) This is just a cute vest pattern. Never pictured myself wearing a knitted vest...but this IS cute.

And here is the crochet pattern that just makes me wish I knew how to really crochet. It was hard to get a good picture of the whole image, but here's the back. It's a lacy cropped bolero made out of this silvery yarn. Very nice.