Fiesta Rayon Boucle Shawl

My Fiesta Rayon Boucle in the color Alaska has finally arrived! I have made a gauge swatch to decide what needle size I will need. I have settled on US#9 (5.5mm) which is a bit finer fabric than shown here with this swatch on a bigger needle.

The shawl will be a stole type wrap in plain stockinette with K3 borders. The yarn has a nice sheen, and I am looking forward to knitting with it--even more so to wearing it when I finish. I still trying to decide how to finish the ends of the stole.

I purchased the yarn from The Oconee Yarn Company, Greensboro, GA. Great yarn shop, and Deb is so nice to work with there. It is located near Reynolds Plantation, a nice resort in the area.
Take a look at the scenery here: http://reynoldsplantation.com/

Wool Peddler's Shawl

This is my first real triangular shawl attempt. I tried a different pattern earlier, but I just didn't like it and frogged the whole thing.

The Wool Peddler's Shawl is from the book Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle. Folk Shawls is a wonderful book which gives the history behind each shawl pattern. The patterns are from all over the world.

I used Caron Simply Soft yarn on US# 10.5 needles to get the drape I wanted. Consequently I had to modify the lace edge a bit to achieve the correct size. This was a gift to my mother. She is a tiny lady, so I couldn't put all the rows of lace on the edge or it would have been too long for her.

Reynold's Odyssey Scarf

This is one of my early projects. The scarf is knit in a K3 P3 rib so it is thick and warm...great for winter walks in the neighborhood. The wool is Reynolds Odyssey--100% merino and self-patterning. It produces a lovely effect with no effort on my part. I've really enjoyed this scarf.

I bought the yarn from a great yarn shop in Knoxville, TN called Knit 'n' Purl.

Regia Self-Striping Socks

Here is my first pair of socks. I used Regia self-striping jaquard 75% wool 25% nylon yarn. The color has since been discontinued. I used US#2 Crystal Palace double point needles. I learned the hard way that it is a smart idea to mark your starting point in the dye pattern of the yarn when you are casting on. That way you stand a good chance of getting your second sock to match your first sock. I had to cast on that second sock quite a few times to get it right. I loved the yarn and the result. I was lucky to get the yarn on sale, so the socks were a good price as well. They have been a lot of fun to wear.

Koigu Socks

Basic sockinette sock pattern with Koigu KPPPM yarn-2 skeins plus a little extra--US #1.5 Crystal Palace dpns

I purchased this yarn from Yarn Paradise in the Biltmore Village near Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. This is a wonderful yarn shop--well worth a visit if you are ever in the area. They had bunches of Koigu at the time.

This was my second attempt at socks (practice sock didn't count). I'd never used Koigu before and didn't know that I would need more yarn than I bought. As I approached the middle of the foot, I realized I would run out of blue yarn.

Fortunately I had also purchased the pink yarn. It saved the day by adding accent stripes to fill in enough space to allow me to finish the sock. I like them better this way. I used wool silk thread to reinforce the heels, since this yarn was 100% merino wool.

I have enjoyed these socks immensely.