Labor Day Wrap Up

I'm ending the summer on a peachy note. The berries picked earlier this summer are now gone and I miss have a huge frozen fruit stash to dip into for smoothies every morning... To deal with this I went peach picking this weekend and came home with several pounds. Let me just say that peach picking is something that I think everyone should do at some point in their lives. Even if you don't really like peaches, it's quite an event to be in the orchard on a beautiful morning, with that fresh peach scent just clobbering you right over the nose. And these peaches are just perfect. No marks or bumps or bruises. They should be, they haven't been touched by anyone in a store or given some kind of crazy chemical bath along the way. We'll be enjoying them for awhile.

Something else that's perfect? My new shawl.

Pattern: Simurgh by Anne Hanson of Knitspot

Yarn: Mistralee Silk and Wool

Needles: Knitpicks Options Size 5

Yep, it's done and yep I adore it. I did make one huge mistake in the pattern-I was supposed to start off knitting the center motif for 4 repeats, finish half of the shawl and then pick up and knit the other half-starting with 4 repeats in the opposite direction. Instead, I guess I just got a little carried away and ended up knitting 8 repeats right away. Therefore, it is not symmetrical. Do I really give a whit? Heck no. I love this. I want to wear this all the time. With work clothes. With jeans on the weekend. With my pajamas. Love it. And all it's woolly silky goodness too.

Also btw I totally love this yarn. When I bought it at Stitches last year I bought it from the woman who owns the Mistralee Farm Studio. Along with the other people shopping in her booth I just could not get over the quality and beauty of the yarn and it's reasonable, reasonable price. When I paid I asked the owner if she had a website she said she does not. I asked if there is a catalog and there is not. She only sells at shows like Stitches. I was surprised. If you come across her booth or any of the yarns scoop them up. There was not one variation or knot or imperfection in any of the six skeins I used to knit the shawl. Also when I blocked it-not the tiniest tinge of red on any of my white towels. For an independent vendor and not a major manufacturer-I was pleasantly surprised by this.

Now that the shawl is finished I'm wrapping up a little vest for my nephew. This is Pembroke by Kristin Kapur as featured in the new online magazine, Petite Purls. In regular tried and true Encore Worsted it's fun and fast and almost done!

And there's only more knitting to come. I've been sifting through my Ravelry queue trying to find projects for some older yarns that have been, ahem, moldering away in the stash. (Remember Stitches 2006? Yikes!) And with fall knocking at the door, I figure it doesn't hurt to be prepared.