On the Needles: Quaker Ridge Shawlette

Last weekend was Canadian Thanksgiving and I was so busy preparing for that meal that I didn't have a lot of knitting time.  This week I am trying to make up for lost time.  I decided to get started on using that Sweet Georgia Yarns Merino Silk Fine that I bought back in August

 and have started the Quaker Ridge Shawlette by Susan B. Anderson.  Here it is:

Quaker Ridge Shawlette

The softness!  I combined Sweet Georgia yarn with one strand of Filatura di Crosa Superior yarn.  What an incredible combination.  I wish you could touch it...it's just lovely.  I swear I would have a lot more done if I didn't keep stopping and feeling it!  Ravelled here.

Off the Needles

I really am in a purple state of mind...if you read my last couple of blogs ( here and here)I had recently purchased some purple yarn.  Well here is a shawl that I just finished that is purple too!  It is a new pattern by Hilary Smith Callis called Shadow and Glow.  I really like the way she wears the shawl in several different ways.  I always find that a bit of a challenge...figuring out how to wear a shawl comfortably.

It is a very relaxing knit using two colours of yarn.  I choose Malabrigo sock in violeta african and Madelinetosh Eyre Light in Jacaranda Bloom.  This was the first time I used Eyre Light, a merino, silk and alpaca blend and it was an absolute delight to work with.  Incredibly soft to touch.  Here are my notes about the pattern.

Sweet Georgia Yarns Studio

I am lucky to live in such a beautiful country as Canada.  This summer I had the pleasure of visiting Vancouver for a week.  Everytime I travel I enjoy checking out the yarn stores in the area.  Vancouver has many terrific yarn stores and I was fortunate to visit almost all of them!  One place I really wanted to visit was the Sweet Georgia Yarns Studio (110-408 East Kent Avenue South) as I am a big fan of this line of yarn and I also like to support the Canadian yarn designers.   In this studio they hand-dye yarn and spinning fibres.  Most of the yarn stores I visited carry some of the Sweet Georgia lines but in the studio they carried the different bases.  This studio is located in the middle of an industrial area and was a bit of drive from downtown Vancouver.

When I entered the Studio there was a shopping area with many of the bases.  The colours were amazing to see in person.  I did want to buy a sweater’s worth of one of the yarns I saw but it was explained to me that most of the skeins available were in different dye lots.  I was told that sometimes they have enough in the back to sell of one dye lot but that was not the case on the day I was there.  I am definitely glad I went because there is a difference between seeing the colours and touching the yarn in person.  I did come away with a couple different skeins.  It was definitely worth the visit and I recommend stopping by there if you are ever in Vancouver.

Lots to choose from

Another purple purchase:  Sweet Georgia Merino Silk Fine