Snack-sized knitting

I am done with one arm of the IK shrug. In my world of extremely slow knitting, that should in and of itself be considered a Finished Object! I should...okay, will...begin on the left side this week. Until then I felt as if I needed a bit of a knitting palate cleanser. So into my stash of Yarn of the Month treats I dove for some snack-sized knitting.



The white yarn is Angora by Elsebeth Lavold. It's 60% angora, 20% wool, and 20% polyamide. It's a very soft and rich yarn which I knit up in moss stitch. If only I lived in cooler climates, I would love to knit this one up into a warm, snuggly sweater. That fluffy blue ball of yarn is Pulcino by Lana Grossa, a 50/35/15 mixture of merino, acrylic, and kid mohair. The orange ribbon is Deco-Ribbon by Crystal Palace, a 70/30 mix of acrylic and nylon.

I also found a couple of mini skeins and hand-painted needles from a child's learn to knit kit from Peace Fleece. That's the pink and green yarn you see, they call it Perestroika Pink and Shaba. I love Peace Fleece and knowing the story behind their beautiful offerings, I feel that not only am I knitting with a wonderful product, I'm helping to foster their message of peace.

I enjoy receiving the samples and trying to to decide what stitch would best show off the yarns and vice versa. I think I will start scrapbooking the swatches. It will be nice to have a resource for stitches and different yarns. What works for me and not...



Now these two caught my attention right away. The funny yarn is Squiggle by Crystal Palace and the pretty copper number is Venezia from Lang, a 50/50 mix of mohair and acrylic.

I like the two colors and textures together. I think it would be interesting enough done up in garter stitch as a wall-hanging. Perhaps with some ceramic beads added throughout. It's soft enough for a fun pillow, too. My 16-year-old son says it reminds him of the stuff from the vacuum bag. Nice...



I bought this issue of Spin Off for the article on solar dyeing. I've been wanting to attempt dyeing but having to tend a fire or stand over a hot pot kept me away. With this procedure, this may be something I can easily put together and have some nice finished product.



The granny squares in this issue inspired me to try my hand at understanding crochet instructions. These are the squares I came away with...in some acrylic I had from my early days of knitting.

Do granny squares count as a finished object?