A Little Bit of Knitting......Apri. 4, 2006

Imagine a sculpture
You work on every day.
If you stop, the beauty
Will slowly go away.
Den Ming~Dao

Little by little, inch by inch, my little shawl grew.
I love Dao's verse above. It is easy to let life consume us when we get busy.  Even though life has been crazy busy lately, I have managed to knit a little bit every day.  The little shapely shawl was a fun shawl to knit.  A great first lace pattern for anyone who is tempted to give lace a try.

Pattern: Judy Pascale's Shapely Shawl
Yarn:  Judy's wonderful silk/merino singles

I added a row of crochet picot along the edge with a bead at each point, to give the shawl a bit of weight. 

Moving right on to the next project.........see, I really am trying to be true to one project at a time, although, I may sink down Cassie's rabbit hole this week.

This is the silk yarn from Judy that I am sampling for her.  I wasn't sure if I was going to like working with pure silk, as it really does have a different feel......but I like it very much.  The shine is incredible.  I was going to do Barbara Walker's Frost flowers, but I didn't like the way it was knitting up, so I changed gears, looked through a gazillion patterns and settled on the Trellis framed leaf lace scarf featured in the Winter 2004 Spin Off.  The pattern calls for size one needles, but I jumped up to a size 7, so that the openwork would really show.  I will add the beads called for in the pattern along the bottom of this as well.  The silk is very light and will definitely need the added weight for a nice drape.  It's working up quickly, so perhaps if I do trip in that rabbit hole, I will be finished soon enough to start something new.

Puppies
That bittersweet part of raising puppies is coming.  This little boy, who we call Giorgio will be leaving for his new home in a few days.  He is going to live with a close friend of mine in Pennsylvania. Hopefully he will be in the show ring in a few months.  His new owner is flying in to spend a few days with us and then will head back home with this little guy on Friday...we will miss him.  The other 2 boys will be heading off to their new homes on Sunday. 

As many litters as I have raised, it still is hard for me to say good bye to the babies.  The only thing that makes it a little easier is seeing the joy on the faces of the new owners that will love these babies up.  They certainly do bring smiles..........don't they?

Comments

[Cindy D]

Your Pascal shawl is lovely. I especially like the beading.

Of course....your puppy pic is so cunning.

[Anne]

Your shawl came out beautifully! I love the extra added bling with the beaded edge.

[Leslie]

Love the little shawl! And the silk; looks like it's going to be wonderful.

Hard to give up the puppies; I used to feel the same. But if I didn't let them go I couldn't have more!

[Mary Beth]

The shawl looks heavenly! Sorry you will be saying goodbye to those little angels, but you're right, they will bring a new family so much joy!

[Laurie]

Judy's yarn knits up so beautifully...you are certainly doing it justice.

Giorgio breaks my heart. What a face.

[Patti]

What a gorgeous orange - I'm not even an orange person, and I like it. Really nice pattern for it, too.

Oooo, the puppies are going. I would cry. Every time. Look at that face!

[Julia]

I am pretty sure I could not raise dogs. As much as I love them, I would simply keep them all. Now, that wouldn't do now, would it? The shawl and scarf are very cheery.

[vanessa]

that orange is gorgeous!! and i will surely miss the puppy photos :-)

[Tracy]

That's a wonderfully thoughtful saying and a beautiful shawl too. Bye bye pups!

[Bliss]

I know that has to be the hard part, letting those darlings go. You are richly blessing the lives of people fortunate enough to get one of your well-bred and very loved puppies. I always feel blessed just getting to see them!

[stephanie]

:( I will miss the puppies too. It been nice having a "virtual puppy" - they're so quiet and not at all messy. :)

[Beth]

That's why I'll *never* be a breeder - I'd never be able to let them go.

[Carrie K]

The puppies are soooo cute.

I love the orange scarf! And the shapely shawl too. The yarns really set off the stitch pattern.

[Judy]

I love the way you used the little beads with the picot edge. It's beautiful. Your orange silk is coming along so quickly. Love it! We will miss those puppies with you.

[Marsha]

I love the silk, it's goregous! I'm going to miss the puppies, I've saved the picture of the one of them in the bag. It's on my desktop now, what faces!

[Judi M.]

Your shawl is lovely and gee whiz, I'm going to miss the puppies too!

[Jean]

I absolutely love that shawl. Must.get.pattern! And you know how I feel about the pups. Sent the photo of Georgio on to Dan. He'll love it!

[Alison]

What a beautiful shawl! The puppies are so adorable; I know you'll miss them!

[wool winder]

The shawl turned out so nice and I like the scarf on the larger needles.

[margene]

Did you find a good way to join the silk? I'm struggling with that issue. The silk sure does drape nicely.

[Maureen]

I have made the Shapely shawl pattern too. I think the edging is beautiful. It really dresses it up. How I wish one of those boy was coming to live with me. That must be difficult to give them up.

[Janet]

I just looked at that Spin Off pattern the other day. It's really pretty opened up like that. And I love your Shapely shawl. I'm just finishing up the Diamond Fantasy and the Shapely looks like it could be a good next shawl project. Must buy the pattern!

[Cassie]

The orange scarf is absolutely stunning. And the shawl... the shawl is beautiful, but its purplish. The first thing I saw was the orange. ;-)

[Carole]

Love the shawl and the orange silk. At least you have those projects to brighten your days and ease the sadness of saying goodbye to those sweet little pupplies.

[fran ong]

Hi! : ) The orange, silk scarf is beautiful.
Pardon my ignorance but what is this breed of puppy called? They're sho cute.

[Isela]

Your shawl looks very pretty, I enjoy the colorway. The new scarf is looking awesome and I think your choice of needles will provide a very nice openwork like you described. Now, the puppies take the cake though...gorgeous!

[Donna S.]

Gosh, I love those puppies.