Alke is very, very cool

Hey there all of you readers!  Is there a one among you who does not have a Ravelry account?  Because I just so happen to be holding an unanswered Ravelery invite, and I will forward it to you upon request.  First-come, first-serve.  If you have been wanting to join the Ravelry community but keep forgetting to sign up, or are discouraged by the 1-week-waiting list, take heart and leave a comment (be sure that your e-mail is linked).  I'll send it along to the first commenter who wants it.

Moving on...

Thanks for all of the woven love and complements on the belly  The baby feels like a little superstar, and I'm not discouraging it.  I hope to show you the wriggling little creature in short-order; I feel full to the bursting... although I was huge with Daisy as well, and she was 9 days late.  ~sigh~

Something very cool happened today.  I went to pick up my mail, and there was a package waiting for me from the Netherlands.  I could hardly wait to open it!  Alke, a friend from the Spunky boards over on Ravelry had sent me this as a little "cheer-up" surprise:




Now the book is just precious (there are crochet things in there, but the sewed softies esp. caught my eye -- as soon as the sewing but bites again, this book will be seeing a lot of use!), and the card was lovely, but the scarf!  I literally had tears in my eyes as I unfolded it.  A handspun, handknit scarf, from Alke, to me.  No one has ever spun for me before, and I can tell you that it is a precious, precious gift.  I put it on several hours ago, and I am loathe to take it off.


One-Row Handspun Scarf knit by Alke using her handspun Spunky Eclectic BFL club fiber in Pie For Everyone

Thankfully, it *almost* goes with what I'm wearing (because, you know, I AM a fashion maven and all of that good stuff).  (I'm completely kidding -- what you can't see is that I'm wearing gray-and-red yoga pants with this ensemble.  Eye-catching, I'll assure you.)

Here's a close up of the scarf texture, because we all know how much I love close-ups:



Beauty.

Thank you, Alke.  Words cannot express how much this little package meant to me.  You are a sweetheart.

On the weaving front, I finished Daisy's scarf last night:


I warped the loom alternating 4 ends each of my handspun Rosebud (that I knit Daisy's hat and mittens out of), and Knit Picks Panache in Merlot, back when it was 100% alpaca and still in production.  (It then went to an Alpaca/Merino/Silk blend, and more recently discontinued.)

To create a checked pattern, I alternated 4 rows of each yarn.  It actually almost looks plaid to me because of the handspun color changes.  Once again, I was thrilled with the difference a quick soak did for the fabric.  This morning it was so much drapier and softer than when I cut it off the loom last night.  Daisy wore it out today with a huge smile on her little face.

I experimented with the fringe a little bit:


Certainly would be more effective with a longer fringe section, but for a 20-month-old, it's probably for the best.  (In all reality, it's not all that safe to let a toddler run around with something round their neck anyway, but I'm keeping her closely supervised.  Plus, it's squishy and thick, which is a plus.)



Alltogether fast, easy, and fun project.  (There Laura, I've done it.  So sorry.  And you can hold me completely responsible for any loom purchases from now on.)

Now it's back to the hoodie.  I want to have it finished by the end of the week, which seems to be a possibility at this point... will keep you posted.

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