Sometimes, you just never know how the internet will influence your life.

I’ve been reading Cookie’s blog for a while now. I can’t really remember how I found her. If you don’t read her blog, you really should. She’s funny, smart, witty, cranky and oh yeah, she knits rather well too. Cookie has helped me out with SOS two (or is it three?!?) years running at this point. She’s been a caring ear more than once and although we only know each other via the internet, I would certainly call her a friend.

A couple of months back Cookie knit several amazing Swallowtail shawls. I’ve always wanted to knit one of these. I even gave it a go once, but it just didn’t work out. It’s such a pretty pattern, and there’s just something about the name that speaks to me. I somehow relayed this desire to Cookie and she did an amazing thing.

She said she’d knit me one.

I was really taken aback by her offer. Obviously, I know the kind of work and skill that would go into knitting a shawl like this. And the fact that someone that in some ways hardly knows me would do that for me? Well, I got down right verklempt!! And asked several times if she was sure. She assured me she was.

I got it in my head that I wanted it to be handspun and larger than the usual pattern. So I spun a heavier yarn. I also seemed to have the perfect fiber in my stash. I had actually started spinning it for the shop, but when I didn’t finish it on time it suddenly dawned on me that it would be a perfect fit for this project. The wool was purchased from my friend Val who raises her own spinner’s flock here in NJ. The sheep that the fiber came from was named Angel. Somehow, the wing reference just seemed to work.

So I finished my yarn and I sent it off to California for Cookie to knit with. Would you believe it was her first time getting to work with handspun? I think she did an amazing job. I got seriously verklempt again when I opened the return package a short time ago.

You might think this is the end of the story, but it’s not. This baby is destined for the dyepot. I’ve got big plans for a try at a new-to-me technique. I hope that I can do Cookie’s beautiful work justice.

Thank you so much my friend! I really hope you like what comes next.

My big event of the weekend was attending the wedding of a certain favorite blogger:

It was a lovely event and the weather behaved for the most part although it was a touch on the cold side. We had a wonderful time and in the beautiful surroundings it was the perfect occasion to get FO pictures of Adamas (I knew Kristy would understand!).

Adamas Shawl

Pattern: Adamas by Miriam L. Felton
Yarn: Some handspun I finished at bassoon camp last year. Fiber from the Little Barn.
Needles: Size 4 Knitpicks Harmony Circs
Knit: 3/30-4/26/2008

This was a really nice pattern to knit. It reminds me of my Kiri Shawl in a lot of ways. The shawl is constructed in a similar manner and the motifs seem to flow in much the same way. Perhaps this pattern is slightly more complicated because of the diamond within a diamond motif, but it really isn’t all that difficult.

I have to say that I did enjoy knitting this with my own handspun. The yarn has a bounce that it didn’t loose during the blocking. While it may be slightly thicker than the pattern called for in places, I think it worked out well and gave me a shawl of a very reasonable size that I can wrap around me without much problem.

The knitpicks needles were a good combination here as well. They were pointy enough for the more complicated stitches but not so much that they were splitting the handspun in all the wrong places.

Believe it or not, this actually made a pretty good train project once I got familiar with the main chart. It was complex enough to keep me engaged with the knitting, but not so bad that I couldn’t do it on the train without annoying my fellow passengers with a heavy duty chart moving around.

I’m very happy with the end result and would highly recommend this pattern to anyone interested in knitting lace. Give it a go when you can!

1. Today is your last chance to get your entries for the contest in! Do it now!

2. I’ve gotten some really great entries. It’s going to be hard to decide! I think I may ask permission to make them all available to participants so they can choose a favorite after I select a winner.

3. I saw this in the bookstore yesterday.

There was a point in my life that I really thought I was going to *be* that action figure! I wonder if there’s a crazy cat and bunny lady action figure?!?

4. Spring is hands down my favorite season. There’s just something about growth and renewal that makes me happy. I took this picture at lunch in Bryant park yesterday.

There are lots of flowers popping up in my own back yard that I hope to get some quick pictures of this weekend.

5. I took this picture in the park yesterday too.

It isn’t quite right on my monitor, but I really loved the contrast of the two colors. Expect this to land in a dyepot sometime soon.

6. I have exactly one weekend day that I do not already have plans for between now and the time I go on vacation at the end of May. Ugh. Many of the things I have planned are fun… but still. That’s crazy! If I am babbling incomprehensively by the end of next month, you’ll know why.

7. Thanks for the comments on the dental floss trick in the last post. A word of warning, watch that first row of knitting after you add the lifeline. That dental floss is sticky and can work itself out! Ask me how I know…

8. One week from today Risa and I leave for Maryland Sheep and Wool!! WOO HOO!!! (I told you some of the things were fun!)

9. Stitches likes carrots with the top on.

Simba likes to beat up toys that were meant for Stitches.

10. Believe it or not, I bound off Adamas at MYSnB last night (to many cheers, thanks ladies)! She will be blocked tonight and may just make her debut at a special event this weekend.

Have an awesome weekend everyone!

Psst! Don’t forget you only have a couple of days left to enter the contest! I’ve only got one entry so far so your chances of winning an awesome prize are pretty darn good! Get those entries in!

Thanks for all the kind and interesting comments on my Earth Day post from yesterday! I wasn’t entirely sure how that was going to go over, and it was nice to see it met with some enthusiasm. Sometimes I just throw stuff out there on the old blog and hold my breath until the feedback starts. It’s always nice when it’s positive!

Despite my issues with the Bog Jacket, not all my knitting has been so difficult lately. As Spring has been popping up around me, Adamas has been growing!

This has actually been a really pleasant knit. I think the handspun yarn combined with the color and the pattern is working out quite nicely. The yarn has a good bounce and will probably take the heavy blocking this piece will require quite well. There are a few weak parts I’m slightly concerned about, but I know enough to be careful.

Adamas has been going to work with me lately. The chart isn’t so complicated that it’s impossible for train knitting. I really shouldn’t even need it at this point, but I just always seem to need to look at it to get those first few stitches going. After that I usually don’t need it again until the end of the row.

And holy geez are these rows getting long! It look the entire first leg of my train ride into work the other day to get through one purl row. Yikes! I was hoping to finish this up for a special event this coming weekend, but I just don’t think I’m going to make it. As of this writing I have one more repeat to go of the main pattern, then the final 12 rows and the bindoff. I even inserted a lifeline at the end of the last repeat (mostly because I did not want another episode of what happened with Kiri last year!), just in case I find myself without enough yarn for all that. It was easy with the knitpicks needles since they have that little hole to slip some dental floss into. I never understood what people meant by that until I got the needles, so here’s a picture:

Clicky to biggie as always.

I suppose I could get it done if I ignore everything else…

… but how could anyone ignore those faces!!