Fiber Week in Review: March 30-April 5

This week I spent another big chunk of time working on an editing project. It's the follow-up to a book that I edited last year and a project that I've really been looking forward to working on because I highly enjoyed the first book. The second book is also quite good. If you like epic medieval fantasy, you should give the books a try. The first is A Call to Arms and the second (about a month out from its release date now) is Nightfall.

That being said, I didn't get as much fiber stuff done as I would have liked, but progress was made on a couple of projects.

Knitting: I did about another inch or two of the Purplicious socks. I'll be taking those to my knitting group tonight and also working on them when my son has his Little Gym class on Wednesday. I want to finish them before I leave on Friday (more on that at the end of the blog) so I can have a new pair of socks on the needles.

The only other knitting I did this week was to work on the new cowl design. And last night I finished it! I'm happy with how it turned out (although my bind off it a bit too tight) but still need to weave in the ends and block it.

Designing: Wrote up the cowl pattern and after I get measurements, I'll set up a test knit for it (see my group on Ravelry for more details).

My next designing goal is to truly get started working on the shawl collection. I'll continue to knit on the baby blanket and will get that test set up fairly soon as well, but I want to get this shawl collection going especially while I'm still excited about it. In fact, it's my quarterly goal that I've made as part of the Map-Making Guide from Tara Swiger.

Dyeing: I dyed two skeins, one each of two new bases (MCN fingering and merino/silk DK). I'm loving how both bases took the color. Now I just need to knit with them. Once I've done that and feel like they are indeed right for Round Table Yarns, I'll start dyeing more and have them ready for a future update. That might be about a month or so off.

MCN on the left (in a new colorway) and merino/silk DK on the right (in Tintagel)

I also tried something else that I've been wanting to do for a while. The dyeing experience was good. The yarn is still drying. It'll be the next thing on the needles after it dries. I'm super excited about it but want to make absolutely sure it's working well before I say anything more about it. So I'll just leave this cryptic description for you.

Strung Along Retreat: On Friday, I'll be leaving for the Strung Along Retreat. I've been wanting to go to one of these and when I saw the lineup for this one (Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Clara Parkes, and Kate Atherley), I knew this was the one. I asked a friend if she was interested in going and before we knew it, we were signed up and had our plane tickets.

I'm not bringing my laptop with me (but will have my phone so can check email). As a result, next week's Week in Review post won't be posted on Monday (I don't return until Tuesday). Instead, on Wednesday, I'll write a post about the retreat.

And if you're anywhere in the area (Seattle--Port Ludlow), there is a Community Marketplace on Saturday evening from 6:30-8:30. I'll have some of my patterns and yarn there, so even if you're not a retreater, you can still come to that event if you'd like to see patterns/yarn in person.