tow butterfly wing

The butterfly wing shawl for me is finally complete! I started crocheting this back in November when my friend Mel gifted me a skein of laceweight yarn she dyed herself for me. After playing around with couple of different stitches I’ve decided to go with the butterfly wing shawl pattern. I mostly worked on this shawl when I attended lectures in the mosque on Wednesdays. It’s the perfect pattern to keep my hands busy while I am listening to the teacher. I started out with 4.0 mm (G) hook and gradually increased hook size all the way to 6.5 mm (K) hook. This gave the shawl a beautiful drape as it got more airy and open towards the end.

I am planning on wearing it like this.

This is the back.

This shows the stitches better.

And here’s the shawl taking flight!

I have been winding yarn cakes back into skeins so I can dye them. I decided that the yarns look so much prettier when they are in skeins. I spent an afternoon doing just that. There were a couple of yarns I’ve purchased from destashes that came in yarn cakes and I turned them into skeins
This is the yarn cake I’ve received.

An action shot of the cake becoming to a skein

And voila! Look how pretty! If I named this yarn I would have called it “Fawkes” named after Dumbledore’s pet Phoenix.

It’s easy to make skeins with the swift my father-in-law made for me. I put my finger into the very middle of the swift and just spin it until I ran out of yarn. I’ve became very, very good at tying figure 8’s around the skeins so that they won’t get tangled.
Here are the skeins I’ve made sitting pretty!

The yarns from top the bottom are:
Electric Fiber Arts Hanspun in Sandstone colourway.
Fleece Artist Merino 2/6 I got this from a destash at Ravelry. This colourway was for a yarn club
Honey and Mint. Handspun just for me by a Ravelry swap partner.
Bizyhands Handspun Straightaway colourway

I am continuing my adventures in yarn dyeing. I enjoy the process of dyeing immensely. This one was another overdye. I’ve received 2 balls of Moda Vera sock yarn as a part of the Magic Yarn Ball swap. I turned the ball in to a skein so I can dye it.

After a session on the stove with lots of dye and vinegar this is what I came up with

And this is how it knits up

I named it “morcivert” This needs a bit of explaining, I’ll do my best. “Mor” means purple in Turkish. And “lacivert” means navy blue. Put the two words together you get “morcivert.” It’s not a real colour. Whenever I asked my dad what colour I should colour something he would say “morcivert” to tease me. If morcivert was a colour I think it would look like the yarn I’ve dyed. Bits of blue and bits of purple existing together.
And here’s a yarn from Sundara. The dyer lady has amazing colour sense and does magical things to the yarns she dyes. This one is called “Night Blossom”

It’s very dark purpley-brown with highlights of light purple and creams through out. I haven’t decided what to make them into yet, but I know they’ll be pretty!
I bought yarn from the stitches and craft show I went to last month. I just got around to photographing it,

It’s 4 skeins of Super Soft Merino in 4 ply goodness known as Pear Tree Yarn. The colourway is called “Damson” (that’s Mürdüm Eriği for the Turkish speakers. Hi mum & Alex!) I have paid an arm and a leg for them in anticipation of my stimulus payment! The seller gave me a discount for flashing my Ravelry badge!

I am happy to report the leaking tap has been fixed! ACA the husband extraordinaire hard at work

Love my handyman! It is hard to believe in June we are going to be married for two years. Two happiest years of my life, I can assure you that!
ACA and I met on the internet when I was living in the US, and him in Australia. Because of that we spent a lot of our time away from each other. From the time we met in August ‘06 to the time I’ve moved to Australia October ‘07 we had spent a total of 6 weeks together. Two weeks when we got engaged in February ‘07, and four weeks after we got married and had our honeymoon in June ‘07. I missed him like crazy especially while I was waiting in Turkey waiting for my spouse visa to arrive so I can move to Australia. This was the song I’ve listened to many, many, many times on the occasions I’ve felt the saddest. The band is Snow Patrol. I’ve been a fan ever since I’ve heard the song “Run” on the radio. The song is called “Set Fire to the Third Bar”

I’m miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
I, I pray that something picks me up
And sets me down in your warm arms
– Snow Patrol

Hermoine says hi!