Linen Dress.

I have teased you with some pictures of my linen dress in the last post and finally the dress is finished and I can show it to you :)) Beautiful linen for this dress was gifted to me by Anna. All edges of this dress are beaded. The beads were attached by the hook. This is my first knitted dress and first time working with linen. I loved the yarn and will definitely work with linen again. It is perfect for summer and very nice to knit with. Not all stitch patterns that I have considered for this dress looked great in linen and it took some searching and sample knitting to find the pattern I liked. In the end I have chosen Estonian lace pattern called "Half Leaf Pattern" from the "The Haapsalu shawl" book.  If I would knit this dress again I would maybe do sides of the dress (this is where increases were done) a little different, but overall I am very happy with the way my dress has turned out.

Yarn:  SIŪLAS Lithuanian Linen 4ply  (2.29 skeins = 1259.5 yards (1151.7m))
Needles: US 2 - 2.75 mm
Design: my own
Construction: seamless topdown
Beads:  Miyuki 8/0 color #4217DC, about 1000.
Project on Ravelry

Happy Knitting,

Diana

Photo Fun :-))

Some pictures I took over the weekend at Lake Murray here in San Diego. I used a little Photoshop on them, except for the one with a bird on a branch. For that photograph I only had border added and darkened it a little.  Enjoy :-))

Have a lovely week,

Diana

Gift and WIP :-))

I have a lot of things to show you today :-)
First, let me share with you what a gorgeous and generous present I have received for my birthday this month from a friend and fellow knitter Aljona ( A-Ko on Ravelry) This my second bear that Aljona made for me. You can see the first one here. This time it is a  female bear and she is so adorable and cute. Aljona truly has golden hands. She knits, she paints and she makes these exquisite teddy bears :-)) Thank you so so much :-))

 I also would like to show you a project I am working on right now. It is a dress/tunic I am have been knitting for a few month now. The yarn I am using is linen that another friend, Anna ( kuduja on Ravelry) has gifted to me. The dress is getting close to being done. I hope to finish it in a week. For now, I will tease you with some sneak pics ;-)) My project on Ravelry.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone :-))

Happy knitting,

Diana

"Norka" shawl pattern is now avaible :-)

"Norka" shawl pattern is now available on Ravelry , my blog and Lotus Yarns website.
Thank you so much to all readers of my blog and my Ravelry friends for your support and kind comments about this project :-))
Original post about this pattern can be found here.

New Shawl Design: "Norka".

Today I would like to share with you my shawl design for Lotus Yarns and their new yarn Mimi. This yarn is 100% mink and is just unbelievably soft. It is softer then cashmere I think. The yarn has slight fuzziness, but the fuzz stays put :-)). No animals were harmed in the process of making this yarn. They are brushed for fiber. I truly enjoyed working with this yarn. It is luxurious to knit with and such a pleasure to wear the finished shawl.

I named this shawl “Norka” which means mink in Russian :-) The lace stitch used for the shawl body has long been one of my favorites and I have been wanting to use it in a shawl design for a while. Mimi yarn seems perfect for it. I love how the lace looks in it. The border you see in the pictures was the second border I tried and I am so happy I decided to re-knit my original border. The lace stitch used in the border is also one of my favorite patterns.  I love how it all (yarn, lace and design) came together in this shawl :-)

The pattern will be released at the end of the week or so on Ravelry, my blog and Lotus Yarns website.

 

The pictures of this shawl have been taken in my backyard. The bench that  photographs have been taken on came with the house. There is a writing on the bench.

 I did not know were the verse came from, but found out recently that these are words from a poem by Dorothy Frances Gurney " God's Garden":

The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's Heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on Earth.

• "God's Garden" lines 13–16, Poems, by Dorothy Frances Gurney (London: Country Life, 1913)

Happy knitting,

Diana