I have so many lovely projects to share with you today. We have knitted projects, crocheted projects, woven projects, and handspun yarn. It’s a wonderful smorgasbord of the fiber arts!

Let’s start with Brandon’s socks. These are from the September club colorway inspired by the stained glass window in the Chartres Cathedral, Notre Dame de la Belle Verrière. Aren’t they darling? Brandon used the Vanilla Sock Pattern by Crazy Sock Lady Designs.

Next we have Dixie’s gorgeous crocheted cowl. She said she adapted it from the Mindfulness Scarf by Melanie Houlter. She used my Caribbean Sunset colorway to make it.

The next project is from Carolyn. She used Joji Locatelli’s Paris in Berlin pattern to knit this cowl. The colorway is Monet on Buttery Soft DK.

Can’t you almost feel how soft it is through the screen?

Next up is a baby blanket that Dorothea crocheted using Starry Night. I love the baubles she made and the wavy pattern they make altogether, don’t you?

Lynn shared the next WIP. She made this lovely shawl using Autumn Leaves, Sunset at Sea, and a matching semi-solid. She created the pattern as well.

Magdala sent this next fabulous project. It is the Matagui Cardigan by Maysa Tomikawa. She used two of my LOTR colorways, Chasing Orcs and Hobbits with The King of the Golden Hall, and she held them with Purl Soho’s Linen Quill and a fuzzy laceweight yarn.

Next up is Margo’s Sophie Scarf that she made for her daughter using Poinsettia on Sock Perfection. Isn’t it lovely?

Mary sent in a photo of this next beautiful project. It is a knit shawl pattern by Lori B called The Bright Side, which is another great pattern for assigned pooling colorways. Mary used Copper Roof on Dream Sock to knit it.

Pat sent in a photo of a beautiful scarf she wove using Poinsettia on Twinkle Sock.

I think it looks so fabulous with Twinkle Sock, don’t you?

The next photo is Sandi’s beautiful handspun made from the December club colorway art batts inspired by Giotto’s Nativity. Look at how fuzzy and silky this beautiful yarn is! The fuzziness comes from the baby alpaca and baby camel down, and the silkiness comes from muga silk.

If you don’t spin yet, maybe this will be the year you decide to learn! I think of all the fiber arts, spinning is the most meditative and soothing–at least once you get past the very beginning stages.

Next up we have these fabulous socks from Sherri. She made them using the club colorway from October based on Hildegard Von Bingen’s Cycle of the Seasons:

Next we have Tara’s beautiful handwoven scarf. She used Copper Roof for the warp and Turquoise for the weft. She told me that “his lordship” enjoyed the softness of the yarn as well, and if any cat ever deserved the title, I think this one does.

I also have a skein of handspun yarn to share. I spun this using a couple of my Leda and the Swan art batts:

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Spin Together

Speaking of handspun yarn and silly segues, Spin Together is coming up. I’ve been one of the organizers from the beginning back in 2019, but this year I’m finally going to be leading a Purple Lamb team for the first time, and I’m really excited about it.

This year is going to be very different from previous years. In previous years the focus was mostly on how many yards each person and team could spin in a week. While spinning as much as possible is very impressive, the other organizers and I decided that we really wanted to focus more on creativity and technique, so this year there will be seven different contests, and each participant can enter as many contests as they like. They are…

1. Most Beautiful Skein
2. Wildest Skein
3. Most Complex Skein
4. Finest Lace Skein
5. Most Evenly Spun Skein
6. Project Spin
7. Novice Spinner Skein

If this sounds like your cup of tea, you can learn more at spintogether.org. I’m super excited about the new format and hope to see some of you there! You can sign up for my team or a different one between January 28th and February 15th, and then Spin Together Week will be the last week of February. If you don’t spin but know someone who does, please spread the word!

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February Club Colorway

This month I’m going to be using a fresco from the early Renaissance by Masaccio. It’s called The Tribute Money, and it shows the part of Matthew’s Gospel where the temple official asks Jesus to pay the temple tax, but they don’t have any money. Jesus tells Peter to go to the sea and take a coin from the mouth of the first fish he catches for the tax.

Masaccio painted this around 1425 in Florence, and it’s one of the first paintings to use a vanishing point. You can learn more about that and the fresco right here on Smarthistory. I can’t wait to use these colors for the coming month’s yarn and art batts!

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Fresh from the Dye Pots

I have so many different new colorways and kits to show you. Instead of showing them to you here, I’ll just send you to the New This Month section of my shop. I hope you find something you’ll enjoy!