This week I have the privilege of sharing some lovely projects with you. It’s always such a joy to see what you create!

Let’s start with Cila. She made two different projects using Martina Behm’s Hitchhiker Beyond knitting pattern, but she added her own twist. She combined the pattern with assigned pooling colorways and stitches:

The two photos at the top show the project where Cila used Van Gogh’s Starry Night, and the three on the bottom show the project where she used Monet’s Water Lilies.

Next we have Cindy’s socks. She made this first pair using Monarch Butterfly on Stained Glass Sock. She told me that she thinks of them as pumpkin socks for autumn and butterfly socks for spring, which I thought was brilliant. I think they’ll be great year-around. I love the swirl of the black ply.

She used a 3 x 1 ribbing to make the socks and did the same thing for this pair of socks made using Freedom Blue:

She made the second pair as a gift for her sister-in-law! What a great gift to have soft cozy socks to enjoy!

The next project is a new stole pattern that Deborah Bowanko is working on:

She is using Freedom Blue, Sapphire Dreams, and Though the Fig Tree Blosssom Not in some beautiful stitch combinations. I look forward to seeing it all finished up!

Next is a fascinating planned pooling scarf that Sharon made. Sharon made the scarf using a skein of Copper Roof dyed half and half with half turquoise and half copper, and she knit it using the linen stitch throughout. Here is Sharon’s scarf:

Planned Pooling is a method that Laura Bryant came up with where you figure out how many stitches it takes to knit or crochet all the colors in a multi-color yarn. To make an argyle pattern like Sharon made, you then add or subtract one or two stitches so the colors shift slowly. Isn’t it amazing that she was able to make this using yarn with just two colors?

Next up are these darling socks by Magdala. She used the club colorway from August to make these:

and she used the September club colorway for these:

The last project is my own, and it is my very first crochet project! I have been knitting for many years now and spinning and weaving for much longer, but I’m a brand new crocheter. After learning a few stitches and making lots of little practice swatches, I decided to make a simple cowl as my first real project using mostly double crochets. There are plenty of mistakes, but that’s okay. The biggest one is that I somehow managed to make this a mobius cowl by accident, but when I realized it I decided to turn my mistake into a feature. I just finished it today. Here it is:

Over the years, I have heard a lot of people say that they “just” crochet as though crocheting was somehow less than knitting. I don’t think that’s true at all! They are different, and each one has its own unique challenges, but one isn’t better than the other at all. For me, this is a grand new adventure, and I look forward to my next project. In fact, if you have suggestions for beginner crochet patterns you have enjoyed, I’d love to hear them!

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And They’re Off

I shipped the last of the Advent calendars today! It has been a very intense month between the yarn Advent calendars, the fiber Advent calendars, and all the usual dyeing and carding as well. It feels great to have them all finished and know that they are on their way to you–or already in your hands.

It would be super to see your progress throughout December and beyond. Please tag me on Instagram @purplelambfiberarts and/or share it on my FB page at www.facebook.com/purplelambfiberarts. Above all, I hope they bring you joy!

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Last Week’s Repeat Newsletter

I have to apologize for resending the same newsletter two weeks in a row. I use an app for sending out my newsletters each week, and I had accidentally turned off a setting that makes it so only new newsletters go out. I didn’t manage to write anything last week because I was so busy with the Advent calendars, so the app resent the newsletter from the week before. If you were wondering why you got the same newsletter twice, that’s why. My apologies!

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Fresh from the Dye Pots

I have a few freshly dyed colorways to share with you this week. I dyed more Peacock Feathers, so now I have it in stock on Sock Perfection, Twinkle Sock, and Stained Glass Sock. Here it is on Sock Perfection:

I also dyed Party Like It’s 2029 on Buttery Soft DK and on Suri Lace Cloud. I actually have this fun colorway available on quite a few yarn bases right now. Here it is on Dream Sock:

I also dyed up some more Starry Night, so that’s available on Sock Perfection, Twinkle Sock, and Squoosh DK. Here it is on Twinkle Sock:

You can find all three of these colorways and a couple more in the New This Month section of my shop.

I hope you have a great week. See you next week!