Another sort of spoiler photo at the bottom of this post (for May spinning club fiber) ...

Recently off the needles:


Natalya Gauntlets (Ravelry link). I knit this pattern years and years ago out of some handspun, and love these gloves. The cables make them nice and snug. I also modified it and didn't do the individual finger holes because I don't like individual finger holes on my fingerless mitts. This pair is knit in Spirit Trail Birte in "Green Velvet." Birte is my new DK weight-ish sw merino/cashmere/bombyx silk. I knit these on a size 5; they're a little snug so if / when I make another pair (this is a booth sample), I'll probably go up to a size 6 or maybe even 7.

On the needles right now:

A big bunchie white thing. This is the beginning of the shawl I'm knitting with handspun merino/bombyx silk fingering (one ply merino/silk, one ply silk, hence the shiny). I'm planning to space dye it after it's knitted. I have about 3 feet knitted. Lots to go, plus a knitted-on border afterwards.

This weekend, we planted our garden (just in time for the practically nonstop rain we've had since Saturday ... we'll see if the carrot and lettuce seeds have remained where we put them). This is our new garden, right behind the house ... we had originally put the garden out in the pasture, but it proved to be too shady on the edge of the woods, and sort of too far from the house to easily water and maintain it. So, the fire pit was turned into a garden. I'm liking this because the larger / outer crescent is actually a stone wall, so I'll be able to stand up against it and weed / harvest, rather than bending over. We planted the lettuce, strawberries and some of the low-growing herbs up in this area to make it all easier. Down below are tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, melons, watermelons, and some of the larger herbs. Lots of french marigolds planted throughout, too (bugs and grubs don't like the smell).

It's a bit smaller than gardens we've had in the past, but I think / hope this will make the weeding and such more manageabale. I hate to weed more than I can say.

So, a couple of people over on Ravelry commented that they'd like to see the sw bfl and the mixed bfl side by side, to see the difference. It was, I'll admit, a bit difficult to get a good photo. The difference is evident when you're looking at the fibers in real life, but not quite so in a photo.

The one on the left is the mixed bfl. You can see the variation in color / sort of stripey effect from the brown/white bfl which also mutes and softens the colors a bit. Versus the 100% sw bfl on the right, where the colors are more clear, solid and vibrant. The difference in color is most evident in the purple areas of the photo.