I’m in!!!

Greeting lace lovers from the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee! I just received word that I can play along with SOL 2008 even though I missed the deadline for registering for the blog. Hey, I was on vacation I’m a confirmed lace knitting addict and plan to spend the summer knitting lace along with the Tour de France and the Beijing Olympics. To each his/her own sport!

I took inventory of my current & planned lace projects to identify those eligible for the contests and competitions. I keep a journal documenting the progress of all my knitting, so I know exactly how much knitting I had completed on June 21st, our official start date for this party. I also post fairly detailed notes on my project pages at Ravelry (ID: beadntat) Here’s what I have cast-on and in progress right now:

First up is Evelyn Clark’s Flower Basket Shawl (med. lace) knit in a powder blue Misti Alpaca Lace yarn on size 4 needles. I’m leading a summer KAL at my LYS for this shawl. The cast-on party was May 29th. I have lots of newbie lace knitters in the KAL so I’ve been helping more than I’ve been knitting on my own project.  I had 2 repeats of the Lower Flower Basket chart done on the 21st and I’m on the 5th repeat now. I still need to take photos of this project, but I’ll let you know when I have them ready to share.

Next is a pair of No Purl Monkey socks (wee, socks) knit in an almost fluorescent lime and turquoise shade of Colinette Jitterbug. These were cast-on at a KIP event on WWKIP day (June 16) at a gathering of the Rustic Tarts and Old Farts Lace Knitting group in Martinsburg, WV. We were sitting in the rockers at a Cracker Barrel before & after dinner–FUN! I had the cuff of one sock done on the 21st and I’m working on the foot of the 2nd sock today. Here is a photo of the 1st sock in my daisy patch at home: http://www.flickr.com/photos/beadntat/2628683492/

Like several other SOL 08 knitters, I’m also working on the Goddess Knits Anniversary Shawl. I’ve named my version Steph’s Geraniums (large) in honor of my sister as I cast-on on June 29th, the anniversary of her death 29 years ago. Geraniums were among her favorite flowers, so it is fitting that my shawl is knit from ColourMart cashmere 2/28 that matches the geraniums growing on my deck. I’m up to row 16 of Clue 4D –not bad for a late start! All the details are on Ravelry and the latest photos are on the SOL Flickr page and here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/beadntat/2643594109/

I’m thrilled to knitting lace with you this summer. I apologize for the long-winded post, but I hope I brought everyone up to date with what I’m knitting. Knit on!

Kristina