Crafty Wednesday: It's lacy scarf & shawl season

It's usually a "happy Wednesday!" to you all, but this week is a bit of an exception. ;-) It's a busy day, complete with early reference shift and an English Composition class later in the afternoon, during which I'll be observed by one of my colleagues who wants to get into teaching, so you know - PRESSURE. :0 It'll be good, just not a relaxing day.

I was dwelling this morning as I readied for work on what I wanted to write about today. To be honest, a myriad of ideas popped into my head. Some are more personal, some are more of a religious nature, some are complete humorous fluff (but we all enjoy those, don't we? ;-)). I went with crafts, because I know some of you out there are also crafty and like such updates, and plus I'm still sorting through all of the other stuff I mentioned. It's "heavier," if you will.

Inside Tiffany's Brain: The True Story

Everything else will filter out over time, trust me. So here we are in this first glorious week of Easter, and I've been enjoying preparing for the upcoming summer shawl and scarf season. This is dependent upon your climate, to be sure, but I LOVE all manner of wraps and neck-wear in the spring and summertime. The weather can be unpredictable around here, and when the breeze picks up, I love the touch of warmth these provide. As well, when it's hot outside, but the air conditioning is alive and kickin' on the inside, these are perfect so that you don't freeze your giblets off.

Our first contender is a lacy scarf, crocheted from an absolutely *angelic choir inducing* silk yarn base from the always fabulous Expression Fiber Arts:

Pattern is Panda Silk Spider Lattice Scarf, and is available for free!

Expression Fiber Arts is my new Yarn Kryptonite. I am powerless against her merino and silken wily ways. And the colors!

*swoons!*

This one is from her January yarn club, which had a snow and ice theme, and the colorway is called "Ice Crystal." It positively glows and is absolutely magnificent. After I wound it from a hank up into a ball and began chaining my first row, Mike peered over at it sitting innocently on the table beside me:

"What is that yarn over there? Is it new?"

I froze. Mike says nothing about my yarn stash, because he knows that I use and enjoy it. But the less he knows about how much is actually IN it, the better. :0

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

*paranoid*

"It's so pretty!"

He really said that. This is why I love him so much.

"Oh thanks! Yes, her yarn is really special. The colors are just so saturated and rich."

*I take a sip of my Chardonnay*

"What are you making with it? Socks for me?"

*promptly choke on sip of Chardonnay*

"Sorry darling, no."

It's not possible to love someone THAT much. ;-)

My other ongoing project is also crochet, and it's the infamous Downton Abbey Mystery Crochet-along shawl. I have been zooming right along on it, and am currently on Clue 7. Here's my progress:

Lookin' good in the fall Hayride colorway!

I just have a few rows on the edging left to go in order to finish up both Clues 7 and 8, and I do love the result. The pattern has been a bit of a pain in the tuckus, but I have persevered and I am glad that I did. If any of you are working on this version, feel free to message me if you run into difficulty. I've troubleshot a good number of issues with the pattern. A little bit of swearing was involved, but it's all worked out now, so we're golden. :0

How are your crafty projects going, dear readers? Do write in and let me know! I've also got a bunch of fun stuff swirling around in my little head for summer projects (generally, that is, not just crafts!), and I'll touch upon those on Tea Time tomorrow. Join me!