Pattern: Alessandrite socks

I'm pleased to announce that I have just released a new sock pattern!

The Alessandrite Socks are toe-up, cabled, textured, gusseted love. I loved knitting them, anyway. Normally I'm not very into cabling, but this charted cable pattern only have two twists each row, and can be done without a cable needle.

Alessandrite Socks on Ravelry
for $5.00 (you don't have to have a Ravelry account)

Yarn: 100g of fingering sock yarn (Shown: Cascade Heritage)
Needles: US 1.5 / 2.5mm DPNs
Special Techniques: Toe-up socks, cables from charts, short-row heel

~Joyuna

Tajik textiles - Orenburg shawl

Perhaps the most exciting bit of fiber arts I saw on my trip was completely by accident – my host family brought me to an uncle's house as a guest, and as I was wandering around in their garden in the morning I saw a tattered brown shawl hanging up on the clothesline to dry. I examined it for a moment, and saw it was knitted lace.

It was a large triangular shawl, with a garter stitch center section and two-part border – a lace section and a scalloped edging. It was knit out of very fine brown wool, two plies that made up a very light laceweight – probably hand-spun.

The shawl was obviously well-loved and worn, as it had a number of holes in it (horror), most of which had the loose stitches caught with thread or darned over time. A few of the corners were an absolute mess, which broke my heart a little. It was a beautiful shawl, and certainly a sight to see in its time.

Read more »