That's what friends are for

Check out this beautiful Spindle. I received it as a gift this week from a friend, MS. She is in my little knitting and spinning guild that I started in my southern home town. She appreciates the classes I teach. MS drew on a mermaid and then wood-burned her onto the whorl of the spindle. The mermaid's tail wraps around the side! Isn't she fantastic?

 I love it when art meets practicality. I was needing a nicely balanced spindle too! This is my first time trying a top whorl spindle and I quite like it. I am practising with pink blue-faced leicester.

 Now this charming little dress is something I designed for our barrista at Fuel where I go weekly to knit with the gals. More precisely the dress is for an infant that is due in April. Since I was about to teach a class in intarsia knitting, I did the colour change and leaves in intarsia. Then the daisy is knitted as separate petals and then sewn together, then sewn onto the fabric. Being a superwash wool, I hope this will be a practical gift.

 Sorry there is not a picture of this shawl without it being doubled up. I knit this out of Hill Country mohair and merino wool that is also central Texas. A friend needed a lacy shawl like this for gifting to her mother, so that's where this lovely is going.

 A week before Valentines Day I taught a class on intarsia knitting. Here is the cotton washcloth I designed for the project! I was joking that I'd love to see pictures of the washcloths being gifted to the "better half" for Valentines, and sure enough BW sent me a hilarious pictures of her guy in a frilly apron, at the sink with this washcloth. Too funny!

And last but not least, here is a folded up look at the long strip that was my first weaving project on the new loom. I will be chopping it up to make a cushion cover for the loom bench and a tote bag and also a wall hanging. There are five different 2/2 twills displayed here. I am ready to dress the loom for my next weaving project. A blanket for a friend's son who is undergoing chemo is on the needles and being sewn up in the meantime. Stay tuned for that picture very soon . ( The blanket is a great group effort by the guild).