Normal Service Can Now Resume

It's New Year here now so happy year of the horse to you all! I hope that it is a great one. 

Because of the holiday I get a 10 day break, which I'm incredibly grateful for as the last couple of weeks have been manic and I haven't had a great deal of time to do what I want to do. 

Knitting has been quite minimal, as has spinning, but I do have an FO to share with you today.

I finished my handspun Gravitate shawl. I used my Inglenook Fibers Parrot Tulip yarn and I really like how it turned out. The colors aren't necessarily me and I think I prefer it in the skein but it is a fun shawl that brightens up the grey days here.

As I'd knit this previously it was quite quick. It's also (I think) mistake free which is probably a first for me! The colours and textures are highlighted quite well in the shawl and I'm pleased with the combination of pattern and yarn. 

 You can see here that the yarn has lots of neps and different colors. I really like the white against the orange and the odd bits of sparkle. 

As you may be able to tell I didn't use all of my yarn and could probably have worked the pattern so that I did. I'm OK with this as I was ready to be finished with the shawl. 

I am working on the Rivoli Shawl and have nearly finished the first pattern repeat. It's taking quite some time for each row as there are about 360 stitches on the needles plus the beads. It's not a complex pattern although does require my full concentration. Any photos I take don't seem to capture how beautiful it is so I'll leave photos until I have more done, in the hope that I will be able to capture it's elegance better. 

As for spinning, I'm working on some stunning Ixchel Bunny Pure Luxury No 5. It's a blend of yak, cashmere, tencell, bison and angora. It's a tricky fiber to spin as it's so slippery but spinning from the fold really helps keep it under control. It's stunning as it is and I'm positive that the results will be even more beautiful. If you haven't tried Charly's fiber then you absolutely should! 

That's all for this week. I hope that normal blogging will resume from now on as I will have more time to knit and spin!