Most Saturdays, you'll find me on my spinning wheel at La Petite Knitterie, along with some of my spinner friends. I do this regularly because I want people to know that the art of handspinning is very much alive. Yesterday, we had a nice group with Miryha, Karen, Nancy and Pam. In this picture, everyone seems to be concentrating on the yarn they're spinning, as our friend, Dawn, joined us with her current knitting project.

I spun a superfine merino roving that I had recently handpainted and finished up a bobbin while at LPK. When I got home, I was motivated to spin a second bobbin when the electricity went out for several hours. I began plying in the near darkness and then we decided to go to Barnes & Noble instead of sitting around in the dark. Back from the bookstore, I found the lights back on so I finished plying. Here's the result of my Saturday efforts. I love that, even when our modern conveniences fail us, our trusted spinning wheels still work.

This past week, La Petite Knitterie began carrying my newest handpainted yarns, inspired by the sea and great for lace knitting. There is a 40% silk/60% kid mohair yarn as well as a 100% tassar silk boucle. Kat, La Petite's owner, is stranding these two yarns and knitting a lovely lacey scarf. Her project can be seen in the first edition of her new online newsletter, "LPK Spin", accessible through the store website: http://www.lapetiteknitterie.com This picture shows the soft beachy colors that are so wearable and perfect for summer projects. The silks include "bleu mer", "sea grass", "coral", "shell pink", "seashell" and "coquille", which can be paired with the soft watercolors of the silk/kid mohair yarns.

And a little update as for my progress on the coral lace scarf which I've been knitting. This project uses my silk/kid mohair yarn in "pale coral", stranded with a dupioni raw silk that I dyed in a deeper coral to match. This scarf is light as a feather, silky, and will be great to wear on a summer evening down by the beach.