I have so many beautiful projects to share with you for this month’s Show and Tell. If you’re new here, Show and Tell is where people send in photos of what they have been working on to share with the rest of us. It’s an opportunity to share their work with people who really get what goes into each project, and it’s also a chance to gain inspiration and ideas from those projects. This month’s projects range from Advent calendar shawls to granny squares and everything in between.

Let’s start with Carol’s Advent calendar. She made this using the Lord of the Rings colorways and Alsatian Wrap pattern by Deborah Bowanko from the 2023 Advent calendar kit.

Isn’t it beautiful?

Next up is this lovely shawl Bobbe made using Afremov’s Farewell to Anger:

I believe Bobbe made the pattern herself!

Cila knit this lovely shawl using the Autumn Leaves colorway.

The pattern is Baltic Summer by Martina Behm.

Next we have a brand new design from Deborah Bowanko called Halfvent. Her idea was to make an Advent-style shawl pattern but for the slower days of summer. She’s going to be publishing the pattern soon, and then I’ll be sure to share the link with you.

Isn’t it lovely?

Krista made this delightful top:

She used Party Like It’s 2029 and Eggplant, and the pattern is Pearly Top by Maria Solvtofte.

The next project comes from Magdala. She has been using the club colorways to make these delightful crocheted squares:

She is using the Hygge Burst Scarf Pattern and plans to join all the variegated blocks with a bare skein and the semi-solid blocks with a variegated skein and put it all together.

Next up we have a gorgeous shawl from Nancy. She made this for her bestie using Phantom of the Opera and Lilac.

Then she took the leftover yarn and the little mitered square pattern I shared a couple months back and made this darling bird:

Here’s the tutorial she used if you want to make your own.

This next project comes from Robin who made a triangular shawl using Van Gogh’s Starry Night:

She used stockinette throughout with cluster stitches for the yellow “stars” and a garter stitch edge. She is also working on a cowl for a friend with the same colorway:

The last thing I want to share is something I’ve been working on. I wanted to come up with something that would really show off my handspun yarn, so I decided to weave some tote bags. I used Cream Buttery Soft DK for the warp because I wanted to be able to full the cloth, and since Buttery Soft DK is made of mostly non-superwash merino and baby alpaca, it fulls nicely. For the weft, I used yarn I spun from Purple Iris art batts for this first one:

For this next one I used Sailing Away art batts and added some interesting texture using knots every few inches:

With the last of the warp I made a little loom bag using yarn spun from Kristin Lavransdatter art batts. I fulled this one. You can see the fuzzy texture:

I had so much fun that I’m working up a second set of tote bags right now. Let me know if you would be interested in a step-by-step tutorial on how to make these for a future newsletter.

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Fresh from the Dye Pots

This week was another good productive week, so I’m not even going to try to show you everything I dyed. Instead, I’ll just show you my personal favorite and ask you to go take a peak at the New This Month section of my shop for all the rest.

My favorite is Sunset at Sea dyed on Stained Glass Sock. Here that is:

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New Grandbaby and Advent Calendar Timeline

Normally I wait to set up preorders for Advent calendars until August or September and then spend much of autumn dyeing them and putting together the kits. However, my oldest daughter has a new baby due in late September, which is SOOOO exciting! I’m planning to go help with the new baby, which means I need to move up the timeline for the Advent calendars!

I’m still finalizing the exact color palette, but I’m tending toward cozy colors with lots of neutrals and blues and a pop or two of something brighter.

Like last year, I plan to offer both a yarn Advent calendar and a fiber one for spinners using the same basic color palette. For the yarn calendar, I’ll definitely include a fingering-weight yarn base, but I’m considering offering a heavier weight base too. Let me know if that is something you would be interested in. If so, please let me know if you prefer DK or worsted weight.

Above all, I just wanted to give you a heads up so you’ll know what to expect. I’m going to try to have the preorders set up in a couple weeks with the goal of dyeing all the yarn in July and August. Keep an eye on my Friday newsletter because I will announce them here first.

I think that’s everything for this week. Have a great week full of fibery goodness and summertime bliss.