Petra: the mummy

Adorable and undead, Petra was my surprise Halloween project last year... and now she's back, available as a pattern in my Halloween collection (etsy shop, ravelry shop, craftsy shop)! And by popular demand, she comes with instructions for both a knit version of her hair, and a crochet version! 
Are you making Petra?Join us on Ravelry: CALwithDawnToussaint

A little overboard?

OK, I may have overdone it... but with the holidays coming up, gifts to make, and travel time to spend knitting, I think I was justified. So it all started when I saw that WintryFlowerByDesign is having a sale! With the prices as good as they are, the awesome color combos I was looking for, and the high quality fibers, I couldn't resist.

First, I wanted something soft and durable to make a scarf for a good friend... She likes an earthy olive green, but everything I found was just so green! Then I saw this "Mer" and thought how perfect that will be spun up and knit together... it has an overall green feel, but so much variation. Beautiful!

Then I saw the alpaca in a similar color way, but with a little more pink. It also has the hint of grey that silver alpaca lends. I can spin or ply this with my undyed sliver alpaca fiber for the most amazing shawl! I'm thinking "Nuvem" by Martina Behm.

And finally, I saw "Painting the night sky" and knew this was the colorway I needed for my halloween cowl. Perfect for trick or treating in the crisp October air. I better get started! Check out my ravelry project page for updates on these projects, and others.

But wait, what's this in the bottom of the box? A FREE sample of another amazing merino fiber. 

Talented and generous ;D

What's on the wheel

Well, after completing a worsted spun lace weight single (6.25oz) of this beautiful merino top from wintryflowerbydesign on etsy, I set it aside to rest and moved on.

My next project is this awesome kitchen sink batt I got on a recent trip to NY. It's got everything from alpaca to nylon, merino and others... And omg, the colors! The main colors are green and blue, but there are hints of rust pink and purple that really make it unique.

So what's the plan for this amazing fiber?
Well, I know I want to use it to make myself a scarf for my November trip to London. And I know I'd like it to be as unique in texture as it is in color, so I'm going with a thick and thin single. But there's a lot of variation in there so I'm going to tie it all together by plying it with a navy single I'm spinning from some really soft merino I picked up ages ago ( bonus points for stash busting with this one!)
And so far I'm feeling pretty good about this plan... I haven't exactly chosen a pattern yet, but I think I'll go for something in a simple stockinette in order to really let the yarn show, and get it done in time for the trip. Maybe something with some embellishments too, like a couple of cute buttons. If you have any suggestions feel free to send them my way...

I started spinning this batt by peeling apart the layers of color so that they were mostly in one color family but with a little bit of accent to it. So I have teal and green sections with accents of rosé, and purple blue sections with accents of beige... Take a look, it reminds me of a real patchwork quilt ;D