Katywhumpus: Euphoria and Walden, a bandit and a monster

I've found an even better spot for photographing knitting than the porch at my office. I needed to take pictures of some stuff and I needed breakfast and coffee. So Traci and I headed out to Bread Euphoria on the Northampton/Williamsburg line, home of (in my opinion) the best pastries in Western Mass. Their morning buns are sheer perfection. And they are expanding and will soon have a cafe with lots of seating and parking. They're even moving the driveway (Those of you who have experienced pulling out onto Rt 9 on that blind corner know what a good thing that is) and paving it.

We found a little table outside and each took a turn modeling my new Springtime Bandit shawl.

This was totally selfish knitting. After finishing the lace shawl for my soon-to-be-sister-in-law (15 days!) I needed to make something for me. I had this yarn - Cormo, Silk and Alpaca - bought out of the seconds bin at the Foxfire Fiber booth at the NH Sheep & Wool Festival last year. I love this yarn. It feels like your favorite old sweatshirt. I did one extra repeat of the main body pattern of the shawl because my gauge was a bit smaller than called for. It's the perfect size and so comfy I want to wear it all the time.

Also photographed during breakfast was my new Walden Beret. This is the second one of these I've made and it is my own design. This is done in sock yarn dyed in peacock colors by Melissa (it is basically the same as Valley Yarn's Franklin).

The first Walden Beret has left me in hopes of bigger and better things. I'll keep you posted... It was done in sparkly sock yarn dyed especially for me by Gail the Kangaroo Dyer. Gail calls this yarn Twinkletoes because it has thin strands of stirling silver spun into it. I love the earthy tones of this yarn - they were the inspiration for this beret's name.