I Now Have a Ravelry Group!

I'm so excited to announce that Claudia Donnelly Designs now has its own Ravelry group! It can be found here and please come and join us if you haven't already! I'm not sure what took me so long to do it. I suppose it was the same reason behind why it took me so long to design something of my own and why it took me so long to start a blog. In under 2 days my Ravelry group has already gained 79 members. That's so exciting for me!  If you aren't familiar with Ravelry you should be, especially if you knit, crochet, spin or do anything involving yarn. If you haven't joined, wander on over to Ravelry and sign up to join. Then wander further to my group and join here too! If you have knitted one or more of my patterns please share your pics with the group. I love to see the different yarns people have chosen to use! 

Speaking of patterns and yarn, the Crave project is going awesome and I am well into the border already. This is possibly the fastest I've ever put together a design before and I love it. This particular project is very close to my heart. Amor, the owner and magician behind Crave Yarn, and I are both relatively new to our respective specialties and that we can give each other a boost is a wonderful thing. Then again, there are so few people in the fiber community that I have met that I would not want to meet again. Just about everyone is always wonderful, creative and so fun to be around. Amor is so sweet, funny, caring, and so very, very talented...I can hardly wait to finish this project. Which, by the way, finally has a name. The shawl has been named Ferryn which means adventurous. Amor named the shawl and since she and I started off on this adventure together, I felt it was a very appropriate name. So, Ferryn is now well into the border. 14 repeats of the center spine pattern were completed before going into the border...

Here was the start of the border...

...and here we are now this evening...

I am so in love with this border I can hardly stand it. Despite its appearance its not very complicated at all. I've had it memorized since about the 2nd repeat. There are a few firsts with this design. This is the first time I've used faggoting in the design the way I have here...not just to connect the border to the body. This is the first time I've used a secondary pattern inserted into the border to create something really special. It's also the first time that I've taken an element from the body of the shawl and used it in the border. This is the first border pattern that is really all my own. So there are lots of firsts here and I'm really proud of this pattern. Early on when I was still working on the body of the shawl I knew that I wanted to add the cabled faggoting in the border somehow. I'm so glad I did, I think it really 'makes' it and ties it all together nicely. Most importantly, Amor is just as happy with it as I am! One of the things I talked about with Amor when we first met is how I like to aim my shawls at adventurous beginners and those who are very accomplished that want a little something more relaxing to knit. I try to use patterns that pack a lot of punch...looking complicated but aren't. Ferryn is definitely made to appeal to everyone. The patterns are easily memorized but like I said, pack a lot punch.

Another first for me will happen when Ferryn is released which should be by the end of April or beginning of May. I am going to release it for sale by itself and also as a kit with Crave Yarn! It was an awesome idea Amor had and we are going to run with it. I'd also like to start a KAL in my new Ravelry group as well so get ready! Lots of first with Ferryn!

Amor has sent me the yarn for my next Crave Project and let me tell you, the yarn? AMAZING! I tried photographing it in different light and in different places but it was very hard to get it just right, so I'll show you the best of what I took....

The colorway is called 'Stargazing on the Mesa' and its just gorgeous. Its full of blues, and purples and has subtle bits of tan and peach...just stunning. I cant wait until it tells me what it wants to be!

The weather here lately has turned into beautiful very quickly. The days are bright and sunny and the temps are in the 70's, absolutely gorgeous! I caught Audrey sleeping on the banco the other day and got a few really good pics that I knew I would share with you all...

I love how all her whiskers shimmer in the sun! I hope you are all enjoying your April Days and are knitting a lot. I am so excited to get Ferryn done! I will let you all know as soon as I release it and where it will be available and how to get the kits and so on. I'll see you all back here soon and until then...Knit On!