Garneteers Rule

Once upon a time there was a woman who did not touch lace yarn. She thought that it was pretty but wondered who in the world would want to knit and knit and knit with little needles and a whole bunch weensy stuff. For some reason, at one of her shows, she heard a voice in the crowd say, "got anything for lace knitters"?. A light went on and she listened. She put a few skeins of the stuff into stock and no one came, but, she photographed them and had her Canadian Web Goddess make a page for lace yarn, in a couple of nice colors. Ho hum, nobody cared. Ok, I will wait, sez I. I get a request from this nice woman from New Hampshire, this other mild mannered individual with a camera. Sez she, "how do you think THIS color would look for THIS shawl pattern"? Do I know ONE THING about shawls in lace? NO. So, I email The Web Goddess and ask her opinion, after all, she has designed these and knew about other lace projects going around. She thought that The New Hampshire Woman might just pull it off and so a phenomenon was born. I tell the New Hampshire Woman With A Camera, who will from now on be known as HELEN that if she wanted to try knitting a lace pattern with a painted colorway, well, I would make the yarn happen for her. The rest is history.

She turned me on to a generous online nest of fiber enthusiasts and my life changed. This nest of fiber enthusiasts had questions...hey, sez The Blonde...can you invent some lace yarn that looks like the stuff on this pillow? Um, sure, why not? Oh yes, and The Retired Engineer, who fell in love with the way someone else's sweet pets look sleeping together sez, Can you make a color like this? Oh sure, no problem (!) it is worth the story, just to attempt and so Ginger Peach was born. Then there is that Keating woman...can you, will you, might you? Ummm, sure. (I still have to do your latest request, oh Keating Woman and the latest one for The Retired Engineer is still on the to invent list.) See where I am going? Lace knitters. The people who have a ton of fun for $28 have become my dear friends. Who knew? I love to spin and knit with worsted to chunky yarn, with texture and color and they love to knit lace! How did this happen, this warm fuzzy friendship thing? How lucky could a solitary dyer/spinner/knitter be?

You see, there became a rally cry amongst these Lace knitters, long before I surfaced on their web-ular gathering place. They called themselves The Garneteers, simply because of discovering a certain color that came out of a certain big pot. A whole lot of fun for not much money...Lace Yarn in Garnet. Here are three of those beloved Garneteers now. Aren't they pretty? There you see, left to right, Sam, Melanie and Caroline in their beautiful Siberian Winter shawls. What a great shot. Next thing I know, this very soft, light and warm thing is being wrapped around my shoulders like a hug. Here you go, Caroline...
See that satisfied look on Caroline's face? She THINKS that this is getting me to fall down the same rabbit hole that she caught me in with a picture of her Cormo fleece. Here me loudly, I AM NOT GOING TO KNIT A LACE SHAWL. whew, sorry for shouting but this woman is relentless. :oD That task goes up there with knitting socks...perhaps when I retire. Perhaps.

I would be remiss, if running through other photos of the evening if I did not show you another of Those People. Yup, it is the ever creative Laura in her (her words, not mine) Gibbon Arm Sweater of her own design. She has actually taken the sleeves out and is in the midst of shortening them now, which will not surprise those of us that saw her rip down a panel of an intricate cabled sweater and re-do it without the use of brain surgery. Yes, The NICE Doctor Laura. :o)

Alright. It is time for me to try to sneak out of this room while the dogs snoring is loud enough to mask my footsteps. (I live in a fantasy world, I know...Tank will waken with the first move. He is snoring under the desk, sending up generous green clouds, thanks to his late breakfast. GASP!)

I think that I will throw some chunky Mikado yarn intoooooo Garnet!

Comments

[CarolineF]

What a great entry! Well we may not have sucked you into the lace vortex but there are other ways to have Garnet...
Nice picture of Laura, too, by the way.

[CarolineF]

What a great entry! Well we may not have sucked you into the lace vortex but there are other ways to have Garnet...
Nice picture of Laura, too, by the way.

[elizabeth]

This was a very fun entry! I love FT too. So much knowldege ,such wonderful women!

[Angela]

Lisa, you're a big part of what makes FT wonderful. Thanks for falling down that rabbithole :)

[Wendy]

Yay pretty laceweight! Several years ago I bought a large hank of lace yarn from you at Stitches West. And I worked diligently on this shawl with it http://www.fiddlesticksknitting.com/GardenLarge.html

But I got tired of it and put it away for the better part of a year. And when I found your bolg, I began thinking about it again. And now its back. And I'm itching to finish it! I love the color (south pacific) and the yarn too.

But the last item I worked on was a cabled sweater in Cascade 220 on #8's. I feel now like I'm futzing around with toothpicks and dental floss.

[Sam]

Lisa, what a delightful entry. Your fabulous writing style is one of the biggest reasons that we all love you to pieces. :-) Well, that, and the fabuloso lace weight and roving, you color Goddess.

[Lisa S]

Now THAT is a lavish shawl, Wendy. How is the wild colorway doing with that lace work? I am always surprised when people use hand painted yarn (the subtle water color ones like Seaglass look like the one in that picture) for itsy bitsy lace but the over all looks is really pretty. Dental floss and toothpicks, that pretty much sums it up! I have some beautiful pieces of lace (a beaded bookmark and doily) knitted by The Web Goddess and I treasure them. My lace knitting is done in big yarn...I like that look and like the "instant gratification even more! :oD

Thanks for writing, everybody. I am working on a project that I am going to show off in steps tomorrow. Fun stuff with the half fleece of the colored Border Leicester and Tencel. Oh boyzee. Until tomorrow...

[Helle From Denmark]

Ahhh.....come on Lisa...just a single lace shawl. You can even choose what color you want to use!*LOL*

[Helen]

Do NOT. I repeat: do NOT ever knit lace. You are forbidden. If you were ever to do this thing we would lose our dye master and yarn pusher. I mean it kiddo. No lace for YOU.
Helen