Osborn Fiber Studio

So much going on! We’re halfway through the second week of the semester, mum just visited for another business meeting, I have skeins of yarn to package and mail, Lenten KAL sign-ups are well underway, ravelry ads just went up, and i just made a ravelry group for the KAL …. But none of these things are my current obsession.

If you’ve been around here a bit, you probably remember the Evenstar Shawl I made last year. (It’s the last post from last June…. I’d link to it, but the post is sort of a downer, so don’t go looking for it unless you have some chocolate at hand.) Although accompanied by a rather sad story, the piece ended beautifully, and I was instilled with complete and utter confidence in Susan Pandorf‘s designs. Here is a woman with incredible talent in designing lace, not to mention other things, who really gets the Lord of the Rings series, as well as the whole aesthetic. (My fantasy of knitting through her series of patterns in order while reading through the books has reached new heights – there’s a spreadsheet.)

So now I am counting down the hours until the first clue of the second mystery knit-along comes out on Friday. I have only three days to go, but… I’m still waffling on yarn choice. So maybe you can help me.

Choice 1 is a crazy thing I did that I will have to tell you about another time – Basically, it’s a freakishly large amount of shiny silver nylon-silk thread that got destashed to me through Jonica – It was way too fine for me, so I plied two strands together, divided it into mini-skeins and dyed it in a gradiance (a brave thing after my last attempt, I know).

But this epic work is being usurped by a weighty contender. While fussing around and waiting for the gradiance to try, I’ve been distracted by my own beautiful “denim” colored handspun, the merino-silk laceweight that took me 6 months to wait and got me two blue ribbons and a champion at last summer’s fairs. I have just the right amount, and it has that deep blue with flecks of silver that just fit the “starry night” conception I have associated with the phrase and the song “In Dreams.”

The beads are clear glass, silver-lined – I knew they would be my perfectly star-studs, no matter what else I picked.

After knitting swatches in both of them, I realize why it has been so hard to decide – they’re really like comparing apples and oranges.

The silk/nylon thread has no give at all, but the sheen is delicious. The fabric has a wonderful cool, slipper feeling, and I know with large quantities of beads it will feel like wearing water.

The merino, on the other hand, is like a cloud – weightless apart from the beads, but lofty.

So what do you think? I am leaning in one direction, but I won’t tell you what it is yet… I want some unbiased opinions before I make my final choice.