Madelinetosh - 'in the flesh'

I've been hearing about Madelintosh hand dyed yarns on various podcasts for a while now. Reviewers have been absolutely swooning about this yarn. A couple of weeks ago I dropped into Mary's Yarns in Unionville and came face to face with it. I decided to purchase a skein of Pashmina which is 75% merino, 15% silk and 10% cashmere, sport weight and has a generous 360 yards.  I picked a lovely lilac colour called 'Ms Taylor'. (top image is the most colour-accurate)

The labels are pretty non-descript -- simple grey print on a while card stock band.  Now I'm trying to figure out what to knit with it; maybe a lovely scarf? A shawlette perhaps? Or a neck warmer of some kind? Decisions, decisions.

Today while shopping at WalMart I picked up a deeply discounted skein of Bernet Cottontots. I felt like I should knit something completely frivolous just for a break during the various projects I already have on the needles.

I sat down at the beginning of CBS's "60 Minutes" and by the end of the show I had finished it.

I'm still puttering away on the Dianna shawl but it's a big job.

Last week I found a frame I had purchased to fit a cross-stitch project I had completed several years ago. I liked the design because it reminded me of my Royal Albert Petit Point china. I knew if I googled 'cross-stitch framing' or 'stretching stitchery projects', I'd figure out how to stretch it myself so I could just pop it into the frame. All I needed was a piece of foam core board which I purchased for $2.99 plus tax at the local art supply store and rust proof pins. It took a couple of tries trying to get it centred but finally it was done.

Ta Da!

That was easy!