Oh my goodness… it's here, it dyes beautifully and it fills a gap in the market! Imagine a sock yarn that is fine; finer than the 2.5mm-needle yarns everyone is knitting with. That you could actually knit lacy socks or stockings with that don't look and feel like over-sized socks…

Hundreds of stitches? NO! And pretty close to old-fashioned 3-ply. Think 80 sts per round rather than 60. That's 20 sts per needle rather than 15. Everyone can oversee that difference. And knitting with 2mm needles is not THAT different from knitting with 2.25 or 2.5mm.

It's on its way, peeps. It's coming. I'm designing with it, I'm writing up patterns. I'm working on a new home-dyeing technique. And I'm organising a dyed range of it as well.

To make it easy to recognise, I'll give it a name. Soliloquy. Not a monologue, as it addresses the audience. This yarn speaks to you. As Soliloquy Natural (un-dyed) or Soliloquy Shades (vibrant, hand-dyed colours).

This post is me bubbling over with excitement. I cannot keep quiet anymore. It's coming…..!

Betty is Peter's mum. Having knitted socks for just about everyone in the family, Betty had, until now, not been "touched by my needles"- isn't that a nice way of hiding the fact that I've pushed my knitting onto just about everyone I know…? But – I digress. At Bob's request and with grave reluctance I had knitted Betty a Groovy Beret for her Birthday in March. The reluctance grew out of my lack of confidence at Betty's ability to wear said beret with much grace, even though she was mortifyingly delighted when she was given it (I was the mortified one, as it rubbed in rather painfully how she'd clearly been waiting, ever so patiently, until I would finally knit her something – anything!). In a failed attempt to dissuade her from the beret, I had, rather desperately, offered to knit her a Leafy Lace Shawl. She was moved to tears by the offer while the last drops of my self esteem evaporated. So when I finished a knee-length pair of Cookie A socks (to be admired soon on Ravelry in my list of FO's), I dyed 2 hanks of my own Cashmere Sock Yarn and started knitting.

Yesterday evening I finished and blocked it.

And here it is, as a welcome example of my beloved pattern in both a different colour way and  different yarn.
I am very impressed with the yarn after blocking. This shawl has much more drape than the one in Jeni's (Fyberspates) Sparkle Sock. While the Sparkle is lovely, with lots of airy bounce, this one has an air of sleek & slinky about it. I wore it to knitting group this morning and had to take it off straight after I made my entrance as it was so warm on my shoulders. Betty will be delighted and I've just realised I have enough of the yarn left to knit a large sample swatch including edge so I can show off the drape of my new favourite yarn at shows to come. Do let me know what you think of it!

p.s. The centre triangle was dyed using a combination of Helen Deighan's All-in-one Dyes in Paprika, Turmeric and Summer Green. The Border is Paprika with a drop of both Summer Green and Turmeric in it. By mixing like this you create a colour family; works a treat!