Web-Letter Issue 209 – Dandelion Shawl in Silky Alpaca Lace When Stephanie Steinhaus from Unwind in Burbank, CA joined several members of the CEY team for dinner during TNNA this June, we were challenging each other to think outside of the box when the idea for a Silky Alpaca Lace design competition emerged. This type of contest is perfect for Unwind, as they stock all our Silky Alpaca Lace colors and run a comprehensive design course for new and intermediate knitters. Stephanie opened the contest to all her customers, who in turn had two months to design and knit a piece in Silky Alpaca Lace. The criteria were that the piece had to be hip, wearable, knittable, and take full advantage of the qualities that make Silky Alpaca Lace special. The blend of alpaca and silk is luxurious and light-as-air, and many contestants utilized the wide palette of solid and hand-painted shades. Judging fell on CEY's design team, and it was tough. We selected two winners, one in the garment category and this beauty in the accessories category. The Dandelion Shawl, designed by Kavita Sleight, is very "CEY"; it's classic, knitterly, and full of unexpected details. Visit our blog to see the runner-up in the accessories category, and stay tuned for our garment winner next week.                (file size: 1 MB; published September 20, 2011) If you have difficulty with the PDF, try these: page 1 – page 2 – page 3
The Yarn:	Silky Alpaca Lace 70% Alpaca • 30% Silk Silky Alpaca Lace is a beautiful blend of fibers, spun into a gossamer yarn that knits into amazing lightweight pieces. The alpaca in this yarn provides warmth and a soft halo, the silk adds a subtle sheen to the knitted stitches. Worked in lace with larger needles, Silky Alpaca Lace makes lovely, light-as-air shawls, garments and accessories.
For more on Unwind's Design Competition... The finalists for the Silky Alpaca Lace Design Competition were so beautiful! There were many heated debates in the office about which designs best met our criteria. Since we couldn't pick just one big winner(or even two), we picked two additional designs that we thought deserved honorable mention. Find out more about our runner-up in the accessories category, the Poppycock Shawl, and see more photos of the Dandelion shawl on the blog.
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