One FO, Three WIPs

I think it is an unwritten law that if you are knitting from Mason-Dixon Knitting, you are required to do at least one Ballband Dishcloth, so here is mine.



I took me two tries to get going, and then I thought, This is ok but not much fun. But the further along I went, the more fun it became, plus I could see how this little project could use up a lot of LO yarn and how one could have a lot of fun combining colors. And it knits up really quickly. I cast on a bit too loosely, though, hence the ruffly look at one end.

Meanwhile, I am still working on the previously mentioned lace shawl, second guessing myself all along the way. For one thing, the pattern I chose has a direction to it; if I had thought about it, I would not have chosen it for a shawl. But while leafing through Knitting Rules!, I came across the section on grafting and realized I can knit the shawl in two halves and graft them together so the direction will run in the right way from the center. (Thank you, Stephanie!)



Also, I want to frame the entire shawl in a different lace pattern, so I slipped the first stitch of each row. Unfortunately, I also ran the stockinette right up to the edge, so the edges are curly. Hopefully, when I pick up the edges and knit the lace border and block the whole thing, it will lay down nice and flat.

Last year I tried my hand at legwarmers (here and here) with not very good results. The snug pink heather socks, though, taught me that if I dropped a needle size (or two), I could knit up some legwarmers that would actually stay up.



My daughter liked the gray socks, so these are also gray, but in Cascade 220 instead of Lion Brand Wool-Ease. They look kinda skinny, but I'm counting on the wool relaxing when I block.

And, finally, I decided to make the baby kimono from Mason-Dixon Knitting. The pattern gives one the option of knitting in either garter or stockinette, and since I have not had much success seaming the former, I went with the latter despite its tendency to curl. My anti-curling strategy is a couple of rows of garter stitch along the bottom and around the cuffs. Also, I don't like knitting one half of a one-piece piece at a time, so I am working both sides, knitting from both ends of the yarn skein.



The annual Johnny Appleseed Festival occurred this weekend. I don't go every year, but was looking for something to hold the ends of the black shawl together. (No success there, but I think I'll make some i-cord and use that somehow.) I also wondered if there would be any handspun yarn. The AuGres Sheep Factory had just the thing, but I was not completely prepared and did not buy any.



I did buy these sheepskin mittens from them, though. Today is a lovely autumn day, which means winter is not far behind.