Shawl we?

I like to knit shawls but I don't like to wear them. The blocking does not hold, they don't stay on my shoulders, the yarn sheds, etc. BUT. Last Thursday, tired of wearing layer upon layer, I chose a single cashmere turtleneck sweater (a gift - I can't afford cashmere!) I didn't think it would be warm enough by itself, so I added the Wingspan shawl and a shawl pin I had not yet used. Voila!

Not only was I warmer, but I received complements on the pairing of sweater and shawl. (I rarely get compliments about my fashion sense, so this is a big deal.) And it did add just enough warmth to keep me comfortable throughout the day.

Now I'm thinking shrugs might be a nice thing to add to my wardrobe.

Vintage Shawl

This dropped stitch shawl was an unusual experience, because dropping stitches (like steeking and felting) just feels wrong.



But the results are interesting.



Pattern: Vintage Shawl from Runway Knits
Modifications: None, except I didn't understand the bind off instructions, so the ends don't quite match
Yarn: Krabella Aurora Bulky in "Aubergine"
Needles: US10 straights



This is for my daughter, per her request. Hope she protects it from cat puke because I'm not sure how it would stand up to washing.

Bad Yarn Day

I woke up early this morning and decided I might as well get up and knit over coffee. Last night I had finished the top on one Jaywalker sock, so I started catching up on the second. One thing I like about this pattern is the stitch increases at the needle ends hides my laddering between DPNs. One thing I dislike about the pattern is the double-decrease in the middle of each needle, which is where I screwed up this morning. My eyes were not focusing yet, so I set that aside to fix later and picked up the lace shawl... and dropped several stitches there as well. Ok, maybe it was too early to knit. At noon, I picked up cream-colored sock #2 and started working on the 2x2 ribbing for the top. I happened to glance at sock #1, though, and realized it was done in 1x1 ribbing. Fortunately, I had not gone far on #2, so I ripped that out and started over. Friday night is no-knitting night - I eat popcorn and watch a movie instead - and it looks like I really need a break.

On a different topic, I brought The Happy Hooker to work yesterday for a coworker, and she reciprocated by giving me a copy of her Patternworks catalog. While leafing through the catalog, I saw a photo of a model wearing a crocheted scarf that looked just like a scarf in THH. Hmmm. When the coworker returned my book, I checked it out: not only was it the same scarf, it was the exact same photo! I can see the pattern designer selling the pattern to two different publications, but how did the same photo get in both?

And topic number three is, The Opnionated Knitter: Elizabeth Zimmerman Newsletters 1958-1968. I must have read something about this book somewhere, probably in relation to the Baby Surprise sweater, and checked it out of the library, but I think I may have to purchase it. After all, it has a pattern for an Adult Baby Surprise sweater, among other timeless designs. So many projects, so little time!

Mini Milestones

No finished objects yet, but I've reached these milestones:

* Finished one cream-colored sock and started sock #2
* Completed another pattern repeat on Falling Leaves lace shawl - one more to go!

Also, the afghan has only 8 rows remaining. I just may glue my but to the sofa and finish that tonight... or on Sunday while watching football.

From what I hear, November is National Blogging Month. Is that true? Is there really a month honoring blogging? Why?!? People are promising to blog daily for the entire month. I don't even floss daily. But while I will probably not formerly participate, I am secretly hoping that some of my favorite bloggers take the opportunity to blog more often. During the summer months, several of them fell out of the habit, and they have yet to pick it up with any regularity. And you know who you are! Get typing!

Progress

It seems like, in every blog I read, the author is either going to Rhinebeck and/or publishing a new book and/or has a nasty illness of one sort or another. All I have experienced lately is the latter, but maybe Rhinebeck next year. I read Clara Parke's description of how, as a child, she wanted to be a writer but she didn't know what she would write, until the obvious occurred: a book on yarn. So maybe someday, my subject will be revealed to me as well.

Meanwhile, I continue to knit. The lace shawl is progressing, the body of another vintage bag is done, the afghan crawls along, and somehow I ended up with two pairs of socks on the needles at the same time.

The worsted weight cream-colored socks I started over WW are progressing nicely, except since I am using US5 needles and ribbed the entire top, I am using more yarn than I expected and will have to buy another skein.



I may turn them into IU socks by adding a crimson logo, then gift them to my son.

But the socks that are enchanting me right now are these:



The pattern is "Jaywalker" from MagKnits and the yarn is Austermann Step (color 12, if that helps you). I bought the yarn long ago in a yarn store far away (okay, last December, at the Yarn Basket in Fitchburg, MA) before I even knew how to knit socks. I like the zigzag pattern, and the striping is subtle enough that, even though the socks won't match because I am knitting two at a time from either end of the skein, they should be fine. These are for my daughter, but if they turn out too big for her....

Amazingly, it was just last March when I took a basic sock class, and since then I have knit 8 pairs. I also took a lace shawl class that really stretched my abilities, and I swore I would never do lace again, but here I am with another lace shawl on the needles. Never say never.