Picture of my shawl so far

I have been busy, but I have been away and unable to post my pictures. But here is what I had as of Thursday morning. We went off to West Virginia for our Imbolg (pronounced "Em olk") Celebration with the Owl's Nest.

I'm not sure I like this particular yarn. It's weaving cotton from Webs. I have a huge cone of it and will use it up for this and that project. It does knit up nicely and in this picture (actually a scan) it shows what a nice drape it developes.

But I'm already planning my next shawl. I ordered and received some sock yarn from Germany called "Owl" that I'm going to use to knit a Candle Flame Shawl for our next elder. Fortunately, thanks to the knitting list where I learned about the Candle Flame Shawl, they also posted the corrections to the pattern. There is a new stitch in it that will be a new skill for me... and I'm getting my fill of new skills lately.

I also started socks for DH on double pointed needles. Ah ha! What a disaster this is! But I have faith, I will figure this out so I'm plodding on knowing this first sock will probably be completely frogged but I need to learn some of the basics, make some really bad mistakes and keep trying.

What is a Local Yarn Shop Anyway? I Think It's All Relative

Hipknitism.com | Free Online Classes | Basic Ribbed Socks | Lesson 1: The Basic Ribbed Sock Pattern

I found this lesson series for making basic socks. I bought yard today to make a pair for my husband in black. I also purchased double-pointed needles.

I visited Got Yarn near Richmond today. She was very amused that I considered my 2-hour drive from my house to her shop to include her as a "local" shop. I live so far out in the middle of nowhere, if I can get there and back in half a day, it's local.

Today was my recovery day. I feel so much better now. I spent too much money but I so desperately needed a day alone (no kids, no friends, no inmates, no coworkers, no husband -- no body!). I even left the radio off so I didn't have to listen to someone chattering. I visited Michaels, Got Yarn, Elwood & Thompson's (whole foods), Office Max and then came home. Extremely therapeutic for me.

Am I strange to so desperately need time alone?

Shawl Knit-a-long

I have decided to join in on a knit-a-long for beginner knitters in which we will be making a triangular shawl.

The link is here: Knit-A-Long Shawl

I am going to use a lace-weight cotton that I bought a while ago on a two-pound spool.

I'm going to cheat a bit because we aren't supposed to start until the 23rd of January. But since I am using very light yarn and very small needles, I need a small advantage so I have half a chance of getting this finished this year!

Frogged the black sweater

Well, last evening I frogged the entire sweater back I had started for Matthew (my youngest). The more I read, the more I have come to realize that I will probably HATE finishing sweaters knitted in pieces. Therefore, I am going to start this thing over and knit it in the round.

I would like to do a top down sweater but I'm not sure how to do that yet. I'm hoping by the time I get up to the armholes, my mother will be able to help me put in the sleeves. I'm thinking I will work my way from the bottom (with some ribbing there to make it fit right) and then stop when I get to the bottom of the sleeves and go see her.

Using my circular needles, I will be able to return her straights (which will make her happy as I'm not very good at returning her stuff).

The other reason for frogging it is the small matter of the multiple holes that appears from dropped stitches, the rows there I should have purled when I used knitted and the overall mess I made of it early on. This will give me a fresh start and hopefully success.

Creative Knit Magazine

I just got my first issue of Creative Knit Magazine. Pretty cool stuff in there. I especially like the Capelet on page 46 and the Boleros on pages 56 & 57.

The fun fur edged cowl hat/neck thing is coming along now. I've learned how to increase and decrease pretty smoothly.

Oh, my books arrived too. I got Knitting The Old Way by by Priscilla A. Givson Roberts and Deborah Robson, Sally Melville's Book 3: Color The Power and the Glory, and The Sweater Workshop, 2nd edition by Jacqueline Fee.

I'm very excited by all three books. My husband chuckled at me yesterday evening as I was looking over the Creative Knit Magazine while knitting my cowl thing. "You've gotten really hooked on this knitting thing," and shook his head. But then, he shouldn't be too surprised. I tend to throw myself into anything new.

I will try to get a picture of the cowl thing and my purple wrap thing this weekend and post them in progress.

Lacy Fuzzy Scarf

I made my son's girlfriend a really quick knit scarf. I used size 15 needles. I used Lion Brand Micro Spun in Silver Grey. One half of a skein went into it. I held one strand of it together with Fun Fur in black/white/grey for about six rows. Then I dropped the Fun Fur for about 6 rows. The thing was in garter stitch.

It was about 5 feet long. I finished it in about three hours.

I wish I had taken a picture of it... but I suspect she will come back for a visit and I will get a shot of it then.

I'm using the leftovers to make a Circular scarf thing that is sort of a hood and a scarf all in one. Basically a large tube that will go over my head and pull up like a hood with the fun fur edge to the front. This is a pure experiment as I've not knitted in the round before.