Shawl love

Prior to the beginning of my knitting career, I’m pretty sure the last time I wore any sort of a shawl type thing was the mint green and white marled poncho my great grandma made me when I was 6.  I wore the heck out of that thing, along with the pink rhinestoned cowboy boots my Mom bought me (in my mind they matched) but after that I pretty much ignored shawls.  I didn’t even wear scarves very often, determined as I was to overturn the stereotype of the professional singer who is always swathed in scarves to protect her instrument.

Really, I can’t imagine what I was thinking.  Nothing beats a fancy shawl or scarf for drama, and nothing is better that knitting this one.

This is 4 repeats of the Shetland Triangle shawl.  The yarn is every bit as lovely and soft as it looks here.  They may be expensive, but I’m just about to the point of thinking Handmaiden yarns are worth the price – everything stitch of this yarn (Silk maiden) is a joy. The pattern is super easy to memorize, meaning this is a shawl that even makes good tv knitting!

Closeup of the lovely leaves.  I am so happy knitting this!

I haven’t worked on Joy anymore, but the Babette blanket is coming along – I’ve finished the first two sections, so next I will go ahead and seam those up.

I’m happily planning my Chicago trip.  This is my second trip this year, and we will likely go again (I want to go to Stitches Midwest this year.)  This time we will also be going to Wisconsin to visit one of Marc’s best friends who is in a monastary there (yes, he is becoming a monk.)  We’re staying downtown, since Marc’s training is there, and that makes me happy since I can wander on my own quite happily in the middle of a city.  Since I’m currently obsessed… are there any Chicago stores that sell Handmaiden yarns?  No one in my city does, and I’d love to see some in person, and maybe be able to get some Sea Silk to make Tuscany.

Speaking of yarn, Knitpicks has put up their new spring colors/yarns at last!  I ordered Comfy, their new cotton/acrylic blend in Pomegranate (red) to make Currer from Norah Gaughan Vol. II… or at least that’s the plan, although I don’t trust the design enough to make it before I see a completed one modeled.  I also got enough shine sport in a pretty new green (sycamore) to make the Printed Silk Cardigan.  I know I can’t get gauge with Shine Sport, but I would have to make the sweater smaller anyway, because a 34 is going to be big on me… and shine sport is one of my all time favorite yarns.  I threw in some Shine Worsted to make the Lutea shell from last summer’s IK as well.  I have used Shine worsted before and was underwhelmed, but that was because I chose poorly – I was making Something red out of it, and the yarn was too drapey.  I think it will be nice for a shell, and not so heavy without sleeves.

I’ve been planning my summer/summer knits happily – I think this may be the summer of shawls and sleeveless sweaters.  I’m also, curiously, interested in revisiting some patterns I made before.  I have been wanting to make Rusted Root again forever – I made a poor substitution there, and it was my first sweater, and it’s too big.  I got some Cotton Fleece in Sedona Red (yes, the color in the pattern, what of it?) so that I can finally have one exactly the way I wanted.  I’m also going to try Something Red again, this time in the recommended Blue Sky Cotton (in Pickle, not in red.)  I made a tank with this last year and hated it, but again I think the yarn wasn’t great for that purpose – it was thick with no drape.  In other words – pretty much things that are ok in a cardigan.

My Ravelry queue is now 7 pages long. Admittedly, at least half is socks, but still… 7 pages! Thank goodness I knit quickly!

Thanks for all the nice comments on my Flutter Sleeve cardigan – it should be warm enough to wear it this weekend! Sarah Jane thanks you all for the compliments on her as well. She has a clean bill of health, so we are now trying to introduce her to the other cats. I won’t say it’s going great – lots of hissing and growling, but no fights, so it could be worse. Right now, when she’s out of “her” room she wants to be in the room I’m in, and she follows me around. She gets into the room, and then stares at the other cats until they run off… poor kitties. It’s sad, but also funny because Leon is 3 times her size and yet he’s a little afraid! It does seem to be getting better – hey, they don’t have to be friends, all I ask is that they ignore each other! Let me know if anyone has any advice to make the transition easier – we’ve followed most of the advice I found online for introducing a new cat, and it is going better than the last time I tried this with them. Mostly I need a way to get Sarah Jane to relax a little around them, but I know it will take time – her time on the streets made her wary of other cats, even though she still loves people to death.