A Real Shawl, Not a Prissy One

I"m knitting a shawl. A real shawl. Not the foo-foo kind that really has no practical use at all. I mean, really, what is the use of a lace shawl, except to wrap it around my shoulders sitting in a rocking chair while I"m wearing a white high-neck blouse with puffy sleeves and a skirt that covers my feet. And then I guess I'd be knitting ANOTHER shawl. Hmmm. That is a vicious circle I'm just not willing to enter. This will NOT be a prissy shawl, the one that people will comment, "What a beautiful lace shawl", and and really be thinking " What an idiotic excuse for a shawl, She'll freeze in that. . . stupid girl."
So I'm making a different shawl, knit out of a Rowan yarn, a really nice merino tweedy wool. Chocolate and a deep lavender. This will be a shawl that will keep me cozy and keep out the cold. This a shawl that will be useful and beautiful. This will be a shawl that will inspire others to, well, wear one, I guess.

Life Takes Over

Wow, It's been awhile since I've taken "pen to paper" (so to speak) So much family stuff has been happening! Mother's Day weekend had us helping Jim's folks move into town from their cabin on the Stillwater. It was a beautiful landscape with boundless memories for Jim's parents, Jim himself and of course, our children. It was a sad time to leave, but at the same time, a time of hope since they will be closer. Honestly, I think, the grandkids will miss it the most. When they would come, it was just playtime. No work for them getting ready for camping and campfires. They loved sitting around the campfire, with Uncle Joe and Jim playing their guitars, singing the old songs. Grandpa Les inevitably blowing on the harmonica or accordian (yes, accordian)

To commemorate the move, Uncle Joe presented a beautiful picture-perfect painting of the view of the land and the river.

Since then, we've been doing plenty of helping out at their new place, lots of putting the kitchen away, adding shelving, deciding what stays up and what can go down! Whew, we're still not done! (Honestly, It's mostly Jim doing the doing)

You scrubby little urchins!

This has got to be the QUICKEST knit EVER! This beret is made up of 7 panels of short rows - it took me 15 minutes to knit up one of the panels, so that means a total of 1 hour and 45 minutes to knit this. there are so many bulky yarns to use for this, every one will look totally different! The pattern is from Knitty, called urchin (due to it's odd sea-urchin shape), This is going to be a class at Wild Purls this summer.

LOOK AT THESE:

Knitted out Farmhouse Lumpy Bumpy, I still had plenty of yarn left.

This was knit out of Noro Iro. My thought is it's the most flattering;

 so soft and fuzzy, a lot better drape 

 (especially on my model, Karen!)

Knit from Plymouth Lana D Oro, this was certainly the easiest. It was the first , because I wanted to be able to get the feel for the pattern and didn't want any "yarn" distractions. It was a good plan, laying the groundwork and confidence to race in the others, knowing they would be both quick and beautiful.

But will the Bride like it?

The scallops are perfect. The sewing is finished. The pictures are taken. But will the Bride like it?
Hopefully, she’ll appreciate the work involved. The scallops took alot of practicing and in the process I found out from TanisKnits that there were some errors in the scallop portion of the pattern.
The bag itself was very easy, the scallops were a new technique for me - challenging, but fun! I had to order the hardware from the source listed in Vogue Knitting, and added the lining, which I think is very important to add structure to the project.

Finished Nature's Colors Pillow

Works in Progress

I'm definitely moving ahead on these projects! Half the pillow is done, and it is gorgeous. This is a very simple pattern. The first 6 rows are garter stitch on needle size 6, the rusched portions are achieved by increasing one stitch in every stitch (doubling your stitch count), and then knitting with a different colorway on needles 2 sizes bigger for 6 rows again, and alternating these rows. I'm also working on my class project, the Satchel. This is for Stephen's Graduation, and I've finished the bag portion, just working now on the strap. I'll be also adding pockets and I'm still figuring out a computer sleeve. Stephen asked for that, I'll try to customize this a little further. The stripes are based on stripes of 4's: 4 - 8 -8 - 4 -4 -4 - 8 - 8 - 4. It makes the knitting go faster, plus you are automatically keeping track on row counts.



Okay, I also wanted to throw in this picture of the first day of class. It may be indicative of how the class will go. Laurie's yarn pooped a big mess. We have a great group of knitters, some new, some been doing it awhile. Everyone is almost done, and I'm sure we will be hitting the laundrymat next week. If anyone reads this, bring some quarters!

New WIP'S!

Look at all the projects I've started! The new messenger bag is me getting 2 things done with one stone! I'm teaching the class on messenger bags and the finished product will be for Stephen's graduation. Then there is Nikki Epstein's ruffled bag from the newest Vogue Knitting mag. It's going to be for my nephew's bride-to-be. Check out the yarn - It's beaded silk! It's gorgeous. Ummm, then there is "Penelope's Pillow" from the book, Knitter's Stash. It's knit out of 2 colors of Noro Silk Garden on 2 needle sizes. And I'm about half way done with my first pair of socks and still working away on Jim's sweater. At this moment, I'm probably the most excited about the ruffled bag and Penny's Pillow. Penny's Pillow is really going to be a Wild Purls sample.