Fastest shawl ever? Not so much this time.

I've made it through only ten repeats of the chart that makes up the main body of the Swallowtail Shawl:



Though the repeats in this chart are shorter than in the Shetland Triangle's main chart (and it's a very easy pattern), I am having a difficult time getting into the groove of this one, and I find myself making lots of mistakes that I have to tink back to fix. The pattern calls for 14 repeats of this chart before moving on to the next one, but I plan to complete five extra repeats for a total of 19 - as many Ravelers have done - for a larger shawl.

Per SJ's recommendation, I've ordered a chart keeper from KnitPicks, and when it arrives, it will hopefully help me keep my rows straight and save me from making so many mistakes. I'm looking forward to knitting those nupps with a sick fascination, so I can't wait to start on the next chart!

Might as well face it. I'm addicted to lace.

Pattern: Shetland Triangle by Evelyn A. Clark [Ravelry link]
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy, Cloud Jungle colorway
Mods: Completed 10 repeats of the body chart; final blocked measurements: 55 x 28 inches

I'd like to send a huge shout out to Evelyn Clark for writing such a fabulous pattern. It was well written, easy to follow and enjoyable from start to finish. I know that I'll be making this one again in the future. In fact, I enjoyed this one so much that I did a little searching on Ravelry for Evelyn Clark's other shawl patterns, and into my queue went her Baltic Blossoms Lace Shawl Ravelry link], and her Swallowtail Shawl [Ravelry link]. Both of these shawl patterns include nupps (eeek!), and I'll be starting with the Swallowtail Shawl to try my hand at those for the very first time. I think that my lovely new Dream in Color laceweight will be perfect for the Baltic Blossoms shawl, but for the Swallowtail, I've chosen this gorgeous soft grey Alpaca with a Twist Fino from my stash:



I'm anxious to cast on, but have a list of chores that I need to complete before I can even think of starting, so I'm off to get those finished!

Fastest shawl ever.

My Interweave book order finally arrived last Wednesday afternoon, just in time to take it with me to Hurricane Knitters and start on the Shetland Triangle. SJ and Yvonne had my back though - they each brought their copy of Wrap Style for me to borrow in case mine had still not arrived! This was my first time following charts, so SJ helped me out with those and the provisional cast on called for in the pattern. I knit several rows of the first chart that night, but once I was more comfortable with the pattern and the chart, I decided to rip and restart the shawl on Thursday so that my stitches would be more even and my provisional cast on would look better. I knit away on the shawl for the past week, and late last night, I finished:



Once I got into it, the pattern was so easy, and this just flew off the needles! Heck, SJ cast on for this (in her own handspun, no less) as her Ravelympics project on Friday and was finished in three days! As usual, knitting with the Dream in Color yarn (Smooshy, Cloud Jungle) was a dream. This is probably my favorite colorway yet and the colors remind me of one of my favorite stones - labradorite:



The shawl is currently in a Eucalan bath for a nice long soak, and blocked photos will be forthcoming. I can't wait to see how it blocks out!

While I was out yesterday afternoon at Whole Foods, I couldn't resist a trip to Natural Stitches, especially after remembering that Melissa mentioned that they had Dream in Color's new laceweight yarn, Baby, in stock. This is one gorgeous ball of Blue Lagoon, all 700 yards of it graciously and perfectly wound by Melissa (thanks again, Melissa!):



I swear that this yarn just takes my breath away. While I was at the shop, I also had to check out what roving they had in stock, and lo, discovered some Lorna's Laces Shepherd Wool Top, which I've admired online several times:



That's about five ounces of superwash Merino wool in their Watercolor colorway, and it's just soft and lovely and delicious. Now I just need to finish spinning that green roving that's been sitting, half spun, on the wheel for ages!

More wee things for the clothesline.

Pattern: hats - Hareton by Jane Ellison (from Simply Noro) [Ravelry link]; socks - regular sock recipe with 40 stitches cast on
Yarn: hers - Koigu KPPPM (lost the ballband, so I'm not sure of the colorway); his - Claudia Hand Painted Yarns Fingering (Blue Terra Cotta)

The hats and socks coordinate with the sweaters nicely:





And, Yvonne, the hats fit the grapefruits:



I was hoping that by the time I finished the hats and socks, I could start on the Shetland Triangle, but my books have still not arrived from the Interweave Hurt Book Sale. They said to allow up to four weeks to receive the books, and my credit card was just charged on August 1, so it looks like I may be waiting another week at least, depending on how they're shipping the orders. Grr.

While I am waiting on the books, I will be keeping myself busy finishing up some singles that have been sitting on the wheel since January or February:



I haven't spun since then, and I hope I can remember how!