Simple Things

I woke up this morning feeling miraculously like an actual human being! Some nasal congestion and a nasty cough still remain, but my energy level is on an upward trend. I managed to get out to run a couple of errands and even do a little cleaning around the house. But I was careful to not push too hard as I want to avoid a backslide at all costs. I'm so ready to be well again! There was a part of me that was starting to wonder if I'd acquired some weird strain of respiratory infection usually only occurring in sheep from Maryland! Thank goodness I'm finally on the mend.

I was so happy today about feeling better that I nearly forgot about my Simple Things shawlette I'd pinned out last night for blocking! Overall I'm happy, if not ecstatic, with the way this little shawl came out. I've seen many of these microshawls on the bloglines and on Ravelry, but this is the first time I've attempted to knit one myself. Given all the Socks That Rock yarn in my stash from last year's Rockin' Sock Club and my reluctance to be a very prolific sock knitter, I thought this little shawl would be a nice stashbusting opportunity. And it was. However, I'm just not sure that it's a look for me. It seems still too small to wear comfortably even as a scarf of sorts. I had about 12 grams left of the 174 gram skein, so I'm sure I may have been able to knit a little more on it before binding off if I'd wanted to. I have no regrets about finishing it as I did, though I will probably end up gifting it to someone who will love and appreciate it.

There are more pictures and details about this project over on my Ravelry project page. I'm very glad that I added the row of single crochet along the neck edge of the shawlette as this seemed to help a bit with its natural tendency to roll. I'm very pleased with the way the colors didn't pool with this yarn. Truly the Blue Moon Fiber Arts dyers have achieved their excellent reputation for a reason!

After working with the yarn for this project and in knitting a pair of socks with it recently, my interest is certainly peaked about using this yarn for larger projects in the future. I was among many admirers of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Wings shawl (made of Socks That Rock heavyweight), but I was always hesitant to order a large project's worth of yarn I'd never touched with my own two hands before. Now that I've had the opportunity to do just that, I think it would be lovely for a shawl or for baby garments. I'd really love to knit up some Magic Slippers with this yarn. How sweet!

Despite my startitis, I decided to go back to the Tea Leaves cardigan already on my needles. Thank goodness I was able to figure out where I'd left off in the pattern despite my utter lack of notes to self or row counter. I really think this will be a more enjoyable knit once I'm through the ruched sections in the yoke. It has been pretty awkward to manipulate so many stitches on the cord of my circular needles. Once I'm able to get into the flow of the body, I feel sure that it'll go a little more smoothly. Plus I'd really love to have this cardigan knitted up and waiting to be worn when the weather finally turns cool again. Can you tell that I'm already looking forward to Fall???