Misc Update

The thing that I enjoy almost as much as knitting lace shawls is test knitting. I'm test knitting a sweater for Chrissy. (When I need a break from the sweater, I work on my shawls.)

This week I also volunteered to test crochet a pair of socks. I'd never crocheted socks before. It's interesting how similar but different sock crocheting is from sock knitting. (edited Friday--) I bought a couple of crochet hooks in order to make the socks since the ones I had were either too big or too small. They're a light-weight aluminum, I think. I can see why some people say crocheting hurts their hand. I really dislike using them. (I hadn't bought any crochet hooks in the US in years if not decades. I even have crochet hooks that are older than I am.)

The Fisherman's Wife is getting down to the homestretch. I've started on the last clue before the lower border of the shawl. I've finished the first repeat of Clues 1 - 4 of Bad Nauheim. I haven't started Mystic Light yet, but I do have the yarn for it. A couple of weeks ago, I joined the Mystery Lace KAL. (Sign ups are closing soon for Mystery Lace.) This week I joined another lace shawl KAL, Casablanca. I'm also signed up for Slow Bee and Slow Bee 2. It looks as though I'll have enough shawl projects to keep me occupied for years.

I'm also working on the latest dishcloth from the Monthly Dishcloth Yahoo! group. I enjoy the mid-month dishcloths the most. One gets to try something perhaps new and different. This mid-month's dishcloth is knitted in 2 colors.

And, I work on the sock I was knitting when I get a chance. Socks are nice to tote around. I took them to the DMV last Saturday when my DH and I went to get our driver's licenses. However, I didn't get a chance to knit. Illinois had us take written tests. So, we spent the time waiting for our numbers to be called studying. (I had to take a written test for my first license, of course. But, North Carolina and New Jersey don't require us to take a written test. However, Ohio did. So, maybe it's a Midwest thing. -- And as my DH said, we've each now gotten driving licenses in 1/10 of the States.)

Blogger isn't cooperating with posting photos. So, I guess this post will be pictureless.

Shawls again

I've joined another shawl KAL, the Mystery Lace Yahoo group. I don't know when I'll have time to work on everything. But, since I know that there is no way I'll be able to keep up, I'm content to proceed at my own pace.

The 2 shawls I'm making from Moni's patterns are getting longer. It now takes me about 30 minutes to work a row for the Fisherman's Wife Faroese shawl. But, I still like the yarn and the pattern. Here's a picture of it through the end of Clue 4. I'm on my 3rd skein of KP Shadow Vineyard now. -- I'm definitely not going to make the optional extension.

Here is Bad Nauheim through the end of Clue 2. It's in KP Shadow Campfire. While waiting for Clue 2 to appear, I took the opportunity to unzip sts from the provisional cast on and put them on a spare cable. (The KP interchangeable needles are great for something like this. I don't know how I ever got along without them.) I even made sure the stitches were facing the right way. So, now I don't have to worry anymore about whether I'll be able to unzip sts successfully. They're unzipped and ready to be knitted.

The sock from the January mystery pattern in Sockamania Sockalong group is going nicely. It's a great pattern -- made even better for me because I love puzzles.

I haven't started on the April dishcloth for the Monthly Dishcloth Yahoo group. But, I did order some yarn packaged especially for the KAL.

Finally, Chrissy, the lady I test knit for, is doing a series about designing. The first post in the installment came out April 1st. It's worth looking at just to admire the cables.

As to the weather here, we got an April Fool's surprise. We had snow flurries just before noon on April 1st!!! But, the snow is almost all melted from the previous snow falls, and bulbs, probably daffodils, are started to peek up from the ground.