Summer Knitting

It's summer, and a knitter's thoughts turn to lace. Well, mine do.

I went through a gigantic lace knitting jag a couple of years ago and kind of got it out of my system. Because I'm not a Victorian society lady, I don't really need the 25 lace shawls I've accumulated. But I find that every year when hot weather rolls around, I suddenly feel compelled to knit some lace! Go figure.

The Tangled Web, where I teach, is featuring an Olympics Knit-Along next month. The Gold Medal Project is the Summer Flies Shawl, a free pattern that has a million projects on Ravelry. So I thought I'd knock out a sample to make sure it could be completed in 10 days (the length of the Olympics).

Cast on with #7 needles and Ella Rae Lace Merino. Done and done (in 3 days!):

Obligatory Japanese Maple Tree shot 

Prettiness!

I like these semi-circular shawls (like Citron, too). They're fun to knit, though I don't especially love the way they wrap. They work better as big scarves than actual shawls.

So I finished the store project and thought, Now what? I poked around Ravelry (what is more fun than that?!) and found the Meandering Vine Shawl, by one of my favorite designers, Susanna IC.

(Not very impressive looking. Will take another picture post-blocking beautification.)

Cast on with #10 needles and a double strand of Classic Elite Silky Alpaca Lace in my favorite "color", beloved charcoal grey. This is a rectangle; I'm just going to knit until my yarn runs out. I have a feeling it won't be long enough for a wrap, so I may graft the ends together and make it a multiple-wrap cowl.

What's on your needles this summer?

Are You Serious?

This news story is easily the most ridiculous thing I've ever read. It's four weeks from Opening Ceremonies for the Summer Olympics, and the International Olympic Committee sends a Cease and Desist letter to Ravelry (for God's sake!!) not to use the term "Ravelympics", because it is "disrespectful to our country's finest athletes and fails to recognize or appreciate their hard work"

SAY WHAT?!

First of all, the Olympics is a sports competition, that's all. You can ring out all the grand metaphors you want, but in the end it's sports. I say this as a huge sports fan.

Well, I could go on for paragraphs and paragraphs, but I won't. You get the idea.

Ouch.

After seeing 10 billion Color Affection shawls on Ravelry

(That's not mine - I wish!)

and reading Yarn Harlot's experience with hers, I decided to jump on the bandwagon. Though I love finding obscure new patterns, I admit I love knitting with the herd too.

I happened to have 3 gorgeous colors of sockweight yarn in my stash and proceeded to cast on and knit. And knit. And knit. And knit. I gleefully finished the first part (solid gray); then the second part (2-row stripes of gray and burnt orange); then started the third and final part - the good, wedgy, short row-y section with all 3 colors (gray, orange and navy)  The construction is fun, the yarn is beautiful.....and yet.......

I looked at it yesterday and thought, "I do not like these colors." Uh oh.

Then I thought, "I do not like these colors at all. But that is a whole lot of knitting I've already done."

Then I thought, "I do not like these colors at all. But that is a whole lot of knitting I've already done. But when it is finished, I think that I will never wear it."

And then I thought, "I do not like these colors at all. But that is a whole lot of knitting I've already done. But when it is finished, I think that I will never wear it. And so I must frog it."

Back to the drawing board.