Spring Fever!

Let's see a show of hands - - of all those in favor of taking the week off to enjoy the blue skies, abundant sunshine, and soft breezes!  Of course, if you live in an area that hasn't yet gotten their fair share of blue skies, abundant sunshine, and soft breezes, you may want to take the week off in hopes that Spring will finally show up.

Or, you may just want to take the week off "just because" - - and that's OK too!

Some of us were discussing a prayer shawl ministry a few Wednesday evenings ago, after prayer meeting, and since then, I've been wanting to pick up my needles and knit.  David found me a "bargain" sack of yarn, 7 skeins of Premier yarn by Venus, in dark blue (what was I thinking?), from Big Lots for $1 per skein.  I found my shoebox (clear plastic by Aero - love that name, don't you?!) containing sets of knitting needles, and pulled out a size 10 circular.

After I wrestled it away from the Spooky Cat ("What?  I'm playing with this!  It's mine, I already claimed it!") I pulled out a skein of yarn and started.  Ten minutes later, I started again after unravelling a very unsatisfactory beginning.   Five minutes after that, after I untangled the Spooky Cat from the yarn and circular needles, I cast on and began again.  Twenty minutes later, after considering the work-in-progress from all angles, I slid it off the needle and ravelled it out.

How could I possibly forget how to knit a shawl, for cryin' out loud?? Aren't they, like, the first thing you knit because they're so freakin' easy???  Good grief, I just finished one in 1973 -- that's only ...wait, that's ...no, that can't be right.  Thirty-eight years ago?  Oh.  I guess I could forget in that length of time. 

I Googled "prayer shawl" and found a lot of sites to check out - and of them, I've found four patterns I like, all easy, including the basic triangle I kept making a total mess of.  I printed them off and once I discover more yarn (possibly at Wal-Mart), I'll be working on one of them.  In the meantime, I'm attempting (from memory) a shawl of the late, great Elizabeth Zimmermann's.  So far, it's moving right along -- which may be an indicator that I'm doing something wrong, or that I've correctly remembered it and and knitting it correctly.  Time will tell. 



The little one in the middle is my own design, and I
taught it at Palmetto Tat Days in 2007.

 In tatting news, I have tatted three snowflakes for the 2011 Scholarship Quilt Fund-Raiser and debating re-loading with white and continuing.  I probably will, in that knitting is a bit harder to carry around with you whereas tatting just slips into your pocket.  Here are the three I've finished -- the ones on the ends are from "Festive Snowflakes & Ornaments for Needle and Shuttle Tatters," published by Handy Hands.  The one on the right was written as bare thread, but I did lock chains for a more substantial look.  There are quite a few very pretty snowflakes in the book, as well as medallions and other ornaments.