Finished BSJ (almost) and Struck Down By Shawl Fever
23 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment
in BSJ, knitting, Ravelry, shawls, yarn Tags: baby, BSJ, knitting, yarn
After more than a few false starts I finally finished a BSJ. It really is an amazing; almost magical, knit. I still find it hard to believe that the wonky little oddly shaped rectangle or so of knitting turned out to be this really cute jacket. I don’t have pictures yet to put up. I will take pictures before giving to its recipient. I used Rayon Sparkle from Over the Rainbow Yarns on E-Bay and I love, love, love most of her stuff. This yarn is so soft that I can’t think of a good way to describe it. I have three different colorways of it varying from a white to lightest pink variegation (the main color of the BSJ) to darkest pink with some carmel colors mixed in variegation and a mid-shades of pink variegation. All three of them have a bit of Angelina or Fire Star in it that give it its sparkle and shine in the light. Just beautiful yarns all the way around.
When I finished the BSJ I was struck by a problem I hadn’t had before; there was nothing on the needles to pick up and start knitting. So out came the laptop, on went Ravelry and somehow I ended up in the shawl category. I have tons of lace and fingering weight yarn in gorgeous variegated colors as well as solids and everything in between. The problem: I mostly have only one skein of each. I used to just wander around my LYS and pick up one skein here and there of everything I thought was pretty; that, my friends is the danger of going to the yarn shop without a clear idea of what you want the yarn for. So I have yarn for lots of shawlettes or scarves, but I’m finding myself more and more taken by the full-sized, lacy shawls. I spent countless hours on Ravelry looking at yarns, patterns, other people’s images of their projects etc. In the end, I’ve cast on a Forest Canopy shawl using Socks That Rock Lightweight in the Grimm’s Willow Wren (I think that’s the name, I always screw it up) colorway and the Vortex Pi shawl (knitting and math together – my dad would have been proud) in Jojoland Melody. It’s a red/purple/greenish colorway and I think the really long repeats of Melody and the way they blend and feather together is going to look wonderful, I hope.
There are also several shawls on deck for Christmas presents this year to people have been extremely nice. A Birthday Pi, a Lady Eleanor and an Enchanted Forest (again, not sure about a name). There are also a ton of socks that I want to knit and I’d really like to get back into spinning for relaxation. We’ll see how it all goes. Will keep you updated, gentle friends.
