And now, for my next trick!

Hooray! I finished the hot water bottle cozy yesterday! I sort of feel like it wasn't really worth it. It wasn't by any means difficult to knit. In fact, it was easy enough to be boring. It wasn't all that pleasant, either. The yarn is gorgeous stuff, really. I love it. But I love it on size 8 needles, not on size 6s. Also, I bloody hate weaving in ends, and choosing to do wide stripes of color meant that I had quite a bit of end-weaving to do. Note to self: now you've seen how the Russian Join works. ALWAYS DO THAT FROM NOW ON, OK?

Now, I can get back to doing something truly fun and exciting. Lace! Yes, I'm on a lace kick. I belong to two lace-specific groups on Ravelry, and a third one for shawls that is mostly about lace. Lace is fun. Lace turns a little yarn into a lot of impressive fabric. Lace is pretty. Lace makes me happy.

I'm going to start on Vernal Equinox, using the Green Mystery Yarn. I've never done a semicircular shawl (or a semicircular anything, so this will be new to me. It looks very pretty. A lot of people have done it, and there was a knit-along, so there should be plenty of resources for me if I need to troubleshoot. I'm going to try that new (to me) trick on the lifelines, where you thread them through the keyhole in the Options needles instead of pushing them through every stitch with a yarn needle. I think I have enough stitch markers that I won't run out. (This is an issue because when you do the lifelines this way, any stitch markers that are on the needle when the lifeline goes through get stuck on the lifeline. When you pull the lifeline, they come out--they aren't stuck on stitches--but you can't keep moving them up while you work.) I should at least have enough to get me through Thanksgiving break.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I need to find an outfit. All I know is that I want to wear my Aeolian shawl to show it off to my family. :) Maybe with the new burgundy velvet pants and my white blouse? We'll see! I just hope they all ooh and aah over it. They probably won't. They're family, after all. Well, my immediate family will be impressed. Hmm...do any of my cousins knit? I don't think so. I wonder if a pretty shawl like that one will maybe gain some new converts to the Way of the Yarn-Whore? :)