I started my Peacock Feathers Stole in February 2013. I finished it the other day. It took me OVER a YEAR to finish that project, and it's not like I'd been working on any others. Well, the hexipuffs for the Beekeeper's Quilt that I made while at the festival I go to in the summer don't count. To be fair, a big part of the reason why I spent so much time "on a break" from knitting was that I was in the process of planning and having a wedding and honeymoon. Even after that, though, I procrastinated picking up my knitting again. Even after I picked it up, when I encountered other problems (i.e., messed up and couldn't fix it easily), I procrastinated MORE on getting back to it. But finally, I set myself to the task and finished. Here, my friends, are some pictures.
As you may be able to tell, I blocked it incorrectly. Not terribly, but I do want to fix it. The edge is finished with a crochet bind off that creates lovely little scallops when you pin out each chain. I pinned out the points of the feathers, but failed to pin out the scallops. Oops. Even so, I'm bloody well wearing it. I've had two people ask me what it would cost to have me make THEM one. I answered them, "To be honest, it would cost an arm, a leg, and your firstborn."
Now, I am working on something new! I decided I wanted to make a shawl that used only the Knitpicks Palette yarn I got from my friend Nadira, because I have (yes sir, yes sir) three bags full of it sitting in my closet. It was a little tricky because of the fact that I only have about 230 yards of each color. After a lot of looking around, I happened on a project someone made of the Leaf Evolution Shawl that used four different colors, each in its own wide stripe. They even used the same KPP that I was planning on using, and it only took them one ball of each color. I decided that this looked lovely, and that I would follow their notes for where they changed colors to do the same thing. I chose a dark reddish brown, a light beige, a light blue, and a medium brown-tan. Those colors will go in that order from top to bottom of the triangular shawl. I like this color combination. It sort of reminds me of desert and sky. It's also unlike any other shawls I have, which was a requirement for me! I'm really enjoying it so far. The chart I'm working on now is extraordinarily simple, especially after the Peacock Feathers Stole. It's a very short chart, repeated numerous (I'm doing 16) times, with very short pattern repeats. It feels almost mindless after the PFS, and the fingering weight yarn feels heavy after the lace yarn I used for that!
