I was going to post a note on the project I'm working on, but then I realized that it has been ages since I posted in the blog, and should probably do so!
I finished Twu Wuv ages ago. It is now one of my very favorite shawls, and I wear it with lots and lots of different things in the summer. It goes beautifully with all my jewel tone and bright clothes!
Right now, I'm about halfway through Fox Paws. I started it way back in December, when I was traveling to DC for the holidays. I figured, "Oh, I can use up FIVE balls of the Knitpicks Palette I have, and it shouldn't be too hard because it's not lace and not beaded, and there's no stranded color work! Nice and relaxing for vacation knitting!"
Oh, how naïve.
See, when I decided on this pattern, I was in a state not unlike that of a new mother. My cat, Lucy, a.k.a. Woogie, was very sick. We had a feeding tube inserted in her neck shortly after Thanksgiving because she wasn't eating. I was getting five hours of sleep a night, constantly in a state of anxious worry, and spending most of my time outside of work sitting on a couch and feeding a helpless little creature, hoping it would be healthy. Because of this, I was not attentive to the difficulty rating of the project. I failed to read the Yarn Harlot's post about it that said it required CONSTANT VIGILANCE. In short, I underestimated that bad boy BIG time.
Progress was, needless to say, very very slow for a very long time. While Woogie was sick, I rarely had the spare brain cells or time to work on something so complicated. Eventually, though, we had to put her to sleep on the day before Easter. (Although tests never confirmed it, X-rays near the end indicated cancer.) While a day hasn't gone by that I haven't missed my little girl, not taking care of a sick cat has meant I've been able to do more of the things I did before she got sick. One of those is working out, and another is knitting.
Xandy Peters came out with a rewrite of Fox Paws shortly before Woogie passed, so when I started it back up again, I gave that new version a shot. To my surprise, I found it made the pattern MUCH easier to follow, and although I've done my usual "oh crap, a mistake--I can't deal with this now, I'll get it later when I have more time" thing a few times, progress has been much better. I am now more than halfway done with it, and ENJOYING the knit.
I chose three earthy shades and two vivid colors that worked well with them. The five colors are (to describe, not name): beige, rust, gold, plum, and forest green. I think this gives it a rich and slightly exotic look that will go well with a lot of clothes.
I've been thinking, though, that after this, I want another lace shawl. I need to find a good, bright orange yarn, I think. I love orange, and still don't have an orange shawl. I'm thinking something semicircular. I haven't yet decided on lace weight vs. fingering, so I may just look through all my favorited patterns on Ravelry and then decide!
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