Actual Knitting

Did I tell you about Multnomah(rav link)? She's a beauty of a shawl, simple and beautiful(non-rav link).



I used one 100g skein of TOFUtsies, a fingering weight yarn blended from 50% superwash wool, 25% soy silk, 22.5% cotton, 2.5% chitin (made from shrimp and crab shells!) The chitin is supposed to have antibacterial properties, which would be especially beneficial when making socks. However, when I was considering knitting a pair of socks from this yarn, I was deterred by the MANY plies and the thinner-than-my-usual-fingering weight. I figured I'd have to use size 0's to get a decent fabric for socks, and had a feeling that the combination of 0's and thin, many-plied yarn would result in a splitty nightmare.

So, I detoured to the Shawl department of Ravelry. They had quite a nice selection, which I browsed for quite a while before settling on this lovely.



Shawls on size 6's with fingering weight yarn--they're a joy. I'm not sure about lace weight shawls, 'cause I haven't finished one yet....



So, now that I'm (cough) finished with Multnomah (cough*exceptforweavingtheends*cough), what should I do with myself (besides cast on a pair of vanilla socks with some self-striping yarn, on my to-do list)?

Cast on a sweater, don't you think?



This is Liesl(rav link), by Ysolda Teague. I'm pretty sure this is the first pattern I've ever paid for. I've been admiring this pattern for months (a year?) and gave in this spring. I made the first one for my dd as a test-run with some inexpensive yarn. It went great, so I bought some slightly-pricier yarn for myself. I used Rowan Summer Tweed, an Aran weight mix of 70% silk and 30% cotton. Hey, I got a pretty good deal. :)



Factoring in that Liesl doesn't require much yarn due to the lacy patterning, I spent much less than a lot of knitters do for regular sweaters. I'm working up to buying sweater-quantities for 'real' sweaters.

Can't wait to wear it now that we've got nice, cool fall weather again! What's on your needles?