Peektures!

Hooray for imagery! First, I give you my magic baby slipper:

I really liked how the pattern was constructed, hardly any finishing. I didn’t do any finishing since I just wanted to play with the pattern and see how it worked. It came out pretty large, and used all my yarn, but the color isn’t appropriate for the baby I need to knit for anyway. Best to be conservative with colors for coworkers’ baby boys.

The sole is worked back and forth, then you pick up and knit in the round. I was a bit daunted by the old “pick up and knit” routine, but I’ve been learning recently (I CAN be taught!) that often the way I fear something has to be done is different than the way it’s actually done. I found a video online and it was pretty easy. Fun, actually. They mention that some knitters like to use a crochet hook, and I think they must be Continental knitters because I’m a thrower and having the yarn in my right hand gave me a good angle on pulling the yarn through. *shrug*

On to my latest project, suggested by Opal, the Forest Canopy shawl.

It’s knit on size 8 needles (I went down to 7 since I’m such a loose woman knitter) and it’s soooo pretty. I love the leaves! They will definitely open up a lot in blocking. The yarn is such a dream, so soft, just a whisper in my hands as I knit. I’m heading up to Victoria, BC in November for a wedding, and I think this will be a great item to keep on hand to stay toasty warm. In fact, my brain has been working furiously on millions of projects to work on for that trip, like this one for B. But I digress.

Oh, look at those gorgeous, wondrously useful and glorious lifelines delicately wandering off into the distance! Oh how I love them. They’ve come in handy at least 3 times so far. It’s also really interesting because the construction of a triangular shawl is kind of funky. The lifelines show how the knitting bends in the middle. It’s sort of hard to describe, but that bumpy border is the top long edge of the shawl, and it is somehow at the beginning and end of each row. Magic!