Following up the silly things

If you finish up a week doing something silly, you really should bracket that with something good. So I did. The picture just does not do this fun little thing justice. The colourway panned out very close to what I had hoped for. Only on the very last few rows did I play with the sequence at all. As the work progressed, I realized that the outer parts of both balls were the very light tan brown. I had hoped to end with the darkest shades (next time I'll end one ball on a black colourway), so just where the last light stripe is, I cut the yarn, and started working from the soft tan outside of the ball and put the darker yarn on the outer edge. I am really really pleased.

The Noro sock yarn did just as everyone says, and softened up right away once washed. It eases around my shoulders in the nicest of possible ways. I'm not quite certain how I will wear this shawl to work. At home, this small shawl is great just sitting on my shoulders, with the fronts just hanging in the crooks of my arms. At work, things need to be tucked and pinned which on this small triangle, means it is going to appear more scarf-like. Either way, it is a nice addition to a mostly black wardrobe.

As I was laying the shawl out to dry last night, I realized I am a shawl person. I know some people who make a lot of scarves and shawls but never wear them, but I seem to be wearing mine all the time. My very first shawl of really fine yarn (Estelle yarns discontinued Vespa and in comparison to whatever can be found at Walmart) has been worn so many times over the years, that it is losing its fluffiness. My second shawl (acrylic boucle) is already standing guard in my study, its mildly worn comfort still working on the back of my chair.

The Truly Tasha's Shawl made last winter is my favourite. I have worn it many times to work and on several chilly occasions (before the furnace kicked in), to bed to help ward off the cold. Its been washed and shaped several times in its short life. I'll be making more of these, right down to its mistaken twisted garter stitch heart.

I like the way a shawl hugs warm and comforting, just there around your shoulders, quietly keeping you warm. Even a fine knitted lace shawl speaks very softly when you wear it. Its finery is hidden in its folds, there for those who wish to look and see, but otherwise, unassuming, there only to provide comfort and warmth.

There are so many shapes and stitches still to try. There are so many other lovely things to knit, but if I could knit only one thing, it surely would be shawls.