1. I’m home.
2. I’m so glad I’m home. I’ve still got the tail end of whatever plague beset me three weeks ago, and I can’t seem to kick it, so the idea of sleeping in my own bed and having my own things around me makes me really happy.
3. I’m convinced that my cold/cough/plague would leave if summer would arrive. I can’t believe how crappy and cold it is outside. The Canadian summer is short enough that this last run of cool weather is a heartbreak.
4. I don’t even have my garden in.
5. I loved the people I met in Saskatchewan.
6. Aviva said in the comments: “The Benedictines are so incredibly cool. Have fun with them. Extra points
if you get them to pose with the sock.”
Done. (Thanks Father Dimitrius. You’re a good sport.)
7. My house is so messy and dirty that it’s bugging even me, and I have really, really ridiculously low standards.
8. There is a strange smell in the fridge and I have been trying to figure out what it is since Sunday. It’s driving me crazy. I’ve looked at everything. It’s like a ghost smell messing with me or something. I hate when that happens.
It’s like fridges only have one way to try and express humour. It doesn’t work.
9. I finished a pair of socks while I was on my way back.
Plain vanilla sock pattern, yarn Creatively Dyed “Luxury” in Salsa. (80%merino, 10% cashmere, 10% nylon. Seems to be good stuff.)
10. I regret pretty deeply that I didn’t make these my size.
11. That makes me feel a little selfish.
12. I think I’m okay with being selfish about socks that I knit myself.
13. I finished something big.
It’s the Miralda shawl from Knitted Lace of Estonia, knit in the extremely delicious merino/angora blend from Toots LeBlanc. I used three full skeins, and a little bit of the fourth one.
14. Considering the rough start this project had, I’m surprised how much I loved knitting it. The nupps are an extremely entertaining bit of knitterly fun. Something like deciding to turn a cartwheel in the park for no reason other than it’s a beautiful day.
15. I was really worried that the angora would shed all over the place. They said it wouldn’t, but I have been told yarn lies before – and when a yarn is expensive, it really annoys the hell out of me.
16. This wasn’t a lie. I love this yarn. It’s tightly spun, tightly plied… and it’s developing the loveliest angora halo without leaving angora anywhere, even after washing and abusing a little. The tight twist means this has stitch definition that shows of my work, while the halo makes it so soft it would break your heart. I absolutely got what I paid for here… and more.
17. I am thinking about wearing this shawl with my track pants and tee shirt when I go to buy toilet paper from the corner store later.
18. I think that this is a good idea, because the tee shirt is black and will really show off the shawl, and I will look great.
19. In reality, I know that I am actually going to look like a homeless lady who found a really great shawl.
20. Sigh.
.
No. More the starving artist type, and a gifted one at that. Welcome home! Gorgeous gorgeous shawl, and love the socks.
That shawl really is marvelous.
The shawl is exceptionally beautiful!
I totally feel your shawl-wearing pain. I think someone needs to come up with a way to make them look good with sweats – and if anyone can do it, it’s you. So get to work on that, wouldja?
P.S. It’s gorgeous.
Gorgeous shawl, fantastic socks … wear them, and only them (undies optional) and warm the neighbourhood up – absolutely atrocious weather here in UK too … please can we have some sun soon??
Glad you’re home and happy!
x
Re: #8. Have you checked the drain pan under the fridge? The nasties can colonize down there.
Better yet, have Someone Else check it. You’re still recovering from the crud & should not be exposed. Get Well Soon!
You totaly need to wear it out, I wore my first shall out to breakfest after making the hubby take picutes of me wearing it, and got several second glances when being seated. I knew that meant they all liked the shawl. (who cares if they also knew I was a bit crazy)
Given your initial issues with the shawl, I figured I could never handle it – now seeing your FO – I MUST make it. LOVELY. And who cares if you look like a homeless woman with a shawl – you’re wearing THAT shawl!
No one will even notice the track pants. But you could wear jeans just in case…
It’s beautiful and I wish I could stop by to pet it!
The shawl is beautiful! It inspires me to knit something this complicated. You should wear it out with something a little fancier, so people will notice the beauty of the shawl, not how silly you look 😉
That shawl is gorgeous!
The shawl is stunning! Beautiful! Good job, you must be so pleased. I hope you can rest now and relax, get over the plague, the house can always be cleaned later (altho, maybe cleaning it first and getting it over with, and then relaxing may work better?) Anyway – I hope the summer weather gets to you soon. That must be so frustrating. If I were you, I would wear the shawl to the store – what a way to jazz up an outfit! (And a mood – it will have to make you feel better)
Love the idea of the shawl with trackpants. Very hip. 🙂
Beautiful shawl! Curious how you go about blocking such lovelies. Mattress? Foam boards? Wet first? Pin first? You’ve probably addressed this topic elsewhere on your blog… apologies if you have!
Welcome home – hope you feel better.
Beautiful shawl. I’m sitting here with a sleeping baby on my chest and spit up all over my shirt. Someday I’ll knit up a shawl like that, and I’ll be proud to wear it with track pants!
you will look like a homeless lady, who has Incredibly good taste in shawls. 🙂
why not pop on some jeans instead of track pants, i bet you could pull it off then.
I have Miralda in my queue. And no, shawls aren’t my style, and yes, I will look like an old crazy spinster wearing it. It is so beautiful, who cares? Wear it whenever you feel like it!
Dude! You didn’t get a photo of a Benedictine wearing the shawl. Oh well, next time…
I just love you!
“It’s like fridges only have one way to try and express humour.”
yeah…they have other ways, i promise. like dying in the middle of the summer. hope yours continues to only have the one joke. lovely shawl, by the by.
That plague hit us all here, one by one. My younger son ended up with pneumonia. In May! So unfair. So anyway, rest up and be careful.
My house bugs me too. I try to remind myself that the clutter will still be there when the baby doesn’t need me so much. Clutter has staying power, but babies keep growing. (I realize you don’t have a baby in the house, but feel free to use mine: “Hey, AMY has a baby in the house and thus I just can’t get to cleaning mine.” Sounds reasonable, right?)
We had the phantom smell — turned out to be ripening cantaloupe. Solution: eat the cantaloupe and throw out the trash. Smell all gone.
On an unrelated topic, I’ve sicced Jonathan of The Drake Hotel onto you. We’re staying there in July and I told him how I had asked you for The Yarn Harlot Tour of Toronto, and he’s going to make sure he has it available for knitters at the hotel. I’ll be bugging you later in June (after you’ve recovered from all your travels) to tell us the key stops on The Yarn Harlot Tour of Toronto. (Basically, a list of your favorite LYS is sufficient.)
And wouldn’t you know it… Toots LeBlanc is going to be at Black Sheep next weekend.
If I tell ’em you sent me, do you think I’ll get a discount?
A whole list, and nothing about the bra-making? Honestly.
Laughed so hard reading 17-19 I almost choked on my crackers!
Wear it with pride!
Of course, wear the shawl, why else did you make it.
And, wear it to the Sock Summit, too, so I can pet it. Gently.
Wow. That shawl is enough to convert a non-shawl wearer. About the fridge–check the drip tray, that’s where I find the mystery smells.
I love how confused Father Dimitrius looks in the first picture with the sock.
Show off your shawl. Even if other people don’t realize it, you’ll know you look fabulous.
But the corner store people surely know you and will admire your handiwork.
I just ordered that book before your class in Muenster. I’m anxious to start my first lace project but have no idea what I am going to do with it once done. I have these visions of myself, sitting in my office, with fingerless gloves and a lace shawl, doing accounting. Now isn’t that a picture?! Perhaps it might be an item better worn for a fancy night out in a pretty dress. Hopefully I will find a use for it.
DUDE. That is one kickass shawl. Agreed on the corner store trips. The trick is to make it look normal while you do it. Or IS it..
Also agreed on #12. I would be very OK with that level of selfishness.
If I were ever able to finish something this beautiful, I would wear it everywhere.
Wear the shawl! It’s gorgeous! Besides, that way, you can separate the knitters (who will stare with shock and awe) from the mere mortals (just shock, or dismissive looks).
Lee Valley sells a volcanic deoderizor. It saved my fridge. I couldn’t find the smell, and I couldn’t make it go away, and I was starting to think entirely too much about a new fridge.
Also, thanks for your extremely kind words about my son on Saturday night. I appreciated your grace.
Presbytera: She has nothing to report on the bra making class because … well, imagine our beloved YH owning and using a bra. Imagine her wasting good knitting time creating something no one would ever see. Imagine if she took the class and became smitten. The Bra Harlot??? the Flopper-Stopper Harlot?? I think not!
Wear it anyway, with the Birks – looks fantastic! I’ve been eyeing that pattern myself since getting the book.
Your shawl is beautiful! I have a new shawl that I’m going to wear today, too. I hit all kinds of stumbling blocks along the way. Maybe the rough starts make us love these FO’s all the more when we finally get done.
I think I’ll forego the track pants, though. I’m planning a black skirt and sleeveless tank to show off the grapey lusciousness of Malabrigo Sock Ishbel. (making something that’s not a sock out of sock yarn? egads!)
See you at Sock Summit!
I swear that that particular head-chest cold-flu has been over most of Canada, and it takes everyone (including myself and the husband) at least 4 weeks to get better, even when you’re not travelling. I hope you start to feel better soon! I dosed myself with fresh grated ginger, lemon juice, and honey in water.
The shawl is also gorgeous. I wish so much that I wasn’t allergic to angora, but even 5% or less makes me break out in a horrific rash.
I think that the ‘posh bag-lady’ look will be fine! The shawl is beautiful, so enjoy wearing it with all your outfits!
Oh thank you for the laugh — I really needed it! Maybe while you are getting the toilet paper you can pick up a box of baking soda for the smell in the fridge. Wearing your shawl, you will want to look like a serious shopper!
I hear you loud and clear about the cold start to summer – I’m in Wisconsin, but it feels like Siberia some mornings. My flowers are at least planted and hopefully we’re past the freeze point.
I loved knitting with the C.D. Luxury yarn, and I know those socks will be one of my faves. Love your color!
Take care of that plague.
If you’ve got some clean jeans or khaki pants you might not look quite so homeless and more “artsy”
I always wanted to pull off that artsy, totally put together look – but I end up looking…. well, homeless.
max at June 9, 2009 12:58 PM,
You’re right about the fridge tricks. We had one die in the middle of summer while we were gone on vacation. Nothing can compare to the smell of lobster and ice cream that’s been melting and running across the kitchen floor and growing fuzz for two weeks!
I think the shawl is beautiful and there is no way you would a homeless lady when you wear it. Perhaps you could scare your neighbors by showing it off to them? I like those stories.
I just love the shawl..I have started my first one and so far its going well but I am really worried about the blocking part…I googled and found your words of wisdom on blocking…I think its going to help…my question is …how do you know if a shawl needs blocking??? The pattern didn’t mention blocking…
“monks with socks” = great idea for a calendar. I bought some of my friends the “nuns having fun” ones and they love them.
and for fridge-y freshness, you can add an open box of baking soda. that might help.
happy knitting!
The weather in Montréal was gorgeous.
Feel better soon!
Now that you’ve told us how wonderful the yarn is, what is the name of it?
Hey Lovey…set a new trend with the shawl/T/pants thing.
Someone, somewhere….is going to think this is fab.
Send someone else to the shop. Relax today and look at your shawl. Then later this week. Go out to buy some new clothes to match the shawl and wear it next week when it’s your birthday.
I can send the lady who cleans my house over on a plane…I wanted to marry her a little bit when I came home from a 16 hour day to find that she had re-organized my closet by item,size, and color. ( I say “re-organized” as if it had been organized before…hahahaha)
Get some rest missus. There’s so much to do before August shows up on the doorstep.
All I can say is WOW! What is a nupp?
I love how the socks seem to match your living room walls!
I totally agree with you about yarn from Toots LeBlanc; it is to swoon for! See you at SS09.
You are welcome to some of our Interior Alaska heat. Heat brings smoke, and today we have it in spades. The shawl is gorgeous. The Shetland shawl I made years ago mostly sits because there are few places to wear it when it’s not too cold for it. To me the very interesting part of it is that the center Shetland lace pattern I used is exactly the same as the center pattern of the Orenburg lace shawl I was later given. The knitting world is small.
I love that Toots LeBlanc yarn. I look at it every time I go to a show. Maybe I’ll have to buy some the next time around.
I think track pants and lace shawl is a perfectly good fashion statement – shows your gemini nature – on the one hand practical, strong, busy. On the other hand, soft, whimsical, a dreamer. I say go for it!
The shawl is breathtakingly beautiful. Wear it with anything you like!
I have a mystery smell in my fridge too! I’ve taken all the potentially yucky stuff out and the weird smell remains. This “weekend” will probably see a great emptying of the fridge and freezer followed by a scrub down. Someone make note as this happens about once every 10 years. ….
I would SO do the same thing as you (#17 & #18 above) and I would SKIP down the street as I was wearing said items!
FYI Mystery smells usually emanate from the lunchmeat drawer or the vegetable/fruit drawer. Be careful! Leave the new shawl a great distance from the fridge if you go in to investigate.
Re: your ‘fridge – check the drip pan underneath the beast…sometimes lovely, unrecognizable things grow (and smell) in there.
your lace, as always, equisite!
sometimes your blog makes me think, sometimes it inspires me and today, it just makes me sooo happy! Enjoy your time at home and feel better.. the smell is probably from under a drawer…..
I’m so glad you are home! You needed some rest (IMO). I hope you feel better soon, and that your daughter gets over whatever plague she has as well. Your shawl is amazingly beautiful! Great job.
All these gorgeous shawls….and I’ve never been one to wear them (she says as she runs to Ravelry to queue Miralda) Thanks for sharing (or should I say enabling…?)
A thought – also _move_ the fridge and see what might be on the floor under both it and the drip pan.
Beautiful shawl, great socks. Vitamin B is said to be used up by stress, so maybe you should get more in your diet.
I know. Would you tell my dh that the cough just doesn’t want to leave and i don’t have pneumonia, lung disease or some other disease warranting more dr visits? Maybe LOTS of Blueberry beer with all the anitoxidants would kick it to the curb? yes?
btw, knits look good and just ordered the shawl book. thanks alot.
we’ll only know how great you look buying TP in your shawl if someone kinnears you. and then posts the shot somewhere and annouces it on ravelry.
Glad you are home. There is something about being in our own bed that makes the kinks fall out. Absolutely loved the shawl. Now it is on my wish to knit list. Are those the socks you were working on while you were passing through Dallas? They turned out nice.
Your shawl is georgeous! I knit one too and made some crazy stupid knitting mistakes when I first started it, but once I got through that, you are right, it is a easy and fun shawl to knit. I gave mine to my grandmother. I’m thinking about knitting one for myself, I love it so much.
A groundswell of suggestions that you become worthy of the shawl by spiffing up your shopping ensemble agree this can be accomplished by substituting jeans for track pants. These are my people.
Oh lovely, lovely shawl! Amazing and detailed, soft and fair…. If only I had the attention span for lace…..
The shawl is gorgeous. Knitting must have really behaved after your little rendevouz with the weaving loom. 😀
1) Father Dimitrius looks like a good sport, indeed!
2) Isn’t it heart-breaking to finish a big shawl and not know what to wear it with? *sigh*
It’s cold in Boston.
The other knitters in the corner store will recognize you as a person who just finished a gorgeous shawl and decided to make the corner store fancy.
Love the monk-with-sock poses, and the shawl is exquisite. Kudos to you!
Check the drain-pan under the fridge for the source of the bad smell.
1. That shawl is gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Wear it with whatever you like (if you wear it with track pants/tee then it will get more attention as the “focal” point of your outfit 🙂 )
2. I found a strange smell in my kitchen today, too! – only I found mine; turns out a half-loaf of bread got shoved to the back of the cupboard and turned into about 95% mold (ew!)
No, you’d look really sexy and a little French and maybe a bit crazy and definitely sexy.
And you’d be a proud knitter.
I imagined Father Dimitrius is making the sign of the cross over that sock. Hope you feel better soon!
The shawl is beautiful!
So beautiful it makes me *think* about making one. 🙂
So, I ran into a neighbor at the store yesterday and he said: “Are you sick? You look really awful, I didn’t recognize you.”
Forget how tacky that is – he’s a tacky person. But, in truth … that’s what I get for leaving the house looking like a homeless person. And, I did. I didn’t even have a great shawl.
I did however, put on a bra under my dirty t-shirt. And for that, I felt like I deserved an award.
Acupuncture cured me of a similar crud. It was painless, took one daily treatment for 5 days, gave me instant relief from the first day, and produced no nasty drug side effects. Just saying.
Any time you make something that beautiful, you can darn well wear it with anything you like!
Hope you feel better VERY soon.
Gorgeous shawl, lovely socks & good to hear you made it back in one piece. The fridge is just glad to see you back & wants some attention, that’s all!! Go ahead, wear the shawl with the black tee!! Do anything you damnwell please, you’ve earned it! And, have some Bailey’s in your tea tonite – have a good slug before bed & you’ll feel great tomorrow!!!
Oh you definitely need to wear that shawl to the shop. It’s too gorgeous to leave at home!
Re the smell–check your potato bin. Every time I have a bad smell in the kitchen I assume it is in the fridge but it always turns out to be a rotten potato.
Yay, Benedictines!
Feel better soon. I have a lingering cough too that that my doc is trying to convince me is allergies, but I’m not buying it.
Get the Benedictines to exorcise your fridge?
The socks look nice and cozy. I don’t think it’s selfish to want to keep them. 😀
The shawl is to die for. It’s absolutely gorgeous!
Re: # 19 – oh gosh, no. Shawls go with Everything and tart up any outfit. AND you knit it in a color and fiber to compliment anything. Trust me – you will look fabulous. I confess – I actually saw you buy that yarn at Madrona – didn’t feel like I knew you well enough (or at all) to dart you into unconsciousness. Now…aren’t we glad I didn’t???? (I’ve waited until the shawl’s finished to let loose that bit of information).
It’s beautiful – I love that angora halo!
did you know you were mentioned last night on the Graham Norton show? Greg Kinnear told them about kinnearing, and brought up your website to show everyone! lol, and here we already know what that is all about…
the shawl is like a dream…
Loved what you said about the nupps. I made a shawl for my sister for her wedding which included lots of them – I thought they were exactly what you said. When a friend of mine decided to try the same shawl, she absolutely hated them and gave up. I might just have to do another gaggle of them just for fun.
About the angora – I have a scarf knit from an angora blend that is felting itself just because it sometimes gets a few snowflakes on it when I wear it – so be careful with that lovely thing. It sounds like you have a much more stable yarn than I have, but one cannot be too careful with gorgeous knitwear.
Whenever I have had a strange and icky smell in my kitchen it has turned out to be either a rotten potato or rotten onion lying somewhere that it shouldn’t be (sometimes hidden in a drawer or bag or bowl…). This might not apply to your fridge, but it might.
Welcome home. Knit on!
The shawl is gorgeous and this is coming from someone who is not a shawl person.
Odor in the fridge. Could be coming from the freezer. Maybe throw out the old ice.
Man I love that shawl. I’m going to have to get that book. I’m finishing up Girasole in the blanket form. (I figure pretty much its the only chance I’m going to have to wear lace)
The shawl is absolutely stunning!
That’s a lovely shawl. That book is inspiring some great knits these days.
2.& 3.: Steph, you need sleep to kick that bug.
4. It might make you feel better to know I put half my garden in and some creature ate most of it overnight.
8. Have you taken the veggie drawers out and checked under them? I’ve found some amazing growths there in my fridge on occasion that resulted from spills wending their way down.
12. The socks are gorgeous, what a color! You should make a pair for yourself.
13. The shawl is beautiful. I picture you wearing the shawl with a pretty dress on a date with your hubbie when you are feeling better. (You two deserve a date night! Repeat that until you actually go.)
Cool monk! And your shawl is a gorgeous work of art! WOW! And I think you are even funnier when you don’t feel well. But, I do hope you are feeling better soon. I’m sure being back home is helping.
That is one gorgeous shawl. Could you tell us more about the nupps? Estonian shawls seem to have a lot of them, and it’s turning me off, because they remind me of bobbles. So I feel the statement “The nupps are an extremely entertaining bit of knitterly fun.” deserves some back story.
Wow… thanks for posting so many pics of your lovely shawl. It really is a beauty (and that second picture… it actually *looks* soft…)!
The shawl is lovely, gorgeous, and will class up any outfit. Even one that involves track pants.
Also, on the Fridge issue… try the drip pan underneath. That was the source of my last unmentionable scent.
A fig for what anyone thinks–wear the shawl! Wear it over your pajamas to bed! Wear it in the swimming pool! No, that would felt it. But wear it, girl!! (And feel better soon. No one should have a cold for 3 weeks in June.)
That shawl is incredible! Love the ‘salsa’ socks, too. Hope you feel well soon. I don’t know how you find time to read all these comments day after day after day, but if you make it to mine, know that reading your blog is the highlight of my day! Love your style, sense of humor, books (own them all), and of course seeing your knitting and other home projects! What fun you bring to lives of others. THANKS!
Your shawl is lovely, wear it however you want, and be the best dressed bag lady in town. 🙂 As far as the fridge goes, do you keep a box of baking soda in there to absorb odor? If so, check that. I discovered that if you leave the box of baking soda in there too long, it will hit some sort of critical smell mass, and start releasing the odors of everything you’ve put in the fridge back into the fridge. I know because I’d searched the whole fridge in and out trying to find the offending odor once, and didn’t think to check that, because well, it’s baking soda, and it’s supposed to take the odors away. Then in desperation I cleaned EVERYTHING out and found that even baking soda can become toxic. Good luck!
Love the monk with the sock! Wear the shawl and f@&% ’em if they can’t take a joke.
In addition to checking the drip pan, check behind the refrigerator, and if you have vegetable bins make sure you pull them out and look in back of them. Also, wash the bins.
That’s a beautiful shawl. Wear it with pride.
Even homeless women have taste and flair. Look at some of their interesting colour and texture combinations.
Go for it!
You are amazingly awesome. I have no idea how on earth you managed to go on tour, knit socks, straighten out all the mess with Sock Summit, handwrite notes, make phone calls, do blog posts, and STILL…
Make the most gorgeous shawl on the face of the earth! It’s scrumptious. (and no, you won’t look like a homeless lady!)
You ROCK, Steph! I can’t wait to meet you again in Portland! (maybe some of the magick that is you will rub off?)
Naw…
(((Hugs)))
Absolutely positively gorgeous shawl. I was wondering if this was the one that made you rip it out about thirty times before deciding to co-operate. It really is lovely. And wear it with whatever you want. You have a right to show it off and who cares if they think you’re a homeless woman… We know better. 😉 (Love the socks AND the monk holding the sock picture.)
I bet Joe has some interesting ideas about what to wear that shawl with!
I went to an all-girl catholic school as a child and the patron saint was St. Benedict. The nuns would always tell us that his philosophy in life was Ora et Labora meaning work is prayer and prayer is work. In that sense when we knit we pray, no? Especially when knitting such pretty things as the shawl you finished!
The shawl – wow – is absolutely breathtaking. Beautiful.
It does, however, make wonderful art. Hang it on a wall or drape it over a table. That’s what I do with gorgeous shawls, because otherwise they would only see the inside of my closet, and that would be a shame.
Well, the tshirt and track pants are a better option that just wearing the shawl to go out…cause then you would be nekkid underneath that shawl! But then again, all of us are always nekkid under our clothes. Anyways, moving on.
(Sorry, just a bit of small child/teenage boy humor there.)
Lovely shawl. Wish I could touch it through the screen. The yarn really looks soft. And you did a beautiful job.
As to the fridge, while you are searching, wipe down a shelf/drawer at a time with fresh baking soda water or use a bit of vinegar in water to wash down instead. (The vinegar smell will dissipate quickly.) Either one will help neutralize whatever is lurking, be it a hiding drippy spill or a science experiment in progress. And check the drip pan…and the ice cubes…and recheck the veggie drawer, and….
Loved the prairie sky pic earlier. Just love those prairie skies. Nothing like ’em.
That sounds like the bug I’m still fighting off 3 weeks later…..fatigue to put it mildly…love the shawl.
I love, love, love the shawl. Pretty sure it will not happen in my lifetime.
My husband went to school with the Benedictines and so I have a bias about their greatness.
Do you have a hole in the bottom of your frig that drains into a tray. That is the site of some pretty bad smaells.
OMG! What a shawl! Wear it with track pants, silk pants, jeans — everything.
Stephanie, I just have to say, you are absolutally the best. You can make me smile on the worst of days. Thanks for being you.
Just read the tweet about “legal action.” What is WRONG with these people!?!?!?
And the shawl is gorgeous! Wear it to the store anyway. They’ll be jealous.
Random comments to match a random Tuesday: 1.)The shawl is truly beautiful wear it with whatever you want. I just love that section of stitches right before the border starts. 2.) Just saw your last Tweet and my jaw is still hanging open. You and Tina have earned your place in heaven for all this. 3.) Get some rest or you’re going to get pneumonia and won’t be able to enjoy summer when it finally gets around to arriving. Inbox be damned! Get some tea, curl up, supervise the teen-age cleaning crew and knit. That’s an order.
According to the research on Food Detectives, activated charcoal is the BEST deoderizer for the fridge. But, if you don’t have any, just put the baking soda in a flat dish so more is exposed. I like the idea of washing the interior with a vinigar solution, too. That stuff can help a load of wet laundry that has been in the washer a little too long. Just run it thru the rinse cycle again with about a cup of white vinigar added. Nice and fresh.
I’d wear it with shorts and a t-shirt, but it isn’t summer down here either. Better yet, take your shawl, the laptop, and go write (or pretend to write) in a coffee shop. It’s part of your official writer’s uniform!
While I know that you would still wear your achingly beautiful shawl if it was sweatin’ weather, maybe the cool weather stuck around so you could wear it and feel great in it. I can’t even believe how beautiful (and that’s even without touching it!).
Good luck on the housework. I’m feeling the same way – so bad that I’m actually even thinking about getting up from my spinning wheel and cleaning something. That’s when it’s serious.
I love that shawl — going crazy over all the nupps! I have GOT to get my hands on that book.
You’ll be the best-dressed bag lady at the corner store.
That is one seriously beautiful piece of knitting. I knew the pattern was beautiful, but that yarn — oh MY! It looks like all that and more. Pettable, even through the screen. And beautifully knit.
Wear it all you can. (The current weather pattern, which I am sharing with you, was made just so you could wear this a few days before it turns to summer, right?)
Laugh!!
I think you should wear your shawl stark nekkid on that trip to the store. Then you wouldn’t look like a homeless person at all. 😉
It’s so beautiful! I love the gorgeous detail where it gathers there on the little “nubs”, that is breathtaking.
You must meet the most INCREDIBLE people along the way. To get the Father to pose with his sock and such… that’s just awesome. 🙂 I’m glad you’re home. Healing blessings your way.
~Julie
No, Glamour magazine says that you look chicer if you don’t look like you’re trying too hard. Although It also said fishtail braided pigtails make you a “sexy Dorothy”, so, you know, grain of salt.
There is a drip pan under the fridge and I’ll bet you that is where the odor is coming from. Breathe through your mouth when you take it out, because it will be enough to gag you.
Don’t worry; this Portlander hasn’t even begun her gardening yet. Mr. Stitchjones keeps the lawn mowed, however the flowerbeds (my duty) are pathetic. And I have no excuse, because I work at home and haven’t had any road trips for a month. But I’ll give a two-word excuse anyway: Sock Summit!
If I knit a shawl that beautiful, whatever I wore underneath it would be an afterthought. Wear it with anything and totally rock it!
When you find the source of the smell could you please let me know. I am having the same problem and even cleaned out the fridge! I know the only solution is to scrub the fridge clean…but I am avoiding that for now. Beautiful shawl. Wear it.
Did you look in the drain tray of the fridge?
Gorgeous shawl. Toots LeBlanc’s in my backyard. Love her stuff.
Why are you breaking your heart over the weather when it is still Spring? Summer does not start for almost two weeks.
Spring is what we long for in the long dark months of winter, so why not enjoy it? This is what Spring is like. Every year.
Ooh, ooh! Can I sue you guys because last week I was thinking about the Sock Summit, and stubbed my toe? It still really hurts, you know …
Love the Shawl. The monk is cool. The lady who threatened leagal action? Tell her to “bring it on”, then forget about her!!, because she now has something to spend her unspent sock Summit money on!
A far as the mystery smell, most of mine come from the scum that likes to form under the veggie drawers. Pull them out and see if there are any interesting science experiments growing under them!
Could someone please tell me what the heck a ‘nup’ is?
I wonder why wearing a great scarf, stole or especially a shawl makes us feel…odd, crazy, weird. Go out an wear that gorgeous, delicious shawl anywhere, with anything. Flaunt it. Love it. Show it off. They’re all jealous anyway!
That is undoubtedly the most beautiful shawl I have ever seen! The fabric looks luscious! Great Job!
Oh! The shawl is so nice! I can see the definition. Truly stunning.
My husband’s cousin is a Benedictine Monk. I think his name is Father Albert, although we just call him Uncle Mike. He said the prayer at our wedding and then danced like you wouldn’t believe during our reception. My father kept saying…. Look at the monk! Look at the monk!! 🙂
As for the refrigerator smell, did you check the freezer? Sometimes its the freezer that actually has the offender. Ask me how I know.
Glad you are home and hope you feel better soon. Thank goodness for toilet paper.
Wear the beautiful shawl, and tell people you made it yourself (someone will ask, it’s just too beautiful to be mass produced). You will give a happy memory to everyone who sees you! What keeps us warm and happy is way more important than whether it’s been seen it on a magazine cover lately.
Holy mother of god, that shawl is awesome! Wear it with jeans and a t-shirt and you will look cool. Jeans are an upgrade from track pants.
Get some sleep lady! No wonder you’re still sick, you’ve been super stressed out with the sock summit and traveling. You need a few days of rest (sleep, not knitting!) and doing nothing and having your girls clean the house!
Oh, and on the fridge – when mine smells, I go through it rigorously and toss everything that isn’t gonna be eaten, wipe the shelves and slidey box things and stick in a fresh open box of baking soda. Works like a charm. And I’ve found that cheese is usually the culprit, I like strong cheeses…
Best of luck!
Good Lord, your Twitter feed shows you’re still griping about malcontent people who are “threatening” you over the stupid SSO9. Shall I teach you about good ole American WTF-ness? It’s where you tell idiots to go to hell. HEH! If I were you, I’d be tormenting those people by sticking my tongue out at them and saying: “Nah-nah-nee-nah-nee-goats–you CAN’T come to SSO9!!”
Wow! You did it again! That shawl is stunning. I have shawl envy. (I also have shawl-knitting talent envy since the charts still don’t make sense to me. If there’s a trick to it I’d love to know what it is.)
Father Dimitrius is indeed a good sport.
As for cleaning your house, don’t you have perfectly healthy teenagers? They could clean while you wrap yourself in that shawl, drink tea and banish the remnants of that plague.
Just read your tweet about the threatened “legal action.” I too am speechless. Few things make my blood boil more than when nice people who do good things (i.e. you and Tina and others like you who share the good) are threatened by selfish bullies. I guess bullies’ obnoxious behavior gets them what they want often enough to teach them that being pushy is always worth trying. Some lawyers do good work but, particularly in America, they are enablers for the bullies all too often. Obviously person has no case. It’s a knitting conference, for God’s sake. I hope you have a private and hearty chuckle at her expense.
Oh, and Goldenseal is an awesome herb for kicking crap out of the system. Though I still say sleep is needed.
The homeless lady look is in, doncha know, especially with a shawl as beautiful as that. No-one’ll even notice the track pants.
It’s hard to believe that human hands could create something so delicate and complex, the fanciest spider web ever. It’s astonishing! Maybe it’s good that the weather isn’t too warm in Toronto,so that you can show it off!
Absolutely stunning shawl! Wear it with anything you like and be proud.
The shawl is stunning. I still haven’t done much lacework; someday.
The color of those socks is the BEST. I *love* the red.
Welcome home!
The shawl is beautiful! And wear it wherever you want!
The shawl is gorgeous. Wear it!! It is actually a public service, see, because it will keep everybody’s mind agile! It is an act of CIVIC DUTY, to wear things like stained jeans and a ratty t-shirt with some gorgeous bit of knitted sea-foam thrown carelessly over them. The startling contrasts encourages BRAIN FUNCTION, which helps protect the innocent citizens we encounter from early-onset Alzheimers! IT’S TRUE!!!! (At least in MY world, it is.)
I can feel the softness of the shawl. It’s lovely. I’m actually enjoying this cool weather because I’m able to finish the school year without having to endure steaming humidity and sweaty children who just want their summer vacations to start already. I wonder if those talented Benedictines will be taking up sock knitting next.
If you want summer, the Okanagan is the place to be! Last week it was 29/30c.
That shawl is gorgeous. Though I’d take the socks instead. I think I’d feel silly wearing something as beautiful as that shawl, but I could totally handle red socks.
Re: the stinky fridge. Check the drain (usually found under the fruit and veggie drawers. Sometimes that gets clogged (in your house it’s probably clogged with wool…in my house it’s sludge) and the water backs up and gets stinky.
Of course, your fridge may not have a drain in which case…I dunno.
Thanks for making the trek to Saskatchewan. And double thanks for adding us to the blog. The official stalker is still riding the high of meeting you, as are the rest of us.
It was a beautiful day inside the classroom, even though the weather pretty much sucked. I’m lever knitting now. I love it. Thank you for sharing your wisdom. You are such a patient person and we are grateful that you indulged our quirks.
I forwarded all the photos to you and I hope you enjoy them!
As an honourary life long member of the Saskatoon Knitting Circle you have a knitterly home whenever you come this way (and we hope it is sooner than later).
The shawl is beautiful. It deserves to be seen, even at the corner store.
A homeless lady, perhaps, but a homeless lady with STYLE!
That shawl is amazing. You must be standing an inch taller today.
May I ask what you do with all of the shawls that you knit? Your house must be filled to the brim with shawls.
Oh my, what a great shawl it is!!! I must get my mitts on that pattern/yarn “toot” suite!
Hope you’re feeling better!
The shawl is amazing – almost amazing enough for me to contemplate the worthyness of doing nupps.
Fridge smells????? pull out your produce drawers and look below and all the way in the back. Betcha that’s where your nasty smell is coming from (ask me how I know!).
Do you get a thrill out idol-worship? Geez–for once, don’t be Politically Correct and SAY WHAT YOU REALLY FEEL, Coward!
wow………. when i look at those pics of the shawl, i hear angels sing! a thing of beauty is a joy forever…
You loved us in Saskatchewan? We loved you. We knew we would. Thanks for coming.
oh wow, the shawl turned out beautifully! Wear it everywhere. With everything.
I’m struggling through my first shawl right now and you give me such hope! 🙂
As someone else suggested, wear just the shawl. It will allow you to sort the knitters from the muggles, as only the muggles will notice that you are missing pants.
Wowza.! Fantastical shawl. wear it with everything or nothing and it’s still going to get stares. Koodos for Father holding the sock they are good sports. .
“19. In reality, I know that I am actually going to look like a homeless lady who found a really great shawl.”
Not with that shawl, lady!
You will NEVER look homeless! More like a rich, eccentric woman with extremely good taste.
However, if you REALLY don’t want to wear that shawl because people might think that you are homeless, then I will gladly take it off your hands. Because I am that kind of person. I hate to have people feel badly about their knitting, especially about their shawls.
Katherine
Lovely Shawl!
The weird fridge smell may be coming from under the veggie crisper if you have the kind of fridge with drawers at the bottom.
ROFL at 17. Take a picture!
I’m glad you’re home, there’s no place like it, even messy. The shawl is beautiful. My first Estonian lace wrap is blocking now. There’s no way anyone could look bad in one.
I’m a lurker not a poster, but that shawl is too stunning not to say something. Really amazingly fabulous. And an inspiration. Am going to go knit on my lowly afghan now … and pretend it is a softly stunning and haloed angora/merino shawl.
Nancy Bush’s book is on the top of my list. (She’s going to want your pictures for her book). Your shawl is inspiring. So beautiful! It was sure worth all the frustration getting started! A book full of lace! How ever will I decide?
As to recovery, please get some extra rest. Hopefully you can’t smell the smell in your bedroom! Maybe Someone Else will clean it while you’re resting.
Well, if I am wearing a shawl with a tshirt and comfy pants, I scrunch it up around my neck to diminish the lace/ethereal/Jane Austen effect. If you wear a hoodie, wear it on the inside of hoodie.
I have some Toots LeBlanc fiber and it is lov-er-ly stuff. Nice people, too.
I had a ghost smell one time. Turned out to be a potato long forgotten under a bag of something else. Explained all the fruit flies too, come to think of it. Bummer for the potato though. It’s fate involved the trash can.
But the blue socks are for you right? The colorway and pattern are great, and I’m sure you’ll love them when they’re finished
I’m so glad you are home…please get well. Actually I can’t imagine anyone’s health maintaining with the laborious labor of love you and cohort birthed recently. Also, the close-ups of the shawl make me tear up. It is like a spun dessert.
About the smell in the fridge: if you put a small bowl with vinegar in the fridge, the smell will go away. Don’t put a lid on, otherwise it won’t work.
I think the shawl is absolutely gorgeous!!!
That is such a pretty shawl – but, please, what on earth is a ‘nupp’ – I haven’t come across that before. Whatever – it looks gorgeous.
Welcome home! What a gorgeous shawl! I think nupps are very cool too, no matter what a knitter’s skill level. I’m nowhere near the accomplished knitter that you are and I think nupps are so much fun to knit. As long as I remember to make them loose that is. If I forget and make them too tight then knitting nupps isn’t anywhere near the fun that it should be! As for the smell in the fridge, putting a box of baking soda in your refrigerator really does work for those ghostly smells. Why are refrigerators like that anyway? You would think that the manufacturer of refrigerators would know about these things and make them so they couldn’t hold onto the smells of food long past. Oh well. I hope you feel better really soon.
Oh Stephanie- you make me laugh! 🙂
OMG that shawl is spectacular. I especially love the little “hourglass” stitches along the sides…
Congrats on many many levels, not the least 1) Beautiful work and 2) way to kick the cold to the curb.
Noooooo! I do not need another project in my queue! The socks are absolutely the right color (i.e., red), and the shawl is gorgeous. I can’t believe somebody I “know” is the first commenter. [Hi, AlisonH!]
So nice to have met you at Dallas; come back soon now, y’hear?
Ohmygod seriously on the weather! After such a long, brutal winter, an early summer was needed. I can’t remember it being this crappy out so late into the year. What a bummer of a weather year!
Wow – beset by the 3-week plague and yet you still write the most amazing posts. Thanks for the laughs (my fridge has the same “disease” – I think it’s going around). The shawl is gorgeous – but your description of the yarn, ply, twist, halo etc make me want to run out and buy some. PLUS – your tale of the cast-on helps us all remember that despite outwardly appearances, you are in fact, a mere mortal. We think you’re a goddess. Happy knitting (and resting).
New reader of your blog – loving it! I too am suffering from random cold/plague, listening to R4 and knitting socks. You’ve cheered me up no end!!
About your fridge, check underneath the bottom drawers… gets me everytime! Something always leaks under there.
Love the socks! Simple but full of color and warmth. :o)
The shawl is to die for! You’ll still look like a princess wearing it over a t-shirt and track pants.
I’m stuck at the office with sandals in the cold today. Why? Because I was dumb enough to pack a summer outfit thinking there would at least be one day out of three that would be nice and sunny.
OMG, Steph…….. the shawl is GORGEOUS! No words to describe how I would look going to buy TP at our Costco wearing that shawl! On a helpful note, you might want to try Delsym for your cough. Its over the counter, works for 12 hrs and is an outstanding cough med withOUT drowsiness as a side effect. Non-narcotic and works GREAT! Dose is only 2 tsp every 12 hrs. If you don’t see it on the shelf, ask the pharmacist. I’ve used it when I have a cough and am able to go to work/knit/continue life without sleeping through the day.
hth,
Barbara @ the cloudy Jersey Shore
That shawl is awesome! Congrats!
… as if. Do you even own track pants???
Hey, yoga pants aren’t track pants. Their nicer.
Bring shawl to knit night. You may be surprised at how good it looks on me. Just saying.
Very cool shawl…
I just saw that book and the description of “nupps” on the knitting show… what a coinkidink!
Very pretty indeed!!! I just love it.
Re the “ghost smell” in your fridge. Have you checked the drain pan? Perhaps “someone” had a teeny spill in the fridge while you were gone and cleaned up all the visible evidence, but if anything ran down into the tubing to the drain pan, it could be down there creating new life forms.
My suggestion: Pour boiling (or at least really hot) water down the drain inside the fridge. Follow with a good slug of bleach, vinegar, or lemon juice, then more hot water to rinse that out. Be prepared for a nasty clump of “something” to slide out with the first rinse.
I know, gross, but I also sadly know whereof I speak. I too have decidedly low standards when it comes to housekeeping, but there are certain things that have to be done sometimes!
Wear the shawl, absolutely. And if you can find a tiara, just run with it.
Just read your twitter about the woman threatening legal action about getting into SS09. Do you think it is too late to do SS09 by invitation only?
That shawl actually took my breath away! You should be in awe of this one! And, yes, you should wear it wherever you go; even for toilet paper. Just hope it won’t shed at all on black.. Especially considering all the travel you’ve been doing, it’s difficult to imagine you having the time to sit and follow that chart! You are a marvel!
me, i just like saying the word ‘nupps.’ You say nupps, I say Knupps, let’s call the whole thing off. welcome home.
Beautiful work on the lace! Try looking under the vegetable/fruit bins. That’s where I used to find my smelly “surprises” especially when my kids were still at home.
Somehow I’d figured that they were used to seeing you in track pants & fancy shawls at the corner store by now. You’ve knitted plenty of lovely lace & I can’t believe you’ve not bought TP after finishing a new project before.
Wearing that gorgeous shawl no one will notice what you are wearing or not wearing. Cheers. Naomi
I vote for the trackpants tee shirt homeless lady found a great shawl look! Especially while purchasing toilet paper. 🙂 Do homeless ladies purchase tp?! Maybe. Leaves are scritchy.
OMG, that shawl is the bomb! Lovely! And I’m delighted to hear it’s not shedding.
Also, I just read your tweet about the lady who wants to sue because she didn’t get into sock summit–holy smokes! I just wonder at the level of obliviousness. It also reminded me of this post on Havi’s blog:
http://www.fluentself.com/blog/habits/someone-threw-a-shoe-at-you/
which, you know, helps me get my blood pressure lower, at least. I thought you’d like it.
Gorgeous shawl, wear it wherever, it’s not like any sane person would notice anything but the shawl, and it’s too beautiful to save only for special occasions.
Your shawl is beautiful…of course you already knew that.
We recently had a similar phantom smell emanating from our refrigerator. I scoured everything looking for possible science projects having gone awry. Husband and step-son similarly scoured the refrig without luck. Finally we found the culprit. A plastic wrapped package of shrimp. The shrimp looked beautiful, but the smell on the other hand….
I am thinking about wearing this shawl with my track pants and tee shirt when I go to buy toilet paper from the corner store later.
18. I think that this is a good idea, because the tee shirt is black and will really show off the shawl, and I will look great.
Yes you will look like a homeless lady and the knitting gods will unleash their wrath on you!!!!!
Regarding the weird smell in the fridge, we had a mystery odor a few months ago. After cleaning the entire fridge and smelling all the contents, we realized that it was the plastic container for the milk bags.
I guess this would only help you if you also use milk bags.
I let my teenage car borrow the car last night, and now it smells really funny. REALLY funny. Wanna come check my car? I’ll go look in your fridge as a trade…
“Legal action” my arse! On the up side, aren’t you glad she waited a week to sign up?
Whenever I have a bad smell in my refrigerator, it always turns out to be a lemon that is turning moldy. I love your shawl. I couldn’t pull off a shawl even in a fancy dress, so what the heck, wear it with sweats!
Nice shawl for sure! I love the Estonian lace.
Just had to tell you how gorgeous your shawl is, even with so many others saying the same thing. It is incredibly beautiful. Maybe I’ll try one with nupps again (too tight the first time, thought I’d never try again).
I’m incredibly taken with the idea of the Benedictine brothers WEARING colorful handknit socks under their robes. Do you think that’s allowed as part of the monk kit?
Miralda is a glory. I’m making a little cocoon-stitch (2-skein) shawl-let from this yarn, and I totally concur about it being worth the money.
The Miralda’s softness and beauty come through in the photos. Wear it wherever! I have a mohair/alpaca shawl that is soft and gorgeous and I wear it everywhere – I fling it on over my dressing gown on cold mornings, wear it for walks around the block, in the house, in the garden. Heck! You only live once!
On the other hand, you could put it away for a wedding…. nah!
Why does the Friar, or Father, or whatever they are called, look as if he is lecturing you about your sock? Just curious.
Shawl is beautiful, I really want that book. If I get this job on Friday, I’m going to celebrate my first check by buying that book. In the meantime I’m consoling myself by knitting a shawl designed by Meg Swanson (ok, I’m knitting it as an afghan, but it’s still lacey).
I cannot imagine what her grounds could possibly be. Unfortunately one cannot plead disappoint in law(or I am sure my LYS would be flooded with frivolous and vexatious suits over selling out the Malabrigo all the time). Some things in life just cannot be helped.
To commenter Bo: You sound like a desperately unhappy person. Please get help.
Oh my god. The shawl is absolutely gorgeous. I have shawl envy.
I see that Toots Le Blanc is going to be at SS09. Better warn them that you’ve made fans for their yarn by revealing your incredible shawl. Love the interlocking diamonds!
It’s a testament to my lack of intellectual swiftness that when I began reading about Aviva, I thought, “Oh wow, there’s another Aviva on this site. How cool.”
Um, yeah. But how cool have the Harlot take the dare!
Told ya Benedictines were cool.
Re. 8): Pull out the vegetable crispers and see if anything has leaked under there. I had the misfortune to have something gooey leak under mine once and I discovered it far too late!!!
Your shawl is amazing.
And that is so funny, I am 7 weeks into my newborn and my house is driving me crazy, but cannot do anything but close my eyes to it since she is forever nursing! The blessing and the curse. Worse, I haven’t figured out how to knit while nursing. (Does that make me a bad mom because I even think about it? 🙂
Re: Bad Smell in the Kitchen… Check the POTATO BIN!!!! There is nothing worse on earth, even the smell of dirty diapers, than rotten potatos. And the smell will hide, and LINGER… (Can you tell I just found half a dozen? Bleh!) The smell may not be the fridge, it may be behind the fridge, or beside the fridge, or even 3 feet away from the fridge! Beware the rotten potatoes!!!!
That shawl is so neat and has such crisp stitches! It’s beautiful. Wow.
Wow… absolutely sumptuous–and bless the Benedictines, they really do have a sense of humor!
Beautiful shawl, Stephanie. I can definitely see wanting to wear it everywhere – even to the corner store. (I am betting that they know you well enough there that they wouldn’t even blink!)
Father Dimitrius has my vote of coolest monk ever, short of Thich Nhat Hahn — who I bet would pose with a sock, too. 🙂
tell you what. if you start wearing that one to the drug store in a t-shirt and track pants, when i finish my silk aeolian, i will wear it in public with a grnugy tank top and flip flops and then you can say you started a fashion trend…what? two people don’t make a fashion trend?
Beautiful socks and shawl! I’m so jealous. I wish I had more time to knit. I feel like that shawl would take me months (because the one I’m working on IS taking months) and yet you crank it out in mere weeks (or days, I can’t really tell which). Do you get any sleep? How do you do it?!
LOL about the homeless woman comment. My sister, whom I converted to knitting and who is inadvertantly amassing a stash, still contends that shawls are for grannies. I smile at her as a wear my alpaca Swallowtail that I love almost more than my son. (I said ‘almost.’)
I spent the better part of last month trying to find the funk in my fridge. Everytime I thought I had gotten it out it would come back even stronger the next day. I finally had to take everything out and turn the shark steamer on it (only took five minutes which is good because I HATE housework of any kind) and threw in two boxes of baking soda for good measure. I was beginning to think either a shrew had crawled up in there and died or the fridge had the same problem my hubby does after eating chili.
Unfortunately the “plague” you are speaking of doesn’t seem to respect warm weather. I live in Guam and it’s running rampant here. My daughter brought it home two and a half weeks ago and I was lucky enough to get it this past week. Sorry to rain on your warm weather dream, but on the upside having a horrid cold in 90 degree heat is worse since you really want to drink something warm and soothing, but it’s too hot to do that (we turn up the AC and pretend it’s winter). The only upside is when you get a case of the chills, then you can run outside, fry for a second and then pop back inside. Hope you’re feeling better.
Something just came to mind; just what do you do with all these shawls?? You must have over a million; so what do you do with them?
SylverX
Wow- your shawl is extraordinary!
If you like angora (high quality stuff) as much as I do- try this little known Canadian wonder- here http://www.cottagecraftangora.com/ I can vouch fro them- have knit with their yarns and wow- you should see the colours!!!!
The shawl is really beautiful. You have a real talent for knitting yarn into a work of art!
I know I’m about a week behind the curve, but…
Is that a Zoolander reference in item #7? If so, you’re my favourite. If not… well, you’re still my favourite, but I’ll feel a little silly…. 😀
Heh. You made me snort coffee on my computer with the line about wearing the the shawl to pick up t-pee. I would be wearing that beautiful shawl with track pants and a tee to the store to if it were mine!! Enjoy it, it’s fabulous. Life is short. Wear pretty stuff.
Loved the shawl. I have been reading your books, more like “gobbling them up” and have taken time from my knitting to do so. I USED to travel on business and then go with husband on business trips and would deliberately leave room in suitcase for books, and visited each and every book store I could find, and spent WAY too much! Then the knitting bug, which had lain dormant for about 15 years reared it’s head, probably because a new grandbaby was on the way, although I HAD been knitting my service dog sweaters, it was not a full time addiction YET. Now, IF I could still travel on business, but I am 20 years older, and husband-less (by CHOICE, I hasten to add) I would take those empty suitcases and visit Yarn stores and spend WAY TOO MUCH and bring back full suitcases. A big benefit would be yarn ways a LOT less than books, too! I have been wondering about the Wedding Ring Shawl that, when asked what if you could only knit one more thing, EVER, what would it be? You said the Wedding Ring shawl, a shawl so fine that it could pass through a golden wedding ban. I WANT to find the pattern for that shawl, and have had no known success. I suppose I MIGHT have found the shawl, a “rose by any other name…” but have had no luck in finding a shawl called The Wedding Ring Shawl. Does anyone know where I can find the pattern? If it goes by some other name, what IS that name? While I loved your shawl, and am absolutely in love with Angora Yarn, the husband I traveled with once did the laundry (Awestruck silence, please) and my absolutely favorite, and over a year in the making, angora sweater in my all time favorite color, would not even have fit a preemie newborn! That is one of the major reasons I “lost” him, yeah, he deserved points, I GUESS for doing laundry unasked, but can ANYONE be THAT dumb that he would throw a sweater so very soft and so very special into a washer AND into a dryer? I thought not, and once I started thinking, I realized that “dumb” was one of his major attributes, but he WAS quite good looking and VERY sexy, and I was younger, and less discriminating, blah, blah, blah (all excuses, not good reasons). Enough, Jannelle, no one cares, but I would really appreciate any hints, directions, clues, or straight up answers on the Wedding Ring shawl pattern. Seeing Your shawl, Stephanie, and reading your books (loved all the laughs) I am inspired to MAKE that shall, but, despite knitting supposedly teaching patience, I WANT to make that Wedding Ring shawl, and I want to do it NOW! Can any of your loyal readers help me find the pattern, please?