Warning

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A wonderful time was had here at camp, although an unexpected virus ripped through a very great number of campers.  Tentatively called WWJK – or "What Would Josie Knit" it appears to have been touched off by this camper:

and her two gorgeous Color Affection Shawls. So beautiful was her example, and so infectious was her enthusiasm, that knitters began to fall almost immediately.  Symptoms include putting all the yarn in groups of three,  discussing the nature of the shawl’s construction ad nauseam, and being unable to manage an evening without saying "I just want to nail a few more stripes before bed."

Even the staff is not entirely well.

This one is mine. 

By the end of camp all of us were calling it the "Colour Infection" shawl – since it seemed more appropriate. Only a few campers remained well enough to resist,

The rest of us are hoping Josie doesn’t decide to knit an afghan next year.

(PS.  I ripped mine out and tried again. The edge was too tight.)
(PPS. Have you ever noticed how well people pick the colours that are right for them?)

156 thoughts on “Warning”

  3. The smiles say it all! I may be coming down–or up?– with one of my own this week.
    Btw: you are just so lovely! I especially love reading because I’m a transplanted Canadian. Thank you for being who you are and sharing your gifts.
    Peace!

  4. I may have several kits for this shawl in yarn from the Plucky Knitter. (Primo fingering – a merino, silk, cashmere blend, and CashSilk). It is addictive. To help avoid the tight edge, it helps to add a yarnover in the beginning and then drop it on the way back.

  5. Oh dear! I’ve been trying to resist stash-diving for this, but may succumb to the temptation.

  6. Is there any way you can get the pattern author to make it available again? Ravelry said the pattern ceased being available in Feb. 2012.
    Surely the designer understands how much money she can make after the Yarn Harlot blogs about a pattern.

  7. Ignore my comment. Looks like the pattern is still available. Maybe I should read things in their entirety before shooting my mouth off.

  8. How funny! I finished mine at the end of March, in a brown, tan, teal combo. And lo… I am wearing those very colors today!
    I can’t wait to see what yours looks like, it looks to be a very soothing color palate.
    I’m torn between doing another one of these, or another stripe study. I bought they yarn for a stripe study, but I did enjoy this one very much! My edge is a little tight too.. I’m hoping it blocks out 😉

  9. an alternate way to ensure that your edge is not too tight is to yarnover between the first and second stitch of the row, and drop the yarnover on the way back. worked like a charm for me.
    veera has such amazing and wearable designs.

  10. That is one of the shawls I’ve been contemplating knitting, but now I’m afraid that if I do knit it I will contract a horrible disease!

  11. I clicked on the link and now I am infected as well! I will have to move my to-knit list around to accomodate this latest virus.

  12. How funny! I have the Stripe Study and Different Lines patterns in my queue with the yarn all ready to go. Now I’ve added this one!

  13. My edge was too tight, too. But I didn’t have the moral fortitude to rip back. Good decision! Do the yarn over trick.

  15. Color Affection (along with Wingspan) have been THE two big garter stitch shawl patterns so far this year. Both take to color like ducks to water.
    Of course I’ve got my three skeins grouped together, just waiting for a clear moment to cast on. 🙂

  16. Oh yeah! I just finished my first (pumpkin, grey and purple) and have begun two more with two additional in my queue! They are truly addicting. Putting a YO at the beginning of each row (and dropping it on the other end) is essential to a loose edge.
    Can’t wait to see what colors you have chosen!

  17. Leave it to knitter’s at a SOCK camp to end up knitting shawls — though as it’s made with sock yarn I guess you’re all covered! I love that pattern, I’m making a ‘Different Lines’ shawl myself right now and expect that I will end up falling for Colour In- (oops I mean) Affection!

  18. I have to say, the woman with the sock earrings laughing in her picture pretty much made my entire week. Thank you. 🙂

  20. I wondered why this pattern was trending on Ravelry when I last checked.
    Never underestimate the power of The Harlot and her band of Merry Knitters @ Sock Camp.

  21. Wow! What a wonderful, beautiful, happy bunch of knitters. These smiling faces made my day, although I’m starting to feel a bit feverish…I think I feel an affliction coming on.

  22. Can you please make sure all these campers send photos of their completed shawls? There are so many color combos that look amazing! I want/demand to see them all worked up.
    Thank you for your consideration.

  23. I should know better than to get on here before doing my homework. Now I really just want to knit, lol. Especially a shawl. With stripes….

  24. Hmmmm…that surely does look like a fun knit to me! Have already been to Ravelry to queue it up for my next knitting treat! Now, what colours……

  25. Two in my knitting guild have already succumbed to this pattern and several others (I’ve already started mine) have ordered kits from The Plucky Knitter. Think this is going to be our guild-retreat-pattern-to-make this year. Last year it was the Hitchhiker. Beautiful shawls.
    Boy, everyone looks so happy in your pics!

  26. …is this what they mean by a computer virus?
    I feel a sudden need to find three skeins of coordinating/contrasting yarn and cast on!

  28. It’s a virus. So naturally,Harlot, you go and post it on the interwebz thus ensuring wide spread transmission!
    Curse you Yarn Harlot!

  29. Great photo of Josie! Can’t wait to see it in person when I stop by my LYS 🙂 Josie is an awesome teacher and yarn enabler 😉

  31. Cute post! I love all of the pictures of Campers and their colorways! I put the pattern on my list for summer knitting about a month ago….such timing!
    Sara

  33. I love the smiling faces!!! And yes, I did notice that the knitters picked colors that certainly match themselves.
    Just a wonderful blog entry! Wish I was there.

  35. darn you any way…I just finished wingspan because it had to be done, now this! Thanks..I think!

  39. I caught this virus when a customer walked in the shop wearing a Color Affection a couple of weeks ago. Be very very careful – it can be deadly (to your wallet and knitting time). It’s best not to fight it. Just jump right in and work through it. You’ll feel better (and be well dressed) in no time.

  40. I thought this was Sock Camp. Do you wear these on your feet? How very strange! Guess this is why I don’t knit.
    Trish

  42. I did notice that everyone was exceptionally photogenic holding their yarn selection. Makes me wonder as to how “sick” they actually are. However, I would add that I did feel a sense of infectiousness. Perhaps that’s where the confusion lies.

  43. I LOVE it! I made the Stripe Study shawl last year and Color Affection looks like it will be just as fun to knit and wear.

  44. Um. This was Sock Camp right?!? This virus has gone viral, I’m casting on right now!!!!

  46. I’m casting on my 2nd one tonight. “Color Infection” is definitely appropriate. Color Addiction would also work!

  48. This shawl has been all I can think about for weeks, so I guess that means I’ve already been infected! I keep going over different color combinations in my mind, and the choices have got me tied up in knots. I’ll be casting on mine as soon as I can come to a decision…

  49. Funny, but I just bought yarn for my own Color Affection ….excuse me, Color Infection!
    What wonderful color combinations!
    Everybody better post their projects on Ravelry!

  50. HAH! Love it! One of my groups on Ravelry is knitting this right now! I’m trying to get mine finished in the next week or so before I leave on a trip. Love, love, love this!

  51. Color Infection, love it. I’m just finishing the border on mine. Satisfying project – I must have been channeling sock camp.

  52. For xmas, my sister gave me a Daybreak shawl, her very first shawl ever. So I gave her a Color Affectation when she came to visit last month. The yarnover trick works great! I have no doubt that seeing all the new color combos picked out by the campers will have me itching to make another one.

  54. Oh jeeze… I think you’ve just infected my computer and then now infected me. Oh well probably the best sickness I’ve ever been exposed to!

  55. I look at the Color Affection Shawls all the time on Ravelry. I’m just starting the border on my first one. I have 2 skeins in the stash and 1 on the way to start one for my aunt as a surprise. I do a wrap at the beginning of the row and drop it when I get back to it. It is the attempt fellow knitters have used to have a looser edge. I can’t wait to see all of these finished!

  60. Oh oh, I feel the virus coming on. Time to hit the stash and perhaps journey out to the LYS.

  61. OMG, I love how you captured “the face of knitting” with this post. So many beautiful eager, hopeful faces for knitting this shawl. Need to go now. I must stash dive for something perfect……

  62. Hmmm. I just read about this exact shawl on another blog, “Shades of Shetland” and was debating whether I should start another project. Now I’ve seen it again. That’s two. I’ll wait for three before I’ll see it as a sign.

  63. In the style of Hanne Falkenberg. Beautiful design and lots of garter stitch. I will put it on my list which is growing daily. So much knitting and so little time. Alas!

  64. Oh, someone in my knitting goroup is making one of these…now everyone is talking about doing one. I think you are onto something, calling it a “virus”
    !!!

  65. Ok, so in my defense….I may have had a little help!! Camp was awesome, as always!! Love You Steph!! Josie

  66. Okay, I have to move away from California to somewhere colder so I can make these things for me!!

  67. I think I need to tell the knitter with the blue/gold/grey combo that I love her.

  68. So, was this Sock Camp or Shawl Camp? Nevertheless the shawl is lovely, three colors what would I pick? I shawl have to ponder! I am infected via The Blog. (I’ve got my continum ordered and I am in the queue for that!)

  71. Love. it. Went to see the pattern and have now been to the stash. Looks like sock camp was great. Such happy faces.

  72. LOL…My shawls group is doing this one. I just finished mine and have already have a group of three right next to me for the next one. Color Addiction indeed!

  73. The Plucky Knitter group has been pretty hard hit by this virus too. I’m still healthy myself, but I’m not sure for how much longer….

  74. thanks for sharing! this one is a must do. I LOVE the colors chosen by the very happy lady with pinks greys and what looks like a subtle lime green. any idea what yarn or colorways it is?

  75. So glad the virus was of the knitting kind. I salivate over this shawl every time I flip through Rav hot patterns. Most of my yarn is good for 2-stripes though. Perhaps I’ll have to join the happy brigade and purchase a 3rd colorway. It is such a pretty piece.

  76. Just finished one on commission in cotton (lime green, blue, orange). Has great flow and feel. Already have my own colors selected to make in bluebonnet similar, can you tell I’m Texan?

  77. Aagh, I already go away to Recorder Camp for a week each summer, and now I am pretty sure I would have an amazing time at knitting camp too!

  80. Oh my goodness, it’s even contagious over the internet. I went stash diving and am swatching now!

  81. Love the lady in the striped top who is showing a different place to hide stash, and. . .
    . . .oh, my. Look at those stripes. Wonder if the pattern can be adapted to a scarf or an afghan. Feeling feverish. Must look at pattern. Brainnnnnnsssssss. . . .;-)!

  83. “(PPS. Have you ever noticed how well people pick the colours that are right for them?)”
    I work at a yarn shop & at a jewelry store, & my trick is that if somebody’s having trouble finding a color for them, I show them something in a color they’re wearing (clothing, accessories, etc.). Not unsurprisingly, this works most of the time (check the pictures–it even works in this case).

  84. Well, I couldn’t make it to sock camp, but since I’ve been working on a Color Affection shawl all month, I feel that I was there in spirit!

  85. Oh my goodness, Josie! You are enabling everyone at camp too!
    Stephanie…Josie infects everyone at Boersma’s Knitting Basket too!
    “Here comes Peter Cottontail hopping down the bunny trail!” (oops, everyone is going to fall down a rabbit hole now!)

  86. I caught it before you. It was spread through the Plucky Knitters.
    To make a looser side, knit 1, yo and proceed as stated. When you knit back and get to the yo, just drop it.

  89. Fabulous, simply fabulous! I want to knit that shawl too! Please post photos of yours when you’ve finished. Yes, it is wonderful to see that your people chose the colors that are really right for them. More, please tell us more!!!

  90. Caught the bug without even being there. Just bought the pattern before reading your blog post! And will do a stash raid for the yarn.

  92. By the way, the designer of this shawl, Veera Välimäki, was recently awarded the Craftswoman of the Year 2012 in her home country, Finland. She has many, many great designs!

  93. I only noticed the “warning” heading too late… wish I hadn’t clicked on the rav link…. I think I’ve fallen prey to the virus too.

  95. I have been playing with my 3’s for a while and the pattern had a discount code in the Madelintosh group last week so it is now in my library. Can’t wait to begin.
    This is a great next big project after the baby blanket!

  98. What wonderful pictures! Everyone looks beautiful and happy. If that is what knitting a Color Affection can do, I am starting today.

  101. Shaking my fist at you!!! I’ve been infected now! Now I just need someone to come over to my stash and help me pick my 3 colours!!!

  102. Wow it did go viral didn’t it. I’m checking the link….How pretty….what would i use …Damn …. I got it too.

  103. We will be “colour afflicted ” May 3 to 6,here in Sarnia,Ontario…when Feather Your nest hosts not only the yarn harlot,but “the plucky knitter”,Sarah Dimond!Sarah’s trunk show will be thurs May 3 (6pm to 8pm),and fri May 4 (10 to 4pm)…lots of “3 skein” combinations to choose from!
    Yarn harlot lecture fri may 4 at 7pm…further details email featheryournest@bellnet.ca

  107. Oh my gosh, sock camp looks like so so so much fun. Good thing I spend my weekend at Miniatures Camp, so I’m not too terribly jealous. (But I had to miss Quilt Camp)

  108. Dang!I wasn’t even at Sock Camp, and I think I’m coming down with the “Color Infection.”

  109. What I love is that all those knitters clutching their yarn to their chests.
    I saw this shawl live at Dragonfly Fibers Studio open house and it is lovelier in person than on the screen.

  110. I caught the bug about a week ago and downloaded the pattern. Many thanks for posting the pictures; I had two yarns picked out from my stash but couldn’t decide on the third and this has decided me to add a green. I’m really looking forward to starting it now…

  111. These pictures do totally sum up camp! It was a wonderfully warm and happy event. I managed to resist the virus with monumental doses of willpower but this effort then left me helpless to avoid the siren call of Blue Moon’s yarns and colourways. I hope you will see them in my future new designs.

  113. Resistance is futile. Great, another must do project. No such thing as idle hands on this blog. Can’t wait to start, they really do look pretty. Making a mental note to one day attend sock camp. It too looks like a lot of fun. Thanks for sharing.

  114. What a lot of lovely happy faces!! It’s a joy just to see them – but I think I may be catching this bug that’s going around as well……!!

  116. OMG, I caught the fever right away! I love that it is curved, without the arrow to your you-know-what that triagle shawls have.

  117. Oh goodness. I’ve managed to catch the fever just from online contact. That’s a powerful affliction. And it’s not like I don’t have some (ha!) sock yarn in my stash that’d be lovely knitted up into the fingering weigh version… yep, pattern purchased & queued.

  119. Wasn’t this *sock* camp? LOL =D I saw a sample of this done in Madelinetosh at Happy Knits a couple months back and it was gorgeous.

  120. Your pictures pretty much sum up the joy of being a knitter. Yarn hugs. The first “knitting skill” I taught my 21-month old daughter was how to hug yarn. She is very good at it now.

  123. Yes, you gave me an excuse to use up three THREE skeins of my indolent sock yarn. And for that I am grateful. But mostly it is a joy to see so many people with happy faces.

  125. Well I must have been with youin spirit because I have been knitting on my STR lightweight Color Affection all week! I really really want to make it to camp next year, I miss you guys.

  128. We have the same “infection” here in Houston at Twisted Yarns. Mine is 3 shades of turquoise.

  129. Oh no! I’ve had that pattern in my brain since I saw it about a month ago and now I think I’ll be casting on this afternoon. I think I have the right yarns in the stash.
    Can I call in sick with the colour infection?

  130. Love this post – thanks for posting all those glorious photos of colour combinations. I’m on my second Color Affection and just love the pattern.

  131. I caught the bug back in February and couldn’t rest until I found my perfect colors and cast on. The YO trick works great for a loose edge. I LOVE all of the long, squishy garter, colorful, stripey goodness! Mine is sage, marine blue and chocolate. Yummy!

  134. I caught the bug, too, and ordered the pattern. I think i might have to get some yarn because i don’t have much fingering yarn to speak of in my stash.

  135. That is so funny!!! Give you one chance to guess what I am knitting at the moment!

  137. Miss you all. Will have to join Josie and knit one just to think of all of you. Hugs

  138. Okay, I don’t generally like stripes, and even I’m going to make this shawl. Of course, I’ve had these three colors of yarn that someone gave me, and I’ve been looking for exactly the right thing to make with all of them together. I’ve been infected. : )

  140. Curses! Now I want to knit this too! Great to see some pictures of happy knitters with their yarn! Thanks for the update!

  141. Had to tell you how much I love the portraits in this post! Everybody looks so beautiful and happy and full of life & knitting. Somehow a huge amount of joy comes through these pix–and I need that this morning. Thank you.

  143. You are right!!! It is a virus. I caught it on Ravlery and when I made a dash to my lys, I found out they were infected too!

  145. Hi, long-time reader, first-time commenter. The lady 5pictures down on the right, with the lovely silver hair and blue shirt….her shawlette/neckricheif is so nice. I’d love the pattern, or even to just know more about it, if possible.

  146. I promised myself I would complete all of my other projects on my list before pruchasing another pattern and yarn. Oh well, the baby is due in Decmber this shawl will be the second thing I have very made for myself! BTW, what is the name on the yarn labels in the paictures?

  147. I LOVE that I can name each of these people and was blessed enough to be part of this great event again this year. THANK YOU! With heaps of hugs and laughter 😉

  148. Actually, I was thinking just that about the color choices before I read your comment, Stephanie. The color combinations are so pretty and good and right for the people. I was also thinking how beautiful and happy everyone looked.

  149. I totally just scored two kits for this SHAWL at plucky knitter. WOOT!!! 2 Christmas gifts thought of and bought!!! WAHOO!

  153. I also loved the shawl and was grateful for the tip about the yarn forward between 1st and 2nd stitches, so I am now ripping as I think it will sit better and I’m not too far on with the MC piece. It sounds like you all had lots of fun at the retreat dissecting the shawl. Just wish I had been there too. Michele

  154. Our knitting group is calling it “Color Affliction”. You can never have enough color.

  155. I’m not going to be able to resist the Infection for much longer, I don’t think…they are all so pretty!

  156. Bless you for this post. I have been searching for two years for the perfect wrap pattern. I have three scrumptious colors (cream, aqua, brown) that are meant to be a Color Affection Shawl. Not an unexpected virus, but very good karma!
    Thank you!

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