Now that the power has come back on...

That's right the power just came back on here after about 2 hours. The weather isn't even bad, oh well, what can you do?

So, the shawl is finished and I'm really happy with it, it was so much fun to knit. The only part I wasn't thrilled about was knitting the edging, that took longer than anything and it was pretty boring, but it does beat binding off like a thousand stitches. Here it is being blocked.

I snapped that picture during the 3 minutes that my cat managed to get off of it. I don't understand what makes her want to sleep on damp wool but every time I block something or lay a sweater out to dry she feels the need to lay on it.

This shawl is special to her though for some reason. She is obsessed with it. I suppose I should make her a little kitty version. Even now that it is dry, whenever I turn around she is on it. It's pretty funny.

I've also made some good progress on Picovoli. I'm almost ready to start the waist decreases.

It's very green, even more that it looks like in the picture, but I like it and I'm told I look good in green. I haven't made any modifications to the pattern yet, but I think I'm going to add a patterned stitch to the bottom few inches, after the waist shaping as well as adding a little length.

Now for the results of Thursday's yarn shopping trip. I picked up enough Debbie Bliss Wool/Cotton to make the Blanket Cardigan from Sarah Dallas Knits, as well as a hank of Fleece Artist Merino for a baby blanket for new baby Challies. After those two things I ran out of money.

I have started the blanket, then ripped it out ant started it again. That is after I spent the entire Olympic opening ceremonies winding all 800 yards of it into a gigantic ball. Why is it that whenever I buy Fleece Artist from the big yarn store it ends up being a tangled mess? Anyway, l started out using the Flower Basket Shawl Pattern from IK as the basis for a square blanket knit from the centre out but the handpainted yarn is just too wild for that pattern so I started again. This time I'm doing 5 stockinette wedges rather than 4 lacey ones, then I'll use the edging from the Flower Basket pattern to finish it off. Here's where I'm at now.

As you can see it's pretty bright, but I think it's a nice change from traditional baby colours, and it's machine washable. To begin both versions of this blanket I used Emily Ocker's circular cast on and man was I impressed. It was easy and it closes up nice and tight. I have to thank Grumperina for that link.