Pretty in Pink

Pink is my favorite color. I have pink skin. I look good in pink. Everything is prettier in pink. I was so happy to see my pretty pink flower basket shawl all stretched out and blocking on the bed yesterday. I just unpinned her and wrapped up in her yumminess. Alpaca Cloud is definitely a fabulous fiber for shawls and scarves--so soft, so delicate, and with just the right amount of warmth for a Southern Belle. Since the weather can't seem to make up its mind right now, a little extra warmth in the morning is a good thing.

I started working on the Trellis Scarf the other night. My first attempt looked pretty strange, so I frogged it and started over. I got through the first chart just fine, but then came this little monster called a 7 to 5 cluster. Evil monster. I did not knit the future cluster stitches extra loose on the previous row as suggested in the pattern. That would have required knowing what was coming up on the 1st row of the 2nd chart, which I hadn't really studied intensely yet. I did try using a crochet hook to pull the yarn through the 7 stitches, which is fine if you only need to pull through once. It doesn't help for the following yo, k1, yo, k1 that are supposed to be worked in the same place. Next I tried slipping the 7 st to a 0000 dpn, meanwhile shoving the addi forward so the needle is out of the way and maybe I won't drop any stitches during the gymnastics. it worked, but how fiddly is that? I made it through the row (3 clusters) only to discover that I did drop a stitch after the first cluster and the others were all off by 1. Yikes! Its a really pretty scarf, but it's not worth all the headaches to work the 100+ clusters called for in the design. Call that Trellis frogged! BooHoo!

With Trellis is the frog pond, I just had to start something else with the coral Zephyr. I spent quite a bit of time perusing my pattern collection and B. Walker's 1st Stitch Treasury book. I ultimately decided to try the Lavender Linen Lace Shawl from Nancie Wiseman's Knitted Shawls, Stoles, & Scarves. This is a lovely little triangular shawl, more like a large scarf really. Since it is worked with a single strand of laceweight yarn, it is lighter and more delicate than the Flower Basket Shawl or Kiri. That makes it perfect for spring and summer! The pattern is pretty easy to follow & remember, so I should be able to knit away without the chart soon. This lace shawl thing is *so* addicting!