There’s lots of stuff I’ve been meaning to post about lately, just haven’t had the time (see yesterday’s to do list… note that working on the leaf lace shawl was NOT anywhere on my to do list!!)

First of all, a big thank you to my SP5 secret pal! I got a wonderful package in the mail from her…
A pretty pink Lantern Moon bag, a pink sparkly coin purse, chocolate flavored lip balm (yum!) and a skein of Koigu KPPM in beautiful shades of purple! Thanks Secret Pal! I think I’m going to find a coordinating skein of purple sock yarn and make some socks with lighter or darker purple toes and heels and use the variegated KPPM yarn for the foot of the sock.

I’ve also been plugging away at the baby blanket… here’s a picture of where I’m at with it. The color is kind of washed out, but it is a nice light baby blue color. It is a fast knit on size 9s, but I’m just not motivated to work on it since it has been so hot here (105+ degrees).

Since I haven’t been wanting to work on the heavy, warm baby blanket, I decided to start the lace leaf shawl instead. I’m using Skacel Merino Lace yarn. Knitting with the merino lace is like knitting with thread! This is my first foray into laceweight yarn, and although it was hard to get used to, I think I’m figuring out how to deal with it. I do have a little trouble getting the yarn over the needle joins… too bad the join isn’t more like the Addis. But there is NO way I could use Addis on this project… I’d have stitches sliding off the needles all over the place!

So far I have the first chart plus 1 of 18 repeats of the second chart completed. The ball of yarn in the picture looks pretty small, but that is 1375 yards (!!!) of yarn. Enough for the entire shawl and then some.

Here’s a close-up… The pattern doesn’t show up very well right now. I’m sure that blocking will work wonders for this project.

Not sure when I’ll get to reading Harry Potter… probably not until next weekend. I’m dying to read it, but I know if I pick it up, I won’t put it down until I’m done - not a good thing when I’ve got a ton of school work, work work, and house work to do.

Have a good week!