Shawls...I love shawls...

I added another shawl to my collection recently...

 This is Stephen West's Daybreak pattern....

I was inspired to make it after perusing my stash one day and coming upon the yarn leftover from the scarf I made for my mother-in-law last year, which you can see here. It's Three Irish Girls Kells Sport Merino, club colorways Lagoon and Arboretum.

I knew when I started that I wouldn't have enough of Color B to do the border section as written in the pattern, and I was right. I only got about 2/5 of the way through it before I was almost out. So I did a couple rows of garter stitch instead and then bound off. Or tried to. I'd overestimated how much I had left for binding off and had to tink back a good 300 stitches. Started the bind off again. STILL not enough! Ahhh! I set about cannibalizing all of the tails I could find, including those buried in my yarn scraps bag from the scarf last year...and I knew it just wasn't going to happen. Tink, tink, tink, another 300+ stitch row. Sigh.

Oddly, after blocking, the shawl was shaped like a half circle instead of the crescent shape it should have been. I imagine that has to do with row gauge differences between sport (which I used) and fingering (which the pattern called for. Not that it matters. I'm very happy with it, and it used stash yarn, so, win!

Another recently finished project was this Lowell Cowl, from a recent Classic Elite e-newsletter...

It is a very pretty, very versatile cowl (check out the other pics on my Rav project page to see other ways to wear it). However, the pattern called for knitting it from two strands of laceweight held together. I opted instead to use Sublime Angora Merino and Kid Mohair Blend yarns instead, held single, and not overlapped in the second section. Dude...soft? Yes. Sheddy? OHMYGOSHYES! I cannot wear this thing without getting bunny in my mouth or eyes, up my nose, sticking to everything...argh. After doing a bit of reading, I've come to the conclusion that the angora used in this yarn was probably clipped, not plucked, which affects the staple length of the fiber and makes it more prone to shedding. Not much you can do about it. I have no idea what I'll do with it. But it's pretty. And, yeay! More stash gone!

In other news, I tried my hand at dyeing up some self-striping sock yarn...

This was the first time I'd dyed yarn at all, and I have to say it is a little more fun than dyeing roving. Don't get me wrong...I love dyeing roving. But yarn...it's different. It's got a different character. I'm looking forward to doing more of it, roving too. It's all part of my master plan...ahem...yes, I have a master plan. I'll let you in on it as things unfold... ;)