I've settled into a rhythm this week after a crazy cast-on one last week. (Blame it on the *giveaway book...if you haven't entered for a chance to win, you can still post a comment here; Freddy will announce the winner next Monday.)
Shawls. Yes. Plural. It's the week of the shawls.
I've been hopping among...
Abide (from the new Drop Dead Easy Knits...see *giveaway)--the leaf edging is knit into the body of the shawl; when the last stitch is stitched you are DONE. A brilliant pattern. And it truly is easy.
Kelpie-2 (a Jared Flood pattern). The body is mindless garter stitch with a yarn over decorative border stitch added every 4 rows. I have miles to go before the border is added, which will alter this from a totally mindless knit, to a not-so-mindless knit that might end up in time-out (like Kelpie-1, which has been neglected well over a year).
Finally, Peppered Stripes Wrap (a Purlsoho free pattern), knit in the hated, boring, linen stitch which, I swear, takes twice as many rows/inch than any other pattern. But, you can get into a rhythm, and this yarn is yummy, and I love the finished look. I must not be the only one who struggles with linen stitch, because in spite of the fact that this is an incredibly gorgeous finished wrap, only 7 of us are knitting it (according to Ravelry) and only 1 has finished it. I want to be #2.
All three patterns result is a classic, simple shawl.
Reading....
I think I'm re-reading Dreamers of the Day, by Mary Doria Russell. Maybe I'm through the re-reading part and on the part that I failed to finish first time around. It's not a long book and it's really not bad. (The story of a 40-year old schoolteacher from Ohio who takes her 'trip of a lifetime' in 1921 to Egypt, arriving just as the Cairo Peace Conference begins. She's drawn into the company of Winston Churchill, T. E. Lawrence, and Lady Gertrude Bell.)
I've been listening to Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food. I LOVE everything Pollan has ever written, and somehow I missed this one (or read it in 2008 when it was published and forgot every single word...highly unlikely). You would think that an 8 year old food book would be slightly dated, but if anything, I'm thinking that the industry simply hasn't learned a single thing in 8 years. We still allow our choices to made through lobbyists and media (should we eat low fat? saturated fat? ban trans fat? low carb? high carb?) Shouldn't we actually be looking at the foods themselves???...oops. (The meat and dairy industries won't allow THAT!) Does it really take a rocket scientist (or nutritionalist) to see there is a serious problem with eating manufactured food-like substances rather than real food? In our western-culture attempts to 'improve' upon foods, we have created a diet that has resulted in the most obese, cancer-ridden, diabetic, heart diseased society in the world.
Pollan's advice: Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
Simple. I like simple....in my knitting AND my food.
that's a lot of beautiful shawls!
Posted by: Elizabeth | 11/08/2016 at 10:52 AM
I hate linen stitch so much!! So I admire the tenacity it took to finish that beautiful scarf/shawl. Love the shawl that is currently on the needles :)
Posted by: karen | 11/08/2016 at 11:45 AM
Humm..you've hooked me. If I don't win this book, I'm going to have to purchase it (not a bad thing). ;-)
Posted by: Flora Mae | 11/08/2016 at 11:45 AM
I like Mary Doria Russell's writing and enjoyed Dreamers of the Day. I may have to check out the In Defense of Food book. I couldn't agree more with what you have written.
Posted by: Jane | 11/08/2016 at 06:49 PM
I have queued a scarf made out of sock yarn scraps that is linen stitch. I've heard it takes forever, but I also don't have enough sock yarn to make it. (or the mitered square blanket that you make for that matter.)
Posted by: Jennifer Miller | 11/09/2016 at 07:49 AM
Beautiful knitting. I am also a big Michael Pollan fan - very good stuff today.
Posted by: Juliann | 11/09/2016 at 08:35 AM
I loooove all your natural colours and yarns - that looks all very promising and very busy, too :-)
Posted by: zauberflink | 11/09/2016 at 10:25 AM
pretty yarns, i really like the edge on the first shawl!!
Posted by: Debbie | 11/09/2016 at 10:38 AM
You are a busy knitter, Steph. Nice that you can switch back and forth between easy and not so much, and listen to a good book at the same time! Yay to Michael Pollen for his no-nonsense books on eating in a nation of junk food. xo
Posted by: Lisa | 11/09/2016 at 04:36 PM
Michael Pollan is a voice of sanity.
More and more I notice how little of the grocery store offers real food. Now I skip a lot of the aisles. It makes shopping faster and healthier!
Posted by: Caffeine Girl | 11/10/2016 at 12:36 AM
Such amazing knitting! And, I think I might need to knit KK's shawl ASAP - I could use a nice wooly hug!
Posted by: AsKatKnits | 11/10/2016 at 07:20 AM
I have started the Peppered Stripes wrap, but I'm calling it a scarf. I'm also doing it in fingering weight. The stitch is much nicer for me than moss stitch, which really drives me batty.
Posted by: Laura | 11/10/2016 at 07:22 PM
I am totally on a shawl kick lately too! I don't know why but they just seem to go so much faster than I expect them too. I've got Loop and Double Dutch going and about 9 more ideas floating around...
Posted by: Aoife | 11/10/2016 at 09:18 PM
Your knitting is beautiful. I, too, am a fan of Michael Pollan. I haven't gotten to it yet, but if you have Netflix, there is a documentary called Cooked: http://michaelpollan.com/videos/netflix-documentary-series-cooked/
Posted by: Vera | 11/11/2016 at 11:32 AM
They all look like such meditative projects to work on! Enjoy!
Posted by: Alina | 11/11/2016 at 08:17 PM
Beautiful knits in progress! I love the look of linen stitch, there's nothing like it, but so right- knitting it takes forever!!
Posted by: Julie | 11/13/2016 at 06:27 AM