Are you monogamous?

I've always considered myself monogamous. And then I started knitting lace again. Lately, I've been anything but single-minded when it comes to knitting. I have various things at various stages. OK, so I've got UFOs (but that is due solely to having made mistakes and my unwillingness to "frog.") Besides, the weather has been dreary and, anymore, I need full light (aka Sunshine) when knitting with darker yarns. So the Fisherman's Wife shawl and the Visions of Delight scarf are on hold right now.

I also have two pairs of socks on the needles and have started the Yahoo Group's EzasPi new project, an Orkney Isles Pi shawl. The yarn is hand spun by my daughter and is 100% Shetland wool. It has such a lovely feel to it when knitting, and I love the natural colors. That makes me a wee bit out of sync with the rest of the fashion industry and yarn producers who seem to hawk multi-colored and "fancied up" yarns, i.e. mixes of various fibers. I still prefer the natural yarns which are made exclusively from the fleece off the back of a sheep. I know there are people who will not eat or wear anything from an animal, but I am starting to believe that knitting with Bamboo and other such yarns must use an inordinate amount of energy to turn bamboo, shrimp shells, etc. etc. into usable yarns. So, thank you very much for all of the various yarns out there, but I still like the lowly sheep the best.

Lest I forget and get reminded by my daughter, I also have a Faroese type shawl out of bulky hand spun wool on the needles. Nothing fancy, just a very warm shawl when I am too lazy to put on a coat. I am reserving knitting on it for the most dreary days.

So here are some pics. The first one is the first sock of a pair for Angie. It was designed by Kirsten Kapur at

www.throughtheloops.typepad.com

and is called Ampersand. The pattern calls for casting on 54 stitches. In my opinion, this is not enough. Luckily, the pattern lends itself to adding stitches. So I frogged it and added 6 stitches which I evenly divided across the pattern. Then I messed up the heel. I wanted to do a short row heel due to the yarn's color way. I am "proud" to announce that I knit the heel three times -- one, two, three. I think the law of averages has caught up with me. I have never had to frog a sock, but alas I broke that record. The yarn was hand dyed by Arbor Yarns which no longer exists.

And here are a couple of pics of the Orkney Isles Pi shawl:

An overall view

A slice of the shawl

And it is so easy to knit. From the inside out the first "real" pattern section is the "Cat's Paw" followed by the "Horseshoe" pattern. Liz Lovick from the Orkney Isles, you have outdone yourself.

So, let us "Knit On!"