Into the Spider’s Web

I blame Stephanie. She blames Julie, but she’s just as bad. Of course, I’ve encouraged my knitting friends to join MS3, so I’ll be equally to blame.

Being addicted to lace, as well as being a very impressionable knitter, I have more shawls started than I will ever admit. I have finished shawls, too, most of which have gone to other knitters as gifts, since only they seem to appreciate how much work goes into one.

And now along comes MS3 and I of course have to lurch along with 6000+ knitters worldwide to the next knitting fad.

It’s okay. I’ve found a use for these:

Two skeins of “Sterling” Jade Sapphire Mongolian cashmere and two tubes of Number 8 beads.

I’m late to the party, too, as usual. It just means I’ll have to put everything else aside and start this immediately. I skipped the swatch part. I’ve knitted so much lace and used nearly every fiber and fiber combination available, I just don’t need to swatch anymore. I also tend to be a very casual knitter.

Because I don’t really have any progress to show on the Mystery Stole project just yet, I’ll distract you with a couple of shawls from the start of the 365 Days of Shawl project.

Here is a small section of one of the spiral shawls from A Gathering of Lace by Meg Swansen. This was knitted on US 6 needles using hand-dyed sportweight alpaca from Tess’s Custom Yarns, purchased some time in the last 10 years at Maryland Sheep and Wool.

The color is really supposed to be almost exactly the color of the Magenta crayon in the Crayola box.

This picture shows just the lower point of the Celtic Knot Shawl by Judith Shaw, from an issue of Knitting Now (which I believe is Knitting Now Defunct, but if someone knows otherwise, drop me a note!) It is knitted in a long-discontinued Crystal Palace silk/wool blend.

The Celtic Knot Shawl is my favorite shawl to knit. I’ve made about 8 of them in Jaggerspun Zephyr wool/silk blend, Classic Elita Inca Alpaca, Brown Sheep Handpaint Originals mohair, Fare Baruffa Cashsilk (yum yum yum!), Running Wild Farms Lamboramere and Corpacamere, and Cascade 220. I’ve used the pattern so much, I had it dry-mounted on foam core and put an easel backing on it so it stands upright on its own.

Thanks for stopping by! I’m going to work on the MS3 now. I’ll be back when I have something to show.