One FO and a few WIPs

Whew! I finally did it - I finished baby blanket #2, the Kiri shawl in KnitPicks sock garden, colorway pansy. I guess that the bright colors detract from the stitch pattern, and maybe I should have stuck to the Flower Basket Shawl, but I just don't care anymore. I hardly ever worked on it at home because I was bored with it. NO MORE KNITTED GIFTS, hear that family and friends! You can expect yarn and needles and patterns but I refuse to knit for anyone else but me (and my non-knitting husband) for about a year. I will knit for him cause he helps me block things. Well, here's the pics:
The classic draped on the couch shot, no natural light at this hour. But the colours are pretty accurate, no flash.
The center point detail shot with flash. Yes, the couch cover is blue, not green as is shown here.
Oh well....
Now for a few of the WIP's... I went to a LYS sale, and some Fleece Artist basic merino sock called out to me. I bought 2 and decided to make the Lotus Blossum shawl from Fiddlesticks, but I didn't have enough for the whole thing. So I decided to use some of my stash to make the shawl, where the stems part is black Alpaca Cloud from KnitPicks held doubled, and the bolossomy parts are the sock yarn in a gorgeous red-brown-coffee colourway. See below:
I tried to stretch it out as much as I could considering that the knitting is longer than the circular needles. I'm quite happy with it, and the colors in this picture are accurate. I also really like the pattern, the stems part is a no-brainer, and the blossoms are more challenging, but repetetive enough that I haven't put it on hold. In my opinion, the new Icarus shawl in Interweave knits that Delenn is going to be starting soon is probably a similar level of difficulty. This one is so easy, this is where I'm at after one week. I'm almost done! 28 rows to go! I can see this being completed in 7 days... I love fast and easy lace. This is easier than Kiri was...
And now for non-lace WIPs... I started the sweater I posted about earlier, the medieval inspired cabled number that I sketched. Well here's the back so far:
The colours here are not accurate, but this shot shows off the cabling nicely. The yarn is Kilcarra of Donegal Tweed in a purple colourway - they seem to have two different purples, and all I can say is that I selected randomly between them. There is a color code on the yarn, but the E-Bay store I bought it from do not use the color codes. The store is Irish Yarns and Crafts. I am very happy with this purchase, it seems to be the best-priced tweed aran weight yarn that I could find - $52.99 for 1660 yards. I compared with LYS prices, and this is a VERY good deal in my opinion. And 100 % wool. Not the softest, but considering that I will wear a shirt underneath, it's not a big deal. And it may soften up with a wash or two, using Eucalan or something.

But sadly, I have made a mistake somewhere, and have to rip back to the start of the armholes. And it's too hot now to make bulky sweaters, so I guess it'll wait a couple of months.

Ivanova