Gettin' lacy with it!

Spring has finally started to push its way through here. It's actually in the 60s (Fahrenheit, that is) today. All I can say is, it's about time!

This week has been filled with lace knitting. At the last second, I signed up for the Secret of the Shawl knit-a-long (sorry, it's closed now) that Vicki from Simple Knits is running. I was inspired because we got a shipment of Malabrigo lace in at the shop and I was tempted to buy some. Then I remembered I had three colors of it in my stash at home. I figured the best way to resist buying more was to start knitting with what I had. I still covet all the pretty colors and softness, but I have some of my own to work on when the urge to spend hits me!

Anyway, I cast on Monday evening using the Blue Sky colorway in my stash and have finished the first two clues. Clue three comes out on Tuesday night, so I'm on track so far. It's an eight-week KAL and I just might have a chance to keep up with it -- something I have not succeeded in with other KALs I've joined.

The pattern is entirely charted (which I prefer) and gives a repeat for one of the wedge sections knit from the neck down. You can then choose to knit two wedges for a triangle-shaped shawl, or three for a "winged" version with a straighter back. I'm doing the winged version.

In the picture (click to get a closer look), you can see how the wedges are starting to shape up. I've got it on a 47" needle so that I can spread it out a bit, but you can still only see part of it because it's growing quickly.

The yarn is, of course, very, very soft. After all, it is Malabrigo! It's going to be a very light, but warm shawl that should be quite large since there are still six more clues to come. The pattern is very simple to follow at this point and I'm very curious to see how it will morph and change as we go along.

The second lacy endeavor is the Kiwassa shawl from Gardiner Yarn Works. I'm knitting this in Madeline Tosh Silk Lace in the Logwood colorway for a shop sample. My payment will be a skein of this lovely lace yarn for my very own stash.

I have gone down a needle size (from US5 to US4) on this because the larger size wasn't giving me the stitch definition I liked. This is about 1.5 repeats of the main chart. I'm getting used to the pattern now, so it's starting to go a bit quicker. This one requires more attention to detail than the KAL pattern, though, as its lines are less defined before blocking. Honestly, on the needles, this looks like a lovely lavendar blob. But just pinning out a portion of it (it's on a 24" circ right now, so I didn't have much leeway) allows the pattern to start to emerge nicely.

I got a bit further on the Austermann Step sock, too, turning the heel on the first one. But that's not really a very exciting picture compared to all the lace.

Wherever you are, I hope spring is starting to pop up for you Northern Hemisphere folks. And for you Southern Hemisphere folks, I hope fall is bringing on some nice cool evenings and changing colors. The transition seasons are my favorite times of year.