On the Path to the Land of Lace

So the other day I finished (but have not yet blocked) my Blueblood Island Shawl and skeined/washed an unknown yardage (somewhere between one and 2999 yards...) off a cone of yarn I ordered from Colourmart waaaaay back in 2007.

2/36 cashmere/silk in "Tussah." 2/36 means that 18 meters of this yarn = 1 gram. 3000 meters (1.7 miles) is 150 grams, which is about 1/3 of a pound. That's the weight of a hamburger patty.

I think I'm going to have to start entering the date in my Ravelry Stash so that I know how long yarns tend to marinate! Jeez. Anyway, the washing didn't take long even if it was a slightly odiferous business - spinning oils smell yucky and wet silk has a strange alien insect-y smell that is distinctly unpleasant. Then yesterday I knitted a swatch of Sharon Miller's Rosebud Shawl center pattern (101 in 1001 Craft goal #5!):

Top half: 2.75mm needles. Bottom half: 3.25mm needles

I KNOW. It's like you don't even know who I am anymore, what with this premeditation of projects and all the swatching! I tend to like slightly denser lace, so I went with the 2.75mm needles (US 2). Also the swatch is 35 stitches across and 8" with the 2mm needles. Just the center of this shawl is 117 stitches across, plus the borders and edging. It's going to be pretty big even on the smaller needles! This also proves my time-tested theory that I should just drop 2 needle sizes from the recommended size right out of the gate.

Lately I've had a hard time knitting and watching TV at the same time, so I decided to do my Shetland knitting while listening to audiobooks. Currently I'm on an Anthony Trollope kick, which dovetails nicely with the Classics Challenge and also makes me feel quite historical to be knitting a Victorian pattern out of English yarn while listening to a Victorian novel. We'll just ignore the part where I'm listening through a device made in China that holds 800% more information than the first computer...

I'm 2.5 of 11 repeats into the pattern and, as is usual, it looks like crap:

Unblocked Lace is Not Sexy

But at least I have my swatch to remind me how pretty it'll be... someday...

Many, many of my posts are going to involve this shawl for awhile. I hope you all like beige...