The shawl.....

I was blissfully wandering through one of my favorite yarn shops on a chilly afternoon last fall, mesmerized by all the different fibers. I was drinking in the colors, fondling all the different yarns, when suddenly a skein of sock yarn screamed at me. It was a variegated wool with shades of ecru, turquoise, brown and a bit of grey. All the colors that a friend of mine loves were in that one skein of yarn! I decided I had to buy it and make something for her for Christmas. I got home with the yarn and started going through books, magazines and websites looking for the perfect pattern to make with the yarn. I decided that a lacy scarf would be something she would like and wear. I found a pattern that I thought would be lovely with that particular yarn, got my needles out and started knitting. I was making good progress when I saw a mistake a few rows back. Of course I had not thought to use life lines, the pattern wasn't that difficult and it didn't occur to me that I could make a mistake... I frogged back to the row with the mistake and tried to pick up all the stitches correctly. Lace patterns are made by knitting two stitches together, wrapping the yarn over, slipping stitches and all sorts of things that make picking up stitches really confusing. I ended up frogging all the way back to the beginning. End of the first attempt. I decided to try a different lace pattern the second time around. I got about six inches knit up and decided I didn't like the way the yarn was working up in that pattern so I tore that out as well. End of the second attempt. Back to the books, magazines and websites. I found yet another pattern that I thought would be nice so I started again. By this time there was no hope of finishing the scarf in time for Christmas. I still had several other gifts and some orders for things that I needed to knit up and get in the mail. I figured it would be okay if the scarf wasn't done in time for Christmas because my friend's birthday is at the end of January. After the holidays I pulled the scarf back out. When I looked at it I decided that I didn't like it so, again, I frogged. Attempt number four was crocheted. Adding texture wasn't the answer. I couldn't face casting on enough stitches to knit lengthwise, so back to looking at patterns. I finally found a beautiful shawl pattern that I really liked. (Lala's Simple Shawl by Laura Linnehan found on Ravelry.com). It was knit from the top down. I could see fairly quickly that the pattern was going to work with the yarn. It is now well into February. I told my friend about the project  and explained why she didn't get the 'scarf' for Christmas or her birthday. She thought it was hilarious. I was getting so tired of looking at that yarn that I just wanted to finish something and move on! Well, it got to be Mother's Day. (She qualified, even if she wasn't my mama). I finally got the shawl done. She thinks it is wonderful, and I got the yarn out of the house. I liked it so well I am now making one for myself ...with a different yarn!

LaLa's Simple Shawl pattern,