Starting the New Year off right!

Yesterday I went out for coffee with some friends, which turned into dinner, which turned into getting up before 7am on a Sunday to take a knitting class with Jared Flood. An unexpected but delightful series of events.

I've been reading Brooklyn Tweed for a long time, mostly because it always has beautiful pictures. Maybe between my new interest in photography and my start at lace today I can emulate them sometime!

I enjoy taking knitting classes, even though most of the time I don't learn a lot. There comes a time when you have tried most things, and after the variety of projects I've made and the number of knitting classes I've taken (and taught) there isn't a lot that's really new to me. But there's almost always *something*. Today it was a variation on the Russian join.

Even if I don't learn much, it's still enjoyable. I like hearing from designers about what their process is, getting a sense of the person behind the patterns, and just getting motivated to start something different than my usual parade of socks.

Today it was Girasole. I've never knit a shawl or large lace project. (I did knit the Horseshoe Lace Scarf for Fiber Gallery, but that's a very simple lace pattern with only one motif over the project and no edging. I've knit lace socks that were more complex than that.

It's not that I don't know how to knit lace, or that I was afraid, it's just that I don't wear shawls. But I've wanted to knit one for a while, even if it just ends up decorating my couch. Maybe I can scrunch it up and wear it as a scarf...



Now I can pretend to be a "real" lace knitter and tell you how hard it is to photograph unblocked lace, although this one is small yet. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Cookie's Deep Dark Secret.

And now it's time for the promise I'll probably regret. I will finish this shawl before the end of the year. Oh yes, my first shawl in 2010... we'll see how it goes.