Cozy shawl

I recently subscribed to Interweave Knit, and Interweave Crochet. I always like those magazines when I scan them at the store, so I was interested to see what the new patterns would look like (plus, I got quite a good deal).

There was a shawl in bulky yarn, knit in a lace pattern in the first issue of Knit that I received. With the recommended yarn, it was going to be pretty expensive, just for fun, but JoAnn had a pencil roving that looked like it might substitute. Of course, I didn't stop to knit a swatch, because my yardage was going to be close, and of course, once I started knitting I decided that by following the pattern I was going to get a shawl that was too small. First of all, I knew I was going to have to buy another skein of yarn. I stopped in at a different JoAnn's, and found the yarn, but in a different dye lot. I decided to take a chance, and pick it up... if it was too different I would be able to return it. (It was fine, I can't tell the difference with the other 2 skeins I had.)

Then I decided to add in extra rows in the middle section, repeating the 2 offset rows of leaves one more time. Of course, without a pattern for guidance, you can see here that it did not turn out perfectly symmetrical:

But when I am wearing it, I don't think anyone will be able to tell.

Isn't it pretty? It is the perfect size, too, to drape over my shoulders when I am sitting in my stitchy chair. I picked the color to go with jeans. It only took a couple of days to knit, even with all my uncertainty.

When I finished it DH admired it, and said "I thought knitting big things took a long time. Didn't you just start that?" (He pays attention!) I didn't think it was going to go quite that quickly, but the people from knitting group all said "With that bulky yarn, it didn't take too long, did it?"

So I started a project I picked up this summer, with double knitting, called Paintbox Scarf. That is going to take a while. (Click the link to see a picture.) My yarn started with the violet, and I am moving into purple! It is really fun to watch the colors change.