tempting friends

The transition from freezing cold weather to just plain chilly but with the promise of warm weather soon sparked a bit of knitting limbo for me. Not quite a knitting slump, but in that direction. For months I'd been driven by a strong desire to knit warm things - hats, scarves, mittens and more scarves. Then suddenly it was gone. I still have two beautiful halfs of a scarf that need to be kitchnered! I've been keeping busy with the Flit and Float, but I had no vision beyond that. Nothing to drive me toward the next project. Until now.

My dear friend Allison, who gets me into all sorts of knitterly trouble has done it again. "We HAVE to knit this..." was the subject of the email with a link to a shawl called Ulmus. That's just what I needed - a good challenge. Step one was to find the right yarn. Perhaps for some this is the easiest part of the project. For me, it is potentially the most difficult. I know that I am going to have to live with this yarn for a very long time. I have a hard time letting go of things, even things I end up not liking all that much. If I get sick of the yarn midway through the project, it will sit unfinished in my drawer for years making me feel guilty every time I see it. Then there is the need to commit to a color. Sometimes, I can't find one I love and then other times I love so many I can't pick!

This time was different. I had just ten minutes to spend in the yarn shop since the rest of the family was waiting in the car after a long drive on our way to a party. It took me less than eight.

I saw the light blue and lavendar and fell in love with the combination. Individually, the yarns are gorgeous. Together, they are spectacular. The hand painted yarn is called Smooshy from dreamincoloryarn.com. It happens to be a superwash, although I didn't pay attention to that until after the purchase.

I can hardly wait to get started! In fact I can't believe I'm spending time posting this instead of casting on. But first, I am going to finish the flit and float. It's a fun pattern and I don't want it to turn into a UFO. Besides, this is probably my second favorite part of the project - that wonderful sense of anticipation when you have the yarn and the pattern but haven't hit the frustration of failing to read it properly. (My favorite part, of course, is when it's successfully done, being worn and winning compliments.)

When I was buying the yarn, I just thought I'd stumbled on a wonderful new combinaiton of colors. When I got, home, I discovered I'd encountered this combination before. It perfectly matches the material for my daughter's dinosaur dress. The too-cute, finally-finished one that she inexplicably won't wear! I added real button holes as she requested and trimmed it with satin, as she requested. It's a lovely addition to her closet, but you will note that this robs my of my favorite part of the project! (I'm not bitter! Much.)