Line Break Shawl

      I once worked in a kitchen store and a customer walked in with a beautiful Burgundy scarf around her neck.  I got the name of the design and eventually found it.  Years later I got Malabrigo Mechita Whales Road.  Here many years down the road I got my yarn out of stash and started my Line Break Shawl.  I can't help marvel how as crafters we must inspire others just by doing and wearing our art.  You never know if maybe you inspire someone somewhere to create something because of a memory of what you wore or did.  A simple lesson on passing on the positive in our lives in words and actions.

© Veera Välimäki

     I'm having fun reading a Linda Greenlaw mystery "Shiver Hitch" set in Maine and in the Knox County where I live.  Her protagonist Jane Bunker is an assistant sheriff and an insurance investigator too. (Funny coincidence is my elderly client is an ex policeman for Camden, my town. I can pick his brain for real life scenarios).  Jane lives on the Island across the way in the mythical town of Green Haven.  For real life the author was the lady swordfish boat captain in The book and movie "Perfect Storm".  I hear she runs a lobster boat now and lives somewhere close.

     I found the book last year before moving to Maine in a second hand store.  I saved it for a snowy February day since the book opens to a very snowy Maine day in February.  So far a fire on Acadia Island (really Mt. Desert Island) and a body is found.  Having fun reading a book taking place here where I am and I went ahead and ordered the first book in the series through Amazon second hand. For about $5 I get a hard back in good condition, free delivery and it'll probably be here this weekend.  With a hardback book I can clip the book and knit happily while reading.

Alpaca Hoodie

     I've been working on a Hoodie for my son from Baby Alpaca.  The pattern is a funky one called the Bottle Rocket and the design has a pouch and bottle pocket but I'm not doing those.  The yarn is %100 Baby Alpaca and I was told by my yarn shop owner that it could grow in length since it isn't wool.  So I started out M and when I found that out I modified it to a size small. My son is tall 6ft man but thin and likes tight sweaters.  So to compensate I'm knitting a bit tight.  I think I'm running around 42 - 43" so hopefully it'll be alright.

    

     The original purpose of going 100% Alpaca was to learn about the fiber.  I love it.  It's very soft, incredibly so.  But I guess it doesn't hold a structure as well as wool.  So learning is a good thing and I'm sure my son will get an amazingly soft and warm hoodie.  

Alpaca fibers are hollow and warmer than wool and also waterproof.  Perhaps the ideal is a wool alpaca blend that is soft enough and I've heard the length of the alpaca fibers can determine softness, so I'll be looking (and feeling) my way forward for soft yarn but that also holds it's shape.

     This Alpaca is Herriot Great by Juniper Moon and I would highly recommend it.  I'm also finishing up a sweater that I made for myself that is so soft, but bigger than I intended.  I should of knitted a bit tighter but my skin is sensitive so the trade off for perhaps less stability is fine with me.  I think I'm learning how to adjust my knitting.  I've heard that this bulky yarn is really good for scarves and more free form items.  I did make some lovely mittens with it.

 

     While knitting I've used a large hairclip to clip my book to read and knit at the same time.  My habit of wanting to read and knit is probably why I pick simple knits.  But I also like the rhythm of knitting.  This in itself is important to me.  My latest read is The Beauty in Breaking by a black woman ER Doctor named Michele Harper.  Actually she is the head doctor and sounds like a very smart one.  Her perspectives I think are life altering.  She came from a well off family but with hidden abuse.  She just went through a divorce as the book starts and her perspective on rising above and forgiveness is valuable to tuck away in your heart.  I also think embracing a black woman's struggle and seeing what she sees can stretch us and educate us in positive ways.  This book I intended to read a little at a time because the material was so heavy but once started the book is hard to put down. 

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Boneyard Shawl

      

     I started my Boneyard Shawl with a lovely ball of yarn I discovered in stash.  I knew it was Malabrigo yarn, either worsted or DK but I couldn't remember what exactly it was, but it was so beautiful I had to cast on something.  After a continuous search through shawl patterns for something simple but different in Ravelry I found the Boneyard Shawl by Stephen West.  What first caught my eye was it's a balanced triangular shawl.  While I love doing asymmetrical shawl designs, I prefer to wear a balanced shawl on my shoulders.  Simple, easy to memorize, and rhythmic to knit, and fast-growing.

     My mystery yarn I finally figured out was Malabrigo Arroyo in Regatta Blue by looking up my purchases at Jimmy Beans.  Lately, I've been buying my Malabrigo locally in a shop reopened this summer under a new owner The Cashmere Goat; so I try to link my yarn with her to support our local yarn shop here in Camden, ME.  A lovely travel destination it would be for sure!  

     I'm really enjoying a Rom-Com I got through Book of the Month club "The Dating Plan".  The club seems to offer really smart and fun Rom-Coms and I'm going to be disappointed when this one is over.  It was released pre-publication and comes out mid-March.  In "The Dating Plan" Daisy Patel, a geeky young Indian woman agrees to a fake engagement with a former friend of her brother's who jilted her for the prom.  He is desperate to get married because his grandfather's will stipulates that to inherit his business he needs to be married.  Daisy needs to get her interfering large family who holds to traditional prearranged marriages from pressuring her with eligible suitors.  A fake engagement is made and one problem persists: they're falling in love with each other but with lots of comedy in between.

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