I'm back!

Well after a long unplanned sabbatical,  I'm back.  Sorry for dropping off the face of the Earth.

I thought I'd jump right into the thick of things with a WIP Wednesday.  I bough this yarn earlier this summer from a Craftsy deal.

Nashua Handknits Summer Gardens

When I saw this yarn I knew it would become something for my sister Mel.  You see, I grew up in a very conservative household. We went to church on Sundays, and Wednesdays and often Saturdays, Tuesdays or Thursdays as well. We watched G and occasionally PG rated movies, we didn't have television, and the first tie I wore a tank top was in college.  So when my oldest sister started reading Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, my parents were, of course, quite horrified.   They tried to ban the books which as any person who's ever been teenager knows is much easier said than done.  I never read The Vampire Chronicles,  but Mel and I do share a love of a vampires (and other supernatural beings).  This is all a very long way to tell you that I knew that the lovely reds, and purples and almost blacks in this yarn made me think of all things vampire and gothic.

So here is my V is for Vampire Shawlette.  

This is my first attempt at knitting anything remotely cabled or lacy.  So although both the cables and the lace are fairly simple I am exceptionally proud of what I've managed to do so far.  Now that I have started on the second side I am pretty sure I did the decreases completely hay wire wrong on the first side.  I am planning to tear back and redo the whole first side after I finish the second side. It's weird though because I am feeling remarkably zen about the whole ripping out half a shawl thing.  Though I really hope I can get faster at knitting--that's the only complaint I have about knitting its terribly slow.

Drop by Tamis Amis, What you doing Wednesday, and Frontier Dreams  to see other great works in progress.  Have a Happy Wednesday!