Yarn Along 2016.4: Off The Needles/On The Needles

Another grey wintry Wednesday at this little place here.  This whole month has been more like February: grey, grey, grey rather than our typical January weather of mainly cold clear blue skies.  It really makes me wonder if February this year will be warm and muddy like March, or if our January frigidity will arrive out of order.

Today I am joining in with Ginny's Yarn Along.

Over the weekend, I finished my Cicely shawl.  I still need to weave in the ends and block it, but it is officially off the needles.  I really enjoyed knitting this shawl.  The yarn I used, Malabrigo silky merino, was luscious to work with and the pattern is such an easy and rewarding knit.  You start with the lace edging first, which goes quickly because the rows are so short, then you pick up stitches on the long edge and your first row of 'body' is the widest point of the shawl.  It's all decreases from there!  Now I just need to learn how to wear shawls and cowls,(accessorizing has never been my thing), and I could see myself knitting many many more Cicely shawls for my wardrobe!

After binding off the Cicely shawl, I had an unintended two day respite from knitting.  Unintended because when I went to print out the pattern for my next project, a pair of Cadence socks, I discovered that it was time to replace our dinosaur of a printer (circa 2002).  It tried to print, it really did, but the results were far from legible.  Because we like to do our research before buying things, we did not rush out and buy a new printer.  Instead, DH offered to print the pattern at work for me.  What a great husband!

There is not much done yet on my first Cadence sock, just the ribbed cuff and three rows of leg pattern, but it's on the needles.  Which feels very good after waiting for the instructions to be printed (oh the woe of wanting to start on Saturday evening, but having to wait for Monday so DH could go to work!)  By the time I finish these socks and am ready for my next project, we ought to have our new printer picked out and purchased.

For these socks I'm using another skein of Malabrigo, sock weight this time, in a green color called Solis.  The picture doesn't do the color justice, it is much more green than how my camera captured it.

I'm also reading Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult.  I've only just started it, but the story line is intriguing and quite a bit different from other Amish fiction I've read so far.