The Shot with Me Wearing It!

Okay, not a very original post title, but hey, it's Monday!

As promised...

Here’s a picture of me wearing the Purple Passion / Summertime Shell (please disregard amateur model with wet hair…professional models are expensive!)

In other knitting, I have several things OTN, but nothing close to finishing. I didn’t get much knitting time (or time for much else) last week because I worked additional days at the shop while the owner took a much deserved vacation. Things will hopefully get back to normal this week. Not much knitting happened this weekend either. I had to play a little catch up around the house plus spend some time with DH who was feeling neglected because of the previously mentioned extra work shifts.

When I did finally get to knit, I had planned to make enough progress on my t-shirt to post a picture today, but last night’s knitting amounted to negative progress when I had to frog back about ten rows due to missing an increase in every increase row (that’s 5 missing stitches if you’re counting). Sheesh! What else could I do?

So, instead, you’ll have to settle for yet another pair of socks in progress… these are the second pair from the Noro sock yarn. I’m still having fun making these stripes. The way these colors are mixing, I probably should have called these socks the Sunrise/ Sunset Quartet since that's what comes to my mind when you put the two pair together…
Oh, and unbelievable as this may seem, there is one or two colors in the yarn that don't show up in the socks! AND! I think I may have enough yarn left for a small pair of anklets or maybe a pair of funky socks for my grandson… we’ll see.

Reminder! Don’t forget to cast your vote for the grey/ knit picks shimmer or the Purple / Mini-maiden for the swallow tail shawl. Drawing is this Thursday

Purple Passion ... and a prize?

The Summertime Shell is finished! Here’s a pic of it blocking… maybe once it’s dry I can talk DH into taking a picture of me wearing it. I hope it’s dry soon because I really want to wear it. I finished it just in time for the hottest part of summer! I really like the way it turned out. I did a couple pattern modifications and am glad I did. The only other modification I would do if I knit this pattern again (and I might) would be to knit everything in the round up to the armholes. I knit the lace sections flat and it was kind of a pain to seam them (I think it took me almost as long to seam as it did to knit the armhole bands!) Here are the specs:

Pattern: Summertime Shell by Melissa Leapman from Creative Knitting July 2008
Yarn SWTC Beyond Bold (Cotton) in Purple
Size 5 Needles

Cast on June 23rd / Finished July 21st

Now on to a decision…
Remember the yummy Mini-maiden lace weight I showed off in the last post?
I can’t decide whether to use it for the Swallowtail Shawl or to use the Knit Picks Shimmer (Alpaca/Silk) I originally picked out for the shawl.

Both yarns have their merits and are highly touchable, pretty colors and so forth… So dear readers… I’m asking your opinion. Which one would you use? And why?
Everyone who leaves a comment to this post with a vote/opinion will have their name go into a drawing for a special prize package. I will hold the drawing on July 31st which just happens to by my 1st blogiversary and also the end of my first official year of retirement.

So tell me what you think!