Delirious Knitting

     Sometimes your knitting takes turns that you have not expected.  Sometimes a cast on is casting you into deep waters on a little raft.  I'm just returning from a journey during which my knitting took on a life of it's own.  Looking at it now I ask, "Who cast this on and what were they thinking?"

      Where have I been?  Down a rabbit hole with the flu the last couple of weeks.  The Mad Hatter had nothing on me; fever induced illogical thought was a constant companion.  Because I knew I was on another mental plane, I refrained from posting to the blog or doing much other than a simple answer or two on Ravelry.   To say the least, I've had a very foggy brain.   My Moebius Vest class at Knit Knack last weekend was my first foray out into the  thinking world and I so thank my marvelous students for asking questions that got my thinking back into the normal knitting track.  I'm glad to say the fog is entirely gone, conditions are much more clear now, and the weather ahead looks sunny...  fresh and inspired, I might add.
      Not that any of this deterred me from my knitting.  Above you'll see some of the inspirations that came from this trip down the Rabbit Hole.  Mysterious looking aren't they?  These are the swatch beginnings of a couple of wonderful new shawls and one very fun garment.  I did have the foresight to make notes while I knit on these and even better, I can decipher them.  
       I also got some practical knitting done. 

 

    We've got a finishing KAL going in the Knitaway group on Ravelry so I focused on getting a couple of things done.  The Basic Vest, which will be a workshop at Wild Yarns in the near future, is in it's final stages.  I used Om Organic Merino for this version.  What are the thick white lines on the vest?  Why those are pocket "thumb tricks" of course.  The Thumb Trick is an Elizabeth Zimmermann "unvention"  that creates an opening in a garment for a thumb or pocket by working in scrap yarn where the opening is needed.  Just one of the great techniques we'll be covering in this workshop.  Watch for the dates...
     The new variation on the Irish Diamond Shawl got  a few rows added, too.  You can hear more about this shawl and cast on your own this Sunday, St Patrick's Day, at the Irish Diamond Shawl Workshop where we'll be knitting to welcome in the spring.  The vernal equinox is just a few days away, on March 20th.  Great time to start a lace shawl for summer knitting.  Let the lace begin!