Aurantium Shawl - Finished!

Aurantium Shawl - Finished!
Originally uploaded by franneyk

Oh yes! After a slight delay the first of the SMSKAL shawls is finished and blocked and is currently draped around my shoulders :oD

I'd managed to get to the end of the last row of the last chart and then discovered that i'd lost both the .jpg and my printout of the last set of instructions, all i had was the chart!! It was very annoying and it stressed me out big time! All i wanted to do was finish the shawl and i didn't know if i had another repeat to do or if i was casting off! Luckily the lovely ladies in the Socktopods group came to my rescue and not only was i informed that now was the time to cast off i was also sent the complete set of charts for the shawl!! They are now safely saved on my hard drive :oD

The orange version is coming along, i have one chart repeat for the middle section to do and then it's just the final 30 rows of the leaf section, a wash and a block and that's done too! I can't decide whether to cast on my Ishbel now or if i should wait until the orange shawl is done ;o)
I probably should wait but i do have an ITCH!! ::lol::

In other news, Ladybird Linz sent me her leftover Fabel in the same colourway as the unfinished Baktus so that is now completed too - YaY!

SMSKAL - Ready for Clue #3!

Well, the second proper clue will be sent tonight at 10pm and here are my two Aurantium Shawls waiting oh-so-patiently for the next installment!

I've been looking at them both off and on over the last week and do you know, i still can't decide which i like more!
The lilac shows off the stitch pattern better so far but the orange is just so HAPPY! I could probably knit anything with the orange and get the same result but as the theme for the pattern is a poem about an orange that makes you happy it somehow seems appropriate ;o)

There's been a bit of a stir on Twitter and in the knitting blogland the last couple of days based around events unfolding chez Yarn Harlot and to be honest i'm not sure where i stand. While i totally sympathise with her and think that it's a sorry state of affairs i don't think it's my place to hunt down the "perpetrator" and give them what for, and i shan't be jumping on the "i support YarnHarlot" bandwagon either - other than this little post here ;o)
It's not that i don't support her, i do and i'm pretty sure that the hundreds of Twitter posts declaring the same have reassured her that we aren't all of the same ilk. With any luck the person who is making Steph's life so stressful right now will soon get bored and find someone else to target, or better still get some professional help!
Anyway, i've said more than i wanted to and as it's not my battle i shall be staying here in my corner taking the occasional peek out into the big wide world, unless reinforcements are needed of course and then i shall be happy to don my knitted chainmail and pointy sticks!
;o)

SMSKAL

So, my swatches are done, i can't decide which colour to use for the KAL though!

What do YOU think??
I have until next Monday to decide which is good as i'll probably dither between the two until the clue is released! lol
If i use the lilaccyblue i will use the 3mm needles but if i use the orangeyred i will use the 4mm needles - they are both sock weight but they knit up completely differently.
I really like the pattern we have used for swatching, it's called "petitgrain" i think and uses a technique i haven't done before where you K3tog but leave the loop on the left needle, do a YO then knit the already-knitted-together stitches together again, the effect is really pretty.