Penumbra scarf finished!

Well, almost.  You've heard the phrase "haste makes waste", well, it's true!  I was the first of the group to finish knitting.  Brought it home and soaked it, so I could block it into shape, and as I was patting it out, I found a boo boo:-(  Unfortunately, it happened when I was only about 1/4 into the shawl depth, so I'm just going to have to darn it and hope no one notices when I'm wearing it, because there is no way I'm going to tear it all out at this point!  The only other thing left to do is weave in the ends and it will be ready to wear.

The big picture:

As you can see it's really long, so I'll be able to wrap it around my neck more than once!  Here's what it looks like up close:

Knitting with Beads

About a month ago, I decided to join the Mezzaluna Club that Sivia Harding was doing.  (Here's the Ravelry link.)  I'm only getting the patterns, then choosing my own yarn / beads from my yarn / bead stash, and am loving the first installment!  Last week, she sent us the first pattern and shipped yarn and beads to those who have signed up for the pattern and kits.  For those of us not receiving kits, she had given us  approximate supply lists so that we could search for yarn and beads that would work.  It was difficult to make a final decision before seeing the design, so I had pulled out a few choices.  Once I saw a picture of the yarn that was in the kits, I decided on a beautiful, varigated blue Ella Rae sock yarn.

This first design is called Penumbra, and it's beautiful!  When I saw the pattern, I just had to start knitting, and with the long holiday weekend, was able to get quite a lot done.  Just finished row 70, and only have 6 more pattern rows to go!  The needles aren't long enough to spread it out, so I did my best to take a picture of the center, and then one a little closer.  Hopefully you'll be able to see all the beautiful beads.

Sweet Jazz scarf

My studio is full of UFOs, and as I go through them, some will be tossed, others finished.  Some I'll work on enough to make a decision, and more than one has already been tossed for one reason or another.  No, I'm not going to count my UFOs!  I'd rather spend my time working on finishing them or working on new projects that have supplies taking up space in the studio.  Sometimes it's obvious it needs to be tossed or given away, like when I find a UFO and don't like it any more - that one goes! It's only worthwhile working on UFOs that I still like.  The decision to keep or toss depends on the type and status of the UFO.

Anyways, the Sweet Jazz scarf hasn't been in progress too long, and was a joy to make, so I'm saving the pattern.  I love the yarn, the color, it was wonderful to work with, and it's finished just in time, as the weather is changing and fall is in the air!