Shawl #8

A while back, I joined a group on Ravelry called "10 Shawls in 2010". The minimum yardage requirement is 250m (273 yd). Since I had already knit 3 Dianna shawls, a Swallowtail shawl, and a triangle shawl, I figured I was up to the challenge.

This evening, I finished Haruni which I decided to knit after seeing a lovely one on display at Rhinebeck last month. It also gave me a good excuse to use one of the skeins of yarn I hand-painted last summer - the one that was 4 shades of Sky Blue.

I didn't pin it very straight on the foam tiles but I think I achieved symmetry around the centre 'spine' stitches.

I was really nervous about doing the crochet bind-off but I took a deep breath and started in following the instructions and within a few stitches, I had it figured out. I was even able to fix a couple of mistakes I had made in the previous row when I missed purling a couple of the yarnovers from the row before that.

I had avoided knitting this pattern in the past because the idea of blocking it was too daunting, however, it really didn't take me that long. I ran out of t-pins and broke into the stainless steel dress pins to finish the job. I'm really happy with the blue colours in the yarn.

My ninth shawl is a Trinity Shawlette using some Regia Kaffe Fassett Hand-Dye Effect sock yarn. It was a UFO that I grabbed the other day as I was flying out the door to go to Scooter's provincial cross-country meet. It didn't take me long to find my place again in the pattern and I got a few repeats of the pattern done on the way there and home.

The last two cross-country meets were at the same place so knew our way around. However, we were blown away by the number of spectators that were in attendance. But I guess it makes sense that people all over the province were competing on a weekend making it easy for lots of parents and other supporters to attend.

It was a sunny, cool day and we were really glad we had worn warm coats, mittens/gloves and scarves. Here, Skip is showing off the lovely, warm (Labyrinth) scarf that I knit him last year.

Scooter had his personal best time. Skip and I were quite verklempt with the realization of yet another one of Scooter's fine accomplishments. The kid is an amazing musician and an athlete, too! He sure is having a good year. Academically, we think he's holding his own. He seems to be quite interested in getting really good grades so he can get accepted at the university of his choice. We're not sure which one that is yet but this month he will begin the application process.

Scooter with black gloves on the left.

He won't be advancing to the Nationals in Guelph later this month, but one of his team mates who has been a classmate of his since Junior Kindergarten, Melissa Caruso, finished 5th in the province for Senior Girls. If the competition ends up being on Nov. 20th, we're hoping to attend and make a weekend of it, possibly working in a tour of the campus of the 'centre of all learning in the universe' and my alma mater, the University of Western Ontario in London.