The Swallowtail Shawl is finished – actually, it's been finished since last Wednesday, but I didn't get around to blocking it until Saturday, and I just took pictures today. I don't have a picture of me wearing it. I tried – honest I did. But there was a wee problem. You know those women who can take any type of scarf and fling it on and look graceful and elegant? Well, I'm just not one of those women. I tried to get a fashion shot, kind of like the way it's shown in the pattern, but, well, I just looked silly. I'm sure it's just in the picture – I can't look that silly in real life. So here it is, gracing my usual model – a lamp (note that this is a different lamp than I usually use – I'm trying to give all of my models equal opportunities at fame)

This is not to say, of course, that I won't wear the scarf. I likely will. I just won't be photographed in it! I have a spring/fall coat that is quite open at the neck. This scarf will be perfect to wear under that coat. But our current weather calls for something a bit hardier.

It was lovely to knit. Very quick before and after the nupps. I don't regret having struggled through the nupps – they are really lovely and add nice texture to the scarf. Here's a closeup.

And one final shot, of it blocking:

Have I mentioned how much I love my blocking wires. Consider it mentioned.

In other knitting news, I've spent some time planning out my travel knitting. I'm leaving on Sunday for a 3 week trip. A lot of thought goes into what projects to work on. I need several projects of varying complexity, for the plane trips, car trips, evenings in the hotel, etc. I'm quite happy with the things I've chosen. Some mindless knitting, some following patterns (with or without variations) and one I will be designing (a faroese shawl). I will try to do all of my swatching this week before I go and come up with a plan. If not, I'll bring my Barbara Walker treasuries along, and some blocking pins to block swatches on the spare bed in my hotel room

I've got a few fun things on the needles at the moment – more at a later date… either while they're still in progress, or once they're finished.

Once I had decided on my travel knitting plans, it was time to do some shopping to pick up some yarn I needed for them. Betseydoodle and I had planned to meet over the weekend for tea and to share books and magazines. So I suggested that we meet at Yarn Forward on Bank and then go to a cafe near there for tea and knitting. It didn't quite turn out that way. Instead we ended up doing a 3-hour yarn crawl, with stops at Yarn Forward in Kanata, Wool-Tyme, and back to Yarn Forward in Bank. No tea was consumed, but it was a fun afternoon anyway! And I picked up a few skeins of Misti Alpaca laceweight, for two projects, and some Patons SWS for another project.

On Sunday I picked up my iPod, and then spent some time loading it up. I have a bunch of music on it, and the following podcasts:

Cast On

Lime & Violet

Pixie Purls Podcast

It's a Purl, Man

Sleepy Eyes Knitting

Stash and Burn 

I just need to add a couple of audiobooks and some non-knitting podcasts (you know, just in case I tire of people talking about knitting) and I am so set to travel. As I was playing around with my new toy, I discovered a wee problem. The earbuds that come with the iPod just do not fit in my ears. They were fine as long as I kept my head tilted slightly back and perfectly still. But as soon as I dared move my head, the darn things would fall out. I guess I have freakishly small ear openings or something, as the darn things just don't fit. So today I popped into an electronics store near my work and picked up a different style. These seem to fit me much better.

I hope to get another post or two in before I travel. Bye til then!