After unwrapping my holiday present to her, my aunt's face went from excitement to confusion. Inside the wrappings she found cosmicpluto's Simple-Yet-Effective shawl, which I had started way back during the summer months, had to rip out when I realized it was way too small, and had just gotten back on the needles the month before. In short, I wasn't done yet and had given her the shawl still on my circular needles, two balls of yarn nestled in the middle of it. "You know I can't knit, right?" she said, laughing.
I grabbed it back from her. "It's just so I can work on it in front of you without feeling badly about it."
And work I did. I spent four days with my aunt and uncle and was knitting during any moment of down time. The shawl itself is alternating stockinette and garter stitches using two different types of yarn, making for a really easy, if not sometimes boring pattern. The striping is nice, however, and I am surprised by how warm the shawl is. But the knitting! I thought it would never end! This is why I do not knit lace or anything in general that requires me to use needles smaller than size six. The night before I left, I finally cast it off the needles and had blocked it overnight so my aunt could have it in the morning. A time-consuming but good knit.
One thing to be noted about this pattern: it's small if you use the yarn as directed in the pattern. I ended up ordering extra skeins and the final product was a bit larger than the original. Unfortunately, I have a skein of the blasted fingering weight left and will have to find a project to use it up in. I have the funniest feeling that project will involved small needles. This is not good.
