Accomplished 1 thing!

 I've had the last two weeks as vacation time, which means I have been sleeping at night rather than working. School was not on vacation though, so I was still in class and in homework mode. Admittedly, I felt like I had more time simply because I wasn't rushing to submit assignments before leaving for work on the night shift. It was nice while it lasted, but on Monday I'm back to the crazy schedule...

My one goal for this vacation was to finish the leaf shawl I had been working on and I did it! The blocking boards I had ordered this summer for one of Val's projects were perfect. Blocking made all the difference in the visibility of the lacy leaf pattern. Knitters confession... this is the first item that I have ever blocked :] Now I'm thinking I will toss a few scarves and shawlettes into the sink and block them out.

This project was the Lonely Tree Shawl a free Ravelry download by Sylvia Bo Bilvia, see it here:
 http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-lonely-tree-shawl
This was an easy knit, just follow the charts. If you aren't familiar with knitting from charts, Lonely Tree is a terrific pattern to learn this skill. The charts are large, simple and the pattern is well explained.

I used a size 7-32" circular needle and Universal Yarn Deluxe Worsted Superwash Wool in color #706-Marigold. I used one full 220 yd ball and perhaps 25yds of another; starting the second skein on row 2 of the final 8 rows of garter stitch before the picot bind off. This yarn was very springy and tight, because before washing and blocking, I literally had a large neck bandanna. As you can see, the warm water really relaxed the yarn and I magically ended up with a full size shawl.