:yawn:

7 Small Shawls: T - 197 days and counting down.

Yesterday was one of those inevitable days when life happens to plans big and small. Mr. Romi was super super busy and out working in his shop. I had a pattern to finish up and put together for my test knitters. The kids had other ideas. Crisis, drama, and tempests in teapots ensued. Teapot tempests seem so huge when you're young: insurmountable. It wasn't possible to leave the kids alone for even a moment without one of them making a bad decision. Some days are like that, and I hate leaving a situation where I know they almost can't help getting in trouble. So I kept close watch. Very close watch. The situation was finally stabilized at around 8:00 in the evening while Mr. Romi was at Kiwanis. So at 9:00, when they went to bed, I went to work on Maia. I finished at 3:00 in the morning, and then couldn't get to sleep until about 3:45. You know how it is. I had my second (or third or fourth) wind! I was wired. And no. I didn't sleep all day today. I got up at 8 in the morning, and I'm a little tired now. Truth be told, I'm blithering.

But enough of that!

The New Moon colorway was calling to me yesterday and it was still calling me today. Why fight it when it's meant to be? :) And so begins shawl #3 of the 7 Small Shawls eBook! This one has beads, so that was the first order of business today.

I raided the bead stash and out came the contenders. The one thing about beads is that you can give an educated guess about what might look good, but something unexpected often looks amazing. So in my first round, I included a few that I thought wouldn't look too great: the lavender, the gold and the pink.

And I added my old stand-by, the clear bead with foil lining. All of these are size 6/0 seed beads, my favorite for knitting.

Next was to string them on the yarn and see what I could see. I eliminated one here: second from the left. The lavender didn't do it for me.

I eliminated three here. The second from the right stayed. (Can you believe that's the pink?)

The second round.

These go on a swatch. It's difficult to see in the picture, but the middle two were the real contenders here. And of those I chose the one on the right, the blue metallic. They look great in person! I was looking for something that sang to me, and these fit the bill perfectly.

They're not my cup of tea by themselves, but I keep a stash of them for knitting, and this is not the first time they've been pressed into service!

Then, of course, I couldn't resist casting on. I think this one is kind of a potato chip knit. I'm really enjoying it, but I'm feeling guilty about not knitting on my secret project.

I'm saving the secret project for when my brain wakes up.

Nighty-night!