When I'm working on a secret project (generally a gift), I don't let myself blog. I'm afraid - no, convinced - that I will spill the beans too early. So please excuse my absence - I'll show you the latest secret project later this week, since I was able to gift it over the weekend.

In the meantime, let's take a look at the shawl that literally colored my life for a few weeks:

I loved Citron from the first moment I saw it on Ravelry, and I had this orange yarn from handpaintedyarn.com lying around. It was a perfect match, so I cast on my three little stitches and started. Six weeks later, I cast off more than 1,000 stitches and was left with orange hands, an orange pantry door, an orange couch, orange light switches, and a very orange bathtub. Bleed much? Oxiclean got the dye off the couch, but the shawl-shaped pattern in the bathtub had to be scrubbed out with Bon Ami. (Let's not even talk about how long it took me to figure out why everything I touched turned orange). I ended up soaking it twice and then soaked it an additional time with vinegar, and that finally did the trick.

My shawl is quite a bit bigger than the one in the pattern. I ended up doing eight repeats, so it's much, much more shawl than kerchief.

I love the ruffled parts, even though they were such long rows, and the ruffle at the bottom is so sweet. I thought about beading the bind-off, but I was ready to be finished and didn't feel like fiddling with tiny beads and an itty-bitty crochet hook. I do have my limits.

I've been meaning to post this finished object for awhile, but I didn't want to blind anybody. The colors really are that bright, but not so...assaulting.

These are a commission-knit for an extended family member. I just need to block the cuffs to make the i-cord stop rolling and then I can send them off.

The pattern is from Anna Zilboorg's Magnificent Mittens, and I love how the mittens turned out. I especially love the thumb - see on the right mitten how it blends in with the palm pattern? Genius! This was my first top-down mitten, too, and although the beginning is a bit fiddly, it's definitely worth it. I will be making many more patterns out of this book, probably in just as many eye-searing colors. My next pair will probably be out of a memorizable pattern - this one was nearly impossible to remember, so I had to have the book open in my lap the whole time.

I used Cascade 220 Superwash for both colors. After all this time, it's still one of my favorites.

I have no idea why I called these Dark Horse socks - the pattern is called Dark Isle. But horse it is.

Are these not awesome? I started them around Thanksgiving and they went super, super fast. These are knit toe-up with an afterthought heel (my first - loved it). I ended up cutting off the toe on the first sock and reknitting it to be shorter, but I did manage to remember that modification for the second sock, which I did just two weeks ago. (Christmas knitting gets in the way of, well, everything.)

The afterthought heel was fun, and I FINALLY perfected my kitchener stitch. That only took about 9 years. I will definitely make these again.

Penny is staying with us for the week while my parents gallavant through wine country. She and Gracie finally rumbled for the first time today - after four days of complete calm, I was worried that Penny was too distraught to rumble. Today's rumble began with Gracie jumping off our bed and straight into action. It was very Michael Jackson-Bad of her. After the rumble and a good walk, Penny is now sucking on Gracie's bed. She always sucks on dog beds when she's upset. Have you ever met a dog like that before? It's weird, and she's taught Gracie how to do it, too. I feel like I'm living in a circus.

I'm still upset about my vest - too upset to rip it out. But here's something pretty.

This is my tweedy Noro shawl, actually another pattern by Kirsten Kapur (Andrea's Shawl). I dragged this through airports, train stations, funeral homes and various apartments during our cross-country jaunt to meet the fiance(e)s. I cast off in DC and couldn't wait to get home and block it.

I am so in love with this shawl. I only wish it were bigger. I made the largest size, and it drapes across my shoulders nicely, but I can't truly wrap myself in it. I want this thing to be a blanket. With most shawls, you could just keep knitting until it's as big as you want it. Not with this one. You actually start at the edging, determining your shawl's size at the get-go. The nice thing about that is your rows get progressively shorter. The bad thing is that you can't get sick of it and just decide you're done. (Not that I got sick of it. I could have knit this for another three weeks and been perfectly happy.)

I used Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool in a very deep brown and some Noro Kureyon I scored from Jimmi's stash, alternatiing yarns every two rows. Since you edge the entire shawl once you're finished with the body (that's the nice little picots as the top), I was able to carry my yarn up the side and not worry about it showing.

The colors in these picturse are a little off - I just can't find a great spot in the house to photograph large objects. The flash washes out the brown - they're pretty true in the upper right-hand side (and this was after color-correcting!). I have tons of yarn left - I only used 1.5 skeins of the Silky Wool and 1.5 skeins of the Noro. I would love to make a vest with the same stripes, but as yesterday's post shows, maybe I'm not a vest kind of person. But if it was the right vest...