Mystery Sock 2011.1 - Finished!

Just finished my second sock.  I am finally getting the hang of the Kitchener Stitch at the toe.  I am actually good at Kitchener Stitch in other knitting applications where I can lay the two pieces of knitting flat so I can see what I am doing, but in the toe you don't get that luxury and working in the small space and with the needles in the way makes it more challenging.  I used the tutorial at Knitty.

And here is a beauty shot of the Avira shawl:

Avira - Finished!

The last clue came out yesterday and I spent last night and today finishing it.  I love the shape of the shawl, especially the spine of yarn overs going up the center.  The shawl is not large, more of a shawlette.  The only real challenge is the cast on because the shawl is knit from the bottom up.  There were 311 stitches for this size, a larger one would probably have twice that many.  The main advantage of a shawl knit this way is that the rows get shorter rather than longer.

This is the first project for the Light and Dark Lace Club.  The yarn is PennyRose Yarns Benji in Light Orchid, 100% superwash merino.  The design is by Ruth Greeenwald of PennyRose Yarns.

Avira - Clue 2

I spent most of this past week in California for work.  I left Monday afternoon and came back on the red-eye Wednesday night, arriving at Dulles International Airport at 0545.  After stopping in briefly at work to check my email I came home and relaxed, watching musicals on TCM, and knitting.  I have found that when traveling to California it is better if I take a red-eye back.  I hate being away from home, and I can sleep on the plane almost as well as I can sleep in a hotel.  It is far better than getting up at 0300 to take an early flight back.  And the drive home from the airport is easy because the traffic is all going the other way.  The other advantage is that by the time I have gotten home I have effectively put in my eight hours and can go home - to knit and relax.