Impulsive cast-ons are a bad idea

Well, I had a chat with myself about the Icarus shawl. It was coming out just fine, and I liked the way the pattern was showing up with the yarn... but I don't actually wear shawls. Nobody I know wears shawls. There was a strong likelihood that the finished shawl was going to end up sitting in a closet or just draped over the back of a chair. So, since I wasn't far into it (less than 20 rows), I frogged it. The yarn will be used for something else, but not a shawl. Note to self: don't just cast on the first project you find that matches gauge for a yarn you want to work with.

Meanwhile, I started the Simple Knitted Bodice for the SKC knitalong last week, and have a pretty good start on it. I'm using some worsted alpaca that I had in my stash, in a heathered peacock blue:

It's gonna be pretty, and warm, and cushy. And I'm going to try my hand at beaded knitting for the lace section, as long as I can find some beads that I like that will fit on the worsted weight yarn.

Over the weekend, I went to a new yarn store, Lovely Yarns, with Coleen and Amie. It's in a really neat area (Hampden) with lots of little gift shops and cafes. It reminded me a lot of Carytown back in Richmond. Anyway, I got a couple of balls of lavender Cascade Fixation, which I think I'll use for socks... I'd do another Mon Petit Chou, but I haven't even worn the first one I made, so a second one would definitely be overkill.

I also have some new roving that I've been playing with.

3 oz of SWTC Karaoke roving, which is 50/50 soy silk and wool. I didn't even know that I needed it, but when I was getting the Simple Knitted Bodice pattern from kpixie, I poked through the spinning fibers available and found it. Up until now, I've just been working from a bundle of 100% merino, and I'd been wanting to get something else so I can see what different fibers are like. It's great stuff. The soy silk adds a lot of strength, so I can spin it thinner than I can spin the merino on my drop spindle. While I was getting a heavy worsted with the pink/blue merino, I'm getting a light worsted or heavy fingering weight with the Karaoke.