Catching Up

I finished my shawl on Saturday. I really love how it came out. I cannot believe how fast I knit it. All that garter stitch just flew off the needles. However, I have noticed that it is a bit harder to block things here in D.C. The humidity lately has made drying time quite long! I will take a photo of it today.

With my shawl obsession satisfied, it has been a week of catch up for me. The other two "alongs" I am doing had sped ahead without me. Fortunately I was able to quickly catch up on the Mystery Shawl Along hosted by Kristen Kapur. I cast on for the mystery shawl and knit through clue 2. The red item in the back is the shawl. The color way is Lady Bug from Miss Babs, and I admit to choosing it based solely on color (the name helped too). The first two clues went really smoothly. If you want a better idea of how it looks thus far, just check out my project page.

The granny square afghan project is not quite as easy to catch up. I am now only 2 weeks behind. I finished 14 little squares yesterday. I should be able to do week three today. I am really enjoy the change. I am hoping that this little project improves my crochet skills. I think my tensioning has improved already as the last 7 or so squares have been a lot more uniform in size.

While not playing catchup on these two projects, I have been trying to finish the Achillea socks which I cast on a few months ago. The heels have been turned, and the toe is coming up fast. I hope these can be done this week. I admit that I am a bit tired of them. Of course, I have another pair of socks languishing that I need to finish before heading off in other directions.

A new book is in my hands as well this week. I finished The Art of Fielding and thoroughly enjoyed it. I read a bit on Goodreads afterward for my own mini-book group. My new read is Stolen, and I am not sure how I feel about it. The story is told from the point of view of a girl who is abducted. It is a letter of sorts to her captor. The premise is tremendous disturbing to me as the mother of three kiddos.

I am already filling up my queue for my next knitting projects. I have my second project lined up for Camp Loopy (a 3 project summer camp run by a The Loopy Ewe yarn store). I am also considering what projects I want to knit for the Ravelympics. I find that a little competition and deadline can work a bit of magic for my knitting and crocheting.

So, what are you working on this week, my fellow Yarn Alongers?