Blue and Gold

Blue for the UNR Wolfpack and gold for the changing seasons. Well, sort of. I honestly don't know if they won Saturday night or not! :-P But I do know that it was Homecoming! Reno's such a college town. :-)

But the gold is entirely approppriate. This was taken on my balcony yesterday afternoon:


As you can see autumn is in full swing. Driving down Arlington or California is a feast for the eys - scarlet maples, orange oaks, gold cottonwoods, etc. Looking up on the hills to the west you can make out stands of aspen by the bright yellow shining forth.

This afghan is my father's Christmas present...from last year! :-/ I didn't get it finished until now. Well, just in time for the cooler weather, eh? (Dad, I'll get it to you when I see you in a couple of weeks!)

It is crocheted in a chevron pattern using Jeager Shetland Aran. I am sad that they discontinued this yarn. It is really lovely to work with - with a subtle halo of alpaca after washing. Fortunately I still have a large chunk of it in my stash (both navy and an awesome red) - there is at least one sweater forthcoming.

Well, I did finish one thing this week, and you know the rule!

Yes, I cast on for yet another shawl. (At new years I'm going to lay out all the shawls I've done this year just to see how many I've done!) This was sort of an accident, though. I didn't mean for it to go this far (Yeah right, Hannah!) No, seriously - I was swatching for a couple of reasons:
1. To see what the drape was on a US 4 (for another project using similar yarn.)
2. To see what the colors would look like in a lace pattern.
Of course, once I started seeing what the pattern would look like in the variegated yarn, I just kept going as I liked it so much. The patterned part is a fir cone pattern. I am looking for a border to match, haven't settled on a specific one yet. This is strictly "seat of my pants" designing! :-) The yarn is KnitPicks Bare 100% Merino Laceweight. I dip-dyed it earlier this year using food coloring (easter egg colors.) I'm calling the color "Grape-alicious!" :-) Actually, in certain light it is more wine colored than true purple. Definitely more red than blue in there.

Enjoy the autumn while it lasts. I'm sure it will be winter before we know it. I mean come on - my church choir is already rehearsing for Christmas! (Cue ominous music!) ;-)