FO: Pogona

The quest for a closet full of elegant neckwear continues.

This was was a simple affair, knit up quickly and it used all but a couple of yards of a skein of sock yarn. I love small shawls that are maybe not quite functional for winter warmth, but for a breezy dressy addition to your every day. It's essential here, where you can pretty much spot the tourist based on the fact that they are not wearing scarves. It's almost a little obscene to see a bare neck at this point...it's like leaving the house without your pants. Scarf up!

It also doesn't get terribly warm here, so having constant cozy comfort doesn't hurt. I know, my dear friends and New Yorkers. You grow jealous at my 11 month knitwear use. Yes, in August it might get steamy here, but so far it's been sweat-free. Apart from an ocasional day where it might hit 75 degrees in the afternoon sun, it's far enough north in longitude so that I haven't had to go a day without a light jacket. I am a lover of summertime and hot weather, but I'm finding this a rather pleasant change over last summer and the 116 degree day where I decided that if I stand in front of the oven for a couple hours and stew a chicken, if only so it would feel much cooler when I move away from the oven.

Anyway. The shawl. Another Stephen West creation. Easy peasy. Just knit and purl. You start out with a paired increases, and as the shawl grows, you make more, so it ends up being a series of wedges, with the largest one in the middle. Yes, it's small, but after blocking it stretched out to be big enough to wrap around and stay wrapped, and that's all I really want. It's got gorgeous drape, and it's a good excuse to break out a nice skein of handpainted yarn that you've been hoarding. The top edging is a little tight by design, but it doesn't bother me.

I don't have proper blocking equipment- it all amounts to a few pins and hair clips at this point. Mine blocked out nicely, although the samples look like they were less pointed on the ends. I still view this whole moving and living in a strange land experience as if I'm just going camping, and dealing with the little discomforts of going without.

The yarn is Sanguine Gryphon Bugga! in the color "Shelob". It's very soft. I used almost the entire skein...I might have had 2 or 3 yards left over, but I kept knitting until I almost ran out before doing a couple rows of the garter edging. I've worn this a ton already. I didn't pack or bring too many of the shawls and scarves I've made over the years, rightly guessing that I would dive into creating more of them.

The pictures were taken at the Chateau Fontainebleau, where there are loads of rock climbers bouldering up huge stones dropped randomly by glaciers throughout the great forest around it.