Traits to admire

Designer Romi Hill has such talent (and style!). First, I fell in love with Romi's shawl pins. I showed great restraint there and only have the little ram pin, because I have no shawls. Her pre-release sale of the ebook "7 Small Shawls to Knit" was the banana peel of my surrender to the shawls themselves; my first project from that book is finally blocking. Here is Maia, finished but unblocked:

And here she is
under the control of my new blocking wires and pins. (I opted for points instead of an even edge.)

I found these on eBay, but the seller (who is now a "friend" on Ravelry) also has an Etsy shop. I am really impressed with the set - as well as the seller's excellent communication and fast shipping.

When Romi unveiled a shawl design to be sold as a fundraiser for the crisis in Japan, the combination of her incredible talent with such generosity and compassion did me in. The pattern is purchased and printed, and I found the perfect yarn in my stash - a soft, silky/shiny bright burgundy "mystery yarn" that drapes like nobody's business (I think it's rayon). Here is the swatch (oops; the back side):

Sakaki will be my "after Brian's bedtime project," at least until I'm well underway. For "anywhere knitting," I have the Lanesplitter skirt:
I am well into the second skein of yarn, and am probably close to halfway done. The colors remind me of the hues in this photo of lilac buds:
(Photo taken on a MUCH drier day!)

That's it for now from . . .