adamas

I cast on for the Adamas shawl last night and finished the first chart. I'm using the yarn called for (Knitpicks) in Oregon Coast (kind of a beige with hints of pink and green here and there - prettier than it sounds!), and size 5 needles but I think I should use size 4 instead. My yarn was wound too tightly too (and has been sitting like that for months). I think I need to rip it out, skein the yarn and dunk it, let it dry, and start over. I should probably use wood needles anyway and in that case 5 would probably be fine. I'm using aluminum now. I only have two sets of non-DPN wood needles (straights) in 7 and 8 so I guess needle shopping is in order. Ugh. I guess I'll start w/ the second skein on my metal 4's tonight and see how that goes before I decide. Actually I do have some old Susan Bates 14" straights I could try, that gray finish is less slippery than the Boyes.

The shawl will be for my grandma. She taught me how to knit and I really hope she will love it. She is funny, she gave me a round dishcloth pattern last year saying that I probably wouldn't want to make it since it was pretty tricky. Next time she visited my parents, she saw the one I whipped up for my mom on the sink and called me a stinker :) She hasn't seen much of what I've done (not that I ever FINISH anything) so I hope this will be a wonderful surprise. Her b-day is the end of Sept so if it's done by then, great, if not it will be for Christmas. After that I'd love to make kilt hose for my grandpa - he is Scottish and wears his kilt whenever he gets a chance. I have a pattern for some w/ an entrelac cuff that I'm thinking about, but I've never done entrelac before. I don't want them to look... rough.