Oh my goodness, this blog is going to have some fun this month.  I have five new projects to share--a dress, a pullover, a shrug, a cowl, and this shawl, all modeled by my lovely neighbor, Jessica.  We played dress-up yesterday and did some pretty styling and got some great pictures of all the garments.  I'll be showing a new knit each week. 

The first is the gorgeous Lori Shawl by Carrie Bostick Hoge knit in some vintage Rowan Scottish Tweed DK.  Years ago I bought a half-dozen skeins for half price.  You know how that is, you cannot resist it at the time, then arrive home and realize you don't really have enough to do anything with.  After a decade of being hidden away, I haphazardly paired it with this pattern--genius!  The rustic yarn combined with the primitive texture of garter stitch combined with the most simple of shapes--perfection!  The shape is an elongated triangle and as you can imagine, is a very simple knit and easy enough to touch knit in the dark movie theater.  My husband and I go to the movies every Monday afternoon and I like something mindless to keep my hands busy while sitting for two hours, plus it kept my lap warm too!  I mostly kept this as my movie knit, but sometimes I sneaked it into my regular at-home knitting--sigh--sometimes garter stitch just calls out to me and I cannot resist!

The years-ago discontinued Scottish Tweed is rare enough to find, but there's always some popping up on Rav or eBay and I wouldn't hesitate to grab some again.  It feels like you have real, oldtime YARN in your hand; sturdy and homey and folksy, and seems to say, "I will keep you warm and I will last forever."  It is soft enough to wear next to the neck and would also be appropriate for a sweater worn next to the skin but sturdy enough for outer wear.

I'd like to praise the book that this pattern came from, Madder Anthology 2.  I purchased it two months ago when I was at the KnitWearLove retreat in Pacific Grove.  It's a beautiful book with 15 simple designs with a rustic flair; all beautifully photographed with well-written patterns.  I'm not done with it either: I'm almost finished with Liv and have just cast on for the Barn Sweater and I'm making this Lori shawl again, striped, with a melange of purple yarns I have in my stash.  Jessica and I both gave this shawl a ten.  It's a winner.

I know you like to see what my garments look like on me, an older woman for whom they were intended, and I will make sure when I post the sweaters I'll also share a photo of me wearing it too.