Broke through the stall on the Song of Hiawatha shawl. I'm 2/3 of the way through the next pattern segment, "The Pukwana of the Peace Pipe." It's done in something called Porcupine Stitch, which looks kind of feather-and-fan-ish. Then, it's another repeat of the Starlight section, before I move on to the Big Exciting Side Sections.

I'm enthusiastic about the project again. The nice thing is before you have a chance to get bored with a pattern stitch, you change to a different one. And it's fun figuring out the logic of how the stitches work - where the increases and decreases are and how they lead to the final fabric.

I've been contemplating whether I want to start a new big sweater project, having finished the Tilling the Soil vest. On one hand, if I work on and finish the small projects I have, it would be nice. But on the other hand, I love starting new things. I also have the added consideration of the fact that I will be traveling shortly, and if I start something I want to continue working on, it better be fairly portable - so nothing too big. I think that edges out one possible contender, the Fibonacci sweater from Magknits, because that entails 12 big cakes of Araucania Nature Wool. I'm not sure I'm ready for another cabled vest, or I'd start the XO vest from Folk Vests out of the Peruvian Highland Wool from Elann.

I'm thinking, though, that I want to start a sweater with the 127 Print (also an Elann purchase). I had been wondering what to do with this yarn when my new Knitters showed up - recently, I will say, there's not been a whole lot in Knitters that grabbed me, but I did like several of the sweaters in this one (the aran, the Elsebeth Lavold "Fencer" sweater, and especially the Random Acts of Color sweater). That last one - Random Acts of Color by Edie Eckman - caught my attention, and I realized it might work out of the 127 Print. (And it would be fun to do a sweater out of fairly-portable strips of garter stitch for a change - no wrestling with heavy backs and fronts until the very end).

The only question is whether or not I have enough wool. I'm about 150-200 yards short of what is recommended for my size, and the wool's sold out at Elann. (And I don't feel like going on a treasure hunt right now). I'm guessing I'll be OK from previous experience - I always wind up with a considerable amount of wool left over; I'm guessing it's because designers figure up the amounts for the smallest size and then estimate generously for the bigger ones. (My latest example: I have >400 yards left over from the Tilling the Soil vest. Mittens and a cap, I think). The other thing I like is the "try before you commit" nature of this project - I can knit up one strip and either decide (a) If I totally hate the effect with 127 print or (b) be able to guess whether I'll have enough wool based on how much one strip uses.

But, that all may be a moot point, because last night, as I knit on the shawl, I got to thinking about Clapotis again. And how nice it would be to have this time of year. And I went this morning and got the wool out of my wool closet (it's an Emu DK print - not as soft as the recommended yarn but it feels virtuous to find a good use for something out of the stash that didn't have an earmark for a project). And you know, it's a really pretty yarn. Deep purplish blue with magenta-y and blue-green lights in it. So I grabbed a pair of 8s (the recommended needles) and, in the 20 minutes or so between finishing my preparation for the day and having to run out the front door, I knit up the first few rows.

And found, oddly, that the smaller yarn on the recommended needles gave too big of a gauge. So I ripped back and will start over using 7s, which my gut says should be just right.

And that raises another question, beyond the one of having yet another project going - I have but one pair of 7 straight needles that I like (Oh, I'm sure I've got an old Boye aluminum set somewhere, but I don't like knitting with aluminum straights). And the Random Acts of Color sweater is done on 7s, and it seems excessive to do the little narrow strips of garter on circulars...I don't know. Perhaps I'll find myself rapidly shifting to circulars for Clapotis, once it starts to get big. (Or, perhaps, I could take the True Knitter's Solution and go and buy myself another nice pair of 7s - which would have to be, unless I mail-order, either the Balene IIs that Hobby Lobby sells, or the overpriced-for-what-you-get Lion Brand knockoffs of Pony Pearls. I don't know.)

I've gone back more to using plain straight needles lately; there's something kind of comforting about the casein ones I have (7s and 8s), and something enjoyably funky about the big fat Pony Pearls. It may be simply convenience; that I moved them into a crystal vase on my mantel so I don't have to dig in the bottom of a box in my wool closet any more, or it may be a little bit of nostalgia. Or it may be simply exhastion with circulars and their kinky cables and the tendency of the stitches to tighten a bit on the cable and then be hard to work back up onto the needles... I don't know.