More Botanical Knitting

"When we last left Knitter Kathy, she'd just posted photos of her Live Oak shawl. We continue her botanical knitting adventures with a Kudzu shawl."

OK, Mr. Announcer, I'll take over from here. It's not intentional, but between my Camp Loopy projects I have been knitting shawls that are inspired by flora (but not fauna). And coincidentally, flora that grows here in Houston.

This is my Kudzu shawl.

I fell in love with this when I saw it in the Classic Elite newsletter. Soon I was ordering the yarn and casting on. I'm still in love.

Here's a closeup.

I have mostly been knitting my shawls out of wool so I am familiar with the blocking of wool. This cotton/bamboo behaved totally differently. After soaking in Soak, I laid it out on the guest bed to block. I shaped and smoothed with my hands. The shawl stayed in place and didn't try to bounce back. I probably didn't need to pin it down but I did anyway.

15 Days and Counting

I'm talking about the number of consecutive days the temperature in Houston has been 100 degrees or higher.

So it'll be a while before I can wear this:

It's the Live Oak shawlette by Romi from the latest issue of Knitscene.

When cooler weather arrives, I know this will be my constant companion.

When I saw the pattern I immediately thought "fall leaves" so I found a skein of fall-leaf colored yarn in my stash. (It's Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in the colorway Candlewick.) Then I looked up "live oak". We have live oaks here in Houston, but not being from here originally I did not know which oak is the live oak. Imagine how surprised I was to find out that a live oak is an evergreen oak--the leaves do not change color and fall off come autumn. So for a true live oak shawl, I should have knit this in a shade of green. I guess I have actually knit a post oak shawl.

Hugs & Kisses Mittens

I have been having fun at Camp Loopy. This time we went "Hiking in the Mountains". The goal was to make a pair of cabled socks, gloves, or mittens. I chose mittens. I picked a pair out of a book that I own, 60 Quick Knits. That itself was an accomplishment because while I buy lots of knitting books, I rarely actually knit from them. This is my first cabled project. I found that while cables look quite complicated, they really aren't. That was a surprise to me. This is also my first mitten project. I don't think it will be my last.

Got to admit, I felt a bit silly knitting mittens in 100 degree weather. But it's nice to know they'll be waiting for me when winter arrives.

The next session of Camp Loopy starts August 15. The theme is Field Day. But as of now, I don't know what that entails.

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Every time I wear these mittens, I know I will be thinking of Wilfred. I watched several episodes of the original Australian version while finishing these yesterday. I often associate certain projects with something that was going on while I knit them. For example, every time I wear a certain scarf I immediately think of knitting it in the car while on vacation. Is this weirdness unique to me, or do you experience something similar?