Miss Lambert Done, on to the next

Miss Lambert's shawl is done and blocking. Here's a shot of the edging:

Here's a shot of the body:

Here's a close-up:

And finally, because photo loading is going soooo slowly today, a shot of the corner:

I like how this turned out so far. We'll see what happens when I pull the pins and the wires out. The yarn is 100% alpaca, which doesn't hold a nice, crisp block like a blend does, so I blocked it pretty hard to try to compensate. The whole shawl is 5 feet long, which is a bit shorter than I prefer. The whole thing was a pleasure to knit: just complicated enough to hold my interest, but easy enough to be kind of mindless at the same time. I'm not sure my corners are as perfect as I could get them, but I'm pleased nonetheless.

So, what now? Luckily, the new Interweave Knits arrived last week (Friday?) to provide inspiration. I thought the Winter Issue was pretty boring, to be truthful. Spring, however, was wonderful. There are a number of designs in this issue that I really like a lot. A couple seem a bit on the young side, but can be adapted a bit for a more (ahem) mature woman. The "Flutter Sleeve Cardigan" is going on my to-knit list as soon as I can find a yarn in stash that will work for it. It's a very flattering design, and looks to be a good mindless knit, too. The "Mirabella Cardigan" is also very pretty, but a bit on the fussy side for me. Same with the "Sylph Cardigan." This is the one that seems a bit young, but would be great with some adjustments. The "Auburn Camp Shirt" is another great basic that looks like a fun knit. The "Printed Silk Cardigan" is stunning, but I'm afraid I'd never wear it. If I worked in a chilly office, I'd have much more use for these kinds of sweaters, but otherwise, the heat and humidity of a DC summer preclude them.

The design that's going on my needles right away is Anne Hanson's gorgeous "Bleeding Hearts Shawl." This shawl has just the right balance of design elements for me. While I think that extremely complicated shawls are beautiful, I tend to be attracted to and to wear simpler designs. The BHS, with its main panel, simple outer design, and pretty edging, is complex without being too complicated for me. I'm going to use my Blue Moon Fiber Arts Laci in the Corbie colorway for this. (I did get the replacement skein of the Rook-y colorway did finally get here, but was still not exactly what I'd hoped. It was better than the other skein, but I think that the more tonal nature of the Corbie colorway will work best for this shawl.)

I'll need a simple knit to balance out the shawl, so I will cast on for one of those doilies, as well as, perhaps, the Flutter Sleeve cardigan (when I find the yarn.)

On the political front, I am still undecided. I change my mind from hour to hour, practically. So far the candidates are running pretty even, but Saturday's Obama sweep might change the delegate count. I am frightened of the prospect of a convention in which the superdelegates, and not the primary voters, control the outcome. Clinton, it seems, has more superdelegates than Obama. Could this lead to a situation where Obama gets more of the popular vote, but the nomination goes to Clinton? I HOPE NOT. I hope that we learned from 2000 that legitimacy and the popular vote go hand in hand. Even if most Dems would be happy with either candidate as nominee, resentment can build quickly. The last thing the Dems need is to shoot themselves in the foot by anointing a candidate who didn't win the popular vote. If I were a candidate in the position to win in that manner, I would direct the superdelegates to vote for the candidate with the popular vote, but perhaps that's yet another reason why I don't go into politics.