Arthur!

I was going to write a post all about how I finished up my helical hat and started and new project, but instead I'm going to post a picture of our cat Arthur.  This little guy is just too cute for words.  For some unknown reason he kept going and sitting in the corner this afternoon.  Maybe he's done something bad and I just haven't found it yet...

Ok, I can't resist talking about some knitting. This evening Mr. SpiderKate tried to help me take some pictures of my new shawl, but it turns out that red lace is kinda hard to photograph.  I think we got some okay ones, but I'd like to get some better ones.  I'm working on a rough draft of the pattern and will probably use some of the pictures we got tonight in the posting for test knitters.  I thought I'd have pattern draft ready by today and could post for the testers today, however that didn't work out.  Here are some of the photos we took:

The shawl is actually quite large at ~63" wide (wing span) and ~24" down the spine.  The lace really opened up after the blocking.  I wished that I realized how tough red was going to be photograph before I knit the shawl.  Though, I guess I'm not sure I would have changed my color preference.  I knew I was going to name the shawl En Fuego Shawl and red really seemed to fit with that name.  I guess the yarn and color just spoke to me.  I'm also thinking about knitting it in a fingering weight yarn to give another option.  If I did that, then I know I would decrease some of the chart repeats because otherwise the shawl would be huge.  I wouldn't call this a beginner lace pattern - probably more medium to advanced.  The only reason I lean towards that is because of how fine the yarn was that I used, though it could certainly be knit in a heavier lace weight.