Oak Lawn

This was a weekend full of trains, but not quite so full of yarn as I had been hoping.

Friday morning, my daughter & I got up VERY early to ride Amtrak to Chicago. At Chicago's Union Station, we turned right around & took the Metra commuter train back out to Oak Lawn. I had tickets reserved at Nana's Knitting Shop to see the Yarn Harlot at her stop in Oak Lawn, Illinois.



The Metra station is indeed just across from Nana's Knitting Shop. We stopped in briefly, but didn't stay very long, since we were still carrying our luggage. It was a couple blocks walk to the Hilton where the Yarn Harlot event was being held, & where I had reservations to spend the night.


Unfortunately, the Yarn Harlot had A.Very.Bad.Day. I was disappointed she couldn't be there, of course, but it couldn't be helped. My daughter was consoled by the promise of a trip to the hotel pool. On the way to the pool, we met some other out of town knitters who had made the trip to the Chicago area to see Stephanie. Our travel days were better than Stephanie's, though. At least we got to our destination, & had a chance to do some knitting & get together with other knitters.

One thing that this trip forced me to get done was a shawl that I had in mind ever since I bought this yarn a couple years ago. I bought two skeins of this Dyeabolical Yarn hand-dyed merino at my LYS & always had in mind to make a shawl with it. The colorway is "Dark Envy", available from Dyeabolical Yarns on Etsy or in St. Louis at Knitorious.

(The shirt says "Knitting is so DIY -- purchased from Cafe Press.)


The biggest advantage to taking the train -- Knitting Time! It's impossible to knit & drive. (Well, unless you are completely stopped in a traffic jam, but that's not driving, only frustration.) I did manage to get most of a pair of socks done over the weekend. As you can see in the first picture, I only had the cuffs done at the start of the train trip. Here is their status now.

Springtime is for Lace

Having finally finished a sweater this winter, I have gotten back on a lace kick.



This is the Icarus Shawl, pattern by Miriam Felton. The pattern was previously published in Interweave Knits, but is now available on Miriam's website.

I am using hand-dyed yarn from Dyeabolical. The colorway is "Dark Envy", available from Dyeabolical Yarns on Etsy or in St. Louis at Knitorious.



I really enjoyed watching how the colors flowed together & back apart while knitting the body of the shawl. It really broke up the monotony of knitting that section.

Rachel also hand-dyed the green yarn that I am using for the lace section. I'm very happy with how it is all tying together. I'm contemplating going back to the varigated for the last row or two & the bind off, just to tie it all together even more.