I Believe in Stocks

No, not the kind they trade on Wall Street (in that case, I would have to call it hope more than faith). I believe in the kind of stocks that used to sit in the public square. You know, the criminal would be captured by the hands and/or feet, and the townspeople would be free to tell said person exactly what they thought of his/her crimes? And if that "telling" involved rotten fruits and vegetables, well, so be it. Yeah, those kind of stocks.

Why? This has a lot to do with it. Stealing money from Wall St fat cats (while still illegal) is one thing, but this man has stolen from charities, schools, churches, hospitals, and at least one 91-year-old retired machinist. G*d may forgive, but my human heart wonders if there's earthly punishment equal to this crime.

But we mustn't dwell, so on to happier things. There has been knitting (and a whole lot of pinning) going on here at the not-a-parsonage. First up is the completed -- and already beloved -- Lace Garland Shawl.

Pattern: Lace Garland Shawl from Knitter's Winter 1987 and Shawls and Scarves: Best of Knitter's Magazine. [rav links]
Yarn: 2-ply Shetland in lilac that has been marinating in the stash
Needles: an assortment of Inox #6 (started out with 2 circs, switched to magic loop, and finished on one 36")

It blocked (after using every blocking and straight pin I could find -- hope for the sake of our next guest that I got them all out of the futon) to around 54", and it is so light and airy and yet still quite warm. I have a plan for its eventual disposition, but that's still a ways away.

The chart for this pattern (at least the one in the magazine from which I worked) took a little getting used to as it is recreated directly from the old doily pattern the shawl is based on and the symbols and layout do not match the standard ones used by today's patterns (in the magazine, at least, there is no text, just the chart). Once I got used to the "new language," though, it was fairly smooth sailing.

Next up in the lace-and-blocking fest is a little doily that I promised the round table in the living room. After much exploring over at Yarnover, I settled on Laura, because she is fairly small, and I liked the swirling pattern (which I noticed while pinning is very similar to the center pattern on the Lace Garland shawl). The yarn is an 8/2 unmercerized cotton millend I bought at WEBS originally to make towels with (I have a different thought in the back of my mind now, though), and I knit it on a size 4 needle. The fabric is perhaps a little denser than I would ideally like, but it works okay with this pattern. I also did my own edging because I could not figure out the edging directions in the pattern. I wound up just double-crocheting two stitches together, chaining 2, then repeating all the way around (doing two double crochets in the stiches above the points in the lace), ending with a slip stitch at the top of the first dc.

Here it is "at work":

shown off by some of our collection of Willow Tree angels -- a friend got us a couple as wedding presents and it's just kinda taken off from there. You can see more of the collection playing the heavenly host in our manger scene (scroll down).

Last, but not least, is "Something Hot Pink". I wanted to see if this hot pink 4/10 wool we had would work for the Shetland Triangle in Wrap Style. I was curious both about the weight of the yarn (it's sport and the pattern calls for fingering) and how well it will drape (it is, after all, a fairly basic, heavily processed wool). So I cast on and did one repeat of each of the three charts then blocked the heck out of it. Not only do I love the fabric density, but the soaking and blocking gave it the perfect drape for a shawl.

Will probably cast on for the shawl tonight, and -- since the cat seems unimpressed with it -- will send the sample to my niece as a shawl or blanket for her dolls.

And one final note, for John McCain: You lost the election last November in large part because we didn't trust you to get us safely out of this economic mess your compatriots got us into; do you really think we're anxious to hear your opinions about the stimulus plan?

* Stocks photo © Austen Redman, via Wikimedia Commons