Finished: Kindness KAL Shawl

Once again, I'm behind on blogging. Which, let's be honest, isn't surprising because I always switch my hobby to obsessive reading in the summer. As usual, my Goodreads list has grown exponentially in the past few months, with many thanks to my recent subscription to Book of the Month.

Kindless KAL Shawl by Jaala Spiro

But don't worry: I've picked up my needles again and am finishing a bunch of projects I started before my week-long Vegas vacation my girlfriends and I took for our birthdays (oh, did I forget to mention I saw the Backstreet Boys while there? Twice? You wish you had my life.)

One of those projects was the Kindness KAL Shawl that I started... I don't even know when. I think it was before I left for a conference in April. Regardless, it took me forever to knit and even longer to block because it sat around in a box for what's going on three months.

I promise I'm responsible.

The biggest reason I knit this shawl was because I'd recently acquired (read: hoarded) a massive stash of the new-ish Knit Picks Stroll Gradient. I'm officially in lerve. I've always had a thing for long gradients and the easy effect they can add to simple knitwear designs, but the only ones I've found in a usable quality have been hand-dyed and kinda pricey. Y'all know I'm a huge fan of indie dyers, so I don't say that to knock them, but it's great that I can now have the option to buy these, too.

The colorway I selected is called Unicorn Princess. If you have to ask why I chose that, then you clearly don't know me at all, nor have you paid attention to this blog. I say to you: UNICORN. PRINCESS.

Anyway, I finally got around to blocking the heck out this thing over the weekend. I opted to block it in a round formation instead of pulling the lace pieces down. Why? I'm not sure. I went a little crazy with pinning it down and that's just what happened.

So that's the latest "off my needles" update. As far as other life stuff, I've mostly been busy with work, light traveling, visiting with friends, and planning more upcoming light travel. Musikfest just ended in my area, too, so I was able to see a bunch of good bands I like and eat poutine. All in all, it's been a win of a summer.

In the meantime, I'm:

Reading: The Blinds
Listening to: Gogol Bordello - Wonderlust King