I’ve already written a post with the name Citron and, although WordPress won’t yell at me if I repeat a post name, I feel odd doing so. (We’ll ignore all the variations of “Update” and “News” and “I forgot I had a blog” I’ve overused.) Having gotten rather tired of my old format of FO posts, here’s a less official, more story-telling sort of summary of the two Citron shawls I’ve made this year.
I had purchased two skeins of Malabrigo Lace at the encouragement of Beth (the recipient of more of my FOs than anyone). I’d tried my hand at lace weight yarn before but things had not gone well. Between not being able to see stitches in alpaca or snapping some low-quality wool lace weight, I was a bit jaded against the stuff. I still prefer fingering weight for shawls, that’s for sure (the colors, oh the colors!) but I can now say that I do not fear the lace weight.
Citron wasn’t exactly the first pattern the yarn was going to be used for. But that’s a topic for another post. (Yes, channeling Alton Brown, thanks for noticing.)
When I first saw the Citron pattern, I knew I had to make it. It would force me to learn how to do M1′s less invisible (or so I thought) and was a really cute, yet simple design. I still don’t like the name of the pattern, as it makes zero sense when you knit it in anything but a citrus-colored yarn. Maybe my mathematical brain just likes the idea of called it Hemispherical better. Then again, I don’t even know if that is a word.
While I did have a month or so during which I put down the shawl to work on more exciting things, I went back to working on it during Ravelypmics. Like I said before, I never thought I would actually get myself to hunker down and finish it. Maybe work a few rows before time was up, only to return it to its Ziplock inside the plastic bin I keep under my desk. Or, who knows, maybe I would suddenly bind it off, deciding it was done enough for my own satisfaction.
But, I was good. I stuck with it. And, now, I’m really glad I did. Later today I’m sending it off to a friend of Matt’s who’s having her second child. I figure it’s the perfect thing to wear to a christening and I don’t exactly have any friends or family myself who “do” infant baptism.
The second Citron, this was entirely a means to use up this beautiful Neighborhood Fibre Co. Studio Sock I randomly bought the last time Matt was away on business. Although I have other fingering weight yarns that had been in my stash longer (including two skeins from Beth), I felt compelled to make this into something first. The colors, oh the colors! The blues, the purple – everything I love all at one time. And the yarn base, I’d been longing to use it since I made that Baby Surprise Jacket what feels like ages ago. This shawl went much quicker, partially because I was killing time between classes and partly because the thicker yarn weight meant easier to see stitches.
Yet again, I have no set recipient for this shawl. I tried it out and it makes my neck itch like crazy so, although I know I deserve to be selfish and keep it, it will find its final home with someone else. (This is starting to be a problem, I have two other shawls without homes that sit in a plastic bag on my desk. Already made shawls for all family members who would like one. Almost to the point of going one level deeper in the Mennonite Game.*)
* The Mennonite Game is when you meet someone who is also Mennonite and you try to figure out how you’re related. Played best if you grew up in Southern Delaware, Harrisonburg, VA, or Lancaster County, PA.
