Monkey See, Monkey Do

It all began when one customer brought in their lovely version of this Kristen Kapur pattern called 'High Line Shawl' knit out of Estelle's Super Alpaca. I was taken with it, but listened to the little voice in my head that said "No Lynn. Even though you have been wanting to try out that chunky alpaca for a dog's age, you have enough on your needles to keep you busy for the next 10 years. Chill out."

I thought that by the next day, I'd be over it.

Well... I sort of was.

That is, until another customer brought it in.

And then- ANOTHER!

At this point, I had no choice. I simply had to cast on.

Which obviously, I did- because I cast off not too long ago!


There were four skeins of that marvelous chunky alpaca sitting on the shelf in this vivid shade of red, and they were mine.

All mine.



And the pattern? I can't say enough. My crush on Kristen began not so long ago when the latest issue of Knitty showcased her adorable cardi called Que Sera (for which I have the yarn wound, but not knit).


But after this project walked in the door, my love affair really began. She's super. And I have just made my crush public. (Can you feel me blushing?)


I never thought of myself as one who would get much use out of a wrap such as this, but let's be realistic... The days that it's cold enough to wear chunky alpaca?

I'll be cocooned like this.

And I'll get TONNES of usage. I just know it.

Clearly today wasn't one of those days that I planned on staying cocooned for long

So why bother knitting in lace you ask? If I am just going to bunch it all up around my neck for no one to see but me?

It's kinda like wearing a killer pair of lace underwear.

Does anyone really need to know you're wearing them?

Not really.

But do you feel like a million bucks?

Absolutely.

DETAILS WE LOVE!

Yarn- Estelle Super Alpaca

Needles- 9mm (even though the pattern calls for 10mm, I just used what was within arms reach)

Pattern- 'High Line Shawl' by Kristen Kapur

Difficulty level- Super great intro into lace. Just... don't try to watch Slum Dog Millionaire while acquianting yourself with the pattern. I had several big rrrrrrip outs occur.

So, to those customers who knit this shawl and inspired the heck out of me?

These are for you.