Look what I got!

Look at these lovely little things:



Lixie sent me these delightful stitch markers, which she made herself the clever girl. Obviously, she took pity on me because I normally use the red crochet cotton. I have never used a stitch marker like these before. One with a heart marks the beginning of the round:




and a clothes peg marks the corners:



I like the way you can feel the marker coming up and that gives you the clue to the fact that you really are making progress. A great big thank you, Lixie.

The rounds are pretty long now and it can feel as if it is just going on for ever. I have changed colour yet again. I am now using "purple mist" and it's now like a very large, very bruised scrotum. However, at least this project has regular changes in the pattern. It drives me bonkers when you are doing a pattern that just repeats and repeats and repeats. In chart 4 we are doing flowers and strawberries and we have the added complication of a "pivot stitch". All this means is that you work up to the pivot stitch and then work away from the pivot stitch, reversing all the decreases. It is a very effective way of charting and I don't find the mirror image business too complicated. The same technique is employed by Dorothy Siemens in her patterns at Fiddlesticks Knitting. I must say her patterns do have a slight edge - they are very easy to read, because she prints them big enough. My only complaint is that they are on a strange tan coloured paper and that means trying to do a working photocopy is not all that easy.

I have joined yet another Yahoo Group. This time it's the "Mystery Shawl Along". Basically what happens is that you are given up to six "clues" (one a week starting on August first) and you follow the clues and end up with a shawl. There are a few guidelines: we know it's a triangular shawl, we know how much yarn it takes, we know the designer is using Jaggerspun Maine Line. That's about it, so far. I really like the idea of seeing the shawl unfold and gradually coming to know what it is like. I think that by August 1st I should be in a position to start another shawl and I'm really looking forward to it. Anyone want to join me? Whizz along and sign up and let's get knitting.