Spriteling, clue1

I finished the first part of the Spriteling KAL. Along the way, I missed a few YOs, but I think I got most of them right. I used 5 mm needles, so the holes might be bigger than they should be. In the beginning, I had 105g of yarn, and after finishing the swatch and the clue1 I have 76g. I don't fully get the idea of the centre panel, but the sides and the edge are beautiful!

It's interesting to see where the remaining two clues take me, and what shape the shawl will take!
Things that have made me happy today:

• Long-waited warm spring weather
• New plants and pots in the living-room

A knitter in New York

Since last November we had been planning a holiday trip to Japan.We aimed at cherry blossoming season, and booked flights and hotel rooms in good time. Then came the Big Quake and the Big Wave and changed all our plans. We got an opportunity to change our flights to any other destination (Thanks to Finnair!), and we chose New York. And off we went!

What comes to knitting, I traveled light: I had no needles nor yarn with me, I did not search any local yarn shops in advance, and I did not buy any yarn. Still, I made some notions of New York as a knitter.

Firstly, I was impressed of the variety of knitting books in local book stores. We visited Barns & Noble in Columbus Circle and some other stores as well, and they all have meters of fancy knitting books, some of which were familiar to me, some of which were new. After considering my luggage space, I bought two knitting books: Super Stiches Knitting by Karen Hemingway and Knitting Brioche by Nancy Marchant.

Secondly, we went to see Wicked, the new and very popular Broadway musical in Gershwin theatre. I loved the show: the fabulous actors, fantastic songs, impressive settings and everything about it! Costumes were designed by Susan Hilferty, and we saw beautiful dresses, miraculous fantasy suits and classical school uniforms. Curiously, all the most weird characters and not-so-popular pupils at school wore a crocheted hat! I was only wondering why, and what does this little detail tell about knitting and crocheting...

Thirdly, long rubber boots were very popular in Broadway. Classy ladies wore them even when there were no signs of rain. Maybe long rubber boots will become a hot fashion trend? Start wearing yours right now and be ahead of your time!